Gov. Kasich Insurance Pout Party

So I run a small business, just me and one other, and I don't have the resources larger companies do and as I'm soon to be single, I thought I'd check out what's going on with the Ohio Insurance Exchange.

I mean, I don't keep directly up to date on exactly what days what portions of the ACA are being implemented, so I thought I'd check it out. Here's the page. You don't have to visit it because it's useless. It's basically a government page, paid for by my tax dollars, saying Obamacare is terrible and we're not doing an exchange and the US government can just do it because Boo Obama and Boo Healthcare and why's everyone so mean?

Literally useless.

So I contacted the email address on the page and wrote the following note:

Hello,

It's difficult writing this email because I don't want to offend anyone who did not compose or direct the construction of the exchange page. This is directed at those people.

As a small business owner, I was looking to find out what opportunities might be emerging in Ohio for obtaining insurance due to the ACA. Visiting http://www.ohioexchange.ohio.gov/Pages/default.aspx and the linked pages, I was literally looking for information on where "individuals and small business owners in every state can purchase qualified coverage."

But there was no actual information about what was happening, when it was happening, and when I, as a two-person business, might be able to even begin researching my health care coverage options. What I found instead was a thinly-veiled whine-fest that amounted to "Obama is mean and we're not gonna play."

If Gov. Kasich wants to be a petulant brat about the ACA passing, let him do it in the corner, in private. This is an issue that affects real people in real ways and pouting obstruction on an Ohio government "information" page is doing no one any good or service.

By providing vague, formless information on the web page, Gov. Kasich is not slowing or stopping the ACA, but proving that a partisan grudge is more important than the people and businesses of the state of Ohio, and by demonstration is unfit to lead our great state.

And yes, I pasted the meme into the email as well.


Imagine if some brilliant new tech was invented that gave everyone - despite socioeconomic status - the ability to connect to the internet and be a part of a global community. Imagine it was relegated to the States as to how to offer access to this new technology and you hear stories from Oregon or California or Colorado like "OMG Awesome Tech!!!!" and you finally decide to dig in and see what it's all about and look at your Ohio page for the New Tech information and all the page says is "The president and the internets are stupid. That is all."

That's how I feel.

And Ohio's not the only one. There are many of us in this basket of borderline or blue at the presidential election, but locally gerrymandered into a minority in our state. It's downright scary at times, but this time it's just the governor being a whiny, weak, sad man.

Sadness & Conspiracy & The Bar: A Health Care Retrospective

The outlook wasn't brilliant for the SCOTUS nine that day:
The score stood five to four, with some at yes and some at nay.
And then when Kennedy went right, and Roberts left, for shame,
A sickly silence fell upon us as the judgement came.

---

There is too much too much to talk about, so I'll start with the bar.



My local haunt just up the road from home was my first stop after a full day of "work." (Of course I say "work" because like Republican Congressman Mike Pence, I too likened the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act to 9/11: I was ineffective and nothing but a media consumption machine.) I needed to stop in because another regular to my spot is an outspoken Limbaugh/Hannity parrot (let's call him Dolton) and I was hoping he was angry and loud so I could just soak it up.

I broke with my swear-off of right wing radio just for one day and I was not disappointed on the ride over. Hannity was moderating a discussion and who-knows was shouting about how it was going to destroy America and everyone was audibly upset, like they'd just lost Reagan again but this time he killed himself after Obama whooped his ass with a tire iron. It was a jumbled cacophony of angry and fear and consolation and denial and atta-buddy and "We'll get 'em next time!" because Roberts is a brilliant Constitutional lawyer - he just got it wrong.

The way it unfolded couldn't have helped. Fox and CNN got it wrong and it was such a major issue, such a grand event that knowing how disappointed I was and how much higher I got when the big reveal came, I can only imagine the emotional depths to which the anti-Obamacare folks fell.

Here's my representative, Ohio's Jean Schmidt, freaking the hell out in a joyous explosion in public:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

If only that video had run for 20 minutes to catch the aftermath.

The pain and sorrow was palpable everywhere and the denial was painful to watch. This is what Drudge and Savage have been doing since yesterday:



And if it wasn't that, it was because he was coerced because he was blackmailed because he is rainbow-farting GAY!

(But there was one interesting nugget provided by Gawker about how Roberts totally did this intentionally because he has a wider game stance and is plotting something really big.)



The freakouts from popular pundits and pols alike? Flippin' epic.

And some comeuppance is due as well. O'Reilly had said he'd apologize for being an idiot if the ACA was upheld by the Supremes:



Limbaugh said in 2010 that if this all went through, he'd move to Costa Rica. Unfortunately for him, Costa Rica has universal health care. D'oh. Speaking of idiots, Buzzfeed did a lovely collection of tweets from those railing against socialized medicine and who had had enough - so they were moving to Canada. Where there is socialized medicine.

Palin was in on the action, Rubio needed no cue to jump in front of a camera, and the overwhelming talking point is "OMG - it's a TAX on America's working class!" Unless you're Rep. Phillip Gingrey who simply said "I don't want to have a beer with Justice Roberts today."

Which brings me back to Dolton.

I walked into the bar, sat in my usual spot - far from him. I was expecting him and his cronies to be long drunk by 5pm and hootin' and a-hollerin' about how this was the end of America. Dolton looked drunker than usual, but he was alone, slumped somewhat over the bar, and staring at the non-stop coverage on the big-screen. On MSNBC.

He briefly glanced at me as I sat and ordered a vodka grapefruit and a shot of Rumple Minze, his mouth slightly open as though he might say something but could find no words. He went back to the TV, his Miller Lite, and his doubles of Jägermeister. Dolton was a broken man yesterday, as though part of his soul was leaking out in place of the tears he wouldn't let come in public. I really almost felt bad for him.

Almost.

---

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
Yes, "America" we call it - don't let the Repubs find that out.

In Short: Insurance is STILL Winning

Here's a quick review of how health insurance is kicking your ass:

• Insurance companies will raise your rates every year, no matter what.
• Insurance companies have HUGE holdings.
• Insurance companies take those holdings and put them into the stock market to make even more money.
• Insurance companies took a hit when the tech bubble burst.
• That's when they decided it was time to bring out the monster of Frivolous Lawsuits.
• They convinced the doctors, who pushed for tort reform.
• Insurance companies kept on that steeper climb even though the false spectre faded.
• Affordable Care Act passed.
• The increase in rates is even higher, even though most of the costs will not manifest for years.
• The Insurance Industry as a whole has NEVER had a loss and regularly pops their CEOs with millions or billions for NOT providing care.

When the fuck are we going to learn these people are NOT working for our best interest in what is a human rights issue?

Limbaugh Just Makes Shit Up About Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality is how it works now. Here's a little video tutorial:



But last week, Rush Limbaugh decided to tell all his listeners that Obama was trying to cram net neutrality down America's throats, that net neutrality means that when you search the internet Obama wants to mandate that if it is an area of controversy that the search results reflect both sides of the argument.

Wait, what? That's not just misinformation or twisting of actual words or bills, it's a malicious fabrication, a LIE intended to spawn fear and anger in his listeners towards the president because the fear he's instilling in them over health care reform has apparently reached capacity.

His backing argument? It took a while to get his website listed high in the rankings. Well Rush, since you don't know a goddamned thing about the internet, let alone search engines, maybe you should shut the fuck up. (NOTE: Rush's home page contains little content, mostly links, and few conventions of optimization.)

WTF?!

Everyone's entitled to free speech and people are entitled to be wrong, but this is shouting FIRE in a dark movie theater. And that is dangerous.

Health Care: It's a GO!

Kinda. You may recall last week's lethargic cheerleading about the issue, a slight disappointment in Kooch for folding, and a general disappointment with the Democratic Party in letting the destruct-all Republicans run so much of the show.

Right now, behind me, Obama is signing the bill on television. (And yes, I have every belief that Nancy Pelosi will masturbate with the signing pen she just received.) Not one Republican showed up.

But in the words of our president, let me be clear. I do support this bill. I stayed up until 1am on Monday morning watching all the drama and venom and, in the end, success. Here's why:

1. Stupak, in the rebuttal of the motion to recommit, nailed it down: this bill will save lives, and anyone who says they are "for" life should be voting for it. And it will. And all the sanctimony the Republicans can muster for any words spilling out their gobs about helping people will fall flat for years to come because of their absolute staunch anti-support of this bill. It will save lives in both a figurative and literal sense.

2. Nancy Pelosi, on Sunday night, mentioned that a woman getting beaten by her husband is a pre-existing condition. It's true in 8 states and DC. And Glenn Beck was just on the radio making fun of her, making fun of her statement, and calling it all bullshit, "2 + 2 is 5!" he shouted. But it's not. And the Republicans and the talk show hosts are just going to continue to LIE about everything so their awful myrmidon army will continue to believe and re-spout the vomit they ingested. So Glenn Beck? He can suck it. Hannity? Suck it. Limbaugh? Suck it. Neidermeyer? Suck it!


The right will continue to fight against Obama tooth and nail but his win here made him stronger. And the more the right lies and whines and just screams "NO!" like a kid curled up in the candy aisle of Kroger, the more they hurt their own credibility and slowly some of their base will begin to crumble. The rest will stay ignorant, suckling at the teat for the milk of falsehood from the speakers of their pickup trucks.

Health Care: Caring Too Much or Not Enough?

Just let me work through this. We'll all be better off for it.

First of all, let me be plain that this is a futile exercise because it is based upon a premise that will never be: that I will get a shot at putting down a vote for or against the health care bill as it stands.

The Right Wrong Machine

I listen to the right. A lot more than I should. I know it's "more" because all the idiocy and lies and bullshit and fear-fear-fear makes me numb, makes me reluctant to get in the pool and when I do I tire quickly and leave early. And it makes the next dive all the more painful.

These people - if I may be so bold to address the Rightist Wingist as such - have no idea that their blind rage and hate and diametric opposition to anything at all Democratic or Liberal (or Black) is actually hurting the country.

They keep their listeners ignorant and therefore keep listeners (see following post on Rush and Net Neutrality). They say they support reform but when asked how present straw man arguments like state line expansion. They have no desire to help so long as helping means turning off the fat insurance CEOs that line their pockets. Because that's Capitalism!

And in the meantime Glenn Beck tells CPAC that he learned socialism was bad by going to the library because "books are free."

I'm tired. I'm numb. I'm tired.


The Left Wrong Wing

I respect the fact that we have the first female Speaker evar, but for fuck's sake, did it have to be Pelosi? She's twitchy, inattentive, and a little too close to what someone would consider coked-up. We should ask Bush on this one. She is not a viable, solid, staunch leader. Leaders need to be staunch. She is not staunch. No staunchness. Staunchless.

And what do we as the left wing come up with? Health Care Reform all in caps! Kinda. No, not really.

Wait, how'd that happen?

We started with a robust, dream-filled jelly roll of wonder: Single payer marmalade, public option buttercream, and fuck-the-insurance-companies fudge sauce. But then the Right said "You do that and we're going to take our ball and go home!"

So we said "Okay, we'll play a little your way."

"NO! I said NO!"

"Okay, here's a little more..."

And on and on until someone on the left woke up and realized that the jelly roll of wonder had turned into a cold crepe that fell behind the stove three weeks ago and these douchebags weren't going to play ball with us. Ever. They were just going to bitch away the time to scare the shit out of America to make sure the left couldn't get anything done.

No one realized we were the ones holding the ball the whole time.


About That Crepe

So now we get tough and everyone's shopping up reasons we can - and should - still eat. I'm not talking about reconciliation. Reagan passed his whole econ drama with it. I'm talking about some of the "deeming" shit that's come down the pike the past few days.

And the crepe? It kind of sucks. I don't care how much you knock out your spices and skills. It fell behind the stove three weeks ago. It's going to be not so nice.

But then, you're not just talking to regular folks who've had the snot beat out of them by the insurance companies like most of us; we're discussing the starving kids too.

We're left with, well, let's look at Obama's push in Ohio and the tale of Natoma Canfield. I understand and agree that Natoma got screwed by the system. But the bill Obama's pushing in her name still lets insurance companies use the pre-existing condition for 4 years - 4 years! And that's a death sentence for any number of hundreds of thousands of Americans even if this mess gets passed.

I hope Natoma can live on dog food for 4 years.

And that's where I'm on the fence.

(Note: I know the Cleveland Clinic has come forward about charity and said they'd never place a lien on her home. No shit. You'd put her into collections and they'd do that dirty work for you. That's how it happens and saying otherwise is counting every American as ignorant.)


So Say You're Dennis Kucinich

I'm a fan. I was a 35-percenter in the last election. Hell, I grew up in Parma, OH. Do you vote it down because the bill still gives insurance companies the upper hand? Because it literally mandates everyone get health care with the evil conglomerates that this bill is supposed to phase out or at least rein in?

Do you vote up just to get something passed? Do you vote up in hopes that eventually we'll make it work? Do you vote up because the bullshit statement of the corporate-hungry right wing to start from a blank piece of paper is, well, bullshit?

Who wins?

The Republicans, even if we pass it, have already done their duty of stripping it down enough to say it's worthless. The Democrats have already sat on their hands long enough that it's only a little better than what we have now.

So I ask again: who wins? Do you win? Is there a winner? Is there ever a winner in politics? Is there ever a winner in politics when the right and the left have it out so much for each other that no one remembers what we're fighting for?

I abstain. And self-prescribe Miller Time.

Sexist White Republican Men

Because that stereotype is a bunch of bunk. Right?

Actually, no. Last Saturday Repub asshole males talked over Democratic Party women talking about health care refrom and how it would benefit women. And a couple Republican women got in on the game to show they could be stupid and censor just as much as the Good ol' Boys Club.

5 minutes of Republican censorship and douchebaggery:

Public Option - Keep Fighting!

Sign this petition to keep pushing for the public option. I apparently don't have the logic circuits to decipher Obama's waffling on the topic, but we need to declare in a united voice that a public option is not optional; it is necessary.

Call Out That Nutbag Bachmann

Call out Michele here.

In Short: Beck and Obamacare

I heard Glenn Beck today have a sanctimonious come-to-jesus moment about the video of a gang killing in Chicago and how our culture and politics and morals and society is corrupt and then crossed it with the "indoctrination" video and tossed in that Democrats and Republicans are good, but astray, just before launching into a tirade comparing killing a kid with a railroad tie and national corruption to all the ills of Obama like the olympics and health care - and indoctrination.

That man needs help. And a minute of research to know that a railroad tie is over 8 feet long, and 7 by 9 inches. It's a heavy fucking piece of wood and one person would have a hard time picking it up, let alone swinging it over and over again. If it was successfully swung at one person, they would be dead immediately. That's why they use railroad ties for what they do: to ANCHOR or TIE steel rails - they're f'ing heavy! If they weren't, trains would be crashing all over the world.

Not so coincidentally, Glenn Beck is a goddamned train wreck.


...oh, and about Obamacare. While the word itself is being used to connote negativity, I think that the majority of people who voted for Obama were voting for him to take care of things. Therefore, the term "Obamacare" works as sort of a warm blanket of contentment. Now let's get him to bring down a fucking hammer on this insurance-hawt bill-writing in the Senate and call it a day.

I want my fucking blanket.

Why Republican "Solution" to Health Care is Bullshit

If you listen to as much right-wing nuttery as I do, you cannot have missed the argument that emerged a couple weeks ago. The Republican party has no interest in health care reform because while the insurance companies violate us by not covering us or dropping us in the name of the Holy Dollar, it's Republicans (and some Democrats) who are getting the reach-around to chubby up their wallet. But in the light of Democratic pressure to do something to reform the system and include a public option, saying NO just seems heartless and uncaring. So in order to appear as though they give a shit, here is the new conservative offering: Drop all state border restrictions and allow insurance companies to compete in a nationwide free market! Yay!

This is an explanation of why that suggestion is bullshit.

How It Works Now

When a doctor wants to negotiate with an insurance provider, it goes something like this:

Doc: I'm going to charge $200 for an office visit.
Ins: Woah, there. When the patient insured by us comes through your doors, we'll gladly pay you $30
Doc: Hells no! How about $50?
Ins: We can work with that.

Every doctor has to do that with every insurance company they work with every year for every service they offer. That's why you see a small practice with 2 docs and 2 nurses and 3-5 office people: insurance companies are a pain in the ass to work with.


Let's Say It Happens

For the sake of argument, let's say we travel to an alternate future where everyone lauded the Republican non-solution and it miraculously passed into law. What would change? Not a damn thing.

But now insurance companies who have set up shop in one or more states can technically insure anyone in America. Companies can compete on the national stage. Yay capitalism!

And businesses can shop all over the nation for their pick and doctors can decide who they want to do business with.

Yes? Not so fast.


The Players

The system solidly in place right now is a state border one. And removing those borders isn't going to let loose a rampant sprawl.

The Insurance Companies

Insurance companies might be willing to spread out a little, but in order to do that, I'm guessing there would be some sort of fee or tax for each state in which they operate. Then they have to actively sell themselves to businesses, individuals, and doctors. All over the country. That sounds like a lack of direction and a whole lot of money. And we know how much insurance companies love their money.

The Doctors

Doctors already have enough overhead from the insurance companies they do deal with. What would drive doctors to increase that overhead and haggle with even more companies? Especially when there would be little guarantee that they would end up finding patients who carry that insurance and, again, waste money?

The People

About 60% of all Americans - insured or not - get insurance through an employer. So they are at the mercy of whatever plan their employer has on tap. And why would individuals or businesses that, say, live or operate in Ohio go fishing for a cheaper company in some other state with no guarantee they could find any local practitioner who might accept that insurance?


Location, Location, Money

It's a localized system for a reason: you need a person or business to purchase insurance coverage from a company that will be accepted by a doctor. A borderless system will basically remain unchanged.

If it were so easy for doctors to deal with insurance companies, wouldn't you think they'd do that now, within one state, in order to draw as many patients as possible? If it were so easy, then every doctor could accept every insurance and every Ohioan could go to any doctor or hospital in the state.

But that ain't so, now is it? And multiplying that potentiality by 50 isn't going to be more efficient or cost-effective, just more confusing.


The Real Problem

The real problem is the insurance companies. They keep hiking up rates by leaps and bounds and blow out mad profits in a recession. They blame their rate hikes on those evil lawyers and frivolous lawsuits and absurd awards to the point where they've got doctors blaming the lawyers and joining the lobby for tort reform. But the truth is that there has been no explosion of frivolous lawsuits or huge court awards. The insurance companies just want more money so they charge more; they push for tort reform because capping everything - even obvious wrongful death - would raise their profits.

The people of this country are being lied to over and over and over and until health insurance is instituted in a not-for-profit manner, we the people will suffer because of greed and shady politics.

And while the Republicans have found their health care "we care" rally cry, it's really just a facade, just some wisps of smoke with the lingering odor of bullshit.

Will Ferrell, Others, Stand Up for Insurance Companies

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Health Care: We Can't Afford to Wait

I don't know exactly what President Obama is going to nail down tomorrow, but we will not fold. We will not let a public option just melt away. We will not stop talking about insurance companies reaping profit by raping hard-working Americans. Obama and the Democratic Party need to step it up, deliver what they promised when campaigning, and maybe then we'll keep up the rally cries. Otherwise, it's crickets as we stand, stunned, disillusioned, and with little faith left in our government to do what is right.

MoveOn and R.E.M. have the same message.

A Practical Video on Why We Need Not-for-Profit Health Care

Shamelessly stolen from Liberality who shamelessly stole it from Walled-In Pond. I suggest Republicans take a careful look at a logical explanation and reevaluate their ignorance gap.

On Race and Republicans and YouTube: Jenkins and Steele

Over at Cleveland.com I found this little gem:

TOPEKA, Kan. — A freshman Republican congresswoman apologized today for telling a gathering in her district that the GOP was still searching for a "great white hope" to stop President Barack Obama's political agenda.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins used the phrase during an Aug. 19 forum as she discussed the Republican Party's future and tried to reassure members that the GOP has promising young leaders.

Oh, shit man. Olbermann can toss some commentary on this mess better than I:



And if you don't yet believe this freshman representative is an ignorant automaton towing the party line, check out this bit where she berates a single mother and her child because she (like so many other Republicans) cannot engage in dialogue when faced with how the reality of their rhetoric is harming real people and retreats into a "You're not making sense" posture.



And this brings us to Michael Steele, who also berated an audience member concerning health care. This young man talked of his mother who died of cancer because she couldn't afford her chemo meds. Steele flapped his arms and said that makes great teevee. Watch it:



And that cycles back around to race. Also reported in the above article:

On the Huffington Post, Dave Zirin also notes that Steele’s “effort to connect with young black students got off to a rather cringe-worthy start when right before the billed ’student dialogue’ two dozen white members of area young Republicans arrived to sit in the reserved first two rows of the packed room.”

Between ignoring the issue of the uninsured - even when they're standing right in front of them - and failing miserably, as they always have, at connecting with minorities - even with a minority leading your party - is there any reason to believe Republicans will be much of a threat in 2010? There are many things I'm not thrilled about with the Democratic Party right now, but I still wouldn't trust the Republicans with a potato gun, let alone Congress.

Weiner v. Boehner

Haha! Fight!

(I really need a photoshop here. Coming soon.)

Quickie on Health Care

I heard some Republican choad this morning say that they would never enact a system that would place a bureaucrat between a person and their health care.

I say that (or technically a law facilitating care) is much better than what we have now: a shady insurance company who's sole, driving interest is to DENY you access to that care in order to maintain a substantial profit margin.

But I guess Republican lawmakers can't get kickbacks from a law.

Joke of the Day - Catholic Heart Attack

Sometimes unwanted emails from acquaintences aren't sanctimonious, pseudo-patriotic tripe.

A man suffered a serious heart attack and had an open heart bypass surgery. He awakened from the surgery to find himself in the care of nuns at a Catholic Hospital .

As he was recovering, a nun asked him questions regarding how he was going to pay for his treatment. She asked if he had health insurance.

He replied, in a raspy voice, "No health insurance."

The nun asked if he had money in the bank.

He replied, "No money in the bank."

The nun asked, "Do you have a relative who could help you?"

He said, "I only have a spinster sister, who is a nun."

The nun became agitated and announced loudly, "Nuns are not spinsters! Nuns are married to God.

The patient replied, "Then send the bill to my brother-in-law."

Glenn Beck Had Ass Surgery

I posted Glenn's YouTube video Sunday and I've listened to the radio show (now I'm subscribed to Beck and Hannity...sheesh) and watched the Headline News spot, which both covered roughly the same items:

• "Ass surgery" gone "awry"


• Woke up under anesthesia


• Cocktail of Morphine, Phentanol, Toradol, Percocet, Synthetic Morphine Drip for pain


• While some good doctors/nurses, he was often treated poorly, ignored, and looked at as nothing more than a number


• "Don't talk to me about health care, don't talk to me about HMO's" until you can talk about compassion, until folks involved in health care start seeing people as human beings


• Med cocktail brought darkness, drained hope, caused hallucinations of grotesque death and children having their faces chewed off by dogs


• On his TV show, discussed putting the Care back in healthcare, how insurance-based systems are big part of problem, and about the over-medication of Americans: better living through pharmaceuticals

I don't wish this experience on any human being and do feel compassion for Glenn Beck. Unfortunately, it usually takes a negative experience - although not nearly as horrid as this one - to open our eyes to the sad state of American health care.

The "I hate Michael Moore and America's teh bestest" argument does not stand and it shouldn't be such a partisan issue; all Americans suffer because the insurance companies in charge of us receiving health care make money by not allowing us to get health care. It is broken. For everyone.

And if you'd like to pull this into our current election process, Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate who thinks insurance companies should not be in charge of our health care. If he does not win, we need to make it clear to whomever does that insurance company-run, profit-based health care is not an option.

If they don't care about a nationally-syndicated radio and television host, do you really think they give a shit about you?

Update Note: ABC's Good Morning America had Glenn on this morning where he shared his story again, this time with his wife (video at link). But I couldn't help notice the banner posted above the story:



Yes, that's Pfizer's logo on the right. Today, Glenn Beck's medical and pharmaceutical horror story was sponsored by a keystone of the very industry that caused it.

Kucinich Shut Out: AARP Debate

I didn't watch the AARP Democratic Debate on Health Care; I was most likely enjoying a cocktail and a reggae band.

However, I was appalled to find out that my man, Dennis Kucinich, was not included in the debate. More from Dennis:

On September 21st, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) sponsored a Presidential forum in Iowa focused on health care reform. I was conveniently left out of the debate. Why? Because I am the only candidate in this race proposing a national not-for-profit, single-payer health insurance plan. My plan would eliminate the obscene profit of 4.4 billion dollars AARP alone stands to gain over the next 7 years at the expense of the senior citizens they claim to represent.

AARP's strategic partnership with healthcare giants United Health Care and Aetna are embraced by Senators Clinton, Obama, and former Senator Edwards who are pushing plans to keep the for-profit private insurers in business and in control of your life!

This is an outrage and you should be outraged!

Hells yeah!

You can contact AARP on the AARP Issues Contact Page or You can "Share Your Story" about health care on the Divided We Fail page (I did both):

Here's a story: AARP held a presidential debate on health care reform but did not invite the only candidate that supports a not-for-profit system, Dennis Kucinich. AARP chose their partnerships with health care insurance providers over dissenting opinion, chose money over the well being of the American people, and denied the only voice that would truly help retired persons across the board. AARP states they "are committed to helping the most vulnerable members of society maintain or improve their quality of life." This is blatantly untrue. Health insurance companies have already divided you. And you have failed.

We're on the morning of the next debate, but it's never too late to let the powers that be know we're a little pissed.