Reality check on single payer health care reform

We launched www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck this week to knock down the rumors and lies that are floating around the internet. You can find the information below, and much more, there. For example, we've just added a video of Nancy-Ann DeParle from our Health Reform Office tackling a viral email head on. Check it out:



8 ways reform provides security and stability to those with or without coverage

Ends Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies will be prohibited from refusing you coverage because of your medical history.

Ends Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays: Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses.

Ends Cost-Sharing for Preventive Care: Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness, such as mammograms or eye and foot exams for diabetics.

Ends Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill: Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for those who become seriously ill.

Ends Gender Discrimination: Insurance companies will be prohibited from charging you more because of your gender.

Ends Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage: Insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive.

Extends Coverage for Young Adults: Children would continue to be eligible for family coverage through the age of 26.

Guarantees Insurance Renewal: Insurance companies will be required to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full. Insurance companies won't be allowed to refuse renewal because someone became sick.

Learn more and get details: http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/health-insurance-consumer-protections/

8 common myths about health insurance reform

Reform will stop "rationing" - not increase it: It’s a myth that reform will mean a "government takeover" of health care or lead to "rationing." To the contrary, reform will forbid many forms of rationing that are currently being used by insurance companies.

We can’t afford reform: It's the status quo we can't afford. It’s a myth that reform will bust the budget. To the contrary, the President has identified ways to pay for the vast majority of the up-front costs by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse within existing government health programs; ending big subsidies to insurance companies; and increasing efficiency with such steps as coordinating care and streamlining paperwork. In the long term, reform can help bring down costs that will otherwise lead to a fiscal crisis.

Reform would encourage "euthanasia": It does not. It’s a malicious myth that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors. For seniors who want to consult with their family and physicians about end-of life decisions, reform will help to cover these voluntary, private consultations for those who want help with these personal and difficult family decisions.

Vets' health care is safe and sound: It’s a myth that health insurance reform will affect veterans' access to the care they get now. To the contrary, the President's budget significantly expands coverage under the VA, extending care to 500,000 more veterans who were previously excluded. The VA Healthcare system will continue to be available for all eligible veterans.

Reform will benefit small business - not burden it: It’s a myth that health insurance reform will hurt small businesses. To the contrary, reform will ease the burdens on small businesses, provide tax credits to help them pay for employee coverage and help level the playing field with big firms who pay much less to cover their employees on average.

Your Medicare is safe, and stronger with reform: It’s myth that Health Insurance Reform would be financed by cutting Medicare benefits. To the contrary, reform will improve the long-term financial health of Medicare, ensure better coordination, eliminate waste and unnecessary subsidies to insurance companies, and help to close the Medicare "doughnut" hole to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors.

You can keep your own insurance: It’s myth that reform will force you out of your current insurance plan or force you to change doctors. To the contrary, reform will expand your choices, not eliminate them.

No, government will not do anything with your bank account: It is an absurd myth that government will be in charge of your bank accounts. Health insurance reform will simplify administration, making it easier and more convenient for you to pay bills in a method that you choose. Just like paying a phone bill or a utility bill, you can pay by traditional check, or by a direct electronic payment. And forms will be standardized so they will be easier to understand. The choice is up to you – and the same rules of privacy will apply as they do for all other electronic payments that people make.

Learn more and get details:
http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck
http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck/faq

8 Reasons We Need Health Insurance Reform Now

Coverage Denied to Millions: A recent national survey estimated that 12.6 million non-elderly adults – 36 percent of those who tried to purchase health insurance directly from an insurance company in the individual insurance market – were in fact discriminated against because of a pre-existing condition in the previous three years or dropped from coverage when they became seriously ill. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/denied_coverage/index.html

Less Care for More Costs: With each passing year, Americans are paying more for health care coverage. Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have nearly doubled since 2000, a rate three times faster than wages. In 2008, the average premium for a family plan purchased through an employer was $12,680, nearly the annual earnings of a full-time minimum wage job. Americans pay more than ever for health insurance, but get less coverage. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hiddencosts/index.html

Roadblocks to Care for Women: Women’s reproductive health requires more regular contact with health care providers, including yearly pap smears, mammograms, and obstetric care. Women are also more likely to report fair or poor health than men (9.5% versus 9.0%). While rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure are similar to men, women are twice as likely to suffer from headaches and are more likely to experience joint, back or neck pain. These chronic conditions often require regular and frequent treatment and follow-up care. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/women/index.html

Hard Times in the Heartland: Throughout rural America, there are nearly 50 million people who face challenges in accessing health care. The past several decades have consistently shown higher rates of poverty, mortality, uninsurance, and limited access to a primary health care provider in rural areas. With the recent economic downturn, there is potential for an increase in many of the health disparities and access concerns that are already elevated in rural communities. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hardtimes

Small Businesses Struggle to Provide Health Coverage: Nearly one-third of the uninsured – 13 million people – are employees of firms with less than 100 workers. From 2000 to 2007, the proportion of non-elderly Americans covered by employer-based health insurance fell from 66% to 61%. Much of this decline stems from small business. The percentage of small businesses offering coverage dropped from 68% to 59%, while large firms held stable at 99%. About a third of such workers in firms with fewer than 50 employees obtain insurance through a spouse. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/helpbottomline

The Tragedies are Personal: Half of all personal bankruptcies are at least partly the result of medical expenses. The typical elderly couple may have to save nearly $300,000 to pay for health costs not covered by Medicare alone. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/inaction

Diminishing Access to Care: From 2000 to 2007, the proportion of non-elderly Americans covered by employer-based health insurance fell from 66% to 61%. An estimated 87 million people - one in every three Americans under the age of 65 - were uninsured at some point in 2007 and 2008. More than 80% of the uninsured are in working families. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/inaction/diminishing/index.html

The Trends are Troubling: Without reform, health care costs will continue to skyrocket unabated, putting unbearable strain on families, businesses, and state and federal government budgets. Perhaps the most visible sign of the need for health care reform is the 46 million Americans currently without health insurance - projections suggest that this number will rise to about 72 million in 2040 in the absence of reform. Learn more: http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/assets/documents/CEA_Health_Care_Report.pdf


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A SOLUTION TO THE HEALTH CARE INSURANCE CRISIS IN AMERICA

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When will Palin "the bloody bitch" stop the slaughter?

We’ve seen appalling new images of Governor Sarah Palin’s cruel war on wolves -- pictures Palin would never want seen on a postcard from Alaska:

Wolf carcasses skinned and stacked in piles in the woods;
Dead wolves riddled with buckshot and lying bloody in the snow;
Sarah Palin’s hired killers smiling and posing in front of an airplane loaded down with recently slaughtered wolves.

[1]
You can help expose Palin’s brutal, senseless killing of Alaska’s wolves.Your contribution of $25.00, $50.00, $100.00 or another amount will help Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund keep the national spotlight on Palin’s barbarism, lobby for federal legislation to end this awful wolf killing program and protect wolves and other imperiled wildlife.

On June 6th, we have a unique chance to reach more citizens and media about the Palin carnage. She is scheduled to be in Auburn, New York to celebrate 50 years of Alaska statehood and New Yorker William Seward’s 1867 purchase of Alaska -- a purchase then known as “Seward’s Folly.”

With your donation, we’ll make sure that more caring people learn the truth about Sarah’s Palin’s own folly -- an expensive, unscientific and horrific wolf-killing program that has already massacred more than 1,000 wolves.

To place the next round of Eye on Palin television ads in this New York market, we need to raise $75,000 by next Monday (June 1st). Can you send what you can afford?

The gruesome images described above are just the tip of the iceberg.

After Palin's henchmen executed 14 poor pups last summer -- with a shot each to the head -- and more than 250 wolves were killed during the recently concluded 2008/2009 aerial gunning season, Palin's administration is resorting to even more extreme tactics to kill wolves.

This summer, poison gas bombs will be thrown into dens and snares will be set at the mouths of dens to kill off newborn pups and to prevent wolf numbers from increasing.

Extreme wolf-killing programs like these are already having a devastating effect on wolf populations. Wolf population estimates indicate that almost all of the wolves in the Upper Yukon/Tanana predator control region (near the Yukon Charlie Rivers National Wildlife Preserve) may have been killed over the winter, with 133 wolves killed by aerial gunning and another 80 expected to be trapped. [2]

Don’t let Palin and her trophy hunting cronies get away with it. Please donate now to help save the lives of wolves targeted by Palin’s brutal programs.

Besides keeping the media heat on Palin, your compassionate contribution will build momentum for passage of federal legislation to end her aerial wolf-killing programs an effort that has already garnered more than 30 original co-sponsors for the Protect America’s Wildlife (PAW) Act.

With your caring support, we will end this cruelty. Please donate now.

With Gratitude,


Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund


P.S. We need to make our media buys to expose Palin’s aerial wolf killing very soon. Please make a secure donation online now or call 1-800-425-4632 to make a donation by phone.

Notes

[1] Access to these awful photos is currently restricted. Our sister organization Defenders of Wildlife has filed a request under Alaska’s Open Records Act to make these photos public.

[2] The National Park Service estimates that up to 213 wolves made their homes in the Upper Yukon / Tanana predator control region prior to this past winter’s “control” efforts.

________

GooRuTools.mobi

GooRuTools.info

Kansas Senator Roberts seems prone to supports torture

Thank you for contacting me regarding the release of documents from the Bush administration. I appreciate your taking the time to write on this important issue.



Recently, President Obama released formerly classified legal opinions issued by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel during the Bush administration. These opinions detailed the rationale used to authorize the use of enhanced interrogation techniques on terrorists held in custody overseas. While I maintain that the United States should never surrender the moral high ground by condoning torture, I believe that it was unnecessary to release these documents.



I am concerned that the release of these opinions and discussion of prosecuting the officials who drafted them will significantly chill the ability of government attorneys to address complicated legal issues. A nation at war is required to make many difficult choices and that process will only be made harder if we seek to criminalize the judgments of those we ask to make the tough calls. While some may disagree with the choices that were made, I hope we can all agree that they were made in good faith and with the security of the nation in mind.



Again, thank you for writing. I will keep your thoughts in mind as the Senate deals with this issue. If you would like more information on issues before the Senate, please visit my website at http://roberts.senate.gov. You may also sign up on my home page for a monthly electronic newsletter that will provide additional updates on my work for Kansas.



With every best wish,



Sincerely,





Pat Roberts

PR:lq

__________________


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'The Pen' asks: How many police does it take to silence the voice of the people?

How many police does it take to silence the voice of the people?

That's a question a despot might ask in a totalitarian police state.
But this week the Senate Finance Committee thought it was a hilarious
joke as they ejected one brave activist after another, for protesting
that not even one spokesperson for single payer health care was being
allowed to sit at the hearing table. Yes, Senator Max Baucus (MT),
who had preemptively declared that consideration of a single payer
option was off the table, actually joked "We need more police [1:58
on video]." And the rest of the Senate panel just laughed their heads
off.

Senator Chuck Grassley (IA), the ranking Republican, not to be
outdone in his contempt for the people, then asked if there was
"somewhere they can watch it on television [2:05 on video]," which
elicted additional hearty guffaws. Yes, what a wonderful entertaining
show that would be, the spectacle of the will of the people being
excluded while corporate special interests, like butchers, carve up
our pocketbooks and our bodies.

Single Payer Action Page: http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum982.php

On the action page is an extended video where you can hear for
yourself those Senators laughing at us, and you'll be just at
outraged as we are. It's time for the U.S. Senate to get the message
that we the people are not just a joke to be laughed off. Why is it
that not ONE senator on that committee has the integrity to stand up
for a even handed debate of health care issues? Why should any of
them be elected to public office ever again?

So let's see a show of hands. How many of you would like to sign up
now for a commie Marxist national health care system ... like in
Canada, England and other pinko Bolshevik countries like that? How
stupid do they think we are, to try to reduce the terms of the debate
to such an ignorant level? Meet the new mass media scare label,
"socialized" medicine. As opposed to like what ... the ANTI-social
corporate medical insurance industry we have now, where patients have
no role except to be cash cows, by design never to be actually cured?

If you or anyone in your family has ever been seriously ill, and as
we ALL will be someday, you know the medical industry will pick your
bones clean of every dime you ever earned in your life, just in time
to drop you into the cheapest possible pine box.

Single Payer Action Page: http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum982.php

Why are members of Congress fighting so hard to keep single payer
health care out of the public debate? Because there are no fat
profits in it for their special interest corporate campaign
contributers, who maximize their profits the sicker we are. They
cannot compete with a low overhead efficiently run government
program, just like we have NOW with the existing proven Medicare
system.

Instead, they will line up a bunch of corporate lobbyists and stooges
to tell bald faced lies. Just like Senator Jim Bunning himself who
asserted that Canada and England had tax rate of at LEAST 60% to
support single payer. But they don't even want anyone around to even
have a chance to call them out on their willful and malicious lies.

Yes, all those who love to preach to the rest of us about the free
market and competition are shown to be only interested in a rigged
market and a rigged debate. Baucus may put on a face of being
slightly chastened, but he STILL will not allow any honest testimony
on single payer.

But we can beat them.

This is the pivotal moment. We have been speaking out for HR 676
(Medicare for all) for YEARS. And now 8 incredibly brave activists
have been hauled away because they would not remain silent. But in
doing so, in putting their own bodies on the line, they have shown up
the current "debate" for the total sham that it is.

We are not asking you to put your body on the line. All we are asking
you to do is submit a one click action page that we have specially
configured to send your message to the Senate Finance Committee as a
hard copy pdf that they can't just laugh off, because it will be part
of the permanent record. Plus your message will go to all your
regular members of Congress, plus your nearest daily local newspaper
as well if that option is selected.

Single Payer Action Page: http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum982.php

At 3:20 of the video posted on the action page above you will hear a
woman loudly ask, "I wonder how many there are?" Let's show them.
Let's show them there are millions and millions of us out here who
will no longer be ignored, who will no longer be laughed off. Because
they KNOW we can stop them if and only if large numbers of us will
raise our voices now.

Let's just do it.

And here is a list of all Senators on the Finance Committee,
including at least a couple who you might have considered to be
"liberals". Where are their voices? Is there not a single one of them
who will stand up and say, "No wait a minute, we need to hear what
the single payer advocates have to say." So especially if one of
these is one of YOUR personal Senator, they especially need to hear
from you now.

Max BAUCUS, MT, John D. ROCKEFELLER IV, WV, Kent CONRAD, ND, Jeff
BINGAMAN, NM, John F. KERRY, MA, Blance L. LINCOLN, AR, Ron WYDEN,
OR, Charles E. SCHUMER, NY, Debbie STABENOW, MI, Maria CANTWELL, WA,
Bill NELSON, FL, Robert MENENDEZ, NJ, Thomas CARPER, DE, Chuck
GRASSLEY, IA, Orrin G. HATCH, UT, Olympia J. SNOWE, ME, Jon KYL, AZ,
Jim BUNNING, KY, Mike CRAPO, ID, Pat ROBERTS, KS, John ENSIGN, NV,
Mike ENZI, WY, John CORNYN, TX,

No, we don't need more police. We need fewer Senators with plugs in
their ears like Max Baucus. And he and the rest of them need to hear
that.

And yes, you can also respond to this action through the new Twitter
gateway. Just send the following Twitter reply, and add any personal
comment you like.

@cxs #p982

And if you want a step by step explanation of how to set up the
Twitter thing here is the link for that.

Twitter Activism Step-By-Step: http://tcxs.net/step_by_step.php

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.

If you would like to get alerts like these, you can do so at
http://www.peaceteam.net/in.htm

**EDITORS NOTE: This post was copied intirely from 'The Pen's' newsletter, in hopes that by reposting it a broader audience can be reached to respond.

______________

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No Amnesty for Torturers

No Amnesty for Torturers

sign the Petition!

18891 of 10000 people have signed – see totals by state and Congressional District.

Petition

On April 16, President Obama said he would not prosecute CIA agents who engaged in torture, because George Bush's lawyers told them it was "legal." President Obama also said Attorney General Eric Holder would use taxpayer dollars to defend torturers against lawsuits by torture victims, and to pay all judgments if they lost.

These decisions are intolerable and unacceptable. Torture is utterly immoral and un-American. It produced absolutely no useful intelligence. It recruited terrorists responsible for at least half the U.S. deaths in Iraq. And it endangered every U.S. soldier who may be captured in the future.

And torture is absolutely illegal. The U.S. ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which prohibits torture and requires prosecution of torturers. In 1947, the U.S. prosecuted a Japanese officer for waterboarding. No lawyer can "legalize" what is illegal.

Congress must take the following actions:

1. Demand the appointment of a Special Prosecutor by Attorney General Eric Holder for torture, warrantless wiretapping, and other heinous crimes of the Bush Administration. (Thanks to Rep. Jerrold Nadler for leading the way!)

2. Prohibit the use of any taxpayer dollars to defend government officials who committed such crimes against lawsuits, or to pay for judgments against them.

3. Impeach Judge Jay Bybee, the torture memo author who serves on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California.

4. Protect human rights by restoring Habeas Corpus and the Fourth Amendment (search and seizure), including repeal of the Orwellian-named Protect America Act, U.S.A. Patriot Act, the FISA Amendments, and Military Commissions Act.

5. End secret government by prohibiting use of "State Secrets," "Sovereign Immunity" and "Signing Statements."

As my representative in Congress, I urge you to act immediately.



There is no excuse for the crimes that were committed by the bush administration in my name as a citizen of the United States of America.

I absolutely denounce that I gave my permission for these crimes to be committed in my name.

George bush and dick chenney are criminals, and anyone in their administration that gave permission to torture another human being is also a criminal and should be punished to the fullest measure of the law.

We hung Sadam Hussain for the same crimes these criminals have committed against humanity, and they should face no less punishment

Since the Congress, and Senate of the United States of America hasn't the intestional Fortitude to uphold the Constitution of The United States, up holding the laws in this regard, and...

If the United States Government won't punish them, then I urge an International tribunal to be seated and act with swift justice against all the aforementioned criminals.

They did not act in my name as a citizen of the United States, and are outright International criminals and should face International Justice...

_________________

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http://webintel.mobi

They want Total power to forcibly confiscate so-called “unreasonable compensation”

Your Monday Message from the Libertarian Party:

Dear friend,

I was in the middle of writing a great Message to you this afternoon about how first-time membership in the Libertarian Party has increased every month for the last three months and we’ve seen a 151 percent increase in new volunteers. People are excited about the Libertarian Party!

Then I got a phone call from 202-225-2176.

It was Congressman Alan Grayson’s office.

They’re not sharing the love.

You may have gotten an e-mail from me last Friday about the Florida Democrat and his disturbing

“Pay for Performance”

bill.

If you didn’t, or you’ve forgotten, Grayson’s bill would give the Treasury Secretary complete, absolute and total power to forcibly confiscate so-called “unreasonable compensation” from ANY employee at a company the federal government owns shares of.

Here’s where it gets really scary. The bill does not define what “unreasonable” is. That total and absolute power is given to the unelected Treasury Secretary, who is free to write his own rules.

And judging from his years of unfiled tax returns, he’s not the kind of guy who should be writing his own rules.

That power to confiscate doesn’t just apply to incompetent managers. It even applies to janitors, employees who actually performed their jobs well, or theoretically employees who make good money and oppose President Obama.

It’s also retroactive, meaning they can go back in time and steal money already paid out. Even the Soviet Union didn’t allow that!

Just how enamored is Congressman Grayson with unquestioned government power?

He even went so far as to go on national television and claim the Constitution gives the President’s administration the right to forcibly confiscate money from people the administration feels didn’t “earn” it!

Socialists have been calling for “maximum wage” laws restricting private salaries for years – and using the exact same arguments touted by Grayson. If his bill passes, advocates of a virtual “salary cap” on private individuals will have a toe in the door.

Well, apparently Congressman Grayson isn’t happy with the phone calls he’s been getting from concerned Libertarians.

His office called me around lunch to complain from 202-225-2176.

Yep, they’re giving an unelected bureaucrat – one who’s already proven he can’t follow the law – absolute power to confiscate the earnings of private citizens if he thinks it's "excessive," and they have no shame admitting that.

They just didn’t like the fact the swarms of Libertarians calling their office were more focused on his blatant power grab and not the which specific bailout packages were included.

Not that it matters. Americans are angry over the fact the Treasury Secretary is being given absolute control to write his own rules allowing him to steal private citizen’s paychecks, and all it takes is one quiet amendment to apply the undefined powers to many more companies.

They know it’s not only the first step towards “maximum wage” laws, but that giving the Executive Branch absolute power to confiscate the property of people the president’s administration feels didn’t “earn” -- with no rules or standards in the legislation -- is a frightening step away from the free country we love.

Giving the president absolute, unquestioned, unchecked power to intrude on private citizens was a bad idea under the Bush administration, and it’s still a bad idea under the Obama administration.

And stealing the earnings of private citizens because the president’s appointee feels like they didn’t “earn” it is the first step towards the kind of economy touted by people who look at the rubble of the Soviet Union and think, “Great idea! Let’s do that here!.”

You can call Congressman Grayson yourself at 202-225-2176 to let him know what you think about his plan to give the Obama administration absolute, self-defined power to steal money they just feel people don’t deserve.

Yep. 202-225-2176.

Tell them the Libertarian Party sent you.

With optimism,

Donny Ferguson
Director of Communications
Libertarian National Committee
Donny.Ferguson@lp.org

PS – If you are receiving this email, and have not yet become a member of the Party and wish to do so, please click here to sign up to become a member of the only political party dedicated completely to cutting taxes and maximizing liberty. If you need to renew, please do so by clicking here.

PPS - If you have not yet contributed, please consider a donation right now of $25, $50, $100 or $1000 to the Libertarian Party. Your contribution will be used to grow the Party and expand the message of liberty. From ads to outreach, every dollar goes towards leading the liberty movement in its fight to restore the Constitution and maximize freedom.

___________


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