"You don't deserve health care because you don't earn enough money"

[Armstead]

Big Ed Schultz telling members of Congress they should go to a free clinic and tell the people that -- because that is what lack of real reform is telling them.

Ed, you hit the bottom line of this whole debacle. The rest of the hemming and hawing and opposition to providing affordable health care for all is just bullshit.

[rwheeler31]

1. They will not go they will get socialist cooties.

[intheflow]

2. They won't go for fear of poverty cooties. n/t

[polichick]

3. Republicans definitely believe that, and not just politicians. nt

[Armstead]

5. Until THEY get sick

My rather conservative brother's wife chalked up a bunch of tests for a mysterious ailment.

They are insured but still managed to chalk up many thousands of dollars of debt. And my briotgher had to fight the insurance companies for what benefits they did get.

He now hates insurance companies and is an adamant supporter of universal health care.

[polichick]

9. That sure is learning the hard way! nt

[janx]

4. How about:

"You don't deserve health care because you make too much money."--Like 24,000 a year.

[Armstead]

6. That too

[Uncle Joe]

8. How about:

"You don't deserve health care because someone having nothing to do with health care needs to make blood money, gambling profits on that noble industry, so they in turn can bribe the Congress and corporate media."

[donco6]

7. How about:

"You don't deserve health care, because you're really only here to serve me until you drop dead. There are millions more where YOU came from."

[LooseWilly]

16. That one gets my vote.

Cause it also explains the fear of abortions (there might only be hundreds of thousands more where YOU came from...). :+

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

10. I just don't get this, I mean if you replace good paying factory

and other middle class union jobs, with a bunch of low paying retail jobs, what do they expect. Such a great economy we got here, tops and jeans and junk jewelry and perfume and irons and plastic crap and goo-gaws from China are frickin cheap now, but mortgages, education and health care have been priced out of the reach of many.

[Scarsdale Vibe]

11. That is the rallying cry of progressives who oppose the current health care bills, is it not?

"Progressives" want the sick and poor to continue to die because health insurance execs aren't executed on live tv in the current legislation.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

12. well, I consider myself progressive

and while I don't want them executed live on tv, I wouldn't mind it if the whole industry was executed, and replaced by a single payer system. :)

However, seeing friends die (yes, I did have a friend die due to lack of affordable health care*) and seeing many, many acquaintances go bankrupt due to health care costs (cancer, stroke), I can see why some would think health care executives deserve to be executed.

* adult male, about 10 years ago, artist and musician, got chicken pox, had catastrophic coverage, but no money for any routine care, by the time the realized how sick he was, the pox had gotten into his lungs and basically exploded. I firmly believe that if he had felt like he could just go to a doctor, the end result might have been different. Maybe, maybe not, but he died without any care at all.

[Armstead]

13. It is not -- They want to have a bill that actually does something

As far as I'm concerned, health insurance executives can make as much money as they can, and contonue to live their life of wretched excess.

I JUST DON'T WANT THE BASTARDS HOLDING US HOSTAGE!

We need a pubvlic health system -- or at least an alternative -- that gives everyone access to health coverage that they can afford. One that is driven as a public service and not as a profit making machine. That would be better for everyone.

If the insurance industry wants to compete with that, that's fine. But they should not be allowed to control the most basic service that people need.

At the very least we need strong regulation of insurance. Not namby pamby shit that will allow them to continue to gouge the public and push out the people who actually need the healthcare system.

What part of that don't you understand?

[eridani]

15. We oppose them because they guarantee that people will continue to die

They mandate that we depend on paid killers to decide what care we actually get after they hold us up for premiums.

[Hippo_Tron]

19. Your probability of getting health care with no coverage is zero...

Your probability of getting health care with coverage is some number above zero. Yes I've seen Sicko and yes insurance company practices are abhorrent. Coverage is still better than no coverage.

[eridani]

22. Not if it depletes your cash reserves before you even incur medical expenses

It'w worse for many people according to Dr. Rachel Nordin's testimony.

I will close with the story of one Massachusetts patient who has suffered as a result of the reform. Kathryn is a young diabetic who needs twelve prescriptions a month to stay healthy. She told us “Under Free Care I saw doctors at Mass. General and Brigham and Women's hospital. I had no co-payments for medications, appointments, lab tests or hospitalization. Under my Commonwealth Care Plan my routine monthly medical costs include the $110 premium, $200 for medications, a $10 appointment with my primary care doctor, and $20 for a specialist appointment. That's $340 per month, provided I stay well.” Now that she's “insured,” Kathryn's medical expenses consume almost one-quarter of her take home pay, and she wonders whether she'll be able to continue taking her life saving medications.

[alittlelark]

20. Put down the bong dude....you are too illogical to post

Seriously - if it's not a bong, then the bottle or the crack pipe.

Go to bed - save the brain cells you have left.

[DailyGrind51]

14. Relying on an unregulated free-market to govern the allocation of healthcare

is analogous to permitting a lynch mob to govern our justice system.

[Fire1]

17. Pretty much. n/t

[GCP]

18. He's on fire with this

I love listening to his show.

[David Zephyr]

21. Ed is a terrific voice.

I don't get to watch as much cable as I once did, but I'm glad Ed has his own show.