Michael Moore: "More Than a Victory, the Decision Today Was a Mandate for Us to Act"

[sabrina 1]

More Than a Victory, the Decision Today Was a Mandate for Us to Act

Five years ago this week, my health care documentary, Sicko, opened in theaters across the country. I have spent the better part of the decade on this issue, and for me, personally, fully aware of the current law's limitations, I am very happy with today's news – not because of its specifics or nuances, but because it is a road sign, and that sign points in the correct, humane and sane direction. THAT makes this a great day.

No one has spent more time fighting for Health Care for all Americans than Michael Moore. He brought the issue to the public's attention when he decided to make his film 'Sicko' during the Bush Administration, in which he exposed all the lies told by the Right about HC.

For his trouble he was viciously attacked on a regular basis by the far right. Attacks, we now know, thanks to Wendell Potter, that were paid for by the Health Insurance Industry. They did everything they could to try to stop that film from being seen, and/or if it was, to discredit him and the movie before it reached the public.

Because of his dedication to this issue, he is one of the people whose opinions I respect so I wanted to see what he had to say about the USSC's decision yesterday. As always, MM is thrilled to see Republicans lose and I think his assessment of the victory is practical and well thought out:

More Than a Victory, the Decision Today Was a Mandate for Us to Act

The media is already spending much time talking about the mandate being the "centerpiece of the law," but the real news is that if you ever have a pre-existing condition, you cannot now be denied insurance. If you are a young adult without health insurance, you can now stay on your parents' plan until age 26. The insurance company can no longer say there is a lifetime cap to your coverage. The insurance companies are now required to spend 85 cents out of every dollar they take in on actual reimbursement for your health care – not on profit or "administrative costs" (some companies have been taking over a 30% cut; Medicare's total percentage of their budget for administrative costs: 2%).

Here while he acknowledges that the bill has flaws, and I guess he convinced me that this was inevitable when making huge changes like this to any major law, he believes it was a step in the right direction:

So, yes, the bill is highly flawed and somewhat wrong-headed – but what it IS is a huge step in the right direction. And today's court decision cements that. The right wing knows this and they are probably unraveling in some not-so-pretty ways right now. And that's why today is a great day. The Right has been smacked down by one of their own! They know what we all know — that the path of history has been, and will continue to move toward the basic human right that all people are entitled to see a doctor and NOT have to worry about losing their home because they can't afford to pay the medical bills. Those days are over, or will be soon, and that is where civilization is headed. It's not headed back to the days of Oliver Twist. Today's victory is momentum, it's forward motion, and we WILL have true universal health care in this country in the not too distant future.

And as always, Michael is ready to keep going, build on what was achieved, and not stop until we get what every other civilized country has:

So that's the battle ahead of us: Organizing and mobilizing the majority of Americans to push for true universal health care, Medicare for All. At one time, back in Illinois, that was the position held by Barack Obama. He will not make this happen on his own. He will only be able to do it when the mass of American people rise up and demand it. Demand it. Why not start tonight?

Hey Mike, thanks for all you do for your country! I will never forget your sometimes lone voice speaking out against the Bush administration when so many others remained silent!

If you haven't seen his Documentary on the Health Care System in the US, you can watch it here and it is well worth watching. But be prepared to be outraged and to cry and being that he made it, you will laugh too: SICKO

[polichick]

1. Michael Moore, a true patriot! k&r

[sabrina 1]

2. Yes he is. I don't think people realize what he went through, he and his family, for making

Fahrenheit 911 and Sicko during the Bush years. He received death threats, his family was investigated, he had to hire protection because of the threats of unhinged Bush supporters.

He could just sit back and enjoy the money he has made, but he really cares about the American people so that isn't likely.

It was very disconcerting to see some of the left latch on to the false propaganda bought and paid for by Corporate America.

Wendell Potter earned so much respect when he apologized to him for his role in the smears by the Health Insurance Industry.

[Blue_Tires]

3. +1

[Recursion]

4. No one has spent more time fighting for Health Care for all Americans than Michael Moore

Really?

[sabrina 1]

5. No one who was not elected and who had his own coverage. Can you name anyone else

who, while Bush and his gang were trying to privatize SS and cut benefits to the poor, who were lying about Europe's and Canada's HC system in order to discourage any kind of reform that did not privatize our system completely?

Someone who has enough money to not have to worry, who was not elected so was not obligated to stand up and take the crap he took?

I can't think of anyone but that doesn't mean they do not exist, so give me some names and I will be happy to edit the OP and even happier to know he was not the only one.

[CleanLucre]

6. Mike rocks

[bullwinkle428]

7. Thank you, sabrina 1, for acknowledging what an integral role Michael Moore played

in bringing the discussion of health care reform to the forefront, particularly with the release of "Sicko". There were a few that were expressing a rather ungrateful attitude toward his work on this topic...

K&R.

[sabrina 1]

8. I remember when he decided to make the movie and came to Democratic blogs asking

people to tell him their real life stories about there experiences with the HC system. I nearly wrote to him as at that time I had discovered how bad it was when a close friend had a life-threatening condition and had no coverage, but was not eligible for Medicaid. I remember asking the counselor at the hospital 'but what happens to people who cannot get coverage' and she responded 'they die'! I simply did not believe her. It was too incredible for me to think that people would be allowed to die because they could not afford coverage.

And arguing with right wingers at the time over HC was like banging your head against a brick wall.

One of their favorite talking points was that 'anyone who has no coverage in this country are just lazy, bums who want the rest of us to take care of them'. Now I see that false right wing meme right here on DU sometimes.

The other was to attack Europe's and Canada's HC systems. In his Movie, MM addressed all of their lies and I was so thrilled that finally someone had taken them on. No wonder they tried to keep people from seeing it.

You're welcome, btw, it is a shame that some on the Left actually believed the propaganda from the Right about MM.

[AzDar]

9. Michael Moore ...

[annabanana]

10. One of the BEST "unlikely angels"

(big fan of Michael's here)

[sabrina 1]

18. Me too, he's real and honest and courageous and every chance I get I stand up for him against

the lies and smears paid for by Big Business, who view him as serious threat to their interests. Which I hope he continues to be.

[Kingofalldems]

11. K and R for the Cave people visiting.

[sabrina 1]

12. Lol! Another reason why I love him

he drives the crazy.

[JDPriestly]

13. Thank you, Michael Moore.

[whatchamacallit]

14. I loves me some MM!

No Mineral Man, not you.

[sabrina 1]

16. You scared me for a minute!

[whatchamacallit]

17. ;)

[greyghost]

15. Thank you sir!

[joshcryer]

19. This is what we mandate supporters have been saying all along.

[sabrina 1]

20. Michael Moore does not represent 'mandate supporters'.

He represents those of us who opposed, and still do, mandates, the bought and paid for policy of the Insurance Corps.

As Wendell Potter said today, and he too has taken MM's position, the Ins Corps had two main goals, one 'kill the PO and replace it with the Mandate.

However, MM speaks for me as we are where we are and cannot undo what has been done. There are good things in the bill and that is progress. But now the goal is to move on to the goals expressed by Candidate Obama, as MM points out, which are, to work towards a National HC system by working to elect members of Congress, like Bernie Sanders who also takes MM's position and who also opposed mandates and supports the PO, who will work towards that goal.

[joshcryer]

21. I did not say that Michael Moore supported mandates.

I said that mandate supporters believe the rest of the legislation can be improved upon.

I am not clear that Bernie Sanders or Michael Moore would be against mandates if we had a public option. I do know that he, like many bright eyed liberals back when Obama was playing the right wing Harry and Louise ads, was enamored with "universal" health care legislation that didn't have mandates.

[sabrina 1]

22. Then I misunderstood you.

Michael Moore, Bernie Sanders and Wendell Potter all supported Single Payer and still do, as do I. There is no other option for a civilized country and no cheaper option.

And that is what should be goal. And then you compromise, if you have to.

The most important goal is to get the middlemen out of our Health Care system. Right now they are running the show and Congress simply does as it is told as this whole exercise proved beyond a doubt.

But then, it is all related to getting the money out of politics because so long as that doesn't change, Corporations will continue to run this country.

[joshcryer]

23. You can't compromise on single payer, but you can compromise on an ad hoc...

...stupid insurance based scheme. Then once you get it you improve it.

Single payer would be easy enough to break. For instance, single payer without employer subsidies would be very expensive and unpopular. But it's hard to break ACA any more than it is already broken, it can be improved upon tremendously.

The best way to get the middlemen is to produce a public option exchange, it's the most viable system as it stands now. Once you have that public option then you can evolve it into single payer pretty easily. This is going to happen whether or not congress acts. I would like for congress to get it over with and make it reality, but we need to win back the house for that. If congress doesn't do it, the states will. 20% profits for insurers vs 2% management for a public non-profit pool, it's a no brainer.

[sabrina 1]

25. My point was that you start out asking for Single Payer

knowing it probably won't happen right away, and then 'give' them the PO. The way this went with the ACA, the bargaining didn't even include the PO.

The rest of your post I agree with.

[joshcryer]

26. I do agree with you, that should've happened.

If the Single Payer advocates were allowed a say (and not arrested and ousted from the committee hearings) it would've been hard to crush the public option. That is a POV I hadn't considered before, to be sure. I'm not 100% that we would've got the public option though, but Baucus was dismissing the public option because he was courting Olympia Snowe's vote, and of course, we see how that went. He should've put it back in.

[sabrina 1]

27. I think in the end, most people realized there was never a chance of getting of a PO

Not this time. Looks like, from everything that was revealed, that the mandate was a done deal and the Insurance Corps wanted the PO killed. I think Max Baucus' job was to make sure we got the mandate and that the PO was off the table.

Wendell Potter's recent post confirms that:

h/t to Poll Blind for the link

Wendell Potter: After ruling, health insurers now back on Team GOP

I'm talking about the health insurance industry, of course. It was the insurers that led the drive on Capitol Hill and at the White House to include the individual mandate in the reform law in the first place.

The industry had two objectives going into the debate on reform: making sure there was an “enforceable” requirement that all Americans obtain coverage, and making sure there was no public option created.

As the former head of communications for Cigna, I was privy to the industry’s strategy to influence the reform debate. I knew that insurance company executives and the industry’s biggest trade association—America’s Health Insurance Plans—would be working behind the scenes to achieve their policy victories.

Have you seen Sicko? If not, you should watch it, it's linked in the OP.

I forgot about them arresting the PO advocates, another promise broken, that everyone would have a seat at the table. Everyone except Progressives. I bet the Industry was responsible for that.

But at least now we know what we are up against. And I do agree that some doors have been opened to, eg, to get Single Payer into the states, although I think the Ins Corps will fight hard to prevent that.

At least we got a few good things, as MM and Wendell Potter have said, 'it's a step forward' but it is just the beginning and people will have to be very organized in order to get to where we need to be because the big Corps will fight back all the way.

[DonCoquixote]

24. In a saner age

This man will get the Congressional Medal of Freedom, and he will DESERVE IT!