separatingwheatfromchaff's Comments (91)

“Our reps(sorry to say)know what it takes to get re-elected.This is what motivates their vote.
I was listing to "Big Ed"Schultz yesterday on Air America and he can't get any Senators on the left to appear on his show because they're afraid of his penchant to ask the hard questions about health care reform.Our reps know what the people want,we've been screaming at them for months now to no avail.We no longer have a representative government.Let me repeat that,WE NO LONGER HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT.
Sure there are a few good people there,but not enough to make a difference.This whole issue of health care reform was a slam dunk as far as the American people were concerned.But the powers that be have turned it into a circus.”

“Suboptimal is the correct term for this legislation and for our duly elected congressional representatives.

I have one question regarding the failure of our two August bodies that purport to be the peoples advocates.If we can't trust them to do the peoples business in matters as mundane as healthcare reform or financial regulation because of influence peddling on a grand scale in the hallowed halls of our House and Senate,why should we trust them in the more important matters,like war?

We have seen what their handiwork has wrought on our seniors with their last Big Pharma sellout with donut holes and more loopholes than a giant size box of Cheerios.

As much as I detest saying it Arianna,maybe you're right,maybe we should take the few crumbs these bums are offering and hope we can improve on it in the future.It's a sad state of affairs and nothing will change until we have some way of regulating our own Congress.Who we vote for doesn't seem to make much difference when it comes to corporate money and influence being divvied up.”

“Sooner or later all these proposed ideas to stop the never ending march of American corporations(which includes healthcare reform)to gouge the public,all end up in the US Senate.Just as we've watched healthcare legislation get bastardized to the point of non existence,so goes every major bill with corporate interests spreading enough money to influence enough votes to steamroll the American people.I don't see our government as representative of the people any longer,unless of course you consider corporations to be people.

As MicheleCA stated earlier, this merger will most likely lead to the end of net neutrality.With no avenue left to expose our bought and paid for political leaders and shaming them into doing the right thing,what's left?”

“I'm thankful for my family and friends and finally celebrating a Thanksgiving Day without the Republican scourge in power.”

“The problem is the insurance companies are nothing but profit companies.They do nothing to improve your health.They are there strictly to take in money,carve as much as they can out of that money by denying services and paying out as little as possible to service providers.They are not health care providers,they are health care deniers,here's the proof .
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/september/californias_real_de.php”

“When your child is up on the roof throwing rocks at the people down on the street,you don't just let them continue,you stop them immediately, before someone is hurt.”

“I like Ed and a lot of the progressive left wing talkers,but when they all got on board with public option it was the death knell for single payer(Medicare).We never had an honest debate of the cost savings of Medicare for all because of all the $$$$$$$$$ being thrown at politicians.Everyone is celebrating that we are well on our way to an improved health care system, when we should be celebrating the passage of single payer.Can you imagine what Social Security would be like now if it had been passed with financial institutions holding the reins?We need the insurance(profit) companies removed from the debate but it seems the train has left the station without single payer and I don't expect we'll be going back any time soon.

As far as Democrats having the guts to demand Medicare for all,we haven't seen too many of them pushing for single payer because of all the $$$$ they've collected from the health care lobby.I hate to say it but this is probably as good as it gets.Single payer was never an option because of greedy politicians willing to sell out the public just to make a quick buck and stay in office.Yeah,they'll all be slapping each other on the back,accepting high praise for accomplishing the difficult task of reforming health care,but what they've really done is just enough to stay in office and ruined any possibility of passing single payer anytime in the foreseeable future.”

“Well said and fanned.”

“I have been as vociferous a critic of Obama's approach as anyone,but for the past couple of days I've been wondering,maybe he has been playing chess and he was using us as a platform to get what he wants.I hope it's true.I don't mind being used for the right reasons.”

“The sky is falling at a lot of peoples homes that were foreclosed on due to medical bills.We need the public option now,not in some future administration.We can't let this fester until more people lose all they worked for their whole lives.I would go so far as saying we should have used the tarp money to pay off medical bills of these poor folk who I'm sure are now living with relatives,renting or worse yet, deceased.This isn't something to put off,that's what the insurance companies would love.”

“Good luck with the Libertarian thing,another wasted Repug vote I can count on.”

“LOL,so true.They're just so afraid of being identified as crazies.”

“Dear Truemakebelieveindependent,your bio says you're a fiscal conservative only ,but your comments betray your bio.Dyed in the wool Truerightwinger is more like it.It's a myth your side of the aisle is fond of repeating,over and over,regardless of the reality.The flip side of your comment would also be I don't care if they take it over.We have Social Security run by the government,some say it's in trouble,but we all know a little tinkering with the numbers will take care of that.The government also takes care of the roads,also doing a great job there.Ditto the fire departments across the country(although there are pockets of Republican controlled areas where they are charging for services).Police are also under government control and do a fine job except for a few knuckleheads here and there.Our armed forces do a great job too,especially when compared to Blackwater or whatever they're called now since they changed their name to avoid the reputation they earned.I'll take government over these scammers you want to keep in business any day of the week.”

“From the bottom of my heart Arianna I want to thank you for voicing your opinion,it carries weight and maybe it can snap these Dems into doing what needs to be done.If we get a watered down health care plan it will just be a source of contention for years to come.
If President Obama does this one thing right, his legacy will be set and other good things will be sure to follow.If he continues with this phony bi-partisan foolishness, I think he knows this will be an albatross he'll carry forever.We want what you campaigned for President Obama,don't let the party of fear change your plans.”

“As much as I had high hopes for President Obama,I now think he has squandered his political capital and is just one health care bill away from changing his legacy of hope to a legacy of despair.I can't say it's all his fault because the forces he's up against are formidable and Arianna is absolutely right,if he doesn't belly up to the bar now,we will lose this opportunity for a very long time,perhaps forever.

The feeling he has instilled in his most prominent backers is akin to finding out your spouse has been cheating on you.Yeah you'll forgive him,but...........?

He may not even lose a second election because the party that has garnered all the power they could muster to defeat any meaningful health care reform has shown themselves to be enemies of the state.Those twenty to thirty percent that still support the Republican party still can't win an election.

I have been a staunch Democrat for sixty years and still think they are head and shoulders above Republicans,but watching this administration cave so soon without a fight is disheartening.I would rather President Obama veto a bad bill than succumb to the money changers and allow a horrible bill to pass that will cause Americans more misery than we already have.At least with no bill there will be a small window of opportunity to elect someone that will fight this to the bitter end.”

“I'm starting to think this is the tip of the iceberg of the many reasons Sarah stepped down from office.I suspect there's more news on the way,soon.”

“Without getting into the legal argument about marijuana use and your woefully ignorant thoughts on its effects,why don't we confiscate the cars of imbibers of alcoholic beverages.They always were a greater danger to the public than marijuana users.Alcohol also causes more physical confrontations,spousal abuse,workplace violence,mental health issues and poor health in general.What you call coddling drug users is what I call filling up our private, for profit prisons and ruining their chances at ever being contributing members of society by refusing gainful employment because of the stigma of a prison sentence.Are you ready to treat alcohol users as more serious offenders than marijuana users?If we treated alcohol as the much more dangerous drug that it is,would we have alcohol cartels?How many prisons would we need then?”

“These people are nuts,why not pass out Uzi's,much more effective.Is it just me or does it seem strange hearing a church service where they explain how these weapons they're handing out were used to off people?”

“This business of no evidence to support the use of insects by the CIA can be laid at their own door step.We were informed by the CIA some time ago that the CIA destroyed all video of their interrogations,as I recall nobody was charged with a crime.This came on the heels of of people calling for an investigation into the torture of detainees.The CIA and its defenders have no right to talk about what did or didn't happen until they agree to testify regarding the destruction of probable evidence.Does anyone seriously believe this evidence was destroyed because everything the CIA did while questioning detainees was legal and aboveboard?”

“Don't you get it folks?Armageddon will come,but only if we do our part.

It's so sad that the people in control of what affects our planet are usually the same people that don't care about the planet.This has been going on for decades and as long as there's a buck to me made and complaints are muted, I suspect it'll stay the same.All we can hope for is that people like Daryl Hannah,and other well known people keep putting the issues on the front burners.Shame is sometimes a great motivator,and having a well known person shine a spotlight on a problem and put it in the publics minds eye is enough to make our politicians react and do their job.”

“Other than the snarky comments about Democrats and the need to pass Fair Tax,I agree with the gist of your comment.I suspect both parties would benefit immensely if the corruption were ended and we had a common base to explore the more emotional components of our ideological differences.”

“A lot of people here have excellent ideas on how to tackle the insidiousness of our political system in regards to lobbyists.The main problem as I see it is getting these ideas through the very system that is part and parcel of the corruption we are trying to correct.As I have learned via the internet and having an interest in politics there is more wrong with our system than right.My own interactions with people in general as regards politics has been they are woefully ignorant of how our system works and usually parrot talking points they've heard somewhere else.

Arianna,this article is so very important and I can't stress enough how thankful I am that you had the insight to put down in words what we,the people are up against.There are no easy remedies as I have slowly learned.The remedies all pass through the hands of corrupted politicians who no longer have the gumption or fortitude to stand against the lobbyists who control their purse strings.

Maybe this fight will take a lot longer than I thought.We need a grass roots effort to educate our children in the schools,elementary through college in the reality of our political system.Not a primer on how our government works in theory as we have now,but how it has been corrupted.We need the full force of public anger to make the necessary changes in the system and we need it before our nation is destroyed from within.”

“Bravo?That was my first thought when I read this article.As a lay person and patient at times I always thought something was out of whack when all this talk about universal healthcare was on the frontburner and not a peep from your everyday family doctor.It signaled to me there was a disconnect from what the people want and what the medical establishment wants.

It's refreshing to see there are contrasting views and opinions within the profession and that there is a vocalization by some that aren't afraid to buck the status quo.”

“Well thought out article Arianna and it begs the question,when will we get real reform?From Universal Health Care,to banking,to real credit card reform,to the CIA,to Union reform,etc.etc. we have made no progress.All we see is smoke and mirrors,and I fully expect all these "reforms" and their sponsors to be subjugated to the powers that be.Cynical of me?You bet,but given the last eight years and the past few months of the new administration,correct me if you think I'm wrong,but the movers and shakers are still in charge and the dollar is still king.

President Obama is doing the best he can but the powers that be are too strong for even a sitting president to overcome.We have a broken political system that no longer represents the will of the people unless it's something that is of minor import or is a crumb bestowed to "we the people" to change the subject.As long as our politicians enter the political arena expecting to enrich themselves,we can count on them to be led by the nose while they're proclaiming their independence and "maverickness".Bernie Sanders of Vermont,who sponsors bills that are in the best interests of the general public is vilified as a socialist.His own party will water down legislation,like the credit card bill recently passed,then defer implementation for nine months.We need a real accounting of who our politicians truly represent and get rid of the corporate shills who have taken over our system.”

“Apparently you have never had a flurry of bills such as your old car breaking down,and your kid got bit by a dog and you had no health insurance,or your childs school supplies broke the bank.Putting a cap on interest rates would help people with everyday burdens and possibly keep them out of trouble with bill collectors.This is so easy to see it makes me wonder what your motives are for siding with the banks.BTW,we don't all have friends with money to spare.”