Dr. No

When one thinks hypocricy has reached its nadir, we now have the example of polliticians who are usually anto-abortion seeiming to think that the right to life ends at birth. Thereafter, good luck and don't expect medical care unless you are privieleged . And too bad if you lose your home and have to file for bankruptcy because of inadequate medical coverage. If these people are helped , the wealthy may have to pay higher taxes which they should have paid to help pay for the cost of an unnecessary war.

Obama's numbers may be down, but Americans are hardly embracing the GOP's constant opposition and demonizing of our president.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Be ye S'RPIZED th' House bill be doin' nothin' wi' regard t' reimbursin' doctors an' hospitals?

Tha' AMA endorsement be no' comin' fer free!

Th' majority party o' th' Congress be in some ri' serious need o' testicular enhancement! Th' President, too - he be no doin' 'imself any favors acceptin wha'ever milkquetoast be makin' it through th' process just t' be able t' say 'e got SOMETHIN'. This be one o' th' times tha' somethin' NO be better than nothin'!

An' some o' tha' war chest o' money they be havin' be needin' t' be spent on th' offensive t' annihilate th' lyin' an' distortin' already goin' on fr'm Republicans an' health care corporate interests! An' no more o' those "story" ads, neither - get t' th' point o' wha folks be bein' frightened 'bout, an' blast away!

Speakin' honest, I don't be holdin' out much hope o' th' fundamental change we been promised happenin' wi' this. I be bloody fed up wi' th' whole charade!

Arrgh!

It isn't 1994 anymore. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and their health coverage with it. Who knows how many more are afraid of losing their jobs, or have had their hours/pay reduced and can hardly afford their health care coverage now. I really think the American public as a group is ready for change and not terrified of a government option. I mean, look at what de-regulation has done to our financial institutions.

But of course any real health care reform will depend of the Democrats standing tall and firm. I will wait to hold my breath on that one.

Considering Kristol's track record for being wrong on just about everything, I hope the Republican's continue to follow his advice.

True enough, but at this point, Kristol and his Insane Clown Posse are not the problem. We already know the GOP is against any kind of health care reform. They claim (with a straight face) that our health care system is the greatest in the world, facts or figures be damned.

The real problem is the Congressional Democrats. Get them on board, and we could get something done.

This is the moment for the Democrats to demonstrate that they can lead and legislate.

You may as well ask me to grow wings and fly. Leadership takes spine.

Given that Bill Kristol has proven himself to be 100% wrong about every single issue out there, you'd think the smarter Republicans would take this column as a sign that they need to support health care reform immediately.

We don't be needin' t' be worryin' 'bout Republicans not supportin' health care reform.

We be needin' t' worry 'bout th' Democrats bein' apparent' unable t' do anythin' bu' wave th' white flag o' surrender t' th' backs o' a scattered an' retreatin' in disarray opposition!

Wha' in th' name o' FDR's balls will it take fer 'em t' be mountin' a sortie - no' even a full-fledged charge be necessary, bu' just a wee sortie - an' get this thing done ri'?!

By thunder they be a frustratin' bunch o' stingless jellyfish!

YARR!

I've wanted to post this story for a while but haven't got round to it until now. I am from England and have had experience of the NHS (English) health system and the US system. A few years ago, my father was diagnosed with Leukemia. He had about one and half years of treatment through the NHS system of chemotherapy, long terms stays in "sterile" rooms during recovery and a stem cell transplant. I don't think there is much more that could have been done and they reached a point where the doctors said that to us. At this point, my dad cashed in a life insurance policy which allowed early payout in the case of terminal illness and decided to take his chances at Sloan Kettering cancer hospital in New York. There, the doctors said that there was a very very slim chance of a further stem cell transplant being successful and thought that despite my dad's age he was otherwise healthy enough to survive the treatment. To be fair to them, they didn't put the chances higher than 5% and there was debate amongst the family as to whether it was worth the pain and suffering of further chemo etc. for the negligible chance of success. Of course, the decision was that if we didn't try everything, we would as a family regret that for ever. We had the money via the life insurance policy so we were in a happy position to be able basically to afford treatment in the US. We were told that Sloan Kettering board had to approve going ahead, which they did even though we now understand that only 2 doctors of the 12 thought that it was worth doing the treatment.

Ultimately the treatment was not successful and my dad spent about a month in a coma in intensive care before passing away. The two month stay in Sloan Kettering had cost us $1 million - more than the money from the insurance policy and we have only recently finished paying off the rest.

I think that these experiences raise a number of issues about health care none of which I am clear have easy answers.

1. At no time in either the government run health care nor in the private system did I feel that the doctors wanted anything more than to cure my dad; that is, where it might have been thought that the NHS wouldn't recommend something as being too expensive, they in fact gave my dad what I consider to have been a five star service. Similarly in Sloan Kettering, I always thought that the doctors were realistic about the treatment's chances and did not encourage us to do expensive treatments which were not merited.

2. on the other hand, I did feel that there was a subconscious element in the US to be more "optimistic" about the chances than might otherwise have been the case. Or it might have been that the NHS were more "negative". it is very hard to know - all I can say at this stage is that the expensive treatment didn't work.

3. The bills for Sloan Kettering after my father passed were absolutely horrendous - each doctor submitted diferent invoices (the radiologist, the anasthesatist etc) so it was almost impossible to review them in any intelligent manner. Each drug that my dad was taking (and there were a lot) were invoices separately; and then we had the charge for stay at the hospital, the ICU, the use of the ventilator etc. In principle, don't mind paying for healthcare but if something could be done to sort out those separaet invoices that would be great.

4. there certainly was rationing of care in the UK but it appeared to me to be the doctor's choice, not the government. If the doctor(s) thought it wasn't worthwhile that would be the choice. Similarly for Sloan Kettering, which had to provide board approval for the treatment even though there was no insurance company involved.

The most fundamental point is that is that the NHS doctors came from the point of view that healthcare is a human right; not a service. The US doctors, albeit excellent and compassionate, were just providing a service. I know which one I preferred.

Sorry to hear this.

I have one in-law who is dying of lung cancer, another who has had bouts with leukemia, and another who last year ran up a $550,000 bill for pneumonia that nearly killed him.

I know which one I prefer, too...

"...they will--rightly--be back in electoral trouble before long. "

THE SOONER THE BETTER!
AND OBAMA'S POPULARITY IS, THANKFULLKY, TAKING A PLUNGE.
THANK GOD AMERICANS ARE OPENING THEIR EYES FOR THIS CARTER PART II

53,

I think part of the problem is that treatment is so expensive - i don't think you can get away from that. it costs money to run a ventilator, to employ doctors and nurses and to fund research. I dont' think i'll ever take the NHS for granted again after experiencing the costs of a us hospital doing a fraction of what the uk hospitals did.

53,

yeah that is certainly true. one thing i've always been aware of is that doctors get paid so much more in the US. Both my parents were GPs here in UK and we were well off but it took my parents having a side business and some canny investment to send me and my bro to private school. on the other hand my uncles and aunties who live in the US and who were doctors were noticeably better off. my parents always said that doctors were respected more in the us than in England and that e/one took doctors for granted here; but neither of them would have thought that getting rid of the nhs was a good idea.

i also think it has something to do with the university system here. it is essentially free to study to be a doctor here whereas it costs a lot to do it in the states. when doctors qualify most if not all realise they have some debt to pay to the system and are happy working for the nhs. that is why nhs care is by all standards of a better quality than private health care here.

[...] to know who is fighting against health care reform? Bill Kristol. He was also one of the loudest voices supporting the war in [...]

So we now know that Bill Kristol is an irresponsible, arrogant and intellectually bankrupt fraud. But we knew that years ago. Other news for the day: spob's first name is joaquim, and he's still not worth responding to. Well done to our care providers here. Troll obesity can be reduced. You just have to wean them off a high-fat diet of attention.

"So we now know that Bill Kristol is an irresponsible, arrogant and intellectually bankrupt fraud. But we knew that years ago."

Might make you wonder why he's still given such wide respect among our media elites and top space in our most respected and influential news outlets. Nah, just kidding.

The President said it best himself...

"Just the other day, one Republican senator said -- and I'm quoting him now -- "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him." Think about that. This isn't about me. This isn't about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America's families, breaking America's businesses, and breaking America's economy."

Those that Kristol are instructing are actually working AGAINST the best interests of their constituencies - and they're fool enough to fall for their rhetoric.

This is just a political game to the republicans, with no "empathy" for those real Americans in real trouble. But, it goes with the RNC mantra - I've got mine, screw you. They'd rather play games and win than do what's necessary and what's right.

When the republicans decide they want to join the adult table and be a constructive part of the process I'll listen to their words, but until then, it's all just propaganda.

Good to know that for Kristol, partisan politics -- and quarterly earnings of Big Pharma and Insurance -- still trump the welfare of his fellow citizens.

Looking at the opening of this piece I was inspired to verse:

Rush Limbaugh is red
Sarah Palin is thru
Bill Kristol's a liar
They'll always screw you.

I found the Shiller from Wasilla so inspirational in her Quitter's Twitters for Bullsh*tters....

[...] Dr. No The sun rises in the east. The sky is blue. Bill Kristol advises Republicans to vote against health care reform. The [...] [...]

[...] Guess who’s leading the fight against health care? Bill Kristol. The same genius behind the Ir...swampland.blogs.time.com [...]

This post is a perfect example of why I can't stand Joe Klein. His writing is devoid of any insight or logical reasoning whatsoever.

Conservatives believe (rightly so in my opinion) that the current health care reform bills will make things much worse, and somehow they're nattering nabobs of negativity for opposing them?

And this suggestion that Bob Dole should have been a supporter of government run health care because he was shot up in the hills of Northern Italy during WWII and subsequently saved by Army medics is almost self-parody, although typical of Joe Klein's level of analysis.

"His writing is devoid of any insight or logical reasoning whatsoever."

No, actually, he does have insight and logic. You just don't happen to agree with him.

Try that idea out instead...

I'm horrified and miserable that this man is our president. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt but so far he has been absolutely wrong about everything and the Dems in congress are worse. His performance last night was abominable. He's either a comlpete idiot or completely delusional. I've NEVER seen more bold-faced liars than he and congress. The man NEVER answers questions, never even gets real questions, and is the biggest BS artist to come along in ages.
I am truly ashamed and embarrassed to still be a Democrat. They're all nuts and are destroying my country and my children's future. 90% of Americans are covered by health insurance and the ones who aren't will still be treated. Reform Medicare and Medicaid which the Democrats invented and which have grown unsustainable just like every other government program does eventually. Now we're supposed to trust that this new government program will work just fine? It's laughable. He's supposed to be so brilliant, why not insist on an overhaul of the government's part in Health Care first, and perhaps better regulation of the pharm industry and insurance industry in regard to chronic health cases and catastrophic illness. BUT THIS PLAN THEY'RE PROPOSING WILL FORCE US ALL TO EVENTUALLY HAVE GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTHCARE. THERE'S NO OTHER WAY TO SUSTAIN THE COST EXCEPT TO RAISE TAXES ON US ALL AND TO PUT PRIVATE INSURANCE OUT OF BUSINESS SO THAT WE'LL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO HAVE THE "PUBLIC OPTION" THEY NEED ALL OF US IN IT TO EVEN BEGIN TO MAKE IT WORK. THEY ARE ALL LYING WHEN THEY SUGGEST OTHERWISE. WAKE UP PEOPLE AND LOOK AT WHAT'S GOING ON HERE.