FINALLY! A Democrat With A Spine Calls It Like It Is and Refuses To Apologize!

[berni_mccoy]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hKv7iDNW3S3mVN7dD8ZVm9rCy0dQD9B1NNFG2

Democrat says GOP wants sick to just 'die quickly'

WASHINGTON — A Democratic congressman from Florida is refusing to apologize for saying that Republicans want Americans who get sick to just "die quickly." Republicans on Wednesday were planning an effort to scold him just as Democrats chastised a Republican lawmaker earlier this month.

Rep. Alan Grayson made his comments on the House floor Tuesday night while criticizing Republican health care proposals as a "blank piece of paper."
"If you get sick, America, the Republican health care plan is this: die quickly," he said. "That's right. The Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick."

His remarks weren't spontaneous: He reinforced the point with signs saying the same thing.

The Repubs are all in an outrage over this. To them I say "SUCK ON THE TRUTH BECAUSE I KNOW YOU DON'T LIKE HOW IT TASTES!"

No Democrat should apologize for telling the truth. Good for you Rep. Grayson!

[Salviati]

1. Where can we donate to him.

Maybe it will encourage other democrats to grow a spine.

[timeforpeace]

13. This is just talk. We saw action yesterday. We need to stop giving money just for talk.

[ddeclue]

51. Right HERE:

https://www.graysonforcongress.com/contribute_monthly.asp

[Amonester]

83. AND HERE:

http://www.actblue.com/page/graysonapology

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[66 dmhlt]

91. Maybe Grayson will make this cartoon an anachronism

<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2451480140082084340pUUQwg"><img src="" alt="(Humor)_Cartoon_Spine-Democrats"></a>

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2451480140082084340pUUQwg>

[66 dmhlt]

92. OOPS! Sorry - a slip of the click.

[curiousdemo]

99. Don't wait on your lifetime for that to happen

some Democrats is as embarrassing as the Repukes.

[sharp_stick]

2. Oh just wait

You know there will be "quiet" pressure on this guy to come through and "take one for the team" and apologize to all the hurt feelings on the GOP side.

I'd make a shitty congressman, the amount of hate and invective I'd be firing at the scumbags obviously given their marching orders from Focus on the Family would ensure CSPAN wasn't able to broadcast until after 9:00 PM to avoid indecency provisions.

I hope he holds out and I hope he continues to press the case.

[berni_mccoy]

5. Let them push it to a reprimand vote like Wilson and let's see where the votes fall.

[starroute]

43. He held out when they wanted him to apologize to Rush

Check his wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Grayson

In early 2009, Grayson responded to controversial comments by talk radio personality Rush Limbaugh, in which Limbaugh stated that he wanted President Barack Obama "to fail" ... by saying, "Rush Limbaugh is a has-been hypocrite loser, who craves attention. His right-wing lunacy sounds like Mikhail Gorbachev, extolling the virtues of communism. Limbaugh actually was more lucid when he was a drug addict. If America ever did 1% of what he wanted us to do, then we'd all need pain killers."

On March 3 of that year, satirizing incidents in which prominent Republican officials (including Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele) were forced to apologize to Limbaugh for criticizing him, Grayson released a second statement, in which he said, "I’m sorry Limbaugh called for harsh sentences for drug addicts while he was a drug addict. I'm also sorry that he’s bent on seeing America fail. And I’m sorry that Limbaugh is one sorry excuse for a human being."

[sabrina 1]

52. He is a rare creature in DC. He tells the truth!

He also issued a plea to help him get a list of the Corporations that have been fined or indicted etc. after Congress went after ACORN.

He was the one who said that if ACORN is defunded under that bill, so would the entire MIC. He then asked the public to help him with a list of those companies:

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2009/09/grayson-acorn-defunding-rule-could-snare-defense-contractors-.html

Grayson: Who Else Would ACORN Defunding Rule Hit? Military, Some Say

So in the fair-is-fair column, Grayson has asked the Project on Government Oversight to cull its database and look for other organizations that receive federal funding that may have committed fraud against the federal government. Now he wants your help.

Grayson, who made a name for himself suing war profiteers before entering Congress, said Wednesday that the campaign builds on his previous crusade.

“Based upon the work I did for years, I know that ACORN is not the only organization that has submitted false forms to the government,” Grayson said.

I like him ~

[sharp_stick]

53. I think I have found my new

favorite congresscritter.

[calimary]

75. Wow! My hero!!!

Sigh...

He makes my heart go pitty-pat!

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:


What we should do from here on is, whenever we call our reps, to suggest STRONGLY that they start taking a page from his playbook. We want more of THAT!!! NOT more republi-CON mollycoddling.

[Barack_America]

62. Apology here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=380421&mesg_id=380421

It's worth watching. ;)

[TheCoxwain]

3. Sadly .what he says is the truth

[NashVegas]

4. Unless Your Name Is Terri Schiavo?

Sorry, I just don't think that's a fair statement.

[berni_mccoy]

Where are you getting that from?

[NashVegas]

18. History

Quite recent history, in fact.

[berni_mccoy]

23. Then, I'm totally missing your point.

[Fla Dem]

44. Repugs didn't want the plug pulled on T. Schiavo. n/t

[dmr]

47. That's because there was money to pay the bills & they had angry Christians in the news

Had there been no money then they wouldn't have cared.

Had there been no news reports about angry Christians, they wouldn't have cared.

[Jackpine Radical]

58. Of course they didn't want the plug pulled on that poor woman.

She was brain dead, so they assumed she was one of their own.

[Patiod]

93. +1

[intheflow]

12. So you agree with the Repukes that

the government should step in on family decisions on private end-of-life matters, but deny healthcare to millions in the form of a public options? I'm sorry, your post makes no sense.

[NashVegas]

17. No, I Do Not Agree With Anyone Who Thinks Gov Should Step In On Such Matters

I just don't think it's a true or fair statement to say Republicans just want us all to die quickly, when it was Republican interference that drew out that whole saga.

[berni_mccoy]

25. LOL. Ah Ok, you are taking their actions on the Schiavo case as a pro-life issue then.

When in reality, it was for political theater in an epic failure of an attempt to politically damage Democrats.

[girl gone mad]

41. I call bullshit.

Around the same time that the Republicans were flogging Schiavo's husband for wanting to carry out her wishes, a family in Texas was begging a hospital to keep their child on life support. Republicans said and did nothing to save this child.

[1955doubledie]

98. Ah, cool! They saved one (out of how many millions we're talking here?)

...and grandstanded about it. So that makes them big heroes? :rofl:

[gratuitous]

20. The difference between the particular and a policy

If every sick person was Terri Schiavo (at least her name should be spelled properly), then the Republicans would have no problem. But some sick people don't have batshit crazy right-to-life relatives. Many of them aren't even decently whi--oops, I mean, real Americans. It's too dangerous to enact health care reform because it might help some people who don't -- in the Republican worldview -- deserve help.

[Bolo Boffin]

27. You know what? You're right.

Grayson should apologize and correct his signs. The Republican health care plan is for people TO get sick and STAY sick as long as possible so that the insurance companies can deny your coverage and the medical bills can bleed you dry. America is a consumer-driven economy, and if you are staying healthy or dying quickly, you aren't doing all you can for our country.

If Grayson would do this, I would pop popcorn.

[NashVegas]

28. That

Sounds about right.

Really, though, I think they just want the campaign donations more than anything else.

[devilgrrl]

46. Bollocks!

:nuke:

[Lorien]

64. repugs love the unborn and the brain dead

but they have no use for anyone who can think for themselves. Functioning brain and out of the womb? Sorry! Get one with it and die!

[havocmom]

6. He's correct. If you don't have lots of $ to spend, and are too sick to work

so the corporate masters can exploit you, they just want you gone.

Have known this for decades now. More people are catching on. Good on Rep. Alan Grayson for stating it on the floor!

See, there are some good pols in FL!

[Barack_America]

7. YES! That is one hell of a slogan.

Blunt and right-on.

I'm actually surprised the GOP would draw attention to this. What is their argument against this? That they don't advocate dying quickly, but rather selling off all your shit to get on Medicaid or begging for charity?

"Die Quickly". It's true...and it's catchy.

[intheflow]

8. This is in no way akin akin to Wilson's "You lie!" outburst.

The Repukes are grasping at straws here, wanting to censure him over this. If they censure Grayson on this, they ought to physically gag their own Bachmann.

[MajorChode]

70. It's their idea of political payback

When a GOPher is rebuked, they MUST respond in kind. It doesn't matter if the GOPher deserved it and the Democrat didn't.

We saw the exact same thing with the Iran Contra scandal. The Democrats demanded a independent counsel investigation that ultimately resulted in the prosecution of a number of prominent Republicans. The Republicans responded with 8 years of baseless Clinton investigations.

That's just how they think. It's a mental defect.

[intheflow]

77. I think it's all payback from impeaching Nixon.

It pisses them off no end that we proved them to be sleazy, lying political thieves who presented a clear and present danger to the fabric of the country, and the best they could do was find an old dress with a white stain.

[MajorChode]

85. Different times

Even the GOPhers gave up on Nixon. Nixon resigned after Goldwater told him he wouldn't support him. Integrity, even if it was feigned was really all they had going for them at the time. Nixon was crucified in the press, not so much his political enemies although they certainly picked over his bones. There was no such thing as the independent counsel so there wasn't a lot that congress could do to Nixon. Out of watergate came the independent counsel that congress had the power to use, although that wouldn't really happen until Iran Contra. Surprisingly even Goldwater didn't support Raygun or Bush, Sr. over Iran-Contra.

Both parties are considerably different today. The GOPhers will stand by their party no matter how corrupt or evil it is.

[intheflow]

86. They're NOT different parties.

Example: Cheney & Rove were active DC Republicans during the Nixon era, and Pappy Bush was his FBI director. The rank and file members may have shifted alliances (or is it allegiances?) over the years, but the young'uns learned at the Master's knee and you can rest assured (or rather, rest disturbed) that those lessons have been and continue to be passed along in current Republican circles.

[MajorChode]

87. Things did change in the early 70's

Certainly the GOPhers were no strangers to dirty tricks, but they were backroom and out of the public eye for the most part. Lee Atwater ushered in the era of overt dirty tricks.

[csziggy]

82. And the other Repubs that have stood in front of Congress and lied

Rachel Maddow in her coverage of Alan Grayson covered this tonight: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#33110896

[Cant trust em]

9. The republicans never apologize for anything. Why should we? nt

[601Liberal]

33. Exactly!

Screw the Republicans...they screw us all the time anyway.

[dugaresa]

10. Republicans want you to die only after their corporate donors have sucked every last cent from you

and your family.

Then when your family has a load of debt that they can't repay due to your illness, then you can die.

[flyarm]

11. Leave Your “Blame the Republicans” Emails Here! By: Jane Hamsher

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/29/leave-your-blame-the-republicans-emails-here/

Leave Your “Blame the Republicans” Emails Here!
By: Jane Hamsher Tuesday September 29, 2009 5:05 pm

I know my inbox is full of emails blaming the Republicans for killing the public option on the Senate Finance Committee. They're hilarious.

That's right, the GOP did it!

Leave yours in the comments. Maybe we'll have a drinking game to see how fast each one starts pimping triggers.

It seems to have escaped their notice that Democrats did the exact same thing they're blaming the Republicans for. Just enough of them, in fact, to make sure the public option failed.

Funny how that always works, isn't it?

[berni_mccoy]

16. Three Democrats who are really DINOs did the exact same thing they're blaming Republicans for.

Let's be clear. Baucus et al who shot down the public option in the Finance Committee yesterday are not representative of the position of the majority of the party.

Yes, Democrats are to blame for blocking Health Reform, but not a single Republican is crossing the isle. They deserve most of the focus here.

[flyarm]

40. and then dems helped pass..restoring 50 million of our tax dollars for abstinence education money..

not to worry your little heads but this passed yesterday..
when the public option failed.........

Panel votes to restore abstinence education money
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee voted Tuesday night to restore $50 million a year in federal funding for abstinence-only education that President Barack Obama has pushed to eliminate.

The 12-11 vote by the Senate Finance Committee came over objections from its chairman, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.

Two Democrats - Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas - joined all 10 committee Republicans in voting "yes" on the measure by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Senate Finance Committee votes to restore federal funding for abstinence education
Associated Press

Last update: September 29, 2009 - 10:31 PM
WASHINGTON - A Senate committee voted Tuesday night to restore $50 million a year in federal funding for abstinence-only education that President Barack Obama has pushed to eliminate.
The 12-11 vote by the Senate Finance Committee came over objections from its chairman, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.


http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/congress/62764212.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhU6:_0c:QyDiiUiacyKUnciaec8O7EyUr

or

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/congress/62764212.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhU6:_0c:QyDiiUiacyKUnciaec8O7EyUr

[flyarm]

42. and don't miss this..Hoyer Cool To Repealing Wiretap Immunity

with dems like these who needs republicans?????????

Hoyer Cool To Repealing Wiretap Immunity
Source: Associated Press

(09-29) 10:31 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer made clear Tuesday that he would be cool to a Senate proposal to take away the retroactive immunity now given to telecommunications companies that participated in warrantless wiretapping during the George W. Bush administration.

"I don't think that revisiting that issue is really going to get us anyplace," the Maryland Democrat said at a news conference.

His comment came a day after Senate Democrats Chris Dodd, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, Russ Feingold and Jeff Merkley said they planned to introduce legislation to repeal a provision in a 2008 act granting immunity to telecom companies that helped the government spy on Americans in suspected terrorism cases.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/0...


he had the fucking nerve to say this:


"I don't think that revisiting that issue is really going to get us anyplace," the Maryland Democrat said at a news conference.



HOW ABOUT RESTORING OUR CONSTITUTION STENNNNNNNNNNNNNNYYYYYYYYYYYYY
hey Steny..you don't seem to KNOW a republican value or ideal you can't agree with ...about stealing my constitution do you ?????????????????

...

[dmr]

49. I think this is why we are happy with Grayson. Let us have that.

Otherwise, you're not telling us anything we don't already know, and already feel sick about.

We need a feel good moment every now and then.

:hi:

[NashVegas]

103. LOL. Okay

[TankLV]

68. But is was OK to REVISIT the fucking issue WHEN THEY GRANTED THE RETROACTIVE IMMUNITY!!!

not to mention going after Clinton for things that happened WHEN HE WAS GOVERNOR!!!

But to go after CRIMINAL activity of just a FEW MONTHS AGO is somehow not fair...BITE ME!!!

[bread_and_roses]

89. No, sorry, focus should be on the Ds - who sang 60 votes 60 votes 60 votes

60 votes we can't do anything till we have 60 votes for years. Well, we gave them their 60 votes, and neither the President nor the Senate leadership seem to be doing what they could to whip these DINO bastards into line. Railing against the Rs is fun, but when our Pres seems to care more about getting one R vote than either the facts about costs or the reality of our citizens lives, it doesn't do much good. Even politically - because no matter how bad the final Bill, how expensive, how doomed to fail, how ineffective, once Obama signs it, he owns it. All the Rs will do is use its flaws to crucify him and us.

[bertman]

14. The truth hurts sometimes. Thank you Rep. Grayson. Recommend.

P.S. Sir, you have no reason to apologize.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

15. Mika was trying to get Rep. Cummings to call for Grayson to apologise this morning.

She was just horrified, horrified that Democrats would let this go without condemning it. She had her "indignant face" going all morning-- the one she adopts to make people think she has the slightest whiff of a clue what the rest of the Morning Joe panel is talking about.

[butterfly77]

38. I saw that Mika was acting like she was so outraged. and ..

like this is the most important story of the day. Mika needs to shut up because she doesn't know what in the hell is important. I was screaming at her silly ass this morning.

[pokercat999]

19. Actually I think he is wrong. Our corporate masters want us

to become and remain chronically ill. They love "taking care" of us when we have long term illnesses that require their drugs that don't heal the disease but make living with the symptoms barely tolerable. They love to hear that medical cash register sing. Making and keeping us (as many as possible) in a constant need of drugs and care is where the big profits are to be found.

Think about it, if I find a cure for diabetes I can sell it to you once, I can treat diabetes with multiple drugs and many tests and miscellaneous necessary products for many, many years.....which is most profitable? Would a corporation withhold or not seek a cure as opposed to "treatment"?

[berni_mccoy]

22. On your diabetes point, I've thought about that a lot

There are many with type-1 who believe that (and I have two children with type-1). I am on the fence on this theory. Let me play the devil's advocate to your position. The reason it probably isn't true is that there are a large number of people *with* diabetes working on a cure both in research, as doctors and yes, in pharma companies. Furthermore, there are competing companies who provide the maintenance supplies and drugs vs. the ones who are at work on the cure. For them to conspire in such a way would mean many people with type-1 would be hiding it, which I can tell you would be extremely unlikely.

As to your "corporate masters" comment, I believe that there are far more Republicans who are serving them than Democrats (but yes, there are indeed Democrats working for them as well).

[Kansas Wyatt]

45. It doesn't matter how genuine researchers are...

The Pharma "Corporation" will ALWAYS steer the research and look for the treatment, rather than the cure. Diabetes is their GOLDEN GOOSE that gives them Billions in pure profit at the expense of those with diabetes.

I've heard the same bullshit, since I was 13, about how they are getting close to finding a cure for diabetes. The ONLY thing that they have discovered in the last 27 years, were new and more expensive ways to treat diabetes, and that is all.

[Ineeda]

26. This has always been my theory

Take a walk down the cough and cold aisle of the grocery store or pharmacy - and this is just the OTC medicines, not prescription. No way the drug manufacturers will give up the cash cow for actual cures.

[Patiod]

96. Sorry, there will never be a magic pill for diabetes

Nobody in Big Pharma is trying to keep you sick. Time to wake up - no magic pixie dust being withheld from us. Big Pharma is NOT sitting on the cure that they won't let you have (or won't let their own friends and family have).

For-profit pharma companies do what they are set up to do, and that is to provide chemical and bio-chemical treatments for disease. Thankfully, people like Lee Iaccoca are funding the research on stuff like cellular transplants and other procedures that are more likely to get closer to a "cure", stuff that pharma companies just aren't set up to develop. But even this great organization is unlikely to come up with a one-shot "cure" - even they are talking about treatments.

In the case of diabetes, the blame is a lot more with the way we eat and what we're being fed (high fructose corn syrup and other crap in everything on the shelves, huge portions of processed food at all sorts of restaurants, etc). It's also a problem with the way we entertain ourselves - in front of the TV or the keyboard, and not being active. All of this kills our pancreas, screws with our autoimmune system, and increases systemic inflammation which screws with everything from the cardiovascular system, endocrine system - you name it.

It's way more complicated than 'big pharma doesn't want us to get well, so they can make money off of us"

One of my clients is a company that supplies the diabetes industry, and asked them why they had such healthy food in their cafeteria, and my client said "because we employ so many diabetics - a lot of our employees were drawn to our company in order to improve things for themselves and the people in their families with the condition." Many of the people who work at these companies are affected by the illnesses they research, and would be the first to blow the whistle if they thought their companies were "withholding a 'cure'".

Big Pharma is way of base on so many things - starting with the number of sleezy lobbyists they employ. Let's attack them on what they ARE doing wrong.

[pokercat999]

104. Actually Big Pharma is an easy target and like shooting at tin

cans, pointing out the problems with big pharma doesn't do much good. Oh, you may FEEL a little better for having hit the can but the can doesn't care and just continues to do what tin cans do.

The real attack should be on Congress and the administration for their lack of regulation and for not enforcing regulation. Both parties seem about equal in this regard and my guess is that both parties receive a huge amount of money from big pharma.

Free air time and tax payer funded election campaigns along with stricter ethic laws for all office holders, term limits and extraordinary sunshine laws may be the only way to restore our democracy.

[TwilightGardener]

21. As I said on another thread, he should apologize when the Republicans

apologize for suggesting Obama and Democrats want to kill old and retarded people.

[whathehell]

79. Bingo!

[MissMarple]

24. Why do Republicans hate sick people?

;)

[berni_mccoy]

29. They hate them because caring for the sick requires two things:

1. money, which they hold onto with clutched and crooked fingers
2. compassion which their black hearts and empty souls completely lack

[flyarm]

32. why do democrats hate sick people????????

seems there are plenty of excuses ...........and still no cure!


http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/29/leave-your-blame-the-republicans-emails-here/

Leave Your “Blame the Republicans” Emails Here!
By: Jane Hamsher Tuesday September 29, 2009 5:05 pm

I know my inbox is full of emails blaming the Republicans for killing the public option on the Senate Finance Committee. They're hilarious.

That's right, the GOP did it!

Leave yours in the comments. Maybe we'll have a drinking game to see how fast each one starts pimping triggers.

It seems to have escaped their notice that Democrats did the exact same thing they're blaming the Republicans for. Just enough of them, in fact, to make sure the public option failed.

Funny how that always works, isn't it?

[berni_mccoy]

35. The more you spam this the less effective your message will be.

[flyarm]

36. Some Kossacks Need To Pick a Side: A For Profit Cartel or Progress ( maybe here at DU as well?)

It could easily be said this applies to some at DU as well!

Some Kossacks Need To Pick a Side: A For Profit Cartel or Progress
By: priceman Tuesday September 29, 2009 9:16 pm

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/8565

snip:

There are posters here with a vested interest in defending the insurance industry; industries they work in, whether it’s life insurance or some other form. There seems to be a pattern. I’m not going to call out names, but I’m sure you will get the idea once I post some relevant information. It’s bad enough that this is going on, but they pretend to care about the 45,000 who die a year by the industry they are tacitly defending whether they want to admit it or not.

What else makes it worse is that they are going to compare the insurance industry with other more profitable industries as if people dying so insurance companies can make a ridiculous profit considering they don’t do anything of value, is an apples to apples comparison. It’s pretty insulting and sickening and you will see that we pay for their profits via gains and losses in the stock market in connection with Wall Street; another variable they conveniently left out. It’s also economically ignorant as well as morally ignorant to defend profits this way. For every health profit margin off of the sick there is less demand in our economy and greater costs we all bare at the emergency room. Also a recent study found that 62 percent of all bankruptcies filed in 2007 were linked to medical expenses and about 1.5 million families lose their homes to foreclosure every year due to unaffordable medical costs. Of those who filed for bankruptcy, nearly 80 percent had health insurance. You see, this is not good for equity as the value of abandoned homes drops and affects the homes around it, but profiteering off of that is somehow OK just because profits are bigger in other industries? Talk about a non sequitur in the grand scheme of things.

An industry that puts barriers for those who need preventative care like screenings and checkups of all types which then turns out over time to equal the crux of all health care costs via a sicker population which correlates with the 30% of administrative overhead causing barriers that cause this problem with our population. This sick reality is being used to defend a system as if it has little to do with these costs as if they are an exogenous variable onto itself despite billing departments and other forms of administrative waste in association the increasing umber of uninsured and the insured who still don’t get access to care adding up from year to year.




snip:

Wall Street is not happy about the prospects of a public option because public options don’t fit well within a need for greed society like the kind that have caused our economic crisis in collusion with the insurance industry. But they leap with joy at the prospects of our House of Financial Lords working to defeat any kind of public option at all:


http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/08/health_insurance_companies.html

[MissMarple]

39. The public option hasn't failed...yet.

Working with Democrats is like herding cats. It's not that they hate sick people, it's that some of them care more about reelection than health care. Republicans are more apt to be disdainful about sick people who lose their homes, file for bankruptcy, or unnecessarily die painful deaths. They think it certainly won't happen to THEM.

Anyway, I just like asking "why do Republicans hate sick people". It is sort of on the lines of "are you still beating your wife?" and "why do you hate America?" if we didn't embrace everything George Bush said. Sort of. ;)

[Lorien]

65. They love the sick that have white glove insurance that can pay for overpriced

drugs and treatments, everyone else is just a day laborer. If you can no longer function as a wage slave then you may as well die as far as they are concerned.

[ellie]

30. Alan Grayson is awesome

[butterfly77]

31. K&R!!!

[damntexdem]

34. We need more Dems to speak up and tell the simple truth.

The validity of Grayson's conclusions has been repeatedly demonstrated both by GOP pol's actions and words.

[butterfly77]

37. Does anyone have his email address

I want to tell him not to apologize. Fuck em!

[BumRushDaShow]

48. K&R

:applause:

[ddeclue]

50. He's my Congressman, a friend of mine and someone I helped to elect in 2008! I am so proud of him!

I signed up to donate $20.10/month to his re-election campaign.

If you want people like him in Congress and the Senate, you need to reward their good behavior by supporting them and punish people like Nelson and Baucus by finding Democratic primary opponents and supporting those opponents in the upcoming 2010 and 2012 elections.

https://www.graysonforcongress.com/contribute_monthly.asp

Way to go Alan!

If we could only get more guys Alan or Barney Frank in Congress and especially in the Senate it would really change things. We need to be done with the "blue dogs".

[Patiod]

97. Good for you, ddeclue!

That's exactly what we need.

Those of us who can afford to donate - donate.

Those of us with more time than money - man those phones, knock on those doors.

Now, here's a dilemma for you - what if our state party nominates Specter? Do I help HIM win? The Republicans, in their inevitable march into obscurity, will be nominating a far-right-wing kook to run against him. I'll be going to the county committee meetings, and voting for Specter's opponent, Sestak (if they even let it come up for a vote, which they may not). And I'll work for Sestak in the primaries. But if Specter wins based on name recognition throughout the state, then what? No way do I want the Wingnut winning. But if I support Specter, does that mean I support Specter?

Wish I had someone from the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party to work for, like your boy Grayson....

[MagickMuffin]

54. Republicons: "Death Panels" "Pull the Plug on Grandma"

Who's the ones that started this nonsense in the first place. As I recall it was the republicons who were making these claims about "killing grandma" now they want to be the Victims.
Business as Usual with these guys.

"Can't take the heat, get outta the kitchen!"


:applause: Rep.Grayson :applause: Stick to your Guns :thumbsup:

[Overseas]

55. The best line-- We've finally found the Republican Healthcare Plan-- Item 1) Don't Get Sick.

It was a wonderful painful joke series that applies very well to our current situation.

I agree with those above who hope Grayson will not consider revising his remarks until after--

-- Grassley apologizes for his various "pull the plug on Grandma" statements;
-- The closet Birthers in Congress apologize for their "gee I just don't know" replies to whether they believe our president is legitimately in office;
-- Republicans denounce the most vile instances of racist hatred that fester at the "genuine grass roots" rallies they are paying for to shout down "government interference in Medicare" and stuff;
etc.

There is a long list of famous, often-televised Republicans who have made remarks far more foul than a little gallows humor during this severe national health-security emergency. After all, 45 million fellow citizens uninsured, plus millions more bankrupt and foreclosed by medical bills. These are dire straits-- we need our gallows humor.

Thank you, Alan Grayson, for telling it like it is. The Emperor Has No Clothes-- hence the ridiculous yet dangerous distractions being cooked up by the Right to undermine our serious attempts at change/ a.k.a. to protect their private profits.

[pleah]

56. K&R

[flakey_foont]

57. aw, hell

they're already outraged over everything anyway. You talk about a bunch of thin skinned, sensitive folks....geez Louise! Everything under the sun outrages them

[libodem]

59. I listen to talk radio at night

so it's on an AM station. The local morning jock was such a snotty little bitch this morning about the 'tone' of Alan's comments. Crybaby wimp-ass loser. I'm so proud there is going to be no apology. Thank you to what ever powers up the universe.

I never started my own thread but I was thinking about the hopelessness of the Health Care situation as it now stands. I lost my insurance when I had back surgery and could not go back to my former job. I may never get insurance again. My meds cost about $300.00 per month. I work part time as an instructor.

I seriously hope that if I ever got heart disease or cancer that I could opt out of this life with out leaving a burden of medical debt on my family. We need Dr Kevorkian and the Death Panels much more to just put us out of our misery. We should have a Humane Society for humans if we can't afford the treatments it takes to stay alive.

[Control-Z]

60. I fell in love with Alan Grayson

just this week after watching this video of him going after Federal Reserve GC Scott Alvarez. He is my new hero.

I so wish we had more Graysons.

[Fire1]

61. Obviously, there are some dems, albeit blue dogs, who think

the same way. I expect such stupidity and selfishness from republicans but DEMS?? That's what is REALLY sickening.

[flamingdem]

63. At least someone tells the truth in congress nt

[DutchLiberal]

66. He should have said: "Republicans AND Blue Dog Democrats"! n/t

[Riley18]

67. Finally a politician to be proud of in Florida.

[1776Forever]

69. Read this about the previous Repub's "death" remarks in the Senate!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6667259&mesg_id=6667259

In July, for example, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) said on the House floor, "Last week Democrats released a health care bill which essentially said to America's seniors: drop dead." Earlier that month, Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) said Democrats' proposal for a public insurance option "is gonna kill people."

..........

Hypocrisy 101 is the Repub's motto!

[onewhohopes]

71. He spoke truth

I commend Grayson for speaking from the heart and not for self gain, and he is right that doing nothing is despicable. If you are currently sick without healthcare, you can afford only to die quickly.

But I believe making such bold statements is counterproductive, and while Grayson made his comment in a much more honorable manor than Wilson's "you lie!" statement, it is obviously raising the same amount of ruckus in the media and painting the same big bullseye on his back for the next election.

I (as a VERY middle-of-the-line kind of guy) hate to see people polarizing so strongly over these kinds of issues. Obviously when it's all said and done they are going to implement a middle-of-the-line healthcare plan and the only thing we'll have done aside from (hopefully) finding a solution to the problem is cause more mutual hatred between the major political parties.

P.S.
I would also like to point out how many of the illnesses out there are almost completely preventable, thus negating my sympathy for anyone wanting taxpayers to pay for their stupid choices. I personally would like to see a huge ass tax on unhealthy foods and other health-damaging substances as part of the solution. I'm sure there are too many politicians in the pockets of the junk food industry for that to happen, though.

The truth almost always lies somewhere in the middle.

[Joey Liberal]

72. He's not a wimp like the Blue Dogs nt

[donheld]

73. He lied

Republicans want them to suffer and cough up every cent they have then die.

[Swamp Rat]

74. k&r

[flvegan]

76. Finally, we're on offense for a play!!!

Nice.

[tomm2thumbs]

78. a star shineth

[bermudat]

80. K&R

[troubledamerican]

81. Harry Reid wishing Grayson was a Senator so Reid could censure him

[truthrocks]

84. ALAN GRAYSON IS AMAZING - CHECK OUT HIS BIO RIGHT HERE

http://grayson.house.gov/

[RBInMaine]

88. GOOD ! ABOUT FUCKING TIME ! I just hope the rest will start ATTACKING the RePUKES too !

[zanne]

90. I guarantee he'll be pressed to apologize. nt

[jeffbr]

94. More Democrats should be like Grayson

Power to him!

[PADemD]

95. Check out the videos on his home page!

http://www.graysonforcongress.com/default.asp

[Douglas Carpenter]

100. kick and recommend

[Tripmann]

101. GO GRAYSON!

A few more like him and america may just get the change she voted for.

[newtothegame]

102. This is interesting. We are estatic about the non-apology here but called for Trent Lott's head. n/t

I'm not saying Grayson should apologize. But how can we be estatic that someone won't apologize for something that was purposely meant to offend a large group of people, but call for the head of someone that clearly meant to wish an old, if miguided, man a happy birthday? Just because one is politically convenient and the other isn't?