Universal Single-Payer Shamanistic Death Panels
Back in the mid-1990s, American seniors were mobilized into action to resist a plan to reform the Medicare system - in fairly modest ways - by scare tactics and misrepresentations. That time, of course, the losers of the exchange were the Republicans, who wanted to look for ways to cut down on fraud and waste, slow the rate of payment increases, and impose some level of cost-benefit analysis into the process of decision-making for Medicare funded procedures (sound familiar?) At one point, a proposal to slow the rate of increased spending was being publicly presented as a plan to slash Medicare spending. Some movies are criticized for being derivative - this kind of argument is a second derivative.
The Republicans called it "Mediscare," and no one did it better than Clinton during the 1996 election. I vividly remember the outrage of a friend of mine, at the time a Republican Party operative in an East Coast state known for its colorful politics. He was incensed at the dishonesty, the bare primacy of politics over policy, the use of appeals to raw emotion to stifle any serious discussion of a critically important policy issue. (Side note: the friend in question later moved from politics to banking, switched to the Democratic Party, and converted to Judaism. Um, I think I feel good about it.)
Of course, the Republicans got their turn with Hillarycare, and Harry and Louise. I just saw a really sad story about the actress who played Louise in those commercials; apparently she later couldn't get work because directors would say "I'm not hiring the woman who killed health care reform."
And now we have Obamacare. In one sense, this is just another chapter of the bipartisan tradition of demagoguing social policy in the name of party politics. And Americans in large numbers go for it every time. What is it about us? I'm not actually sure Americans are capable of meaningful rational collective except in the face of imminent and total disaster. I think it's part of the anarchic strand of Romantic madness in the American character that comes down to us from Tom Paine and Daniel Shays. Perfectly sober Bohemian Socialists, well-disciplined Italian Anarchists, long-suffering Slovak peasant farmers, decent, hard-working Irish nationalist - they all came to America, abandoned their Left revolutionary roots, and turned into populist whack jobs. And then they became Nativists, which is even more miraculous.
I remember a news story about a controversy over a mosque in Hamtramck, Michigan. One local resident, in particular, complained that the call to prayer being broadcast from the minaret was un-American - "if they're going to live in America, why can't they be more American," she asked? I saw a video of the interview. While the video shows, that the newspaper interview does not, is that she made this statement standing in front of a church whose lettering was in Ukrainian. But I digress.
So there is nothing new about Mediscare-style arguments, rambunctious and easily manipulated populists, or Astroturf-style mobilizations. But there is something about this debate that feels different, something more intense. I kept trying to put my finger on it, to find a phrase to capture the elusive qualitative difference between these scare tactics and those of political operatives past. And then Samantha Bee capture the zeitgeist of the moment in a single pithy phrase: "universal single-payer shamanistic death panels."
Not just an obvious name for a thrash metal band, "universal single-payer shamanistic death panels" captures the quality that differentiates this "debate" from even previous "debates" on the topic. In those earlier debates, participants misrepresented plans, exaggerated dangers ... in short, they described an inaccurate version of the policy debate taking place. It was as if they were describing a debate taking place somewhere else - in Canada, say, or Mexico - rather than the debate taking place in the United States at that time. By contrast, the people showing up to disrupt town hall meetings this summer have left the planet entirely.
Seriously, on what planet do we imagine an elected leader whose idea of successful politics is to knock off potential voters? Is this supposed to be something that political consultants tell their clients will play in Peoria? You can't have it both ways: the Dems cannot simultaneously be ruthlessly political, amoral, poll-driven political animals and ruthless ideologues committed to a revolutionary vision of global immolation. At least, I don't think you can. F. Scott Fitzgerald told us that an intellectual is someone who can maintain two opposing ideas at the same time and still function - maybe conservatives are just more intellectual than liberals?
Actually, what's even more interesting to me is the apparent (although unstated) assumption that all the other industrialized countries that have single-payer health plans are currently engaged in sending their grandparents and babies off to be euthanized. I'm not even sure what to make of this one, except to go back to my earlier observations about what happens to perfectly sane European revolutionary radicals when they come to America and turn into wild-eyed, violent conservatives. I mean, do people really think that Canadian street are littered with the corpses of untreated grandparents? And that Canadian voters favor those outcomes? As the writers of South Park would put it, really??
Oh, before I forget, the obligatory reference: everyone I disagree with is a Nazi. (Whew! I'm glad I remembered.) Now, universal single payer shamanistic death panels - forward!
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If health care was not for profit, we would have no problems passing this bill.
agreed, professor!
a universal single-payer system or else!!!!
who cares what the greedy dummies (bottom 25% of IQ pool) call it!
Maybe it's because of the isolation, but I continue to be stunned by how little the left understands of the current phenomenon.
Yes, it's about health care, but that's just the final straw. It's also about TARP, about the bailouts, about Cap and Trade, about the Omnibus Budget bill, about all of it. It's about a government that is too big, about banks that are too big, about Wall Street influence that is too big. Those of you who make judgments about the town halls and the tea parties from 10 second tv sound bites are painfully unaware of who attends them. The hypocrisy of the left, disdaining freedom of expression as you are doing, also surprises me: go back and revisit some of the 2004 protests from your side.
This is now a battle between collectivism and individualism, its as simple as that.
Fanned & Faved!
Recently a Republican politician on the Hill, I can't remember which one, stated that the response of those who were fighting for health care reform being so strong was a good thing. It meant, he said, that they were scared & knew they were losing. REALLY?
Then, by the same token, all those people screaming and carrying on at town hall meetings, shouting down those who are trying to explain about the the health care reform bill, must mean that the right is also scared to death (even without the death panels to help them along). If strong response and decibel level are any indication, they must be shaking in their boots thinking that change is coming and that there will be universal health care. We can only hope that they're right.
My 70+ mother lives alone in Canada with type 2 diabetes. The care she receives is absolutely fantastic:
regular home visit by a nurse to help with monitoring her conditions, psychological counseling, access to a neighborhood clinic since she cannot drive and have no one close by to take her to the doctor, regular delivery of her medicines: all is free.
My friends and relatives in Canada are following the healthcare debacle in the US and cannot believe how dysfunctional of a society we have become. From their vintage point, the US has entered a period of decadence. This is the beginning of the end.
I saw the ageism in the last election. Goodness, it was even worked into Biden and Obama's remarks about McCain. I knew that would backfire.
It has. There is no trust. It was squandered with remarks suggesting that he was losing "it."
People really do pay attention to these attitudes.
Call us Eastern Elite or call us Educated but...
Every Senior I know voted for Barack Obama and Health Care Reform.
And they still trust him...!
wrong again Puma ann
What confounds the Obamacare pushers is the utter denunciation by Americans of anything that smacks of big government or the horrors of socialism creeping into their freeborn lives. Yes, there *are* things worse than death, and that is evident when government tries to foist something foreign on us.
Then forfiet your "Social" Security and Medicare..
They are social plans.
Having one more insurance plan to choose to pay for is not foreign.
Public Option is not free.
BTW.......
How did it become "Obamacare" when he hasn't written any of it???
it feels different because we are so close to getting hc reform
I wish the Democrats would get a lot nastier in this fight, and tell Grandma that the Republicans want to abolish her Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and just leave her to the mercies of the "free market".
They say that all the time in private,but lie about it in public--like they lie about everything else.
You're invited into the private meetings of Republicans? Cool... how did you do that?
You wonder what might be whack about folks who glom on to misinformation and embrace it and fight for its wobbly theses like legends-in
I should think we might look for the driving force in the legions of soon to be out of work paper-selling premium collectors. The salaries and incentives and the commissions that pay for their baloon-wall suburban extravaganzas and the annual haj to Disneyworld are soon to be pinched off. And so, the minions of the trade in human misery are out in force, regurgitating memorized misrepresentations from pamphlets supplied by their upline. Their emotional contagion spreads to the fearful folks who have come to accept them as credible sources. Fearful folks who supply them with the premium checks that are their bread and butter.
For the most part, we're a pretty good species, so long as our bellies are full and we have plenty of water. Threaten the supply line, and the claws and fangs quickly materialize, and truth becomes that which may bring a win.
It is beyond belief that Americans can be terrified into believing RightWing lies as they did for the arguments for the Iraq war. Once again the country will suffer because of lies and nothing will be done again. I am so sick of this Weak Democratic Congress who allows the GOP to manipulate them. The GOP has really ramped up the fear w/ their race baiting. Obama is doing this because he hates white people and wants reparations according to Glenn Beck. The sad truth is that most of the folks doing the shouting and those who are fooled into believing the crazy nonsense from FOX and other hate filled Right wingers are the very people Health care reform will help the most.
Right on.
If you were classifying Congressional Democrats as though they were a newly-discovered species, would they be classified as chordates? From the way they are behaving, you'd think they couldn't be. It's like they don't realize that they're the majority and that they represent the majority. The far-right is actually a small percentage of the electorate, probably about one quarter to a third at most. If that is accepted and acted upon, there's really nothing Congressional Dems shouldn't be able to accomplish.
exactly joyn
Bill Maher basically nails it... under the veneer of civilization too many Americans are as dumb as road gravel. Blame the education system, blame the churches, blame their parents, whatever..
Your Media, Drug Co's and Insurers are knowingly and deliberately letting you suffer & DIE. I don't know about you guys - but where I come from.. people like that are charged with MURDER!
Want the TRUTH about Canada's Health Care System? And NOT the lying, insulting, utter bulls....t aired on 20/20? Go to: http://www
ALSO: Here's an example of what we Canadians pay for drugs compared to the KILLER rates you are charged:
American drug costs -vs- Cdn - Americans being robbed!
Posted by DidiM on Thursday, August 6, 2009
It may interest you to learn what an American pays for drugs - vs - a Canadian:
Two years ago, My Canadian rheumatologist (sp) prescribed Enbril, an American manufactured drug - for my arthritis. I'll refrain from singing his praises... suffice to know.. he's the best in the country.. that I chose!!
The Cdn. UHC cost for 8 vials a month. = $ 1,600.00 (Cdn)
My cost: = $ 76.00 . (Cdn)
(note if one is poor & or unemployed
Now here's the KICKER! What you have to pay in the US!!
US Enbril cost per Vial: $1,500.00 (US)
US Enbril cost for 8 vials (I take) $12,000.00 (US) a month!!!!!!
And you don't think you're getting scammed????
Thank You! I remember when we in America were selling you pills for 3 cents a piece. They decided to try to pass a bill to buy our pills back from Canada for 10 cents a piece to sell back to Americans. This was how we were going to save money. Think there's much of a mark up on drugs alone?
We also have over 1000 Americans die per day from misdiagnosis alone. A study done in 1997 by the Clinton's. That's about a half million per year.
What if we charged a fee to all the doctors that killed a patient from misdiagnosis? That would pay for health care for all alone.
Since the uninsured are the most in need, why not at least pass health care for them? In fact, why not just pass one option at a time instead of any more big bills? Like Dennis Kucinich's option?
You know, I've come to the conclusion that people just want to be scared of something. Thinking about Death Panels is more entertaining than watching the latest horror movie...an
How do they explain our dismal standing as far as longevity goes? I don't know...but back in 2003, I had a very good friend, college educated and socially liberal, who believed that Saddam did indeed possess drones that were capable of flying from Iraq to the USA and then engaging in biological warfare across the whole country. I patiently tried to explain that no drones with that capability existed...
We must never forget that every congressman that impedes health care reform gets a check from the companies that do not want reform. Follow the money and you will always get to the truth about the political argument. Take away the campaign donations and we end up with single-payer and universal health care. A 3% tax increase can provide all we will ever need to deal with health care. There would be no more co-pay, no more premiums. no more preexisting conditions and no more mega-billion dollar yearly profits by those who do nothing to care for our health.
I just have two questions - how can our government add 40 million to the insurance rolls, including those with pre-existing conditions and not increase the cost by billions. With Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security all going into the red during this decade, shouldn't we figure out how to pay for them before we add billions in new entitlements?
1. There may be no increase in costs because we are already paying for those uninsured people. When the uninsured go to the emargency room the hospitals and doctors get paid by taxpayers.
2. These programs are going into the red because they were written in such a way that gives billions in suplements to the health insurance companies. This money is not used to provide care just increase profits.
The arguments you worry about are a little like the social security argument. The problem with social security is that congress has borrowed billions from it but has not paid anything back.
I can't guess at numbers but a lot of those pre-existings may be conditions that have been addressed and are no longer present; just having sought treatment gets denied.
I took care of a condition 20 years ago and another item 14 years ago and although those things are fixed, no longer issues in my life, I'm denied.
Keep looking--some companies define preexisting conditions as conditions that have been treated within the past 12 months. If you haven't been treated for something for 14 years or more, and you can prove it, you should be able to appeal.
Although proof may be hard--most states allow practices to dispose of medical records after a certain number of years--usually 7 years.
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