I think you'll find the following links are the bomb!

Weiner Amendment || Kucinich Amendment || Public Option || Healthcare Reform || Republican Healthcare Plan || Democratic Healthcare Plan || Doctors on Healthcare Reform || Nurses on Healthcare Reform

Don't be shy to click on them and feel free to copy and paste them everywhere. Nudge, nudge, wink wink... And, ain't it funny what news of the CBO scoring Single Payer can do?

Are you going?

I can't, but believe me if I could, I would be there. It's hard not to like stuff like this:

The same financial institutions that caused the economic crisis and took billions in taxpayer bailouts are back to earning incredible profits. Meanwhile, Americans face shrinking pensions, rising foreclosures and unemployment, state budget cuts, predatory lending, outrageous overdraft fees, and sky-high credit card interest rates.

The American people want oversight, accountability and common-sense financial reform NOW. This is the classic David vs. Goliath fight, with Wall Street spending millions and millions on lobbying to defeat reforms that would protect the American people and our economy

Based on Matt Taibbi's post (Thanks BDBlue!), I thought it would be good to bring up some history. You know, there was at one time this thing people would do, called "protest", and occasionally it had results (however meager and fleeting they might be). But results nonetheless:

I live in a deeply red part of a purple state, heavily populated with warmongers and jesus freaks, just the kinds of people who are 'against' socialized medicine.

But of my friends and neighbors who have actual experience of medical care outside this country, it's the very, very conservative ones who admire, and want, the fully-socialized medicine of Sweden and England and the military. The liberals here all like the national health insurance / private practice models of France and Canada.

Coming out of the West, to save the day? Montana, New Mexico, Hawaii, Oregon, Wisconsin, Illinois, and yes, Vermont have Democratic Senators at work on this issue.

The Judicious Use of Surveillance Tools In Counterterrorism Efforts (JUSTICE) Act would reform the USA PATRIOT Act, the FISA Amendments Act and other surveillance authorities to protect Americans’ constitutional rights, while preserving the powers of our government to fight terrorism.

It's possible the Democratic majority in the Senate has decided to act on this now out of real conviction. Feingold, IIRC, has long disliked the USA PATRIOT Act and the FISA legislation; telecom immunity may be on the chopping block if this bill gets traction. Furthermore, there's support for this revision to the odious regulations rammed down our national throats by the w/dick administration in the aftermath of 11 September 2001.

One of my big gripes about the current administration has been how slowly it has moved, in my opinion, on major issues of Constitutional government :
this step by the Democratic Senators co-sponsoring this bill is proof that should a Democratic President choose to do so, foot-dragging appeasement can be cast aside. Would that the Senate would get behind shutting down the entire system of torturing POWs, either with US military personnel or with contractor/mercenary personnel in secret locations, as well as the US-military-run prison camp in Cuba, whence the detainees are not being freed despite US federal judges' orders to do so and the operations of which this administration apparently seeks to move to Bagram.

I'll rant and rave about other subjects with which I have found the new administration's actions or lack thereof disappointing in detail later. For now I'll just list some of them and ask y'all to

Oh Sonia, Sonia, don't toy with me!

"Justice Sotomayor suggested the majority might have it all wrong -- and that instead the court should reconsider the 19th century rulings that first afforded corporations the same rights flesh-and-blood people have.

Judges "created corporations as persons, gave birth to corporations as persons," she said. "There could be an argument made that that was the court's error to start with...[imbuing] a creature of state law with human characteristics."..

Reached for comment at his private manor, concerned citizen Charles Montgomery Burns was not amused:

The Securities and Exchange Commission had accepted a Bank of America plan to pay a mere $33 million fine, but Federal Judge in the case isn't going along with the Merrill Lynch bonus hijinks any more than he will the AIG jiggery-pokery.

Giving voice to the anger and frustration of many ordinary Americans, Judge Jed S. Rakoff issued a scathing ruling on one of the watershed moments of the financial crisis: the star-crossed takeover of Merrill Lynch by the now-struggling Bank of America.

Judge Rakoff refused to approve a $33 million deal that would have settled a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against the Bank of America. The lawsuit alleged that the bank failed to adequately disclose the bonuses that were paid by Merrill before the merger, which was completed in January at regulators’ behest as Merrill foundered.

He accused the S.E.C. of failing in its role as Wall Street’s top cop by going too easy on one of the biggest banks it regulates. And he accused executives of the Bank of America of failing to take responsibility for actions that blindsided its shareholders and the taxpayers who bailed out the bank at the height of the crisis.

It would appear Judge Rakoff is not alone in his disdain for the Wall Street moguls' hijinks.
I Do Like What He Said about Monster stock-option back-dater James Treacy's behavior: "disgusting."

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff called Treacy’s conduct, which prosecutors said earned him at least $14.5 million, “appalling.”

“It is disgusting that this practice went on,” Rakoff said at a Sept. 3 hearing in Manhattan.

Judges are also demanding more accountability from regulators and are urging rule changes to punish wrongdoers.

Rakoff last month refused to sign off on Bank of America Corp.’s $33 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over bonus disclosures. After an initial explanation that the executives in question relied on lawyers’ advice in not disclosing bonus information, Rakoff demanded a fuller explanation of the deal by Sept. 9.

Other federal judges lately annoyed

His commentary echoes that of the founders of Habitat for Humanity, as do some of his methods: those low-income home buyers for whom he builds must put in their own labor during construction. Other than that, though, Huntsville's Dan Phillips, creator of Phoenix Commotion, has taken low-income housing to new edges of green sourcing and affordability.

The materials in homes he's built range from recycled (as in, shattered) tile, mirrors, and shingles to ... cattle bones, and Osage orange (bois d'arc) wood slabs. He portholes his homes with Pyrex lids and crystal platters, and one of his ceilings looks eerily like a picture framer's display (because it's made of discarded sample corners).

Frontline Photo:Armed with a new sense of belonging, the Versailles Vietnamese returned just six weeks after Katrina to begin rebuilding. By January 2006, more than half the community had returned, and the rest of the City began to take notice.

YouTube says this Al-Jazeera video isn't available to embed, though the service claims it'll give easy access to Al Jazeera in English. That you have to click a link, though, doesn't change the value of the reporting -- go watch it, and it'll remind you -- again -- why the Bush administration hated Al Jazeera so much.

It will also show you one part of New Orleans' drowned Ninth Ward making a comeback in spite of, rather than helped by, the governments of the city, parish, state, and nation -- a community in far better shape than many.

Indeed, it wasn't just the hurricane they had to overcome: it was a toxic waste dump the City of New Orleans located in their neighborhood.

Frontline Photo: In early February 2006, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin signed an executive order permitting the dumping of Katrina debris at the landfill, located less than two miles from Versailles.

There's a PBS documentary for Independent Lens, "A Village Called Versailles," you should also see. A community of immigrants, many of whom had come to the US as refugees from the Vietnam War, simply didn't accept that their homes, their businesses, and their community weren't worth saving, points out NOLa's own Times-Picayune.

Perhaps this is the Village Called Versailles we should all respect, if not actively emulate, eh?

Rick Weil, "Father Vien with Recovery Plan." Katrina's Jewish Voices, Object #2196 (September 01 2009, 12:41 pm)

Refusing to give in, refusing to give up, refusing to be beaten.   Read more…

Democratic members of the House of Representatives are hearing the people. Keep the pressure on! It started with the tenacious Anthony Weiner of New York.   Read more…

In the gold-standard (and refereed) New England Journal of Medicine, Robert A. Levine does the arithmetic, and then explains how we can change the game:

However, great savings could be achievable in two areas: administrative costs and unnecessary care. In the current health care system, administrative costs are generally estimated to account for 15 to 25% of total expenditures; if we settled on an estimate of 20%, that would amount to $500 billion annually. The complexity of the present system, with multiple sources of coverage, is the main cause of such high administrative costs.

Which is why making the system more complex, with HR3200s HEXes (Health Exchanges) is, well, doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

That's the top one in the list at DailyKos, where a very talented artist has assembled this tribute.

h/t BDA in VA

h/t

Not all of y'all may remember Siskel & Ebert,

or even Ebert at the Movies With ...

but I do.

Roger Ebert was always the fellow I agreed with about movies. I agree with him about health care reform, too. He's probably got a whole lot more recent experience with the US health care system at the peak of its performance than I have. Here's what he writes on health care:

The notion of "universal health care" does not mean "socialized medicine." It means just what it seems to mean. America is the only developed nation on earth that does not provide it. Why does it inspire such virulent opposition? Who is behind it? It is opposed mostly from the far right, whose enthusiasm seems to be encouraged by financial support from some (not all) insurance companies. Those companies have priced American insurance out of the reach of millions.

One result has been that our national life expectancy ranks 42nd among all developed nations. We spend more on medical care that any other nation, and get less than 41 of them. These figures are pretty clear.

You should read his entire, and excellent, column.

A new poll finds Canadians overwhelmingly love their health care and oppose the Canadian Medical Association's proposal to privatize their health care system:

New poll shows Canadians overwhelmingly support public health care  

Group says advocates of private system are out of touch with most Canadians

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 12, 2009

Contact:
Michael McBane, national coordinator, Canadian Health Coalition, (613) 277-6295, www.medicare.ca

 Read more…

I get email from the ACLU, which I've donated membership fees to and wait my card to carry from. :) But this is a serious matter, and I'm asking y'all to join me in sending this video to the Attorney General along with a letter asking him to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the torture of POWs under the Bush regime.

My somewhat personalized version of the letter's over the jump:

Republican Health Care Politics and Right Wing Thuggery

With the support and encouragement of the Republican leadership, one of America's most despicable political thugs, Dick Armey, a corporate lobbyist funded by the "health" industry, is organizing mobs to disrupt, harass and intimidate every public event organized to discuss the health care reform effort.

Single payer advocates were very effective in coopting the Obama health care house parties, we should be able to coopt these town meetings and overwhelm Dick Armey's thugs. How about single payer activists?

Crossposted from Burnt Orange Report
Fri Jul 31, 2009 at 10:59 PM CDT

The Hill is reporting this national news. Henry Waxman today announced that House leaders have agreed to allow a floor vote on single-payer health care.

This is vital for Texas. We have more uninsured than any other single state, per Susan Combs, Comptroller.

Yesterday, around 20,000 protesters jammed the streets of Kuala Lumpur to protest Malaysia's Internal Security Act, which allows the government to detain people without trial.

Such a public gathering is rare in Malaysia where permits are needed for meetings involving four or more people, reports the BBC's Robin Brant in Kuala Lumpur.

 Read more…

From Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Second Inaugural Address:

I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.

That's where he started, January 20, 1937. He didn't hesitate to show us how bad things were.

But it is not in despair that I paint you that picture. I paint it for you in hope—because the nation, seeing and understanding the injustice in it, proposes to paint it out. We are determined to make every American citizen the subject of his country’s interest and concern; and we will never regard any faithful law-abiding group within our borders as superfluous. The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

Well, we've let him down in the 52 years since, haven't we? Not for lack of beautiful words, not for lack of passionate speakers. Remember how John Fitzgerald Kennedy started

It's not the best piece of writing I've ever done. It's not even the best thing I did this week, and doesn't contain any ideas or insights you haven't seen here at the Mighty Corrente complex already.

What it is, is an attempt to spread some of those ideas you have here to a wider audience. That's why it's a top ten list, something that folks are used to seeing. People who don't even want to know what a "public option" is will read a top ten list. I dunno why, that's just the way it works. If I'd had more time I would have added five or ten more things you can do at the bottom, but what the hell?

Anyhow, here it is.   Read more…

We do, in fact, have a working non-Medicare system of health care in this country now. Its clients are required to move into some of the Medicare programs upon becoming eligible. But members of the active members and retired members of the US armed services in all branches are served through this "socialized medicine". It's run by the government. It serves government employees and their dependents. It works with two different branches of the government: the DoD and the VA. The DoD calls it Tri-Care and the VA calls it HealtheVet.

There are some famous photographs of Lyndon Baines Johnson using his powers of personal persuasion that inspired me: this is how we do what Lloyd Doggett advises. If the Congressmembers and Senators are going to be on vacation in August, meet and greet them. Personally. Persuasively. Like this:

As he did during his days as Senate Majority Leader, give Congress