This is a bull.

Of course, he's been saying so for quite some time now, but recently he cites these figures to make his point:

• Over 96% of tax-filing adults who completed the Schedule HC had coverage at some point during calendar year 2008; almost 96% had coverage for the full year.

• 45,000 filers, uninsured and deemed able to afford insurance, were subject to a penalty—down 25% from last year’s 60,000 penalized.

• Insurance was unaffordable for about 21,000 (plus 88,000 under 150% fpl) individuals for the full year of 2008 and 24,000 individuals (plus 47,000 under 150% fpl) for part of the year.

Bernie Sanders held a town hall in Vermont a couple of years ago, where he invited Pekka Lintu, the ambassador from Finland, to come and talk a little bit about their society. Free schooling [through graduate school], free child care, nearly-free health care, 30 days paid vacation and 10 national holidays every year, 10 months paid maternity leave, virtually no poverty at all, kids score high on math and science tests, a very egalitarian society, and a very competitive economy.

The weather kinda sucks though.   Read more…

And with good reason.

In a post titled Does Ezra Klein really think “managed care didn’t kill anyone”? Sullivan deconstructs this argument, starting with Didn't kill any one? Oh yeah? and moving on to Controlled spending? Prove it!

Short and [not so] sweet: managed care has killed people, managed care is not the reason health care spending didn't rise very much during the Clinton administration, and in spite of the fact that people fucking hate managed care, it has not gone away.

... because he doesn't need to outrun the bear.

Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winning professor and New York Times columnist, has got running shoes so fabulous that they've probably got wings, and it's you and me he's leaving to be eaten by the health non-care bear.

Krugman does, however, offer some kool-aid to those of us who are about to get eated.

I am here today to say I think the employer-based health care system is dead. I think we need to find a system that’s not built on the back of the government. I am here to also say I don’t think we need to import Canada or any other system. We are going to build an American system because we are Americans and we don’t like any other system. So we are going to build our own….. This is now simply a question of leadership and political will. It is not a question of policy. No more policy conferences.

That was Andy Stern of SEIU, and if you're a fan of political intrigue you should read Kip Sullivan's part 6 to see why it's so funny.

WASHINGTON, December 15 - The Senate on Wednesday will debate for the first time in American history a proposal to create a single-payer, Medicare-for-all health care system.

[...]

To read a summary of the amendment, click here.

To read the amendment, click here.

To sign Sanders' petition, click here.

That was California Representative Pete Stark's take on "managed competition" back in 1993 when it was poised to become ClintonCare.

Celinda Lake, in 1993:

After conducting extensive focus groups on health care, pollster Celinda Lake discovered that the more people are told about the Canadian system, “the higher the support goes.” In contrast, according to Lake, working Americans found the managed competition idea “laughable.”

Because conservatives like it:

I am a retired lifelong conservative Republican, planning to change my registration to Independent. Why? Because of obstructionist practices of the Republicans, such as Saturday night’s vote in the House. Only one Republican voted for the House Bill 3962. All the rest played strict partisan politics.

We need change in our broken health insurance system in America. The best change would be a switch to single-payer — but in the interest of making progress, I implore my Representative, Darrell Issa, to stop playing partisan politics.

Michael Lighty, Director of Public Policy for the California Nurses Association, explains:

The CBO score was bad, senior members of the Regressive Progressive Caucus was against it, the White House indulged in some behind-the-scenes machinations [quelle surprise], and even Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers came out against it at the last minute.

Nor did the Kucinich amendment get a fair shake either.

We still have Bernie Sanders on our side, with plans to introduce versions of both these amendments in the Senate. Call your Senators and tell them you want them to vote Yes on Sanders' Amendment 2837 substituting single payer for the present Senate plan. If you already know who your Senators are, you can call the Capitol switchboard toll-free at 866-220-0044.

... keep in mind the story of what happened to Anthony Weiner:

Back at the end of July, New York Congressman Anthony Weiner and six other HR 676 co-sponsors, brought into the Energy and Commerce Committee an amendment to substitute the text of HR 676 for the House bill. The leadership needed to get the main bill out of committee that day, the day before the summer recess. One day earlier, about a thousand people visited Congress and rallied outside the Capitol for single payer.

I love a good autopsy.

part 1
part 2
part 3 [not yet]
part 4 [not yet]
part 5 [not yet]
part 6 [not yet]

In part 1 Sullivan gave a brief overview what he's planning to serve up in his series showing that yes we do want Medicare for all. Plus, he provides a couple of links that if you want to wonk out you can read for your first homework assignment.

In part 2 he starts to dig into the polling data and gives us an insider's view on citizen juries: what they are, how they work, and specifically how they can be used to further the single payer cause.

For the Greener Good "Vertical Farming" from National Building Museum on Vimeo.

From the office of Sen. Bernie Sanders [via PNHP]

Summary: This amendment would establish a single payer health insurance system that would cover every person legally residing in the United States. The single payer system would be regulated and funded by the federal government through a payroll tax and an income tax, but it would be administered by the states. It would replace the coverage and revenue titles of the current bill, but it would leave in place most of the provisions in the quality, prevention, and workforce titles of the bill. This amendment starts from the premise that health care is a human right, and that every citizen, rich or poor, should have access to health care, just as every citizen has access to the fire department, the police, or public schools.

During World War II twenty million people planted "Victory Gardens" at their homes. They grew 40% of America's produce supply. They did it then. We can do it again!

Sanders' informal style has changed so little that his staff was surprised and amused when a Capitol Hill magazine, Congressional Quarterly Weekly, described him last month as wearing "dark, tailored suits and natty member-of-the-club ties" now that he has become a senator.

Sanders admits to buying one new suit, and says it has brought him such success on issues such as the energy bill and increasing funding for veterans' programs that he may break down and buy another.

"Who knows?" he joked. "With my second new suit, we may pass national health care and end the war immediately."

mixed salad greens, grown locally
mixed fresh herbs [parsley, dill, whatever], grown locally
one or two satsumas, grown locally
pecan halves, grown locally
green onions, chopped
fresh cranberries

put a handful of greens on each salad plate
toss some of the herbs on top of the greens
add chopped onions
arrange satsuma sections on top of greens
add just enough cranberries for color
top with pecan halves
drizzle with olive oil and white wine vinegar

[dried cranberries can be substituted for fresh, and sesame or walnut oil can be substituted for olive oil]

but I kinda like the health care.

It's a podcast, with no transcript, but you should listen when you get an extra couple of hours. Jared Ball and Dedrick Muhammad and the audience cover a wide range of topics. Some random examples, remembering off the top of my head:

running for President as an obscure third party [Green] candidate,

Obama's beer with the white cop who arrested a black Ivy League professor and his complete silence on Oscar Grant,

[cultural reference]

I was a not-quite-teenager, living in Texas, home of the big fight for a woman to make her own decisions about abortion, during the time leading up to Roe v Wade. My best friend's mom and older sister were members of an underground organization that operated illegally to provide both birth control pills and abortions for women who needed them.

here.

I sent an email to Eric Massa some time back, thanking him for voting against HR 3962, and specified that I didn't need a reply, as I'm not one of his constituents. I got a 'form letter' response anyway, and thought I would share it.

Dear [hipparchia]:

Because you have previously been in touch about health issues, I am writing to let you know why I voted "no" on the 2009 major health care reform bill (H.R. 3962). Being accountable to you for my actions, perhaps you will forgive a detailed response.

John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich are correct, it isn't HR 676 and it's not as good as HR 676. It is however a very good compromise, and for all the incrementalists and political realists out there in TVland, it provides a good foundation to build on.

What it is is HR 676 with a chunk of HR 3200 added on at the end, some revenue provisions added, illegal aliens excluded, covered benefits slightly less generous, and the part about turning the hospitals and other institutions into non-profits removed.

And we don't even have to eat any babies!

From hctomorrow at FDL:

It is grossly unfair to require both men and women to purchase a product, then sabotage said product so that it is harmful only to women. Since we have, as a nation, apparently decided that it is somehow immoral to provide proper and affordable women’s healthcare in either the public option or the Exchange, it is only just that we exempt women from the mandate.

That's an opt-out I could support.