HealthCare Stupidity

via Angry Bear comes this from The Rude Pundit

'United Health Care in Colorado turned down 2-year old Aislin Bates of Denver, Colorado for coverage because they said she was too thin.' ... '8-month old Jaxon Thornburgh of Dallas, Texas was denied health insurance because he needed simple therapy to help with an easily curable condition.' ... 'In New Jersey, HealthAmerica denied doctor-recommended life-saving treatment to cancer patient Kyler VanNocker, who is 5 years old.' ...'Call your Senators and tell them that your children shouldn't ever have to risk losing their health insurance.'

When I stop sputtering I might say something that isn't profane

Marcy Wheeler Channels her inner wingnut

I Really Wish Emptywheel Hadn't Written This Post...:

And so here are my key problems:

1. Marcy is demagoguing the Shelby question, when she really doesn't need to. Shelby's behavior is despicable enough without making insinuations about the dread domination of foreign corporations.
2. By highlighting the 'foreign' aspect, Marcy is playing with the worst kind of xenophobic prejudice. Progressives really, really shouldn't truck in the kind of anti-foreign stereotyping that conservatives love to employ. It's also incidental to the argument; would Marcy have been cool with Shelby's hold if it had been in defense of a Lockheed Martin or Boeing contract?
3. Marcy appears to be suggesting that foreign companies ought not be allowed to bid for major US military contracts. That's all fine and well, but it rather substitutes the domination of US defense corporations for foreign defense corporations. For my part, I'm pretty happy about the idea of letting Airbus into the competition, and of giving them a fighting chance to win.

I am normally a big fan of Marcy Wheeler but I have to agree that she just completely missed the point this time

Because I can't just steal this post

Q: Why are liberals so condescending?

A: Go read for yourself

One of My Senators at work

Thanks, Chris:

Not only will watering down the bill in the name of bipartisanship not give us the needed regulatory restructuring that we need, but it is also politically stupid in another way. Let the Republicans come out opposed to regulating the market and the bankers and then beat them to death with it in the fall. Passing a shitty bill with their support blurs the distinctions between the parties.

But then again, given that some of the Democrats are almost as beholden to corporate interests as the Republicans, there really isn’t much to blur, is there? There really isn’t anything quite as worthless as the US Senate, is there?

I think that it is hard to overstate how annoying it is to have Chris Dodd as one Senator from my state and Joe Lieberman as the other.

Pucker Up Sarah, Limbaugh's Butt Needs Kissing

Palin Camp Kowtows To Limbaugh:

But Stapleton told POLITICO that the comment given to The Plum Line was not specifically aimed at Limbaugh.

Au contraire, says Mr. Sargent, who produced the email he sent, specifically asking about Limbaugh. Says Sargent:

I subsequently emailed her to be absolutely certain that it applied to Rush. She didn’t dispute this, answering that it applies to “anyone” who uses the term.

That’s how it happened.

Bottom line? Apparently perceived 'mindless prejudice and discrimination' and 'gratuitous insults' against her son only matter if Palin can make political hay out of them.

I'm not sure if all this is more of a testament to the hypocrisy of Sarah Palin or the power Rush Limbaugh holds over the Republican Party.

On Lying and Condescension

Condescending?

It’s a strange political world we live in, where pointing out, however politely, that someone is lying makes you uppity and condescending. And where people write entire pieces complaining about how “their side” is called liars without in any way defending themselves from the charge. And where a once serious newspaper publishes all of this.

When someone is feeding you bullshit and telling you it is chocolate cake, why the fuck can't you say "Hey, that isn't cake, that is bullshit". Oh, right. I forgot. That wouldn't be civil. Fuck 'em.

Insurance Companies Are Your Friends

Anthem jacks up rates on California individual policies:

Anthem Blue Cross is telling many of its approximately 800,000 customers who buy individual coverage -- people not covered by group rates -- that its prices will go up March 1 and may be adjusted 'more frequently' than its typical yearly increases.

The insurer declined to say how high it is increasing rates. But brokers who sell these policies say they are fielding numerous calls from customers incensed over premium increases of 30% to 39%, saying they come on the heels of similar jumps last year.

Charming.