Universal Healthcare

From the National Association of Free Clinics event going on now in Kansas City, MO:

I live in Black Mountain where (semi-D) Heath Shuler is the congressman for this Congressional district. The ol' Quarterback (recipient of of 130k in health care industry donations)has stated his opposition to a Public Option because it "is not deficit neutral." That seems to be politico speak for giving himself a rationale for voting against health care reform.

It's a facile argument for someone who is more than willing to support whatever American militarism the previous administration proposed but, hey if that floats his navy is fine with me. So my modest proposal is to have Congress pass a war surtax on the profits of the suppliers from Lockheed-Martin to Haliburton to the bomb makers, the bullet makers, the Humvees, KBR ect, etc., etc., any corporation which makes a profit feeding the war machine. The US is now in the phase of imperialism where a country wages perpetually so lets let those war profits work for everyone.

I've not much to say except to point you to this diary by NYCEVE on DKos. I am stunned that Senator Hagan would take this stance. I called Hagan's office and whoever answered said Senator Hagan hadn't yet decided whether or not to support a public option.

Barack Obama kicked off his general election campaign in Raleigh, NC on Monday, an indication that North Carolina will be a targeted state in the fall. Obama delivered a major speech on the economy at the NC Fairgrounds, marking the beginning of a two-week tour through the state, focusing on Economic Policy.

During his speech, Obama went into full general election mode, launching a direct hit on McCain’s Economic policy, calling it a “full throated endorsement of Bush’s Policies.”

Obama Slams McCain's Economic Policy

As today marked the 30th anniversary of the “War on Cancer,” Elizabeth Edwards and Lance Armstrong appeared at a US Senate Committee Panel to push for a renewed fight against cancer.

Elizabeth Edwards, one of the nation’s most outspoken and effective advocates for universal healthcare coverage, takes this issue very personally. A survivor of breast cancer, Elizabeth told a panel led by Senator Ted Kennedy, “…we’ve chosen as a nation to turn our backs on some of us who have the disease. I urge you to reform health care responsibly, morally, and aggressively.”

Yesterday, I packed up my laptop, tripod and videocam and headed over to Chapel Hill to vLog John and Elizabeth Edwards' appearance on the Ed Schultz Show. It's always a double plus to see those two together! (It's apparent why their marriage has lasted 30 years). ;)

We need some activists to lend support to this issue in this legislative season.
I hope BlueNC bloggers will lend a hand.

From the Washington Post.

Welcome to the new dark ages, the beginning of the time after the Age of Oil and the Empire of the United States.

For can we really be a superpower when children die from tooth decay?

That's Deamonte Driver, 12, late of Prince George's County Maryland in the foreground with his mother behind him.

"I certainly hope the state agencies responsible for making sure these children have dental care take note so that Deamonte didn't die in vain," said Laurie Norris, a lawyer for the Baltimore-based Public Justice Center who tried to help the Driver family. "They know there is a problem, and they have not devoted adequate resources to solving it."

So do we, Laurie. So do we.

I first saw this story over at Ezra Klein's place, but it is also reported in the  Washington Post.  The "non-partisan" McKinsey Group sought to determine how much we overpay for healthcare by constructing an "Estimated Spending According to Wealth" index, that takes into account not only how much a country spends on health care, but also its per capita earnings.  The results?

In this new report MGI finds that the United States spends approximately $480 billion ($1,600 per capita) more on health care than other OECD countries and that additional spending is not explained by a higher disease burden; the research shows that the U.S. population is not significantly sicker than the other countries studied.

The reason why we pay $1,600 more per capita, even when you figure in that we make much more per capita than many countries, is because of....the free market.

I received a disturbing email from NC Spin, indicating that Gov. Easley, was working in Universal Health Care.  Wait, you might be thinking, R.P. likes Universal Health Care and is V.P. of a non-profit that is focused on Universal Health Care - so why the "disturbing"?  The email, unfortunately, makes it clear that our "Democratic" governor is falling for the Republican-lite version of Universal Health Care that I like to call "Forced Health Care".

Governor working on Universal Health Care Plan
We also learned that Governor Mike Easley has asked the Department of Health and Human Services to crunch numbers regarding a proposal for an individual universal health care plan to cover all our citizens. The goal, we heard was to include this plan in the Easley budget proposals to be submitted to the legislature soon. The sketchy details we get are that the coverage will be mandatory and will be financed by employer payroll taxes. Massachusetts and California are currently working on similar plans.