UNACCEPTABLE

While the people of this country clamor for the Change that We Need (and were promised in the last election), Congress is busy making deals with the very people whose greed and contempt for the American citizenry caused the problems in our current health care system. The healthcare, pharmaceutical and insurance industries are paying up big time to bend ears and rules their way.



This is completely unacceptable and we all have to do something about it. Who cares if they pass any healthcare bill at all? Whatever they pass will not be the right answer to our problems, it will be the right compromise to continue the current unacceptable system.



The people of this country are aware that the system is broken.

We are aware that changes must be made.

We are being bombarded with propaganda from the healthcare and insurance industries about what change will work and what change won’t. And yet, consistently, polls show that the American public supports a government-run system of healthcare over the current proposals in Congress, which focus more on changing insurance regulations.



We know we are about to get screwed when we read articles like the one published in today’s Washington Post, “Industry Cash Flowed To Drafters of Reform.” (The title of this post is a link to the article-just click)

The voice of the people has been excluded from the debate and the new law is being written by private interests with only a profit motive. Unacceptable.

“Health-related companies and their employees gave Baucus's political committees nearly $1.5 million in 2007 and 2008, when he began holding hearings and making preparations for this year's reform debate." Unacceptable.

“During a Senate break in late June, for example, Baucus held his 10th annual fly-fishing and golfing weekend in Big Sky, Mont., for a minimum donation of $2,500. Later this month comes "Camp Baucus," a "trip for the whole family" that adds horseback riding and hiking to the list of activities." Unacceptable.



“…Friends of Max Baucus, and his political-action committee, Glacier PAC…collected $3 million from the health and insurance sectors from 2003 to 2008, about 20 percent of the total, data show. Less than 10 percent of the money came from Montana." Unacceptable.

“Many former Baucus staff members, including two chiefs of staff, lobby on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry and other health-care players and have been closely involved in negotiations on the legislation.” Unacceptable.

“Baucus and his aides strongly dispute any assertion that campaign contributions have an impact on the senator's policy views and proposals…During an interview earlier this year with the Missoulian newspaper, Baucus said that "no one gets special treatment." He added: "Your word is your bond back there." Unacceptable.

Just know this: The American People are not stupid. Members of Congress can SAY whatever they want and conveniently choose to BELIEVE anything they want, but the American people aren’t buying a word of it—not from ANY of these clowns.



And, President Obama, you said that it was the hard work, determination and small donations of people like me that helped you to get elected. If that is true, then here is some advice from someone who worked on your campaign: DANCE WITH THE ONE THAT BROUGHT YOU. You better figure out a way to pull this healthcare bill out of the crapper. Anything less than real change is Unacceptable. (Can you say “one-termer?”)

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And a little sidenote to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: Guess what? Blocked your emails. Until you can control your members and start choosing the best interests of the nation over party, you can kiss my small donations good-bye. Oh, I know; you can make up my measley funds with money from your corporate friends, but you risk losing it all again in the next election, don’t you?? YOUR ACTIONS ARE UNACCEPTABLE.


This graft and corruption is not happening behind closed doors, in back rooms or alleys, it is happening RIGHT in front of our eyes and for the television cameras. The news media is reporting it and anyone that is paying attention should be aware that Congress and Senate are FOR SALE. If the current sham of a health care plan gets passed, the people of this country will share some of the blame.

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Moyers and Winship Lay it On the Line

Bill Moyers and Micheal Winship have “Some Choice Words for the ‘Select Few.’” And they lay it out brilliantly. Has anyone read this article? It’s a must-read for anyone that is having trouble grasping the reason for everything that is wrong in this country.*



Blame the illegals, blame the poor, blame the unemployed, blame the liberals, blame the conservatives, blame the religious zealots, blame the godless, blame the blacks, blame the Asians, blame the Hispanics, blame the welfare recipients, blame the younger generations, blame the environmentalists, blame the scientists, blame the feminists, blame Hollywood…have I missed anyone?
All of the above is a con man’s trick to get you to look the wrong way while the real culprits rip you off and make their getaway. BLAME THE SYSTEM.

And so, what is the answer? As with any other very large problem, there are many answers, many actions for us to take on many fronts to constructively confront the problem. But I did find one answer among the comments following this article:

Sun, 07/12/2009 - 18:05 — Damon Neal (not verified)
This problem will not go away until Congress enacts a law that repeals the 1868 Supreme Court ruling that granted "personhood" to corporations. Failing that, a group; perhaps the ACLU or MoveOn.org; could search for a case to reintroduce the issue to the Federal Court system. In 1864, former corporate lawyer Abraham Lincoln wrote, "Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed." Remember this was 4 years before the actual decision was handed down. And if you read the history of this decision, there is evidence that a clerk inserted the language and that the Supreme Court itself never actually made the specific ruling. Perhaps a there was some skullduggery at work. However it happened; it's time to de-person the corporations.

If Corporations did not share the same status in the eyes of the law as any other citizen, then the Supreme Court would not be able to find that paid lobbyists for the corporations have free speech rights to flood campaigns with money. It is not even a hidden pay-for-play scheme; it is an open bribery, as the Moyers/Winship article points out. Corporations are not people and they should not have the same rights as people do. This one change in the law could go a long way to fixing our current crisis of government corruption.

A total overhaul of the campaign system could follow on the heels of such a change. Imagine a system where every candidate starts out with the same chance and has access to the same media, etc. We might actually get some decent people with better ideas and the best interest of the country to run for office. And they might actually be able to work the will of the people once inside rather than being forced to play the corrupt system that currently exists.

On a similar note, I recently became aware of the following website. NPR decided to turn the “tables” (or the cameras) on the healthcare industry by taking pictures of the lobbyists and requesting that people identify them. Check it out here:
http://www.npr.org/news/specials/2009/hearing-pano/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105923744


As many people are aware, Senator Max Baucus is at the center of crafting the supposedly “reformed” health care system. It appears as though very little, if anything, is actually going to change under Mr. Baucus’ leadership. It becomes crystal clear why that is when you take a look at the following chart, created by the Sunlight Foundation and found at the following url: http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2009/06/22/the-max-baucus-health-care-lobbyist-complex/



What I have pasted here is a cropped image of the actual web of bribery and corruption. Please click on the link above to see the full image (and join the Sunlight Foundation if you are so inclined).

Now, for a nice, bone-jarring overview, check out this website that lists the monies paid out by the 250 largest lobbying firms:
http://projects.publicintegrity.org/lobby/top.aspx?act=topfirms

Who can now deny that our federal government is a corrupt organization? Everyone talks about the corruption, journalists, bloggers, interest groups and others have provided the evidence of this corruption. What are the people waiting for?

Who believes that the government will cleanse itself? If you do, please post comment below.


*I am strongly considering cancelling my online subscription to WaPo considering the obvious collusion and perversion of journalistic integrity that is going on there. I don’t pay anything for it so I am not sure that it would send any message meaningful to those in charge at the once-respected news outlet.

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