I read the Roanoke Times every morning and by the time I get to the back page of the front section I am ready to move on to the Sodoku. But this headline caught my eye….
Outrage Centers--what a good idea. My mind begins to race. If we could just isolate the frustrations of the day….right now folks head for the gym, or Starbuck’s, or their favorite watering hole when they feel totally outraged and see life spinning out of their control, but here is another option.
I return to the paper to see that I misunderstood the writer’s intent. The whole headline reads:
Outrage centers on way layoffs were handled. I am disappointed. I was beginning to like the idea of an Outrage Center. And so, I develop the concept. We could have Blue centers and Red Centers. The Blue Centers would be government run, maybe even socialist! The Red Centers would be self-supporting and funded by the users. Maybe they could be funded by a pre-paid insurance plan so they would be available to the policyholder when needed. Access to the Blue would be for everyone, and the Red would be limited to ability to pay.
Now we know how they are to be paid for, let us think of what will happen there. If you are outraged at the thought of the insurance company CEO making a salary 400 times that of a teacher, off you go. The Outrage Center is there for you. You can rant and rave in a safe environment. Because you are in a Blue Center, a counselor will be available and immediately get you into an anger management class. You can trade ideas with likeminded people and the report will appear on MSNBC. You may be outraged at the limited view of education that Standards of Learning foster. Again off you go into the wild blue yonder where you explore other options for the education of America’s youngsters, even to the extent of perhaps getting the President (yes, the President of the United States) involved and ready to talk to the kids via satellite.
Now let us visit the Red Center. Here there is also outrage, but of a different kind. The visitors there are outraged that gas is nearly $3.00 per gallon. The parking lot is lined with SUVs and presidential hopeful Sarah Palin is addressing them. She is outraged that the government is not doing more drilling. She is outraged that the media is so interested in her family. The calming influence in the Red Center is Faux News, and Rush Limbaugh available 24 hours a day. The walk-ins at the Red Outrage Clinic do not have to check their guns at the door but are outraged that there are some citizens that do not believe they should be able to carry a concealed weapon. They are outraged that school buses are no longer picking up their children to take them to school. They are outraged that taxes are excessively high and they cannot keep all their money! After all this is America, land of hope and glory and home of the free!
Neither center stresses that every American has the right to change what he perceives as wrong. No one mentions that the government is for the people, and by the people. No mention is made that the ballot box is the most powerful weapon there is. But wait…how can that be? The Blues won the election so why are they outraged? The Reds have more justification because they lost but try as they might they cannot get their way anymore. They can, however, see that the Dems do not get their way either. They can make sure that the newly elected President FAILS. The American people are such sheep that they listen to the LOUDEST, MOST OUTRAGEOUS LIES.
So here we are with OUTRAGE CENTERS all over. They are not serving any purpose because everyone is so outraged no one is listening. Oh, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, just the way that 3D movies were the wave of the future in the 1950’s. Will we ever learn?
October 13, 2009
THE OUTRAGE CENTER
Outrage: Insurance companies, special interests, and conservative organizations have poured record amounts of money into lobbying efforts in an attempt to influence the outcome of health insurance reform efforts.
Outrage: The widespread TV and radio advertising campaigns launched were riddled with misleading claims and outright lies. Conservatives for Patients’ Rights aired ads with false claims arguing against health insurance reform, while the Family Research Council has attacked provisions that actually do not appear in the proposed health care bills. The purpose of all these attempts is to preserve the status quo that works for the massive health insurance industry but not for the American people. The number of lobbyists for the 535 members of the House and Senate amounts to six lobbyists per member. The total dollar amount spent on the lobbying effort against the health care reform this year is in excess of $250 million according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Outrage: Patients United Now maintains that the bills currently being considered by Congress contain language to bring a Canadian-style health care to the U.S. Not true, see FactCheck.org 8/10/09 Outrage: A new ad by Conservatives for Patients’ Rights says that the new rules could hike your health insurance premium by 95 percent. Not true, see FactCheck.org 8/3/09
Outrage: A TV ad from anti abortion groups say that the bills being considered currently in Congress allow abortion to be covered. Furthermore, they make the claim that Medicare cuts must be expected in addition to rationing of the health care. Not true, see FactCheck.org 8/3/09. Outrage: Speaking at the recent How to take back America conference, Republican Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ) declared that nobody should be shocked that President Obama does all sorts of “insane things” because he is an “enemy of humanity.” These type of comments are far beyond the limits of traditional White House criticism.
Outrage: At the same conference a woman named Kitty Werthman gave a lecture titled “How to recognize living under Nazis and Communists,” in which she urged listeners to “buy more guns” in order to fight against socialism. She explained that universal health care, an Equal Rights Amendment, and increased taxes are telltale signs of Nazism. She tells the right-wing activists to get their guns ready for “bloody battle” with Obama the Nazi.
Outrage: Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican Party, commented that Obama’s health care plan was equivalent to socialism, and that the President, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and key congressional committee chairmen are all part of a cabal that wants to implement government-run health care.
Outrage: South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint commented that stopping Obama’s bid for health care overhaul could be the president’s Waterloo, a reference to the site of Napoleon’s bitter defeat in 1815. Outrage: Jim Greer, the Chairman of the GOP in Florida released a statement “condemning President Obama’s use of taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s children to his socialist agenda.” They “will be forced to watch the president’s speech to justify his plans for government-run health care.”
Outrage: The Secret Service is investigating a Facebook poll, apparently advocating assassination, asking if Obama should be killed. The answer choices were Yes, No, If he cuts my health care, and May be. In the meantime Facebook has removed the poll.
Outrage: Bachman: “Sex clinics” in schools will result from health care reform. Michele Bachman (R-Min). spoke last week on the House floor about school based health clinics (SBHC) as sex clinics that will whisk girls away to have abortions. This does not mean that your daughter could walk in a school, be taken to the local abortion clinic, have her abortion, and be ready to get on the bus to go home the same evening. Ed Schultz labels this Bachman rant under the Psycho Talk category.
Outrage: House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) said last Thursday that he’s never met an American who supports the creation of the public health insurance option as part of the legislative reform effort. He seems to be ignorant of the fact that polls show a majority of voters (65%) support the idea of having a choice of a government insurance plan (public option).
Outrage: At the Richmond Times-Dispatch public forum, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) advised an uninsured woman with stomach tumors to get an existing government health program or find a charity clinic. Ed Schultz on his show went almost bananas talking about Eric’s suggestions. “The Republicans lie! They and the health insurance companies want to see you dead! “
Outrage: In 2008, taxpayers ponied up about $25 billion to insure 8.5 million federal workers and their dependents. Lawmakers can choose from ten plans and get special treatment at federal medical facilities. When members of Congress are working on health care legislation, there is an elaborate medical clinic like a modern community hospital ready to provide them with some of the best and most efficient government-run health care. For $503 per year, members of congress have this top-notch hospital facility on call in the Capitol. If your elected representative is one of those standing in the way of the public20option, I would bring this to his or her attention. How can lawmakers empathize with the uninsured and underinsured when they receive medical benefits that are heavily taxpayer-subsidized?
November 13, 2009
OUTRAGE CENTER VOL. 2
Researchers from Harvard Medical Center found that an estimated 2266 veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they did not have health insurance. Being uninsured raises a person’s odds of dying by 40 percent. The research also revealed that 1.46 million veterans between ages 18 and 64 lacked insurance in 2008. Like other uninsured Americans, most uninsured vets are working people – too poor to afford private coverage but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or means-tested VA care.
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is the only opponent to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for veterans. Thirteen major military and veteran groups have joined forces to try to force this senator to release a hold that he has placed on a major veteran benefits bill. Thousands of disabled veterans with serious medical conditions and the family members who care are counting on this additional support.
The three biggest banks to exit the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s investment bank are ready to pay record bonuses this year totaling $29.7 billion up 60% from last year. The money split among 119,000 employees, equals $250,400 each, almost five times the median household income of $50,303. The Goldman CEO, Lloyd Blankfein said that the firm is serving an important “social purpose” by helping companies grow, and denied the idea that Goldman is only able to make record profits thanks to government support. The CEO claims he is just a banker “doing God’s work,” and this work, including the bonuses, must not be questioned.
All Americans have health care and the health care bill will “steal our freedom” according to the right wing-nut Rep. Steve King (R-IA). On MSNBC he said that the House health care reform bill would take away every American’s existing health insurance coverage, it cancels every policy. This guy is out of his “freedom loving” mind. In what world do all Americans have health care coverage? Of course, it is the emergency room. This is the GOP idea of health care coverage and “freedom.”
Is the Tea Party gang turning the GOP into a Party of Hate? John Boehner, the Republican leader in the house, appeared at the Tea Party rally (the Super Bowl of Freedom)at the Capitol recently, where the right wing-nuts displayed signs of hate: “Get the Red out of the White House,” “Waterboard Congress,” Traitor to the Constitution” etc. One sign showed a pile of dead corpses from the Dachau concentration camp comparing health care reform to the Holocaust. The display of hateful extremism at an event officially sponsored by the House Republicans shows the GOP leaders to be associated with the worst elements of the right. No Republican legislator left the stage in protest.
Republican diatribe from the “well”:
Rep Steve King (R-IA) calls the Obama administration the “gangster government.” He has said that Obama will make America into a “totalitarian dictatorship,” and that polygamists raised him.
Rep. Goodlatte (R-VA) is mistaken by saying that the GOP health care plan outlaws denial of coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. In reality, the GOP alternative plan does no such thing.
Michele Bachman claims page 92 prohibits private insurance. She said on page 92 of the new bill, it specifically states that people cannot purchase health insurance after a date certain. This means that people will ultimately go into a single payer plan. She claims this is so bad calling it socialized medicine, the crown jewel of socialism. Bachman is referring to language that prevents the health insurance companies from enrolling new people in old plans that do not meet the new standards.
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) falsely claims that the Democratic proposal increases the deficit. In reality, the Congressional Budget Office states the bill would decrease the federal deficit by $109 billion. In fact, it saves $36 billion more that the Republican plan and insures 12 times more people.
The GOP health care plan would allow health insurance companies to continue engaging in unfair and discriminatory practices like denying coverage to people because of a pre-existing medical condition. Faux News spreads the false claim that jail will be a penalty for failure to buy insurance under the new health care bill.
Faux News’ Emanuel advances Lieberman’s dubious claim about the public option increasing the national debt. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that health care bills with a public option thus far have required enrollees to cover its costs through premiums, rather than have the plans be paid for through federal revenues. CBO found that the health care reform bill that passed the house on November 7, the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) would yield a net reduction in federal budget deficits of $109 billion over the 2010-2019 period. Lieberman: “As a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote, because I believe the debt can break America and send us in a recession that’s worse than the one we are fighting our way out of today.” National media outlets have uncritically reported Lieberman’s rational for saying he would join a filibuster of the Senate health care bill if it included a public option.