kjwhite's Comments (65)

“You and lot of other people as well. My stomach literally rolled over when I heard him refer to medicaid as a "medical ghetto" that NONE of THEM would ever want for THEIR FAMILIES.
It is statements like this that leave Americans feeling so flipping hopeless. When you have NO coverage, Medicaid looks pretty good when you are sick and need help. But to hear one of our representatives call it nothing but a medical ghetto that no one would want.....y­et I'll bet he wouldn't vote to improve it any either....­well, what are people to do?”

“What floors me most about the Beck followers is the amnesia they display. Republicans have too quickly forgotten the REAL climate of political thuggery we just came out of with the last administration. THAT WAS THE TIME FOR DISSENT, NOT NOW. We as a nation were told by Bush and Cheney to sit down, shut up, mind our business and above all, don't ask questions. We were told THEY WERE IN CHARGE, would do as they pleased, and would laugh in the face of anyone demanding any accountability.

Under republican leadership, the nation nearly went over the cliff, which is why Bush ended up being the most unpopular president ever.

Yet now, with a President that has vowed to operate above board so that Americans never again have to feel so marginalized, a president that puts everything online for us to see and inspect for ourselves, it is HE that the republicans go after as the "thug". INCREDIBLE. Virtually everything they accuse the president of, applies NOT to Obama, but to the the LAST president! Yet they said nothing when the republican leader commited multiple crimes. The world has gone crazy.”

“I'm very glad to see this pointed out. My sister works in an ARMY med. clinic on a major military installation, and has done this work for 20 years now, having worked on several military bases. I have often heard her comment on how sorry she feels for the returning soldiers, many of whom have seen terrible things and are in rough shape emotionally when they come home.
While she works with them every day, I've never heard her try to compare herself or her own emotions to what the soldiers have gone through. The two are like apples and oranges.

This shooter did not have PTSD. The author is right in pointing out the obvious--that PTSD is NOT contagious. I don't claim to know what motivated him, but I do not feel any pity for him, as if he WERE a returning soldier---he is not.”

“Robert Creamer has pretty much summed up my concerns here. I hope he is correct in saying that politicians are finally taking notice of what WE (the citizens) are saying.
Meaning----if you dictate that we MUST carry insurance, but then leave us with no where to get it except from the very private insurance companies you tell us are ripping us off and treating patients/customers horribly .....well how EXACTLY does THAT HELP US? Don't define the problem and then offer no solution! How can you tell us that the insurance industry is cherry-picking customers, charging outrageous premiums, forcing huge-co-pays onto the sick, etc, and then tell us we MUST GET INSURANCE, while offering us nothing better?

They HAVE TO offer us a public option. How can they not? Without it, all of this will have been for nothing and the insurance industry will just sit back and wait for all those new customers to roll in....

I have to say that I find it sad that the only thing that seems to be motivating some of these politicians is the desire to CTOA......­.(cover their own ***) How about what's best for the people that put you in office?”

“Might have been a cool idea if it worked. I just got a blank page with a small bar that kept loading and loading and loading...­.but nothing happened. Ah well. Guess we'll just have to wait for Joe's page to come back up, since we "liars" crashed it.”

“Amen and amen.

It's important to remember that everything we see them doing now is all done with an eye on 2012. By blocking, belittling or stalling everything positive the president tries to do, when the next election rolls around they will try to paint his first term as a "dismal failure where he didn't get anything accomplished".

Of course, they will leave out that they blocked his progress at every turn, even when it hurt the American people. They have become a party of weasels, not worthy of respect. Not when they are willing to say or do anything, no matter how false or misleading to try to "re-gain power".

I hope they remember that these antics are a double-edged sword. Clips of their followers claiming "Obama is the antichrist" and "don't let him talk to your children, they will become his psychic slaves" will come back to haunt them when they try to paint themselves as the party of "responsibility and reason".”

“WONDERFUL post. So many misguided shouts of: "I don't want to have to pay for YOUR health care!" -or- "Get a job!" -or- "What happened to personal responsibility?"

Republican politicians (again) riling that "certain segment" of their base, with buzz-words MEANT to appeal to their prejudices, purposely evoking in them images of WELFARE LINES instead of what this debate's TRULY about-- A nation of hard workers, many sick and suffering because they have no insurance, were refused coverage, or cannot afford the exorbitant premiums.
It's about the opportunity to use a government option, which helps EVERYONE because the insurance monopoly would FINALLY have to COMPETE for our business.

If only the "shouters" would realize they're being USED.

Wendell Potter, 20year insurance insider&CIGNA Executive, recently interviewd by Bill Moyers, his CONSCIENCE PLAGUED after seeing hundreds of uninsured waiting in the rain for treatment--:

WENDELL POTTER: "The industry has always tried to make Americans think that government-run systems are the worst thing that could possibly happen to them, that if you even consider that, you're heading down on the slippery slope towards socialism. So they have used scare tactics for years and years and years, to keep that from happening. If there were a broader program like our Medicare program, it could potentially reduce the profits of these big companies. So that is their biggest concern. "

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html

THIS should be shown at EVERY "town hall meeting".”

“Drew, you sound like you have "health care" mixed up with "welfare". What are you talking about?

"What ever happened to personal responsibility?"
What are you saying? If an employer doesn't offer insurance, or if the premiums are too outrageous to afford, what's that have to do with "personal responsibility"? If a worker's laid off and loses coverage, how is that a lack of personal responsibility? If a working person's denied coverage because of a "pre-existing condition", what's that have to do with personal responsibility?

You say you could "get behind helping those that truly need help but..."
Do you grasp that NO ONE is asking you for any sort of handout? Improving the nation's health care system isn't just to benefit what (in your mind seems to mean) "poor people", it is for ALL people--every citizen in this country.

The buzz-words I'm seeing tossed around by republican politicians are MEANT to provoke a response in 'certain' people, to appeal to bigotries and prejudices, meant to fill your mind with images of welfare lines instead of what this debate's ACTUALLY about - affordable health care becoming available to all UScitizens.
This is the BIG LIE republicans tell in order to keep people like you fighting to - (are you listening?)---KEEP THE INSURANCE COMPANIES IN POWER! You know, the multi-billionaires that deny your claims and raise your premiums sky high? The same ones paying the politicians to fool you?

Make them COMPETE for your business!”

“And while I'm thinking about it, another thing you need to realize is that not all people that don't have health insurance are unemployed. You seem to be laboring under the delusion that if a person doesn't have health insurance, they also must not have a job.

This country has millions of working people that are not covered through their employers, either because they are part-time employees (many people in this country can only find part-time work so they work 2 or 3 part time jobs to make ends meet), -or - the premiums they would have to pay to cover their family through the health insurance at work are so ungodly high that it would literally take half their pay each week to be able to afford them.

Many, many people have to make the choice between feeding their families or health insurance. Don't you get this???? Right now, the insurance companies can charge whatever they like, they basically have a monopoly status and we are at their mercy. With a public option, they would be finally forced to COMPETE for our business, and would inevitabley LOWER their rates which only benefits US.

Stop assuming everyone without insurance is some welfare case. People on welfare get health insurance genius! We are talking about health care for working Americans!”

“Just because a person cannot find a job that offers benefits does not automatically mean they are "lazy or stupid". You cannot afford to be this naive. You have been listening to too much of the republican propaganda.

My daughter works 50+ hours per week (nights) AND attends school FULL TIME during the day. The poor girl is gone from 7am until midnite every day. she gets NO days off, she can't afford to take any. (She is neither LAZY nor STUPID) Even though she works from 3-11:30 M-F, and double shifts on the weekends, the hospital where she works hired her as a "part time" employee, and thus do not have to offer her health insurance.
It's a nifty little scam employers use, where they schedule people for "part-time" hours (25 per week), but offer them all the "voluntary" extra hours they want, (wink-wink, we can't CALL you full-time but you actually ARE full-time).

Now my daughter's daughter has been diagnosed with autism. Luckily my daughter was able to obtain health insurance for my granddaughter through New York State Child Health Plus, but they said SHE makes too much to qualify for the Family Health program.

So she is stuck, and god forbid she gets sick before she can graduate and get a better job. With a public option, she could be covered as well.
People like you offend me. You sling insults but have no clue what you are talking about.”

“Jalex...bu­t the Bush administration is over now... you are right though, Bush DID do many of the things you mention. Aren't we lucky we now have new leadership?”

“No, I think the point Abovestrategy was making is we already HAVE "health insurance", as opposed to what we actually need which is "Health Care". They are completely different things.

There is a battle right now to change the language we use so that Americans UNDERSTAND what we are actually talking about in the health care debate.

The insurance companies would like us to keep saying "health insurance", (not health CARE). It keeps people thinking that THEY are our only option. Most of the other major countries in the world have guaranteed "health care" for their citizens, as a right of citizenship. America is the only one that does not provide this to its citizens.

The current debate is all about guaranteeing every American the right to health care, and not just those that can afford the high premiums of the insurance companies. By giving us a choice to use the government option, the insurance companies for the first time, will have to COMPETE for our business. They may actually have to lower premium costs, etc. Hence the debate as this is the LAST thing they want to do.”

“I agree with you completely. Yet the truly sad part is that there remains a segment of the population, some gullible, some ravenous, but ALL still eager to believe "her every wild statement"­...

In my 48 years, I have never seen such bizarre antics or a flight from reality as I have seen in republicans since the election of President Obama. It's as if those who voted against him simply cannot, will not, accept that he won. They latch on to every wild claim and theory, no matter how bizarre, hoping for...what exaclty? That they'll find the big "AHA!" that will somehow disqualify him? It's insane.

As for Sarah Palin, how I wish she would vanish into the sea of forgetfuln­ess...this low-budget, under-educated quitter has nothing of value to bring to the table but high-school politics.”

“zuzupetals - I just did a little "touch-down" dance for ya....grea­t comment! lol”

“Wow, excellent point. I hadn't really looked at it that way before but you phrased that quite well.”

“Rayso, don't take this TOO personally, but you live in la-la land.

So--if you need health insurance, just go and buy it...... *WOW*, why didn't everyone think of that?
In this time of record-high unemplyoment, when your monthly grocery bill is as much or more than your rent/ mortgage, and utility costs that have doubled (just for starters), what are people waiting for?
Simply explain to your children that they'll no longer be eating breakfast/­lunch/dinn­er (choose one) any more because Mommy/Daddy is buying health insurance. (You may need to choose TWO meals though to afford it) I'm sure the kids will understand.

OR - Simply go to work for an employer that provides it. WOW, another stroke of genius. Except of course that people can barely FIND WORK, let alone w/benefits. Even if you DO, many people cannot afford the outrageous premiums. Plus many employers use the little trick of classifying someone a "part-time" employee, so they don't have to offer them insurance, then end up scheduling them for F/T hours. No matter how many hours you work (even over 40) you were "hired as PT".

Your last brainstorm was to pack everyone that can't afford insurace off to those "clinics"? Have you ever BEEN to one of those places? God forbid you have anything more serious than a cold- anything beyond minor illness and you're on your own.”

“Perhaps the president would do well to remember back to his grade-school days where we all learned the following lesson-- When you've become the target of the schoolyard bully, sometimes it's necessary to call the bully's bluff in order to set things right again.
Since the day he took office, the Republicans and conservatives have had one agenda--make everything he endeavors to do as dificult as possible, block everything you can, and insist to the media that it's not your opposition that's the problem, but that the president is simply not up to the job. In truth, republicans could care less how these four years go; everything the republicans are doing is geared toward the next election and trying to make Obama's first four years look as dismal and ineffectual as possible.
He needs to stop cow-towing to the republicans and realize that half of what they are insisting they want (either included or removed from this or that) they could really care less about. They are merely trying to keep him chasing his own tail in his promise to be an even-handed leader. Wake up Mr. President, they are not going to "like you" no matter what you do. Forget them and do what you know is best for the country. Do what the majority of Americans elected you to do--stand up to the party that nearly bankrupted us all and make some real changes.
Call the bully's bluff and be done with it.”

“Let me get this straight..­.women need to put some band-aids on the boo-boos you say were caused by women asking for equal rights....

Like men with an identity crisis? You MUST be joking. Do you really think women should feel guilt for asking for equal rights because the mere thought thought throws men into an identity crisis?
And single-parented children..­.this you feel is also caused by women asking for equal rights? So what is your point here, if women would just keep to their place, the fathers would stick around?
Senior citizens in institutio­ns...and this too is supposed to be caused by women asking for equal rights? As opposed to shutting up and staying home where they belong, taking care of kids and old folks?
And lastly, a labor force that cannot command a living wage....ar­e you saying that since so many women work, but our time is not considered as valuable as a man's, this gives the gov't an excuse to keep wages low?
And you don't see a problem with ANY of this?

Wow, you need help.”

“Yes, but what seperates us from animals is our ability to think and to reason, to feel compassion and to understand right from wrong.

Using your logic, it's alright for men to mistreat women, because after all, men are bigger so pushing women around is only "natural".­...wow.”

“Yes, in this ONE article dedicated to women's rights. How many more months will pass before you will see another such article? You miss the irony here...you say that the violence/oppression of women DOES NOT go unnoticed, yet with one half the world's population living in constant danger of the other half (don't tell you me you don't warn your daughter, nieces, granddaughters, etc. to "be careful" when they are going somewhere) we have this ONE ARTICLE. With hundreds of thousands of women being trafficked for the purposes of sexual slavery, we have this ONE article. These things should be daily front-page news until the problem is solved.

As far as men being the victims of violence from other men, be honest, most of that occurs in childhood and teen years when aggressive-natured boys fight with one another. the reasons men fight with other men are far different than the reasons women suffer violence from men. How many men have beaten you trying to control you or to obtain sex from you? Men fight because they make each other mad, but men use violence against women for different reasons, to gain control, to instill fear, to force sex, to coerce behavior..­..

So please, don't tell me that violence against women is so "noticed", not when we have hundreds of women dying or thousands abused every day, and in these hundreds of articles there is exactly ONE addressing the subject.”

“You might be interested in reading "When God Was a Woman" by Prof. Merlin Stone. She posits that many matriarchal societies indeed existed in pre-history, and discusses the middle east as one region this probably existed. ( I don't have the book in front of me now or I'd be more specific)

She maps out how the patriarchal beliefs of the invading Israelites (later becoming christianity) were forced upon the "local"people, and via christianity, society today is still operating under that system.

She references the OldTestament, the wars against the "locals" by the invading Israelites, who condemed their use of Preistesses and Goddess-based religious practices, and customs which were more equal between the sexes than the patriarchal system of the Israelites.
The Israelites constantly warned their own people (especially the women) NOT to be tempted by the religion/customs of the local people. Stone says that (local) women were allowed to own property, choose their own spouses (or fathers of their children), and that the children carried their mother's name. Also women, as preistesses, were consulted by both sexes for advice.
The Israelite women, treated as chattel, desired the freedom that they saw in the women around them. Hence, the Israelite preists told the men to "rip down their asheras wherever you find them" (places of worship to the Goddess Asherah).

The theories Prof. Stone puts forth are fascinating. There is of course too much to put here but you might be interested in reading it for yourself.”

“This article merely scratches the surface of the greatest ongoing injustice this planet has ever known. One need only look at the religious writings of any major religion to see that violence against and the subjugation of women has been a constant among humanity.

Men do not really understand it because they ARE men, and thus have never experienced it. One need only turn on the nightly news or pick up a newspaper. You'll see story after story-- woman murdered by a jealous boyfriend, abduction of a young girl, mother and children dead at the hands of her husband, andof course rapes, attempted rapes, human sex trafficking, ...The list of violence against the female sex (women and little girls), is endless. In fact it's so commonplace that no one even notices it .

Even educated men have rolled their eyes when I've said if this were Catholic priests or male politicians or any other male group being murdered and abused on a daily basis, there would be congressional hearings and marching in the streets. But it's only women...ju­st another dead woman...ju­st another beaten woman...ju­st another raped woman, ..just another abducted woman...

Until you teach your sons that they are not superior and that larger stature does not equal a right to power, it will never end.”

“Ok, I'm taking a risk here, and I know some will automatically brand me loony, but I've always wondered about the stories that surrounded those first moon missions, where the astronauts were quoted as saying they were "not alone" once they landed. They claimed to have found alien bases, crafts, and structures on the moon, and said they were "watched" the whole time they were there and "warned off in no uncertain terms."
While this might sound too fantastic to be true, it always struck me as odd that after all that effort, and the numerous plans the gov't had for building bases, perhaps mining operations, all sorts of things on the moon, we simply "quit going." Why? It made no sense.
While this idea of challenging the private sector to go to the moon sounds great, I have a feeling that no group independent of NASA or the gov't will ever be allowed to actually land on the moon. I just don't see it happening. Even if they did somehow, they would not be allowed to give us any "undiluted" info.

It''s awsome to dream about though. What I wouldn't give to REALLY know what's on the dark side of the moon...it'­s the stuff of dreams.”

“Well since you feel that you are the true "intellectual" and everyone else with a differing opinion is anti-intellectual, let me leave you with this. Read the Simpsonwood Transcripts, available in full in PDF format online. Since you do not want to listen to any of us that have actually WITNESSED the effects, we (who are so far beneath you) humbly suggest that perhaps you might take the word of the "best minds" on vaccines from the WHO, the CDC and FDA. Read what they said, well in secret to each other anyway, regarding vaccines and autism.

Here is a link to a searchable copy - http://www.scribd.com/doc/2887572/Simpsonwood-Transcript20Searchable”

“I've seen similar comments. a LOT of them. Disgusting. Point in fact, the US/Mexican border is the busiest border in the US. (far busier than the Canadian border) Thousands of people cross the border LEGALLY, let me say that again...LE­GALLY every day. People taking a day-trip, people going to work, American tourists, etc, etc. Any one of them could come in contact with something.
Or are they these looney conservative commentators actually trying to imply that the virus is "selective" and can tell a TOURIST from an ILLEGAL????
What a useless lot these people are. They are simply pandering to the sort of folks that would wear their white sheets if it were more socially "accepted".”