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Just Frame It: Health care debate as much about words as it is how to pay for full coverage
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Most Americans know our health care system is broken.
The looming fight in the presidential races – and eventually within Congress – is destined to come down to two things: how to pay for a universal, single-payer system, AND, how to defend the merits of such a policy against right wing smear jobs/fear campaigns.
Remember “Hillary Care?” Does the term “socialized medicine” make your ears red and blood pressure rise?
In “Don’t Think of an Elephant!” George Lakoff spells out the conservative mind-set on health care. “It is the responsibility of parents to take care of their children. To the extent that they cannot, they are not living up to their individual responsibility. No one has the responsibility of doing other people’s jobs for them. Thus prenatal care, post-natal care, health care for children, and care for the aged and infirm are matters of individual responsibility. They (health care matters) are not the responsibility of taxpayers.”
Could this be what President Bush really wanted to say to reporters when he recently threatened to veto the expansion of state-funded health insurance for children(S-CHIP)?
The real key to the universal health care debate is convincing undecided Americans that coverage is a right, not a privilege. Aetna thinks it is a privilege. Your insurance underwriter thinks it is a privilege. The conservative Cato Institute, funded by wealthy interests, thinks it is a privilege. Working class Americans do not, especially the 45 million people who don’t have insurance.
Put simply, some services should not be for profit. Public works, the U.S. Post Office, air and
water regulation, disaster relief and mine safety are just a few of the responsibilities assumed by the public sector.
Lakoff lists progressive or liberal principles as including: equality, freedom, opportunity, fairness, two-way communication, community building and trust. Democrats need to use these same values to make the case for universal coverage for all.
The United States spent $1.9 trillion on health care in 2004, according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. But what are we getting in return?
Dennis Kucinich, Democratic candidate in 2004 and 2008, showed his dissatisfaction with the status quo in March 2004 press release. “We’re already paying for universal coverage. We’re just not getting it. We’re pouring a large portion of every health care dollar into the waste of the private insurance companies, their executive salaries and stock options, their lobbying and advertising,” Kucinich stated.
Candidates for president (Democratic-only) have often spoken on the campaign trail about this topic. However, specifics on paying for expanded coverage are often glossed over, or worse, not detailed at all. This is sure to derail even the best rhetoric should it continue.
Sen. Hillary Clinton supports universal coverage on her campaign site but fails to elaborate on either how it would work or how such a system would be funded.
Sen. Barack Obama wants to make quality health care available to every American, along with “affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles.” Obama’s plan to pony up the cash is slim, other than this tidbit, “Governments at all levels should develop a national and regional strategy for public health that includes funding mechanisms for implementation.”
Sen. John Edwards proposes to make insurance affordable to every American by penalizing businesses that don’t offer coverage, giving Americans greater bargaining leverage with health care companies and offering new tax credits. Again, it lacks a plan to pay for it.
Kucinich is the only candidate proposing a single-payer, universal system aimed at cutting waste and improving care. Those savings are enough to fund coverage for all Americans, he states. The Kucinich plan would establish “Medicare for All - a universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care system that leaves no American behind,” according to his site.
Leading Democrats are sure to use phrases like “market-based,” “efficient” and “user-friendly” in their stumps about health care. In doing so they play right into the hands of conservatives, using their language to describe something progressives want.
As Lakoff would tell you, words are a tricky thing.
The author is a freelance journalist residing in Lansdale.
Show: Expand All Reply
Expand Medicare to cover everyone. Bite the bullet and raise taxes to pay for it.
The American people are ready, but except for Kucinich, and increasingly, Edwards, the politicians aren't
Oh yes, Deans are first. Howard got well along the road to universal care in Vermont.
I noticed one blogger referring to Hillary and Obama as "liberal".
Both are certified establishment Democrats, which translates to conservative.
Hillary was a "Goldwater Girl" in 1964, and has been a Republican ever since.
Expand Medicare to cover everyone. Bite the bullet and raise taxes to pay for it.
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Slash defense spending also..................one aircraft carrier will insure the entire population of Urbana, Illinois for the next 50 years.............................
good analysis pamela
4.
Michael Ellis
Thu, 08/23/07
9:29 am
Slash defense spending also..................one aircraft carrier will insure the entire population of Urbana, Illinois for the next 50 years.............................
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???
Nope..., not on Govermental (ANY) agenda.
That's the entire point of fear mongering for decades....
http://www.crooksandliars.com/
American military and political officials must, at the very least, have the foresight not to promote crusade rhetoric in the midst of an already religion-tinged war. Many of our enemies in the Mideast already believe that the world is locked in a contest between Christianity and Islam. Why are our military officials validating this ludicrous claim with their own fiery religious rhetoric?
It’s time to actively strip the so-called war on terror of its religious connotations, not add to them. Because religious wars are not just ugly, they are unwinnable. And despite what Operation Straight Up and its supporters in the Pentagon may think is taking place in Iraq, the Rapture is not a viable exit strategy.
Howard Dean is first BTW.
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Now, a guy on MSNBC said the other day that milk prices were going ape shit because of the increased cost of corn used for ethanol? is that true......please explain, thanks.
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current higher milk prices are due to last summers heat wave
ethanol by-product feed is best utilized by dairy cows so that connection is absolutely false (hogs can't eat it so higher pork maybe)
but milk futures are sharply lower in a few months as the effect of last summers heat eases so if you think the MSNBC guy is right make your fortune buying milk futures on the CME
corn prices are down a dollar a bushel from this years highs now anyway
a bigger effect on food prices is the cost of transportation from high fuel prices which would be alleviated by more ethanol production
ethanol is the cure not the disease
Freedom's Watch--the new swiftboaters.
The flooding rains in Kansas during wheat harvest are pulling up corn prices as wheat is used as a feedlot ration for beef when plentiful
the main effect of massive ethanol would be healthier beef because the final carbs in corn removed by ethanol add marbling fat into the meat
ethanol by-product =leaner beef, less pork, more milk
nothing to fear, the oil companies are doing the "high food prices" fear mongering
we here at the blog are too media savy to fall for that trick
Why are our military officials validating this ludicrous claim with their own fiery religious rhetoric?
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Simple huron..........what good is a miltiary if there aint no one to kill? no wars? etc................
I guess its sorta like all thee health care workers going to med school.................if there arent any patients, what good are they?
Freedom's Watch--the new swiftboaters.
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they will doom any Republican candidate that gets stuck by them
Coleman has to pray they don't run in Minnesota
every time the very word Iraq appears on TV their fortunes fall
75.
Phil Specht
Thu, 08/23/07
9:03 am
I can't believe the gift Ari Fleischer and W have given the Democrats the last few days nationalizing another election around Iraq and stay the course. The brain really has left the building....
Clinton appears to be trying to sucker Obama further right so as to cut him off from progressive support and it may work since she has the conservatives sewed up.
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Not sure if that's a "gift" Phil, only if "eventually" (as anything else indeed..., lol).
Agree, Reps sucking Demos further right "may work" (if not already working). Hill's "surge works" and 18% support for Congress is a good indication of that.
Those both Parties can't stop but pull/push each other into the grave they so fiercely digging....for themselves.
Americans won't forget to say farewell...to both..., lol.
Let's hear it from the defenders of the Health care insurance industry and big Pharma!
my sacred river is running muddy so I have to find a new fishing hole in a farm pond in a pasture somewhere(have one in mind) have a piece of cake on me today
Huron John
Thu, 08/23/07
9:28 am
Reply to this
Hillary was a "Goldwater Girl" in 1964, and has been a Republican ever since.
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I'm not a big fan of Hillary, but such diggs into people's past are cheap shots, negative, and counter-productive. I wish bloggers would quit that kind of shit because it stinks.
Agree, Reps sucking Demos further right "may work" (if not already working). Hill's "surge works" and 18% support for Congress is a good indication of that.
The only way the Democrats are going to salvage anything from their disastrous first 8 months in power, is to demonstrate some focus and discipline, and cut off funding for the war. Sadly, they seem to be going in the other direction which alienates even more progressives.
They have the power of the purse, and they need to use it if they're going to accomplish what the American people want.
Pelosi and Reid need to demonstrate some real leadership and enforce party discipline.
When was the last time that dozens of Republicans deserted their party on a crucial (or any) vote?
16. Charming!
Toll Rises Above 500 in Iraq Bombings
BAGHDAD, Aug. 21 — One week after a series of truck bombs hit a poor rural area near the Syrian border, the known casualty toll has soared to more than 500 dead and 1,500 wounded, according to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, making it the bloodiest coordinated attack since the American-led invasion in 2003....
In the area of last week’s attack, the desert villages dominated by Yazidis — a Kurdish-speaking sect whose faith combines Islamic teachings with other ancient religions — struggled to cope. Residents and officials say a constant flow of burials has filled the streets amid the stench of death arising from mounds of beige brick
Tecken Kuli Saleem, 39, said she had stayed alive for 12 hours under the rubble, but emerged without her family.
“I was pregnant in my fourth month and lost my baby in the attack,” she said. “I can’t talk much. The criminals killed my family, and I don’t know where my children are, whether they’re dead or alive. They’re missing.”....
Iraqi officials said no suspects had been arrested. Sunni extremists, who have been warring with Kurds in the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, are believed to be responsible for the attack.
Yazidis may have been targets because of their proximity to Syria’s porous border; for their beliefs (they worship an angel whose name is sometimes translated as Satan in the Koran); or as retribution for an episode in April, when some Yazidis stoned a young Yazidi woman to death for marrying a Sunni.
For now, the Iraqi and international effort remains focused on helping the grieving, the wounded and the destitute. American troops have helped distribute water and other emergency supplies.
Dr. Hakki of the Red Crescent Society said at least three trucks full of aid had come from the Turkish government....
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/world/middleeast/22iraq.html?th&emc=th
Huron John
Thu, 08/23/07
10:05 am
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Senator Byrd, the most staunchly opposed Senator to the Iraq invasion, was a KKK grand wizard once.
HILLARY THE LIBERAL
http://www.counterpunch.org/frank07252007.html
Richard Holbrooke likes Hillary Clinton. In fact he may well be asked to serve as Secretary of State if she is to win the presidential campaign next year. Holbrooke, a Democratic adaptation of Henry Kissinger, loves her approach to foreign policy.
Richard Holbrooke likes Hillary Clinton. In fact he may well be asked to serve as Secretary of State if she is to win the presidential campaign next year. Holbrooke, a Democratic adaptation of Henry Kissinger, loves her approach to foreign policy.
"She is probably more assertive and willing to use force than her husband," says Holbrooke, a former adviser to Bill Clinton. "Hillary Clinton is a classic national-security Democrat. She is better at framing national-security issues for the current era than her husband was at a common point in his career."
Holbrooke is an example of just how scary a Clinton administration would be.
11.
That's why we pay them as a governmental obligation. Any service whose success is measured in not being needed is what governments are oganized to deliver. Paying the military to be on stand-by is just like paying the fire department or the ambulance service.
Medical services are similar. They deal with events, incursions and invasions that we don't want.
The problem we have now is that too large of a percentage of our productive capacity is committed to hardware that's marginally effective. Why are we fighting people in sandals with helicopter gunships and tanks? Why are our troops riding around in noise machines that can be heard a mile away and covering their ears with headphones playing music? It's a wonder that more of them aren't blown up.
17.
republicans are reared up to be obedient. of course, they all vote together. democrats vote on the basis of what they think is the right thing to do.
If there's only one law--to be obedient--then it's easy to always be right. Even when you're doing wrong.
To be or to do. That's the defining question.
Do you want to be right or do you want to do right?
THE CLINTONISTAS INFLUENCE
http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn11082006.html
Wherever they were given the opportunity, voters across the country went strongly for antiwar candidates. True, the national Democrats, led by Rahm Emanuel of the Democratic Congressional Campaign, had tried pretty successfully to keep such peaceniks off the ballot, but in a few key races the antiwar progressives romped home. The Democrats won, despite Emanuel. If the Clintonites weren't still controlling most of the campaign money, and more openly antiwar populists had been running, the Democrats today would probably be looking at a wider majority in the House and one committed solidly to getting out of Iraq.
The furthest the national Democrats have wanted to go on the war has been to attack its management. This is what Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden all endorse.
democrats vote on the basis of what they think is the right thing to do.
Democrats, by and large, vote on the basis of what they think will get them re-elected. Doing the right thing is not a strong priority for most of them!
25. That's a bit of a slanderous attitude. Unless you're addicted to power, holding a public office is not all that great.
Getting elected is a lot like sex--a moment of euphoria.
It's hard to know what the right thing to do is. People have many different interests and some of them are bound to conflict. If you can get people to take turns, it's a little easier.
If you just follow orders, it's easiest of all. And the people chosen to give the orders can count on the gratitude of all those followers who don't have to give the orders themselves.
How many times have you heard, "I wouldn't want to be in his shoes for anything?"
Huron John
Thu, 08/23/07
10:13 am
Reply to this Holbrooke is an example of just how scary a Clinton administration would be.
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Yea, right Professor John, what is scarry is that you criticize some of the greatest Democrats. B4 Clinton got involved in Bosnia 200,000 to 300,000 civilians were ethnically cleansed. How many more had we not taken the initiative. Shut up, you asshole.
Was Bosnia Worth It?By Richard Holbrooke
Tuesday, July 19, 2005If you wonder whether the 1995 American intervention in Bosnia was the right decision, go to a really horrible place, one whose name has become synonymous with genocide and Western failure. Go to Srebrenica....
Nor has Bosnia become two separate states, as many critics of the Dayton Peace Agreement predicted. Although many (including in the Pentagon) predicted a Korea-like demilitarized zone between Serbs and Muslims, there are no barriers between the regions, and there are growing economic and political ties between ethnic groups. More than a million refugees have returned to their homes, many, like those in Srebrenica, to areas where they are in a minority....
From 1991 to 1995 the United States had been reluctant to act in Bosnia. But after Srebrenica, President Bill Clinton knew that although the American people would not like it, the United States could no longer avoid involvement there. Thus began the diplomatic and military policy that led to the Dayton accords, to peace in Bosnia and, four years later, to the liberation of the Albanian people in Kosovo from Slobodan Milosevic's oppression....
.... In a poll at the time, Clinton's decision was supported by only 36 percent of the American public, who expected heavy U.S. casualties. As it turned out, that expectation was misplaced; in the 10 years since Dayton, no -- repeat, no -- American or NATO military personnel have been killed by hostile action in Bosnia. It is a mark of the respect in which NATO -- that is, the United States -- is held.
Richard Holbrooke was the chief architect of the Dayton Peace Agreement. He writes a monthly column for The Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/18/AR2005071801329.html
28.
Monica Smith
Thu, 08/23/07
10:35 am
It's hard to know what the right thing to do is.
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Bush&Co. seems know...and that's about it.
All of the rest seems "bound to conflict"..., lol.
If people don't know "what the right thing to do is", they can never win.
15.
seashell :-)
Thu, 08/23/07
12:48 am
Mark Fiore http://markfiore.constantprogress.com/ne...
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We need Reed!
She's amazing! http://www.myspace.com/gildareed
Gilda Reed, Ph.D. Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives, LA District 01: http://www.dfalink.com/campaign.php?id=2...
Why did the author of this only mention the front runners when describing healthcare plans other that Dennis's single-payer plan? Are bloggers becoming resigned to the concept that only Edwards, Obama and Clinton are viable winners? As a Dodd supporter I am angry that his plan with appropriate links was not included. If there is to be a healthy debate on the issue of health care all voices on the Democratic side must be heard.
And for the record I am impressed with Dodd's plan but not enamored with it. I do support the universal, single-payer idea.
Also, John while I do not like either Obama or Clinton at this time (and will never vote for a Clinton presidency for various reasons) it is fairly accurate to call both of them liberals. Corportae leaning for sure, but they are ceratinly not conservatives, either traditional or of the neo- type. Liberals have pretty much always had a healthy support of corporations as a way of stimulating the economy and benefitting society on the whole.
Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal
Phil Ochs, "Love Me, I'm a Liberal"
Many Eligible for Child Health Plan Have No Idea
...Late last week, the Bush administration published new standards intended to prevent states from expanding eligibility for the program to cover children from middle-class families. But a more fundamental debate over the program has been raging in Washington for months: how to find and enroll the 1.7 million low-income children who are already eligible but have not signed up. ..
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/health/policy/22insure.html?th&emc=th
Chris Dodd's Plan
* Ensures all Americans will have quality, affordable health coverage during Chris Dodd's first term.
* The Dodd plan will create a health insurance marketplace called Universal HealthMart that is based on, and parallel to, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP).
* Individuals and businesses will contribute to Universal HealthMart based on their ability to pay.
* Premiums will be affordable based on leveraged negotiating power, spreading risk, reduced administrative costs, and incentives for technology and preventive care.
* Coverage will be portable -- insurance purchased in Universal HealthMart will follow individuals.
Not as good as Kucinich's single payer Medicare, but not too bad.
Edwards is in the best shape to win Iowa which is why other candidates are ready to change party rules to keep that from happening.
Everybody with a preferred candidate sees the same conspiracy against him by Hillary -- as if she doesn't plan on winning Iowa herself.
If there's anything people on this blog should know it's how ephemeral summertime polls are, especially in IA where people fancy themselves as shepherds of the nation's destiny. On caucus night Hillary's well financed and trained machine will descend on the caucus places and herd those who worship the false idols of power and "electability" into her corner. To lure in the even less sophisticated, they'll show up with pizza.
Caucusing so sucks.
Paz Peace
Thu, 08/23/07
11:06 am
Reply to this
Liberals have pretty much always had a healthy support of corporations as a way of stimulating the economy and benefitting society on the whole.
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Corporations are not intrinsically bad, but have become so under a system that tells them they can make their own rules, like telling football players they don't need a referree. It will turn the game into a brawl.
The contempt for the moderates ("liberals" in the 60s-70s) was a foolish mistake of activist Leftism that drove moderate voters into the arms of "sensible" Reagan Republicanism, which turned out to be a trojan horse for the Neocons. Let's not make the same mistake today.
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Michigan has caucuses Sitka, and they are the ones currently jumping the calendar.
Joan* In*Florida
Thu, 08/23/07
11:16 am
Reply to this
Chris Dodd's Plan
....Not as good as Kucinich's single payer Medicare, but not too bad.
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there's a delicate balance between what is "ideal" and what is politically feasible to gain the concensus of a divided country.
Dodd and Edwards have very similar health care proposals, Obama's is similar but not universal.
Democrats, by and large, vote on the basis of what they think will get them re-elected. Doing the right thing is not a strong priority for most of them!
25. That's a bit of a slanderous attitude. Unless you're addicted to power, holding a public office is not all that great.
Slander is "a false spoken statement about someone which damages their reputation."
Libel is "a piece of writing which contains bad and false things about a person."
- John's statement was written and would therefor be libelous.
- It was not false.
Phil Specht
Thu, 08/23/07
11:22 am
Reply to this
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nothing can be more obscene than the way John slanders Democrats. IMO he's either a troll or a nutcake egomaniac.
Michigan has caucuses Sitka, and they are the ones currently jumping the calendar
Caucusing still sucks, but I say go for it. Anything which reduces the false influence of IA is good.
Iowa has exactly the influence sheeple allow it to have; the rules allow fair representation in the selection of the nominating convention delegates in all fifty states and Iowans only elect 61 of the 4000 delegates
nothing can be more obscene than the way John slanders Democrats.
It's amusing to see FRED accuse another of obscenity. I can't say John hasn't done it as well at some point, but speaking his opinions of corrupt politicians certainly isn't obscene. And as I pointed out above, it isn't slander if it's written and true.
Iowa has exactly the influence sheeple allow it to have
Sheeple led by sheeple is bad indeed.
Iowans only elect 61 of the 4000 delegates.
All the less reason for them to be keepers of the kingdom's keys.
If the nominee will be decided in six weeks shouldn't the calendar start in March.
what if the big states all moved their primaries back
Dodd and Edwards have very similar health care proposals, Obama's is similar but not universal.
What all Democratic health insurance proposals have in common is a lack of will on the part of DCDems to ever enact them. 4 Democratic presidents with Democratic Congresses have failed to enact the promise of universal coverage that has been in the party's platform since 1948.
So pardon me if I'll only believe it when I see it.
what if the big states all moved their primaries back
A lot more people would get to have a meaningful say.
I blog at Universal Health. This is a resource for health policy, healthcare quality and patient safety, patient advocacy and professional nursing issues. I would greatly appreciate progressives reading, commenting, participating, linking and growing progressive health blog readership. The blog is open to group blogging. There is also a web ring for Progressive Healthcare Bloggers, and I hope that you will read, join, display the banner and promote progressives who are writing about and advocating for health care for all of us.
We need all progressives to learn more about healthcare so you can help us help you! Thanks!
So pardon me if I'll only believe it when I see it
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Primary challenges are in order. To be fair though a very good expansion of childrens health coverage faces a veto, and if you can't cover children it is hard to imagine going further without a Democratic President and 60+ Democrats in the Senate.
Annie Kreider
Thu, 08/23/07
11:53 am
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Thank you so much for sharing that site. I always like to bookmark sites with rich links and there is a wealth of information a click or two away.
if you can't cover children it is hard to imagine going further without a Democratic President and 60+ Democrats in the Senate.
The GOP didn't filibuster Clinton's plan in 1994. They didn't even have to since DCDems failed to get it to the floor.
I would give them a little credit for trying if they had ever even forced Repubs to go on record by making them to filibuster or veto health insurance for every American.
Dean relates in his book how he and some other governors went to DC to ask Dem Congressional leaders for their help in enacting state health insurance coverage, since the federal government couldn't get it done. They were turned down cold, according to Dean, because health insurance is their issue to exploit and they don't want governors taking it from them.
Dean doesn't say this, but by not enacting health insurance DCDems also keep alive their ability to promise it in every election.
Just a reminder that August 28 is the day of the "iraq summer" vigils.
I am going to one in Virginia Beach.
where is your vigil going to be?
I will be with the group headed by Andres who visited our blog a while ago.
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By pamella gronemeyer on Aug 22, 2007 6:00 PM EDTAmericans pay more for their health care system than people in any other country and don't get their money's worth. We have to dismantle the system that we have now with many of us paying large sums for our health insurance and getting little from it while the insurance companies and their CEO's make off like bandits. The money that we pay now to insurance companies would help fuel the system. We need to eliminate the middle man who does nothing but increase costs and hold up payments. We have to change the insurance industry from being a "money making sector" to a service industry. In addition, we have to convince or just compel those who believe that you have to earn or deserve healthcare ( hard to understand how a two year old can pay for his healthcare) that universal healthcare is a human right. There are so many people who can in one breath claim to care about their fellow citizens and think spending billions on an unprovoked,misguided war to protect everyone from "terrorists" is vital and good but will fight and scream over spending the same money to insure the health of the nation.This money would fuel the system. A single payer healthcare system like Medicare would work but how can this be accomplished immediately? Young physicians with nearly a hundred thousand dollars in school debts have to pay off loans. Many hospital systems are for profit. Anyone who has ever worked in the medical field knows how much is spent for the medical supplies from for profit medical equipmnt makers,etc. Cutting waste is easy to say but what is waste? On one page, no candidate can clearly state how we can guarantee universal healthcare, but the fact that all of the Demncrats are all talking about it means that changes have to occur. The people who are so opposed to any change in healthcare have to realize that they are only a chronic disease or a change in employment status away from being denied insurance. All of the prevention in the world can't stop atherosclerosis as you age and if you have the wrong DNA. No one has all of the answers. What we will need is a group of people who know about healthcare and who are committed to the belief that unviversal healthcare is the right thing to do and can be achieved. The fact that the Republican candidates deabte only about war and not about healthcare is reflection of their own self-interest and lack of commitment to the people of the country.