Politics

From the Associated Press comes a report that tells us what we already know...

If the global economy were a 100-yard dash, the U.S. would start 23 yards behind its closest competitors because of health care that costs too much and delivers too little, a business group says in a report to be released Thursday.

Rahm Emanuel: Rush Limbaugh is the "voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party"

SCHIEFFER: We talked about Newt Gingrich a lot this morning and now you bring up Rush Limbaugh. Who do you think now speaks for the Republican Party?

EMANUEL: You just named him: it is Rush Limbaugh. He has laid out his vision, in my view. And he said it clearly. I compliment him for that. He's been very up front and I compliment him for that. He's not hiding. He's asked for President Obama and called for President Obama to fail. That's his view. And that's what he has enunciated. And whenever a Republican criticizes him, they have to run back and apologize to him and say they were misunderstood. He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party. He has been up front about what he views and hasn't stepped back from that, which is he hopes for failure. He said it and I compliment him for his honesty. But that's their philosophy that is enunciated by Rush Limbaugh and I think that's the wrong philosophy for America...

SCHIEFFER: Do you think that he's that important that other Republicans are paying that much attention to him?

EMANUEL: Well, he was given the keynote basically at the [CPAC conference] to speak. When a Republican did attack him he clearly had a turn-around and comeback and basically said that he apologized and was wrong. I think do think he's an intellectual force, which is why the Republicans pay such attention to him.

Torture is AWESOME! Just ignore those crazy WW2 vets. They only had to contend with Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire. These guys have BOX KNIVES! They live in CAVES! They're way more hardcore.

Dick Cheney admits on camera to ordering the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody on multiple occasions - in violation of international law, national law, and the U.S. constitution. According to United States Federal law, each instance is a felony offense punishable by decades in prison.

Dick Cheney just stated on national TV - boldly, unapologetically, directly to our faces - that the Vice President is above the law.

Holy shit.

"But where says some is the king of America? I'll tell you friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the royal brute of Britain. ... so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America the law is king."

- Thomas Paine

... so much for that. The rule of law in America is dead.

Senator Baucus on health care

We all have to keep an open mind on all this stuff, figure out how to get to yes. Everything is on the table. The only thing that’s not on the table is a single-payer system. That’s going nowhere in this country.

Canadian-style single-payer healthcare - publically funded with services performed by private companies - would save everyone money by taking the middlemen out of the picture. With private middlemen, administrative fees account for 15% of costs. With single-payer, administrative fees would drop to around 2%. Everyone could go to their own doctor, employers would no longer have to worry about or pay for insurance. Entrepreneurs and people in small businesses now have to pay more for individual insurance than those in big companies with employer plans - single payer would remove this disadvantage and encourage entrepreneurship.

Under single payer, if a person gets fired and then gets cancer, they still get healthcare. Under this insurance system we have now, if a person gets fired they lose their insurance, and then if they get cancer they're screwed.

Not to mention, insurance companies are for-profit institutions. Like all other businesses, their purpose is to maximize profits and minimize expenses. Generally, the drive to maximize profits is a good thing. But in this case, there is a direct conflict of interest between those trying to make money and those needing care. The obvious result of this has been for insurance companies to deny care whenever they can to those who need it, and that is something that cannot be allowed to continue.

But if we're not looking at single payer, that means we're looking at government subsidizing health insurance companies and/or forcing people to buy health insurance. Which is all kinds of stupid. Not only does it not deal with the core conflict of interest problem, it artificially effects supply/demand and will increase costs.

Health insurance is not health care.

We don't need universal health insurance.

We need universal health care.

The belief that businesses unable to pay the bills ought to file for bankruptcy protection is now a minority viewpoint. The default position to take is now to argue that the federal government should throw money at failing businesses.

Unreal.