Inaru's Comments (431)

“There it is in a nutshell. Fanned/faved.”

“Why bill should fail: Insurance cos will have million$$$ more to lobby against further reform - from us, in premiums & tax $$. They'll claim we lied when we neglect to list that time in h.s. we went in for an aching knee and rescind our policy. They'll have no caps on premiums. Ins cos get to keep their monopolies.

When I graduated h.s. until the 90s, I paid zero for insurance thru work. I paid co-pays in the single, later double-digits, not in the hundreds or thousands, no deductibles. I paid in single then double digits for medications.

We let unions fail. We let incumbents act like crowned kings/queens. We let credit cards make us feel middle-class, when we were dirt poor once you count the debt. We let pensions turn into 401k's and went from fighting for unions to rooting for Wall St for our retirement & working 80 hrs/wk for stock options.

We signed up for 100s of cable channels, internet, cell phone contracts to text nonsense, but our local and national reps' digits weren't on speed-dial. We can read every bill & write our reps daily online, but we're tweeting and playing Mafia Wars.

We stop letting corps bribe & rule us, or we will be broke, homeless and always a step from debt prison. Where's our organizing now? Will we use our tools while we've got them, train, organize, reach out, march, sit-in? Or are we gonna tweet ourselves to oblivion?”

“You think the US is heading for socialism? Get thee to Fox. Your handle fits, democracy's in dire straits with coup-supporters calling themselves democratic patriots.

But hey, since you like coups so much, get your Minute Men (is that a statement about their prowess in the bedroom?) ready, because there will be many, many Hondurans getting the hell away from the military-rule you apparently love to see in power. And if we do nothing but back that military coup faux-election a-la-Karzai govt, I'll be the first in line to offer Hondurans sanctuary.”

“omg do you think by "welfare" Peabodies is talking about government checks?! Amazing. fyi, if a constitution does not protect the people's welfare - as ours protects our liberty and pursuit of happiness "welfare" - it's not worth the paper its printed on. And the Honduran constitution was amended under Reagan, during the Iran-Contra insanity wherein the drugs and guns were traded in Honduras btw.

The purpose of the current Honduran constitution which the people want changed is to install a puppet president, to be manipulated by a corrupt congress, court and military, all beholden to United Fruit/Chiquita and Dole. Get a clue please.”

“Duh, Zelaya, the elected president, is in his own country, Honduras, in the Brazilian embassy - not in Brazil, woof - where the elitists from congress have sent the corrupt Honduran military to once again point guns at him and his supporters. This is a hostile act against Brazil's embassy.

On his ballot initiative (like the millions it seems there are every election year in CA), Zelaya sought a convention to review the one-term-president amendment passed in the Reagan years, which guarantees instability and puts real control in an elite congress (sound familiar?) and the military. The ballot initiative would not permit him to run for office again. The people of Honduras seek to change the constitution, even more than they seek to reinstate their elected president.

Zelaya's cardinal sin was to plan to shut down the US military base, and to actually increase the minimum wage, thereby pissing off Dole and Chiquita (formerly United Fruit, of Guatemala-coup infamy.”

“Thank you for a sane succinct summary. War is always about resources and profit. It is never, ever about morality. Well, occasionally when the empire is challenged, but in the end, the means destroys the ends.”

“Fanned, but I still feel it's all about natural gas pipelines, not about Bin Laden http://bit.ly/nW6yb OBL wasn't even there when Russia went in there, so why'd they invade and occupy Afghanistan? We're being duped again, and this shoulda-coulda-woulda ain't gonna take any more of my time. I'm angry, and tired of the endless war profiteering. And I'm baffled that our own blogs don't cover the battle for resources and profits behind it all.”

“X2”

“An "affair"? With a $1,500/hr prostitute? Who was part of an international prostitution ring? And Spitzer - who busted prostitutes as Atty Gen - paid $80,000 by wire for prostitutes at the Emperors Club, after promoting the biggest wiretap operation in the nation in NY. Spitzer was a rich John, who thought his johnson merits only the best - not a man having "an affair".”

“This is as absurd as the Palin 2012 media bilge. This dude, former member of The Emperors Club - an international prostitution ring, no less - who could spend $4,500 in 3 hrs w/a prostitute - after he busted prostitutes as State Atty Gen - and who completely missed (ignored?) the Madoff Ponzi scheme for years, is now an economics expert? He promoted wiretaps of internet and cell phone calls - generating 30% of the nation's wiretaps in NY alone - and was stupid enough to use phones and wire $80,000 that we know of to The Emperors Club, but he's Mr. Know-It-All now?

He hyped up his political profile with Wall St and Mafia busts, but that hardly makes him a pro on matters of international finance (other than the international Emperors Club).

I've been wondering: Can investment houses just up and move their corporate offices to the United Arab Emirates like Cheney's Halliburton did, and keep their "USA" privileges? Can they/did they threaten to take their business to the Middle East and promote the dinar over the dollar? There are any number of ways these investment houses could maim the US in this global economy. I look forward to finding out just what was at play here when both Bush and Obama felt so hamstrung that they gave in like they did to Sachs.”

“Natural gas is abundant here alright - if you're willing to use and pollute all your water resources to pull it out of the rocky areas where it rests in pockets. Study the NY state debate and tell me: what will it cost to develop methods to clean the pollution out of formerly pristine water (what little is left of that) after you use billions of gallons to extract the gas? http://nywellwatch.org/what-is-the-marcellus-shale/ And here's an article questioning lng output and cost http://www.aspousa.org/index.php/2009/11/umbrage-in-the-gas-patch/

And we ARE in Afghanistan for natural gas pipelines. As usual, it'll be easier to destroy other countries' water and exploit their labor, rather than fight Greens and labor movements here. http://bit.ly/rUeOA”

“Yep, but even without Stupak, we'd deny choice to women on public option or with subsidies for private insurance on the exchange if we keep Hyde. http://bit.ly/2olABP Too late to Rec your diary, hope you like/Rec mine (Just posted)!”

“War is murder. There are more civilians killed in wars than soldiers. Don't make me pay for your criminal wars for oil (Iraq) and natural gas (Afghanistan)!”

“True, but he and Dems tried with no success to fight off Stupak Amendment with Hyde Amendment, that prevents women who either use the public option or get subsidies for private insurance in the exchange from having a choice. Rather than challenge Hyde, he and Dems in congress want it to get renewed in our health reform bill. How sad! http://bit.ly/2olABP There are more women than men living in poverty, women make lower wages despite Lilly Ledbetter Act (enforcement of that equal pay Act, anyone?). Hyde is discrimination against women and against the poor. Stupak's just expanded Hyde's discrimination against poor women to include lower-middle-class women!”

“Thank you! Rather than challenge Stupak with Hyde, why not challenge legalized discrimination? http://bit.ly/2olABP”

“This is exactly what I've been asking. Dems argued against Stupak by citing Hyde Amendment - so women who get any subsidies for private or public option should be denied choice? http://bit.ly/2olABP”

“List:, off the top of my sleep head:

Ends: denial for preexisting conditions, caps on bills paid, caps on yearly/lifetime maximum, bankruptcies, monopolies, donut hole in Medicare

Starts: competition to stop 10-25% rate increases, an exchange to compare/choose, free preventative exams for Medicare, a public option, subsidies for lower middle class that can't afford premiums, a cap on how much you're forced to pay yearly

Denial of choice in subsidized care is 33 years old, since 1976 Hyde Amendment. Change it. Activism got us the right to choice. Only activism will keep it. Complacency always gets us screwed.”

“But we've allowed discrimination against poor women's right to choose with the Hyde Amendment that prohibits fed funding since 1976.”

“Dems sold out 33 yrs ago when they let Hyde Amendment discriminate against the poor. Like poverty in general, this is just more women impacted - this time, the lower middle class.”

“Middle class now needs subsidies to afford premiums. Public option is absolutely subsidized. All plans in the exchange can be subsidized if people can't afford the exorbitant premiums. Anyone can need a subsidy at some point, even if they can afford it on their own now, if they lose a job. Want subsidies to not exclude choice? Tackle Hyde Amendment. Fact is poverty's up, wages stagnant, indebtedness killed the middle class. What we let govt do to the poor eventually trickles up to the plastic-credit-card supported lower middle class.”

“No, Beca. The 33 year old Hyde Amendment of 1976 cut off subsidies/tax dollars for abortion, and that's how long poor women have been relegated to donation-supported clinics, if there's one in their town or even state.

Now it's the middle class that needs subsidies for insurance premiums, so based on Hyde, not on Stupak, abortion funding is prohibited. Any plan in the exchange could end up being subsidized (unemployment, loss of wages for any reason), so all plans must carry the Hyde stipulation, even if Stupak gets thrown out, which it won't in the more reactionary senate.

We must organize and be non-stop activists to defeat the 33 yr old Hyde amendment. It's been court-challenged - no good. It even stopped funding for rape/incest-related abortions for 13 years, from 1980-1993, and that took lots of activism to reverse.”

“Fanned/faved for the sentiment, now for facts. Stupak's bill's based on 33 year old Hyde Amendment of 1976, which denied fed funds for abortion, but only poor women relied on fed funds (Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, Indian Health Service). Now the once-middle-class can't afford health care, so if we want any subsidies plus choice, Hyde must go or Stupak stands. It'll take at least a year, probably longer. In 1980, the Hyde was revised to forbid fed funds for rape/incest abortions. It took 13 years, until 1993, to turn it back so at least it now covers that.

We gave them an inch and let them discriminate against the poor. They took a mile and now discriminate against the middle class when it's been decimated, indebted, and needs subsidies. It took years of organized activism to get the right to choice. It'll take at least a year probably more to get it back.”

“Nope, poor women have been denied fed funds for abortions since 1976 Hyde Amendment. Now that we're subsidizing middle class also - that's who can no longer afford exorbitant premiums - it applies to all plans that can be subsidized. Want a different outcome w/federal subsidies, whether public option or single payer? First get rid of 33 yr old Hyde Amendment. That requires activism to push congress, and will take at least a year to organize.”

“Fed funds have been prohibited for abortion since 1973, Hyde Amendment, read the article. To have single payer or any govt subsidized health care, you must first get congress to not renew the Hyde Amendment, or repeal it. Fact.”

“The Stupak Amendment is based on the Hyde Amendment that has been in place for 33 years - since 1976 - except it only applied to poor women on Medicaid, disabled women on Medicare, Native women who rely on Indian Health Service, and now adolescents who rely on CHIP. Read Jane's article. To get a federally subsidized public option, or a federally subsidized single-payer, you have to first get congress to not renew the 33 yr old Hyde Amendment. Period. Blaming Obama or this crop of Dems is uninformed and useless in the extreme. It's a 20th century law.

We let this happen because, so long as it only applied to poor women, we could use our insurance to go to the nearest private hospital or our HMO, and get an abortion and it was covered. What we let happen to the least of us has now - as it always inevitably does - reached us all (except the rich, of course).

Lesson learned? Good. Now get busy, be an activist and an organizer. The conservative Supreme Court won't save us. The Senate already doesn't have 60 votes for cloture, thanks to Lieberman. Do not even imagine that the Stupak amendment, or one even worse, won't be proposed and win in the Senate. If we demand total free choice right now, we give up all federal subsidies and lose the public option. Millions will suffer, including women and girls.

Repealing Hyde will take years, so let's get busy.”