Too important not to pass along

Copied this from Middle Aged Woman over at Unmitigated.

It's worth watching.

And when it's done, CALL OR WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS.



Because just re-posting cool shit on the web isn't going to get this done.

It's time to Cowboy up.

OK, Mr. President, you have done the right thing for a good long while now. You have reached across the aisle, you have included everyone in all discussions to do with health care reform, even the corporate interests.

And what has been accomplished? Not much. Nothing, actually. Nada. Zip. Zero. Big goose egg.

So it's time.

Time to get pissed.

Time to take action.

You did the right thing. You gave everyone the time and opportunity to do the right thing, to contribute, to discuss, to help, to participate.

And you know what they did? They screwed it up. They buckled to the corporate lobbyists, the scare tactics and the lies. They listened to the hired thugs who broke up town hall meetings.

When most people in America want something done and we want it done now, these few loud buffoons start spewing hateful crap that is so full of lies and distortions as to be laughable if it weren't so utterly terrifying. They distracted our focus. They distracted the focus of Congressmen and Congresswomen like butterflies distract kittens.

Well, now is the time for you to show some real leadership.

Now is the time for you to get fed up and say Enough is Enough, kids. We tried it your way and got nowhere. Now this is what we're going to do and this is how we're going to do it.

We're going to sit down and use plan XYZ to make sure that every man, woman and child in this, the greatest country in the world, has access to health care. We are not going to think about the price tag right now, because you didn't think about the cost when you signed up for these wars we're in. That can wait. Americans are dying now. People should be able to go to the doctor without having to worry if they can pay the rent or buy groceries that week, too. People should not have to look up home remedies online and try to treat themselves because they cannot afford to go get professional care. This is AMERICA. WE. ARE. BETTER. THAN. THIS.

And Congress? You're gonna step into line. Nancy Pelosi? You are gonna whip those blue dog Democrats into line or I'll suggest to the people and to Congress the name of someone who will. Harry Reid? Suck it up, grow a set of balls, or borrow Nancy's if you must, but quit worrying about your re-election and lead your fucking party in the Senate. Chances are your home state would be more inclined to vote for a guy who found something to fight for and did just that, consequences be damned as opposed to some schmoe who changes his opinion with each new Reuters poll.

This country needs universal health coverage. I don't care if that means socialized medicine. I don't care what you call it, so long as it gets done. We need everyone to be able to go to the doctor and get treated. We need for everyone to be able to go to the doctor for preventative care. We need for doctors to earn a decent wage but not be buried with student loans, so how about we forgive those loans after a doc has served in the field for 10 or 15 years? Sound fair? I like it. Also, let's put some restrictions on medical malpractice litigation. That shit's out of control. Do something so doctors won't have to pay half their salaries for insurance. And if a doctor has too many complaints of one kind or another logged against him or her? Investigate and punish. Have a panel of doctors and lawyers do the investigating TOGETHER, and make a recommendation to a licensing board that will hand down any sanctions and have that proceeding be PUBLIC. After all, this is public money going to be paying for all this.

Take the burden of health insurance off the business owners. They're stretched enough. Take over the insurance companies and make them in charge of providing services instead of denying services. Ditch those zillion-dollar CEOs and run the things like the non-profits they should be.

I am not alone when I say that I believe that making a profit by providing life-saving medical care is IMMORAL. Take the money out of it for everyone but the actual providers. Pay doctors and nurses what they are worth, and bureaucrats what they're worth.

It is time, Mr. President!

You did all the right things, and you gave everyone the opportunity to be stand-up guys and they blew it. Now it is time to lead them - by the necktie if necessary - into the place where America deserves to be. We believed in you. We believed in your ability to lead and inspire. Now it's time for you to do it.

Cowboy up, sir!

Health care

So I got to bend Tom Allen's ear for a few minutes last night at a fancy-schmancy fundraiser thing here on MDI. Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell was there, as were at least one other sitting US Senator and a retired ambassador. (For my far-away readers, Tom Allen is a Democratic Congressman running to defeat incumbent US Senator Susan Collins. He's running an uphill battle against an incumbent with a zillion-dollar war chest. Donate to his campaign here.)

The thing I told Tom about? Health care. Or the lack of it.

See, I don't have health insurance. None. Nothing. I get hurt, the hospital will send me the bill for the whole thing, not just the deductible.

So I do what I can to stay safe, considering what I do for work. When I climb, I tie off. I wear gloves and safety glasses and ear plugs and steel-toed shoes. I do what I can.

But I've got a family history of heart disease. My paternal grandmother had several heart attacks before she died, and my father has had bypass surgery.

I have high cholesterol. The doctor prescribed Lipitor years ago, and it worked pretty well. Then I got a new insurance company that wouldn't pay for the top-shelf Lipitor, so I got put on a generic version. Only it nearly killed me. It felt as though my muscles were being dissolved from the inside out. I bruised dark purple at the slightest touch. It felt like I had the flu, but worse. When we read the fine print on the literature, it cautioned that severe muscle pain was a rare side effect and that the medicine should be stopped immediately. So that's what I did.

The doctors tried to put me on another generic thing, but that made me feel about as bad, and I stopped it. At the time, I was employed by a company that provided health insurance, so we decided to wait until the new insurance kicked in and I'd go back on the Lipitor.

Only I lost that job (seems I am not a boat builder!) and now I have no insurance. At all.

So I don't take the Lipitor. And I worry. I don't eat the stuff I should, I know, but from what I have read, diet really has very little to do with cholesterol levels - as little as 10 percent of the overall level is affected by diet. Frankly, that's not enough to convince me to eat sprouts and wheat germ and give up real food like butter and beef.

So I told Tom about this. About how I have no insurance. How I am self-employed and cannot afford what is out there. And how I can't afford the Lipitor I need and how I can't take the generic stuff. I asked him to do something NOW, please, to make it so I could have health care again. I told him that it was IMMORAL for anyone to make a profit providing life-saving care. Health care should be a right, not just something the wealthy can afford. I deserve to be able to take the medicine that may well save my life.

I don't want more money, I want health care when I need it. I want to know that the medicine my doctor prescribes will not be overridden by some bean counter in an insurance company high-rise hundreds of miles away. That's offensive to me, and it ought to be illegal for anyone to override a physician's directives.

In the meantime, we are tightening our belts, which may result in us eating better. More rice and beans and less meat will be on our plates this winter. I just spent nearly the equivalent of a month's rent to HALF fill the oil tank. The thermostat is going to be turned way back this winter. Any money we've got is probably not going to pay for Lipitor. It's just too expensive.

So we hope. We go forward and we hope that an Obama administration will do something that will allow me to have health insurance. We hope that the US Senate has enough Democrats to force the Republicans to play nice.

We hope I don't have a stroke before that happens.

As I told Tom Allen last night, I'll vote absentee just in case.

Update

A meeting has been arranged between my friend and her partner, me, two other friends who are local community activists, and the CEO of the hospital for early next week. The CEO has previously said he wants to know when ANYONE has a negative experience in his hospital. So we're going to tell him what happened. I will update here after the meeting. Stay tuned.