Category Archives: Health Care

The Latest Republican Attempt to Kill Health Care Reform

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Personally, I would have liked to have seen Lott stay in his position.  It would have been great for the Democrats.  Sort of like the gift of Dick Cheney that keeps on giving…

The majority leader of the Senate is elected by the majority party in the Senate when the term begins.

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Majority_Minority_Leaders.htm

The Democrats could not forcibly remove Trent Lott.  Only the Republicans could remove Trent Lott from the majority leadership of the Senate. 

“Political controversy ensued following remarks Lott made on December 5, 2002 at the 100th birthday party of Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. Thurmond ran for President of the United States in 1948 on the Dixiecrat (or States’ Rights) ticket. Lott said: “When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over the years, either.”[3]

Thurmond had based his presidential campaign largely on an explicit racial segregation platform. Lott had attracted controversy before in issues relating to civil rights. As a Congressman, he voted against renewal of the Voting Rights Act, voted against the continuation of the Civil Rights Act and opposed making Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a federal holiday.[4] The Washington Post reported that Lott had made similar comments about Thurmond’s candidacy in a 1980 rally.[5] Lott gave an interview with Black Entertainment Television explaining himself and repudiating Thurmond’s former views.[6]”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Lott

Trent Lott did not just resign because of what he said during Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party.  The Republicans did not support him after President Bush would not stand behind him.  Speculation about why President Bush did not stand behind him was because Trent Lott could not get his immigration reform through the Senate.

“President Bush distanced himself from Lott’s remarks, telling an audience the comments “do not reflect the spirit of our country.””

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21973397/

This is yet another ridiculous attempt by the Republicans to kill health care reform.

To Congressional Republicans: How Would Jesus Vote on Health Care Reform?

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Next time you spend time away from politics in prayer, think about this:

Jesus said and did much more about healing the sick than he said about taxes…

Healing the Sick:

1.Matthew 4:24 (Whole Chapter)

So his fame spread throughout all [Luke 2:2 ] Syria, and [ Matthew 4:23 ] they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and [Matthew 8:6 ] pains, [John 10:21 ] those oppressed by demons, [Matthew 17:15 ] epileptics, and [Matthew 9:2, 6] paralytics, and he healed them.

2.Matthew 8:14 (Whole Chapter)

[ Jesus Heals Many ] [For Matthew 8:14-16, Mark 1:29-34; Luke 4:38-41 ] And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw [1 Cor 9:5] his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.

3.Matthew 8:16 (Whole Chapter)

That evening they brought to him many who were [Matthew 8:28, 33; Matthew 4:24 ] oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits [Matthew 8:8] with a word and healed all who were sick.

4.Matthew 10:8 (Whole Chapter)

[Matthew 11:5 ] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, [Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13] cast out demons. [Isa 55:1; Acts 3:6; 20:33, 35] You received without paying; give without pay.

5.Matthew 14:14 (Whole Chapter)

When he went ashore he [Matthew 9:36] saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

6.Matthew 14:34 (Whole Chapter)

[ Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret ] [For Matthew 14:34-36, Mark 6:53-56; John 6:24, 25 ] And when they had crossed over, they came to land at [Luke 5:1] Gennesaret.

7.Mark 1:34 (Whole Chapter)

[ Matt 4:23 ] And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And [Mark 3:11, 12; Acts 16:17, 18] he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

8.Mark 6:5 (Whole Chapter)

And [Mark 9:23; Gen 19:22 ] he could do no mighty work there, except that [ Mark 5:23] he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

8.Mark 6:13 (Whole Chapter)

[ Mark 6:12 ] And they cast out many demons and [James 5:14] anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

9.Mark 6:53 (Whole Chapter)

[ Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret ] [For Mark 6:53-56, Matt 14:34-36; John 6:24, 25 ] When they had crossed over, they came to land at [Luke 5:1] Gennesaret and moored to the shore.

10.Luke 4:40 (Whole Chapter)

Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and [ Mark 5:23] he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

11.Luke 10:9 (Whole Chapter)

Heal the sick in it and say to them, [Luke 10:11; Matt 3:2] ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

12.Acts 5:16 (Whole Chapter)

The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, [Mark 16:17, 18] bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

13.Acts 28:8 (Whole Chapter)

It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and [Acts 9:40; James 5:14, 15 ] prayed, and [ Mark 5:23] putting his hands on him healed him.

Paying Taxes:

Matthew 22:15-22

15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.

16 And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.

17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?

18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?

19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.

20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

As a politician, which one are you doing more about?

 

Free Market Either/Or Government?

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      After listening to some of the tea party people blog about the government and liberals being fascist, it occurred to me that one possible source for this could be the notion that what they perceive as a unilateral intervention by the government into the private sector is what they deem `fascist’ (I have dealt with the historical notion of fascism as it pertains to liberalism in another blog  http://mixermuse.com/blog/2010/01/03/fascism-is-liberal-and-squares-are-circles/).  They have an emotive perception that liberals are fascist.  Conversely, let me state that while I would not think of many Republicans as historical fascists I certainly understand the emotion that results from feeling like you are being forced against your will to do something you totally detest.  I felt the emotion many times when Bush was president (In particular, especially when my tax dollars and our children were being forced into two, in my opinion, absurd wars that actually created terrorists more than diminished terrorism. see http://mixermuse.com/blog/2010/01/08/war-on-terrorism/).  The feeling is that one is powerless to stop the perceived aggression against one’s higher ideals.  I have dealt with the notion of `higher ideals’ to some extent in the previously mentioned blog (also, see http://mixermuse.com/blog/2010/01/19/the-criminal-and-the-human-a-rational-approach-to-liberalism/ ).  What is the higher ideal that is at work in the tea party folks? 

     I think it may be that they believe the `free market’ is the ultimate dispenser of justice and equality over and above the government.  I have also dealt with the notion of the `free market’ in another blog (http://mixermuse.com/blog/2009/12/23/why-i-am-not-a-conservative/)  `Free market’ as well as `government’ is a social, organizing dynamic.  If the metaphysic of the `free market’ is at work in the emotion of an individual (the meaning-bestowing, intention projecting, higher ideals of an individual), the perception of violation, sin or moral conflict is brought to the fore of the individual’s psyche when external interventions are perceived as threatening.  Thus, the emotional latent word `fascism’ seems to capture the dilemma succinctly for the tea party folks. 

     With the metaphysic of the `free market’ there is the idea that all external intervention is wrong.  I have heard many conservative commentators and economists that are lassie-faire draw heavily from the assumption that all intervention (by this government is implied) is disruptive of the implied and pre-understood `justice’ of the free market.  This brings the higher ideals of such an individual in conflict with the compelling need to subsidize these violations with their tax dollars.  Thus, we see the name calling, town hall yelling tea party phenomenon.

This is my answer to those folks:

     Not all intervention is fascist and not all “non-intervention” is free market.  Free market is full of intervention – intervention is another word for competition.  When a big business competes against a small business the small business will lose in a head to head competition because big business is always the “senior partner”.  On the other hand, government intervention is not always wrong as evidenced by the FDIC, NPS, NIST, NOAA, CDC, NIH, FAA, etc.  Why draw an abstract line between government and free market?  Why not look at it in terms of the dynamics of small and large? 

     Small companies can generate innovation and efficiency and so can small governments.  Large companies and governments can provide mass products and solutions at lower costs due to economies of scale.  However, large companies and governments can become fat and bureaucratic and drive out new competition and innovation.  If there are no other big companies that can do battle, then we get monopolies, multi-national corporations, “to big to fail”.  What is there to restrain corporate totalitarianism?  If there is no government that is big enough to intervene then what could possibly stop a corporate totalitarianism? 

     If the free market hits a snag and can’t solve the health care crisis do we keep trying to believe that the issues are only related to the lack of a truly free market; the market is not “pure” but contaminated by government intervention or can we honestly look at our metaphysic of “pure” vis-à-vis “free market”.   If we analyze the economic structures in terms of power structures ranging from small to large scales what we see is a sort of Machiavellian war of all against all; a Darwinian survival of the fittest; a perpetual revolution.  As long as these economies of scale are kept from devolving into totalitarianism the benefits to people, individuals, cultures and societies can be allowed to grow, diversify and thrive.   If the market is left to itself there really is no way for the small to perpetually overthrow the large.  David may have defeated Goliath once but without God to intervene the odds get much worse.  It is free market “religiosity” that makes one think the small can always keep the large in check.  What is needed is battle of the Goliaths.  Goliaths learned a long time ago that collusion (i.e., price fixing) is much better than battle.  If there were no government to intervene, regulate, make treaties, etc. the multi-national corporation would have no incentive to address anything such as a “health care” crisis.  They would simply continue to spin their propaganda about how wonderful they and the free market are while millions continue to die in emergency rooms and without any health care.  The “free market” can work well within limits but every market must have limits as they will not limit themselves in all cases. 

     The only agency that can limit and require intervention when necessary is the government.  The government is not an ideal solution.  It is merely another Goliath among the others.  However, since a democracy (not a fascist or communist state) has other dynamics and entropies at work it has the innate tendency against collusion and for battle.  When the battle is diminished, Wall Street will win every time.  If the government continually squashes other Goliaths, totalitarianism will reign supreme.  In either case, individuals lose.  The natural regulation of the market is not found in Adam Smith or Carl Marx but in-between.  Those that are pure free marketers or communists will effectively promote totalitarianism.  Diversity should not be thought merely in terms of an un-regulated, pure free market but in terms of the natural antipathy between government and business.  When one side of that equation dominates individuals lose.  It is ludicrous to think that Goliaths will not arise when humans are present but Davids do much better when Goliaths collide than when God walks away and lets the Goliaths decide.  I suppose this means God is not lassie-faire.