Arkansas Blog

Here's the deal - Blanche is going to lose. She should face facts & do what's right and vote for debate. It's about what you do as a human being, Blank; not about re-election. But I know you you'll never admit some sorry joker like Gilbert Baker is going to beat you. Can't blame you for that, as he's overall, a weak opponent, but you're weaker because you are wishy-washy on EVERYTHING.

I have no idea why I decided to this to myself first thing in the morning, but I went to Blanches website and threw up a little in my mouth! I was looking for anything she might have to say about health reform. I am ready to boot Blanche and hire a real Democrat.

What a wonderful gift being offered by the health professional of the state. I hope they are able to really help these folks instead of a one-time band aid.

It would be interesting to interview these folks and listen to the stories about how they came to be without insurance. Would probably make you vote out Ross and Lincoln. Still I bet you could find a bunch who DO qualify for care, just need to be led through the hoops.

blanche will vote FOR moving the bill to the floor for debate. When the actual health care bill comes up for a vote later, she will vote AGAINST it. A vote FOR moving the bill to the floor for debate guarantees that the bill will be approved later on. It is as simple as that. Regardless of how she votes she will be defeated in the general election in 2010.

How to Kill the Health Care (one bad Bill)

It's our money. Trips to D.C. won't do it, beating on the office doors won't either.

Making a trip to our bank first thing in the morning will !

Withdraw all {day 2 day} bank accounts down to their minimum.

Take the funds in a Cashiers Check only (DO NOT CASH THEM)

Tell the banker "you might re-deposit" once Congress starts listening to the 85% of the people that don't want this crap !

Otherwise, you might just have to work out of a shoe box for the next couple of years.
The bank isn't paying me anything to use my money.....what less than 1%.

The bankers will be screaming their heads off and Congress will hear them, long before they even give you the time of day !

LET'S ROLL PATRIOTS DRAW THOSE ACCOUNTS TO THE MINIMUM FIRST THING IN THE MORNING "BEFORE THEY VOTE ON THIS BILL"

I believe that the deal has already been cut. The Senate bill will pass. It will go to conference and the resulting bill will look more like the house bill. It will be passed by both houses of Congress and become law. Eventually the actual cost of health care will exceed the projected cost by approx. 700%. Due to the actual costs far exceeding the projected costs severe rationing will result.

Don't be a tool, Mr. Bill.

The working man and woman are the people who need the safety net.

It's the rich, the people making a profit off of you now, who don't want it.

So why do you let them tell you what to do? Why do you take your marching orders from the 1% of the people who control 95% of the money in this country? Why do you work so hard to give them the rest of our money?

I'm annoyed at Bill, but whatever, he's still working to pass health care reform I guess.

"Still I bet you could find a bunch who DO qualify for care, just need to be led through the hoops."

You'll also find a bunch who have insurance but cannot afford to go to the Dr. or get test done because they cannot afford the office visit/testing because they have such a high deductible so they just wait until they are so sick they have to use the ER or die.
Hell, I had to put off some testing earlier this year when we did not have the money to pay the deductible before the endocrinologist (Little Rock Diagnostic) would even draw blood or talk to me.

"LET'S ROLL PATRIOTS DRAW THOSE ACCOUNTS TO THE MINIMUM FIRST THING IN THE MORNING "BEFORE THEY VOTE ON THIS BILL"

hahahahahahahaha, this is a joke post, right?
Or will you be one o the teabaggers outside the clinic today yelling stupid shit?
Patriots, my ass....

Whether you are working or rich, if you continue betting on a team that has a 100% failure rate then ALL will pay the price. The stimulus (pork) bill is a total failure. Now they are talking about REPEATING the failure. There are consequences for ALL of us if this irresponsible spending of money that we don't have continues. My greatest concern is for the small businesses that face a huge increase in taxes that will result in more business failures and increased unemployment. obama told us that with the stimulus bill we would NOT see the unemployment rate rise to 8%. We are now facing a 10.2% rate that is rising. The number of REAL unemployed in closer to 17%. God help us!

Well,
I'm for government backed health care. Period. It's a human right.

Part of our problem with all this, I guess, is the in the states we have a tradition of "civil rights." These prevent the government from infringing on your religion, speech, press, etc. But in other countries with government backed health care they often have a tradition of both "civil rights" and "human rights."

Human rights (IMHO) being the right to justice, equality,dignity and freedom. It seems these are rights more in line with those stated in our Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." That's a little different from our perspective of keeping government from only infringing upon speech and press, etc. It says we are created with rights that cannot be taken away, and that they are creator given. Rights given because you are human. Not because you're an American citizen, not because you are French or British. But because you are human.

We, the people in this country, must begin to take care of each other--to become our brothers keeper *in the most balanced way possible*. If a person in your family suffers, then so do you. It's the same for your brothers in citizenship. Now, I'm not knocking "rugged individualism." But that idea is most often an illusion these days--try being a rugged individual without access to a doctor or gasoline, for instance. Life will be hard at best. The US is no longer a frontier society, yet in many ways we continue to behave as one. We are growing up and it's time to put away childish things.

If this health care bill doesn't work out, then we'll fix it. And then we'll fix it again--it can never be set in stone. But the idea is to finally make people realize that YOU have rights because you are human, and one of these is to be healthy, no matter what your station in life.

I think that a free health care clinic is wonderful. However, someone has to pay for it. It is not free to someone. I just hope that the source of funding for this health care clinic continues. If the economy keeps tanking then the only source of funding will have to be the government. Eventually as the economy tanks even the government won't be able to fund it. A bankrupt government can only do one thing----print money that has no value.

Oh, and while I'm at it, a quote:

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." - Dom Helder Camara

blanche is a woman and they love drama. I think that it is very dishonest on her part to pretend that she hasn't made up her mind when she has already cut a deal with reid. They both know what the truth is. Anyone who pretends that this reality doesn't exist is being hypocritical. reid would have never brought this up for a vote if he didn't know that he had the 60 votes.

"I'm for government backed health care. Period. It's a human right."

I doubt that Health care is a right, it's a privilege bestowed by a economy and a society that can provide the infrastructure for it. It's alot like education or a welfare check, which are both just privileges that can be granted because of the current status of the Government to be able to provide them. However the less educated see the above as a right even though they feel to realize how those privelges exist. If we fell into anarchy or lost our government, the rights of speech, religion etc could still be carried on because a individual can carry those rights on through self practice. However, can you self operate or medicate yourself if the infrastructure is not there? I guess food would also be a human right, but at least one can grow a garden if a centralized government doesn't exist.

Supposedly it takes 60 votes to move for debate without filibuster, but only 51 votes to approve. Reid doesn't need Blanche to vote yes on the bill, he just need's her to vote yes on debate. Landrieu held out for a $100 million dollar bribe and I bet Blanche is too.

Anybody watch Hardball last night? Chris Matthews calling out Sen. Judd Gregg on the Republican'ts 60+ year history of doing absolutely nothing to address health care in this country...I haven't seen CM get that fired up in a while. Video on click.

"blanche is a woman and they love drama. "
--'bigotguard'

OH NO you didn't say that! repeat after me...

I'm The Biggest Idiot Ever!
I'm The Biggest Idiot Ever!
I'm The Biggest Idiot Ever!
I'm The Biggest Idiot Ever!

'bigotguard', Just a deeply flawed individual an abusive egomaniac, whose life is ruined by racism and corruption and his own weaknesses.

oh, must have hit a raw spot! Don't you think women like drama? I do.

Health care is a privilege to those who can afford it but we are getting to the point that none of us will be able to afford it when the government goes bankrupt. That will be the legacy of obama/pelosi care.

The fossils among us will remember that back in the '60s there was a big ocean liner converted by the Red Cross to provide health care to the third world - it was named Hope.

It's a goddamned shame that we have become like the third world countries we once ministered to. These are the fruits of conservatism.

It's going to be a great day in Little Rock for the people who attend the free health clinic. They'll have Keith Olbermann, Bill Halter, and hundreds of volunteers to thank for their free medical care. They will not have Blanche Lincoln or the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce to thank......so let us all remember that clear into next year when it's time to vote and time to renew your chamber membership.

America made a mistake a couple of hundred years ago by thinking that health care was in the same category as selling hats or jewelry or farm wagons. It is not. Even way back then people could live without stuff, but they all eventually got sick. Retail medicine has always been out of reach for some. But for many years a working man could find a way to see a doctor by bringing chickens or eggs or corn to trade for services rendered.

After WWII doctors in Fort Baptist received 3 dollars for an office call, 4 dollars for a house call and 5 dollars for middle of the night emergency house calls. One old doctor told me he took in 640 dollars the first month he was in practice after the war and he thought he was rich. But somewhere in the 60s the bean counters invaded health care and maximizing your profit plans came along coupled with high tech machinery everyone thought they had to have. All that combined with pure ole greed made it impossible to self-finance your own health care unless you were rich.

Stogy old insurance companies morphed into money machines offering health insurance, something not widely accepted until the 1950s. By the 60s most good jobs came with Cadillac family insurance that covered everything and was paid for by the company. But as the cost of medical care skyrocketed the burden of paying for health insurance was gradually shifted to the worker. Every year brought higher rate increases to the point that many employers started to step out of involvement in their worker's health plans.

By 2007 62% of bankruptcies in the US were linked to medical expenses and of that 62%, 80% of those declaring bankruptcy HAD health insurance. It simply costs too much for health care in America today. Big Medicine, Big Pharma, and Big health insurance companies have spun out of control in their thirst for profits. Because so many people can't pay their medical bills, it drives the prices up daily. What other industry raises prices when they find fewer people able to afford their bills?

Rather than use common sense and reason the giant Medical Mafia decided they could have it all if they'd purchase our Congress. As the House vote recently showed, the Medial Mafia bought all the Republicans and at least 40 Democrats in the House. We know that at least 5 of Arkansas's representatives to Congress are bought and paid for and possibly the 6th too. The Medical Mafia has been spending a million dollars per day this year desperately trying to hold on to their monopoly and should the Democrats prevail tonight the floodgates will open on even more money to stop health care reform.

Forget the Taliban, America will fall by its own hand. The twin wars of disaster combined with the greed of Big Business & Big Medicine plus the loss of American jobs to hot brown countries are bleeding us dry. People working on their 2nd billion could care less of our country goes to hell. They have their private jets warming up on the runway. We'll be left behind to pray for the Rapture to end our misery.

America is out of control. We're going to lose it if we don't grab the other America by the throat and wrestle some equality out of them. We need 6 new reps in Congress. We need to boycott the chambers of commerce around the state. We need Halter over Lincoln. We need to dunk the selfish Tea Baggers and live closer to the words spunkrat wrote above. We've lost our way. We've forgotten what it means to be Americans. Compassion is rarer than unicorns today. Stop the madness.

I've never understood why we have the right to a lawyer, but not a right to a doctor.

The very existence of this clinic points out that the health care system is not working for many Americans and requires some level of reform. While people worry about the costs of health care, many countries with even socialized medical care have managed to keep the systems going for more than 40 years. Obviously, something is fundamentally wrong with the way the current American system is being run that causes people to be unable to afford health care or to become bankrupt as a result of losing their war to the medical bills when their insurance runs out.

>>Don't you think women like drama? I do.<<

Oh how words so oft defy us. You, the biggest drama queen on here, leave no doubt it's a bi-sexual thing.

Now, the rationale goes, Sen Lincoln's silence indicates she's a "drama queen." Irony so sweet.

Not much privacy in those cubicles, as the overhead photo clearly shows. Welcome to the future of health care.

I'm happy to be a thorn if it makes people think. They talk about the waste and fraud in the current system. We've already seen the starts in cutting testing for breast cancer.. I want reform as bad as the next person, but I want it done mainly by the PRIVATE SECTOR. not some out of hand government program.
TORT REFORM, OPEN INSURANCE BOARDERS, FRAUD PROSECUTION. (GET CAUGHT ONCE) YOUR THROUGH. DAMAGE LIMITS. YOUR GOVT. HAS NEVER DELIVERED ANYTHING UNDER BUDGET, your putting future generations (your kids and grand kids into slavery for years or even the rest of their life. Some Americans make stupid choices, sure I want that new car too, that big screen, the big house to put it in ect.... Maybe that new car payment would be better spent on a health care Insurance.
When starting on the great stage of life in the working class at 16 or earlier, 10% of your gross check should be deposited into "your" personal medical savings account. (This money would accru TAX FREE, Your on your parents plan until your thru college and thanks to the last health coverage for so called kids by obama signed until your in your 30's.
When you finally are out on your own, it would be "your responsibility" out of this sizable nest egg you have saved up (that's if you can even find a job in this hope and change economy) to purchase a catastrophic health life policy, with several to choose from. Day to day health charges would be paid for out of this plan. so (shopping for the health care you need) will save you $$$ and increase competition with providers.
Yes supply side marketing is the only way you will ever bring down health care costs. Not with govt. run programs. The best part when you turn 65, 1/2 the money in your medical savings account would be released to you TAX FREE for you to spend and create more jobs for those now providing the services you would like. The government is just afraid of not being able to control the masses & their money. The only weapon we have to use against them is our money, what little we have left. I give money to the needy freely, or those handicapped that can't do for themselves, but to the truly lazy, unwilling to do a job that they feel is beneath them, I have news for them Hunger is a great motivator. 99 weeks unemployment Huh! Get out and dig.
Yes... I've been self employed most of my life. No union here, my performance everyday was my job security.
Go look up the Abe Lincoln speech obama never want's you to hear.
"THE PERPETUATION OF OUR POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS" GOOGLE IT.
We're being destroyed from the inside and obama is leading the way !

mrbill.....those same empty arguments were used to attempt to stop FDR's Social Security plan back in the 30s. Again they popped up to prevent the passage of Medicare back in 1965. Old dead Ronnie Reagan promised we'd be living in Socialism today if Medicare passed. 24 other top industrialized nations have had universal health care for decades and they're doing just fine.

Trust me, if you haven't had any health care in years those cubicles look beautiful to a sick person. Pride goeth before a fall, and the fallen will gladly line up to drop trow behind a flimsy curtain if it means they'll be well again. Like FDR before him, Obama is not some Martian sent here to destroy America. Turn off Fox News and you'll feel better by Thanksgiving. We must have change, now is the time. Suck it up.

" Hunger is a great motivator. 99 weeks unemployment Huh! Get out and dig.
Yes... I've been self employed most of my life. No union here, my performance everyday was my job security."

Oh fuck you, fuck you, fuck you Mr. "I'm so awesome I did it all by myself and never got any help from anyone ever" Bootstraps Bill.
I've heard that BS my whole life and from what I've seen is that behind most "I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps" is a person who had help from many other at points in their lives or were just really damn lucky. Right places at the right time, right friends or right family connections.

I also heard that "99 weeks of unemployment...why go look for a job" BS on FOX today. You do realize that in many places in this country there are. no. jobs.
If you went out and dug a hole all you would be doing is digging a fucking hole since no one is gonna pay you for digging that hole.
Many of the unemployed have NEVER been without a job before. They are trying to feed their families and keep their homes and you sit there and call them lazy.
Shame on you and shame on the other teabaggin' "I got mine, screw the rest of you" bastards in this country who wrap up their disdain for others and selfishness in rahrah patriotism.

****We've already seen the starts in cutting testing for breast cancer.************

Please STOP with the lies.
This is more faux outrage BS from FOX news and the MSM who never pay attention to these recommendations but a good story that will scare people, but refuse to report the truth. There is no cutting for beast cancer testing. There are recommendations based on scientific evidence from a group who was formed under the previous administration.
Stop listening to lies that are there the scare you and go out and read the actual science behind the recommendations for changing the testing times for mammograms and pap smears.

'Bestest' Health Care in the world...
MO
"the treatment would be unproven and ineffective-and therefore experimental and not covered."
OR
1. Baby Too Big for Coverage
The parents of 4-month old Alex Lange had a difficult time trying to convince their health care provider that a 17-lb baby did not justify coverage denial, especially because the boy was perfectly healthy. After a certain amount of backlash, the provider agreed to cover Alex and change their company policy so that weight would no longer be considered a preexisting condition.

2. $1,000 Per Month Medical Coverage
A few years ago, a woman's 60-year-old mother was denied coverage with a well-known insurance provider because she took too much medication. The policy provider did offer the mother a ridiculously expensive $1,000 per month policy that would cover catastrophic illness or injury, but even that policy would not cover regular doctor's visits or medications.

3. Baby Too Small for Coverage
Not long after baby Alex's parents from the first story suffered their ups and downs in being denied coverage, the Bates family found that they too were denied coverage for their child due to weight. This time, 2-year-old Aislin Bates was deemed "too small" for her age. Her parents took steps to appeal the decision; however, the denial was not officially overturned until the couple made an appearance on NBC's "The Today Show," with their daughter.

4. Being Assaulted is a Preexisting Condition
Christina Turner found herself in a difficult position when she applied for coverage with a new health insurance provider only to learn that it would not insure her because of medication she took. The medication was anti-AIDS drugs prescribed by her physician to help protect her after she'd been sexually assaulted. Assuming she had a preexisting condition, the insurer denied her coverage, even after she explained her assault. She would only be able to reapply in three or four years after proving that she was AIDS-free.

5. Conditions That Don't Really Exist
A mom and her daughter were denied coverage by a major insurance provider for reasons that had nothing to do with them. According to the mother, Valerie Scaglione, the reasons for denial listed on the letter were bronchitis and a skin ailment - neither of which any family member had. As a result of being denied, she was forced to keep her five-member family with an insurance provider with excessively high rates to self-employed workers like her and her husband.

6. Too Many Normal Ailments for Coverage
A woman in California found that she was denied new coverage after her COBRA extension expired because she didn't meet the underwriting acceptance criteria. Apparently, having migraines (which required only over-the-counter medication), a minor thyroid issue, and oh, she was deaf, something she'd functioned fully with since childhood, were too much. To date, she remains uninsured.

7. Denied for Using MySpace & Facebook
Some teenagers were denied coverage for anorexia and bulimia because of information revealed via postings on their Myspace and Facebook profiles. The insurer claimed that the online writings shed light on the causes of the disorders, which may have been mental illness. In New Jersey (where the case had gone to court), the law only requires coverage of mental illness if it is biologically based.

8. Too Pregnant for Coverage
Who knew pregnancy could be a preexisting condition? This is what Caitriona Palmer discovered after learning that while her husband could be insured, she was too close to delivery to be considered for coverage. Turning to a hospital for support, they could only promise not to charge her more than $20,000 for delivery. She also found a midwife who agreed to $100 pre-natal visits. Lucky her."

[LINK]vvvv

What do you guys think Blanche is holding out for? Louisiana got $100 mil for their Medicaid program - probably a drop in the bucket down there. What's Santa going to bring to Arkansas? Blanche's problem, it seems to me, among many, is that most Arkansans are more skeptical of this kind of prid quo pro than they are in Louisiana.

It's considered an art form down there.

Looks like Blank's timing was off since Mary Landrieu announced support of miving it to the floor already this morning.

Yeah, Dott, but it won't go on w/o Blanche. She's #60.

Just read on NYT that the Dem's got their votes. I guess Blanche finally made a stand.

Blanche says she will vote YES!

Gee, what a surprise!!!!!!!

to quote our resident troll, and why I do this I cannot say:

>

I want to make sure that copied, because sometimes it doesnt.

>

In this case dearie I might just like drama, if it involved anybody, male or female, whomping some sense into you somehow. If an iron skillet applied to the side of your head doesnt jar some proper brain activity loose, we may then assume that there isn't any and hopefully we will all be able to ignore you.

now as to the doctor's wife who asked if we would like our parents/children/families/even our ownselves to be treated in this free clinic, in such substandard facilities (to her way of thinking), HELL YES, LADY, I WOULD. My parents are gone but if my kids were sick & uninsured I would be thrilled to see them get health care there. I personally would have taken my ownself today but I couldn't afford a whole weekend off from work, and a trip to little rock will exhaust me every time. So yes ma'am mrs. doctor's wife,it's good enough for me and mine.

there isnt much privacy but im sure those are not where they will be doing exams that involve privacy. for one thing this is just not physically possible. Trust me.

besides, at my doctor's clinic, sometimes I can hear everything in the next room anyway. It breaks the monotony of waiting and you never know who it is. Pardon Us if the wonderful volunteers didnt have time to fix things up to mrs. doctors wife's specifications.

Lifetime is full of drama and it definitely appeals to women. I really can't understand why you protest the obvious. There is nothing demeaning about liking drama. My objection to blanche is that she isn't very subtle about how she plays it except to the most gullible. I called this thing yesterday on this blog.

Waiting until the last minute to make a half-hearted announcement about a procedural vote is not what I would call "taking a stand".

Personally I think she was waiting to see if the pharma and health insurance lobby checks cleared the bank...apparently they didn't.

When reid set this up for a vote earlier this week he had blanche's vote. Get real, folks! We are talking the real world here not that Cinderella fantasy land that blanche wants the people back at home to believe is the real world.

Jeez buttguard, you're so good at this predickin' thingy uhh...tell us the winning numbers in tonight's Arkansas powerball lottery for the "real folks".
But hey, worry you not, you are the expert on fairy tales!

This is too funny!
"oh, must have hit a raw spot! Don't you think women like drama? I do.

Posted by: beauragar"
I can think of nothing more dramatic than war, or mass killings, or bombings of buildings. That's done by men, and blows the women out of the water when it comes to drama.

Oh, and you are leaving out Leiberman, a man that has been a holdout, along with others like Nelson.

Pardon me, but your misogyny is showing.

Pardon me, honey, I should have used the word 'intrigue'. That would have been far more accurate to describe the fairer sex.

Why don't you just keep your opinions about the fairer sex to yourself, you old dinosaur....

"Women like drama."

"Women don't like drama."

I content that both of those statements are equally true. Discuss.

Honey, whether they accuse you of misogyny or misandry, they are just accusations. The truth is far more important than characterizations that are used to manipulate.

Now I'm gonna get dramatic . . .
Well, maybe not. I've had men type folks -- strangers all -- call me honey, babe, dear, darlin' and assorted other "pet" names. Can't say I'm perturbed by it, but I'm usually inclined to think the guys are dolts. Kinda like . . . well, you know.
But call me Miss Nancy and I swear I'm gonna kick you in the shins. Now THAT would be dramatic.
(Don't y'all feel for Miz Beau, assuming of course, that there is a long suffering woman who can put up with him? Me? I'd've called it quits the night he cross-dressed here. On second thought, I doubt I'd've made it that far.)

Well, darlin, I won't call you Miss Nancy if you don't want me to. Good night, sugar.

People on both sides of this debate seem to continually miss the point of the debate, and to be ageist for moment, they forget the younger generation completely. The old are the ones who have the greatest voting power and who are the most engaged in this issue. So many of them don't want to have to pay anything that doesn't benefit them directly, but by ignoring this bill and trying to wipe it under the rug, they in turn are denying themselves potential savings as well. The plan is looking to regulate existing private insurance to stop denying claims and actually stabilize deductibles, while the public option, note the word "option", would simply offer a plan to those who cannot afford any insurance.
I found an article that really gave good insight into the current debate. It was written by doctors and medical professionals, and just delivers some good facts and statistics about health care.
http://www.ourblook.com/component/option,com_sectionex/Itemid,200076/id,8/view,category/#catid107
There are so many aspects that need to changed, but everyone needs to look outside of their own bubble first.