Special Interests inside the beltway fight health care reform

President Obama has issued an executive order establishing the White House Office of Health Reform intended to oversee "the federal government's comprehensive effort to improve access to health care, the quality of such care, and the sustainability of the health care system." Governor Howard Dean, M.D., and Democracy for America have launched the "Healthcare for All" campaign at StandwithDrDean.com, and over a quarter of a million people have enthusiastically joined in, spreading the word.

Both initiatives will help spur on reform in the health care insurance industry, and not a moment to soon. According to a recent article from Maggie Fox of Reuters,

"U.S. government economists predict that public and private health spending will hit $2.5 trillion this year, taking up a 17.6 percent share of gross domestic product. Yet studies suggest Americans get poorer care than people in other industrialized countries that have national healthcare plans, and 46million Americans have no health insurance at all."

While Howard Dean is a visible and credible public face, the effort requires your commitment, too. Change doesn't come about in Washington unless politicians know their constituents are paying attention to an issue. You've got to keep writing to them, and to newspapers, and inform your friends, neighbors, and co-workers about the shabby state of affairs caused by insurance company profiteers siphoning off lavish pay and bonuses that drive up all our costs but add no value to the health care industry.

You can help financially, too, even if you're not the sort to write to congress.

The President has nominated Nancy-Ann DeParle (who worked in the Clinton administration) to be Counselor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Health Reform. Barack Obama has a grand vision, he knows the system is broken and he's working to bring meaningful change so that health insurance works for people instead of just corporate profits despite the powerful special interests fighting to influence your representatives in Congress to leave the system just the way big insurance likes it. Don't let the folks in D.C. forget you're out here, watching.

"In 2009, Congress must take up and act on meaningful health reform legislation that achieves coverage for every American while also addressing the underlying problems in our health system. The urgency of this task has become undeniable."

~Senator Max Baucus, (D-MT)
Chairman, Senate Finance Committee
12 November 2008

The President's plan will promote public health and require coverage of preventive services, including cancer screenings. Catch the fever - make some noise!

President Obama Was Correct To Bow To King Abdullah; Conservatives Are Idiots Here

Warning. If you're conservative, you're not going to like this post, ok? But the fact is President Barack Obama was correct in his act of bowing to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah. It's called - drumroll please - the right protocol. What it does reflect, is the end of American Machismo in foreign affairs. You know what I mean. The desire to show we're better than someone else, (because they're different) which could be thought of as a kind of racism since the basic idea is to put someone down because of their race. President Obama is a breath of fresh air here. He seeks to make partnerships around the World, not line up new candidates for industrial exploitation.

Conservatives are upset because many it seems want Obama to show America as tough. OK. That got us September 11th 2001, or what we call "9-11." Yes, much of our foreign relations have been tied to America showing its military or economic muscle over the decades, but now the era of Pax Americana is over. We have to use another approach. It's called diplomacy. But the general, accepted rule is Royalty outranks heads of state. The idea is a President is only such for a few years, but Kings and Queens are that for life.

Obama not only did the right thing, even if his press secretary is trying to make it go away, but Obama signaled a major shift from how America has dealt with the Arab world, and he did it at the right time. We need to have a better image around the World.

Also, bowing is considered a move of affection in East Asia and Obama was expressing just that. What masks an appreciation of Obama's act is simple, pure, American ignorance. The xenophobic idea that one who's of the USA doesn't need to know about another country or its customs, but that everyone should know about ours. It explains why so many of us don't know another language let alone english, or embrace the themes of other cultures. Here, the San Francisco Bay Area is different from America (come to think of it, so is Manhattan and Seattle and LA, and Miami). We don't have that problem to as great a degree as in, say South Carolina, and at least in what I call the "Inner Bay Area", which is between the Pacific Ocean and the Hayward Fault line.

But other parts of America need a whole sale intellectual cleanup. And yes, we have a lot of appologizing to do around the World because we've screwed up so much of late -- that's what created 9-11. Remember our ill-advised President Clinton-directed 1993 Somalian incursion under the idea of a humanitarian mission, when it was really an occupation? It was Osama Bin Ladin's group that got us out of there. And successful, they were emboldened to consider an attack on America which led to 9-11.

The Chicago Sun Times ran a shameful opinion piece on this matter and Sun Times Columnist Steve Hunley wrote a column that represents the macho, non-thinking American more concerned with being tough than being smart. I just hope he's not that way.

Frankly, Rambo was a dumb movie and an even dumber idea. Best to leave him where he belongs -- in the past.

On Brain Solis Post "Can the Statusphere Save Journalism"? No.

Brian Solis wrote a TechCrunch blog post where he states ask "Can the Statusphere Save Journalism?" With all due respect to Brian, he missed the real problem with journalism: money.

Conservatives Can't Stand Being Outside The Lines So They Throw Bricks

O Willie's right. (Or Oliver Willis.) Conservatives, basically shut out of the policy-making process in Washington, have taken to throwing stones and acting, well, immature. But they keep stumbing all over themselves, you know? Take Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who's own attempt to get her voice into the mix is consistently mangled by some bad news coming from her own family.

And she's a well-known Conservative! If it's not her family issues, it's Rush Limbaugh running off at the mouth to get part of his $400 million, or Michael Steele trying to find his manhood, or Chip Saltsman stocking up on racist songs to put on a CD!

No wonder they're angry!

Founders Seek to Buy Skype Back From EBay

The European duo who created Skype and sold it to eBay for billions may have another trick up their sleeve: buying it back. The founders of Skype are said to have approached several private equity firms to make a bid for the Internet calling service.

read more | digg story

Fort Worth Cop breaks nose of deaf man for not obeying orders

FORT WORTH - A deaf man ended up with a broken nose after he found himself in a struggle with a Fort Worth police officer.

read more | digg story

Did ASU snub President Obama, or just blow an obvious opportunity?

After a day of digging and talking to ASU staff and faculty, it seems this may have been more of a bureaucratic snafu than a political snub. Many have questioned whether such a decision not to award Obama an honorary degree could be racially motivated. ASU is intent to say - after the gaffe - that they will "honor Obama in every way possible."

Dawn Teo kept at this story, which was one of the hottest items yesterday at the Huffington Post, and she discovered a university administration about as jittery as cats in a room full of rocking chairs by the look of it.

Faculty and staff at ASU have taken a lot of heat over this issue. Laurie Chassin co-chairs of the ASU Honorary Degree Committee along with Christine Wilkinson, but she is on sabbatical this year and is not involved in this year's evaluations. She reportedly received death threats, though, after this story hit national news on Thursday. An ASU spokesperson said they started receiving hate-email within minutes after the story was published on Huffington Post. Crow's office was barraged with so many calls that many went straight to voice mail.

Dawn's discovered that when the President accepted the invitation to speak at the ASU commencement, the news was top secret, because Obama's press team wanted to announce the story together with the other commencements at the President would appear - but stopping leaks inside the beltway is difficult to say the least. It seems likely the right hand at ASU didn't know what the left hand was up to...

...but they sure did bungle the opportunity, and the coverage, and end up with a lot of egg on a lot of ASU faces.

Meanwhile, as you'd likely expect, the White House seems utterly unconcerned over the snafu in Arizona. There's been no mention of it I can discover via the White House blog or briefings. Today's message was largely about hope that the anecdotal signs of an economic turn-around might signal the start of broader progress reversing the downward spiral, though it's clear the recovery will not be quick.

Read more || Digg this story!