The Weekly Poll
Results
The 'Reform or Expansion' Edition...
I'm soooooo confused!
President Obama says, "We are on the cusp of making health care reform a reality,"
Others say it is merely an expansion of health care insurance opportunities with little reform of the present system. Meanwhile, insurance stocks rocket skyward on the NYSE... Help me out here, would ya? What do you think?
Here, by the way, is a totally negative opinion of the whole shebang by a progressive, not a Rethug.
10 Reasons to Kill the Senate Bill | CommonDreams.org
Go figure...
Well then, Poll-fans, in the order they were received are the responses...
bebo was still thinking about last week's poll...
I'm really going to ponder the results of the "Obama" poll during my afternoon taste test. You see, my politics are somewhere to the left of Che Guevara & for so many people to agree with me is a scary situation.
Adam in NoHo wrote...
This is one of several changes that needed to be made, but it cannot be the end of HCR. Treating health insurance like car insurance is not the answer to all of our problems. The insurance reform is absolutely necessary, but even this bill is more of a giveaway to insurers than something that will
help people who currently have no health insurance. In the same way that owning a car is not always a necessity when there is Public Transportation, buying private health insurance should not be a necessity when a public insurance option is available.
Kill it and start over Jan 2 with a concrete list of objectives, and maybe we take the Rep's suggestion on this and pass a series of bills that take each issue one at a time.
(I agree, Adam... Maybe we should)
DRD opined...
The author of this article sure has a negative view of this whole mess called health reform. Many will write him off as a 'lefty' dissuaded by the lack of real help for the struggling masses long overdue for justice in the health delivery system in this nation! That would be a valid description of his thoughts! But, at the same time that in no manner takes away the facts as he has stated them, one by one! In the mind's eye of a true conservative ideologist I'm sure he is viewed as a 'bleeding-heart-liberal' crying in his beer. The saddest page of all this is the fact that nobody really wanted to take a stand against the private insurance companies, a vastly wealthy, powerfully connected political giant, as well as one of the few industries exempt from the anti-trust laws of the land. And, they have been excellent cash-cows' to most of the members, regardless of party affiliation, either by means of contributions for elections or direct by employment of family members by the companies, such as Evan Bayh, junior Senator from Indiana. His wife is on the Board of Directors of at least one major insurance giant and maybe more. A 'public-option' would have cut into the take home salary of his wife so to me it appeared he wanted no part of that provision of the reform deal.
There are many others with similar motivations in the congress as most are multimillionaires having lost track and touch with the daily problems of balancing a family check book and debating if we pay bills or buy groceries this time around. We note that very few if any return to the home district at retirement or defeat as they are too tied to the money chains of the DC lobbyist and the special interest they represent over the needs of the voters! I agree with the gentleman on enough of his argument to say I agree in principle with him. Thanks Bob.
(Yer welcome, Don... I also agree with his points)
Richard McD, not a 'happy camper', said...
This, again, is not what he promised. This is as big a sham as gwb and his minions ever put over on the public. I'm ashamed that I was taken in like the rest of the nation. I hope somebody kills this bill as it now stands. I am starting to see bumper stickers that say "Don't blame me, I voted for Mc Cain". Do people forget how high we all felt when he came into office. He should veto this bill and see what happens.Maybe he can at least regain some of he past glory. If he vetoes it and we get no health bill there is nothing there to lose. Let's face it this is not a health bill.
(Not in way I'd like to see one, and that's a fact!)
SallyP was into retribution with her missive...
Okay, let's see - this week you would like our opinion on the, "Health Care Reform" bill, now just about a reality after the ratification. I must say that I have read up some on the bill, and listened to NPR most attentively this week for different opinions about said bill.
As the movie of the same name says, "It's Complicated," for me. There are some immediate benefits such as the Insurance Companies no longer being able to pull their no coverage because of, "preexisting condition" crap. OTOH, forcing everyone to purchase Rx insurance doesn't quite sit well with me. And, there is no coverage for alternative medicine of which I am a firm believer. But, over all, forcing people to purchase the insurance is about the same as raising taxes I expect, and if the Government can do it with car insurance, why not for health care?
But, the best thing about the bill, is ramming it down the Repugs throats - where I hope to God they will choke on it in the next set of elections. Their uncooperative attitude shows how much they care about their constitutes: NOT AT ALL!!
(Beware 2010, Sally... I have a bad feeling about the Mid-terms. If there's a voter backlash ala '94, remember you read it here first. I think it's a distinct possibility that the voters will again vote against their best interests out of anger and frustration and go 'Red'. The economy and joblessness will be the key. Not health care...)
I will take any bill by the Democrats over ANYTHING from the Repugs - which is - what did they suggest again? Oh, yes, NOTHING!! Oh, and now can we bump up Obama's score a bit from all your readers who think Obama has a magic wand and can just wish things into existence over the detestable flack he constantly receives from the Nay-sayers?
(The bill has a few good points, such as the pre-existing condition provision, but overall I'm convinced it's a boondoggle for the insurance companies. And don't forget that we all get to pay for Nebraska's Medicare cost increases! Ben Nelson is the King 'Corn-hustler', and that's a fact! And then there's Landrieu's 'Louisiana Purchase'. It was all about 'What's in it for me and mine', not about what's good for all... )
Jen sees the good and bad...
It has a few good things, like adult children being able to continue on their parents policy longer. Sometimes that is not particularly important, but in many cases it will make a huge difference.
If I understand it correctly, it helps the insured retain coverage for preexisting conditions. That's good, too, except that it still allows the insurance companies to raise premiums for seniors - just when they can least afford it.
I guess the part that bothers me most is that many of the positive changes will not take effect until 2014. We can be glad for the little we got and hope to live long enough to realize some of the benefits, I guess.
Seems to me they could have - should have done better.
(My emphasis... That statement says it all, Jen... It was a 'rush job' for PR purposes only... Something, Anything, just pass a damn'd bill!..)
IMHO, the Democrat's should be embarrassed with the processes they utilized and results that they came up with. It was a 'Keystone Kops' affair, start to finish. I'm severely disappointed, no, disgusted, with them... And that's the name of that tune, I'm tellin' ya...
BadToTheBoneBob
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: The Big Zero (nytimes.com)
Let's bid a not at all fond farewell to the Big Zero the decade in which we achieved nothing and learned nothing.
Mark Morford: Please mount my hot blue alien (sfgate.com)
"When we would draw Neytiri and she had fins on her back and gills and all kinds of weird protuberances and so on in odd places, the question was, well, would you want to do her? No? OK, let's back off from that." -- James Cameron
Bah humbug! The classics we secretly loathe (timesonline.co.uk)
In the spirit of Christmas grumpiness, arts personalities reveal the heritage classics they secretly can't stand.
DAVID YAFFE: Misterioso (thenation.com)
"You know people have tried to put me off as being crazy," said Thelonious Sphere Monk. "Sometimes it's to your advantage for people to think you're crazy." He ought to have known
Priya Elan: How Vampire Weekend became America's hottest export (timesonline.co.uk)
They're cute, preppy and the coolest band in years. Meet Vampire Weekend, from their deck-shoe chic to Ivy League lyrics.
Pete Paphides: Why the music cassette has never died (timesonline.co.uk)
Central to the lingering affection that people still have for tapes is the fact that you can compile them yourself
Eric Hynes: Tube Tied (slate.com)
Why are syndicated TV shows programmed out of sequence?
Damon Syson: "Richard Bacon: This much I know" (guardian.co.uk)
The radio presenter, 34, on skeletons, Blue Peter and his dream of becoming an MP.
Ann Hornaday: A director's work is never done (latimes.com)
What exactly is involved in directing? Try 'all of the above,' says Richard Linklater.
Scott Collins: Q & A with Seth MacFarlane (latimes.com)
The 'Family Guy' creator talks about his 'Star Wars' fixation, his visit to George Lucas' ranch and being targeted by the Parents Television Council.
roger ebert's journal: The ten best documentaries of 2009
Some of the best documentaries of 2009 hardly seemed to exist. "What's the matter with Kansas," based on a best-seller, is still awaiting its fifth vote at IMDb. "The Beaches of Agnes," a luminous film by the New Wave pioneer Agnes Varda, grossed $127,605. "Of Time and the City," by a great British director, grossed $32,0oo.
roger ebert's journal: The ten best animated films of 2009
True, the once neglected art of animation has undergone a rebirth in both artistry and popularity.
noted:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Turns out the repairs to the back-up computer were inadequate, and from the noises (it sounds like a sewing machine), it's about to become a fancy doorstop, again.
Like that little ditty on 'Hee-Haw' - if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.
After a couple of weeks of begging, I've almost cleared enough to pay for the repairs to my old computers.
Does anyone really think I'd still be using a crappy dial-up if I could afford a better connection?
Have I ever mentioned my car is 22 years old?
Or that the crown that fell off can't be just glued back on?
And there's more.
It's simple economics.
I appreciate the help you've sent, but as it currently stands, the last page will be Monday (01/04/10).
I'm not giving up hope that things may still work out. OTOH, I am familiar with reality.
Ballots In The Mail
Oscars
The race for next year's Oscars got under way Monday as nomination ballot papers were posted to the 5,777 voters who will decide the movie industry's most prestigious awards.
Voting members of the Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences receive ballot papers roughly one month ahead of the nominations announcement on February 2. Ballots must be returned by January 23, the Academy said.
A second round of ballots will be mailed out after the nominations announcement where members will cast their decisive votes to determine the winners at the March 7 awards in Hollywood.
Next year's Oscars race is expected to be one of the most wide open in years while the battle for the coveted best picture statuette has been expanded to include 10 nominees.
Oscars
Baby News
George Ivan Morrison III
A new Van Morrison has been born.
The 64-year-old Irish singer says on his Web site that he and his wife, GiGi, welcomed their son George Ivan Morrison III on Monday.
The couple says that "Little Van" is "the spitting image of his daddy." The baby is a dual citizen of the United States and United Kingdom.
No other information was available. Morrison's publicist, Phil Lobel, says the exact time and location of the birth is being kept private.
George Ivan Morrison III
Ending Her Talk Show
Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks is pulling the plug on her talk show.
The former model says the syndicated "The Tyra Show" will end after its fifth season. Banks says she's sticking with the reality show "America's Next Top Model" and is forming a new production studio with plans to make movies. She also promised new digital projects, but wouldn't give details.
In a statement on her Web site, Banks also paid tribute to talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey, who's ending her talk show in 2011.
About her own show, Banks told fans: "I've been loving having fun, coming into your living rooms, bedrooms, hair salons for the past five years."
Tyra Banks
Thanks Backers
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski has thanked people who have sent messages of support during his battle to avoid extradition from Switzerland to the United States over a case of having sex with a 13-year-old in 1977.
"These messages have come from my neighbors, from people all over Switzerland and from beyond Switzerland -- from across the world," the Oscar-winning film director wrote in an open letter published on the website of French intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy.
"I would like every one of them to know how heartening it is, when one is locked up in a cell, to hear this murmur of human voices and of solidarity in the morning mail," he wrote.
Polanski, who holds dual French and Polish citizenship, was arrested at the request of U.S. authorities when he flew into Switzerland on September 26 to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.
Roman Polanski
Settles Lawsuit
Marilyn Manson
A contentious lawsuit between Marilyn Manson and former bandmate Stephen Bier has been settled without the multimillion judgment the keyboardist initially sought, court records show.
An agreement calls for attorneys representing former Bier to be paid $380,000. Manson's insurance company will pay $175,000 while the rest will be paid by Bier's former business managers, Manson's attorney Howard King said.
Bier sued the shock rocker for $20 million in 2007, claiming the singer kept money from him and spent it to furnish a lavish lifestyle buying Nazi memorabilia, an engagement ring and other exotic goods.
Bier, who went by the stage name Madonna Wayne Gacy, was among the original members of Manson's band when it was known as Marilyn Manson and The Spooky Kids.
Marilyn Manson
Nevada Roundup To Begin
Wild Horses
A two-month capture of about 2,500 wild horses from public and private lands in northern Nevada began Monday amid protests that the roundups are unnecessary and inhumane.
Federal officials said the roundup is needed because the 850 square miles of land is overpopulated and could become unlivable to wildlife and livestock within four years.
Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman JoLynn Worley said the agency began gathering horses Monday in the eastern portion of the Black Rock Range, a stretch of mountains more than 100 miles north of Reno, Nev.
A contractor was using two helicopters under BLM supervision to move the horses to corrals, Worley said. The animals were then being trucked to Fallon, Nev., for immunizations and veterinary care, she said.
The roundup is part of the Bureau of Land Management's overall strategy to remove thousands of mustangs from public lands across the West to protect wild horse herds and the rangelands that support them. The bureau estimates about half of the nearly 37,000 wild mustangs live in Nevada, with others concentrated in Arizona, California, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.
Wild Horses
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