EXPOSED: The Racism and Homophobia of the Tea Party Protestors

Yesterday on Capitol Hill, on the eve of passage of a historic health care reform bill, Tea Party Movement presented the world with evidence of what we had been suspecting all along. This movement has at its core a racist element that motivates its members to take to the streets to protest against the federal government:

Civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis was taunted by tea partiers who chanted “nigger” at least 15 times, according to the Associated Press (we are not cleaning up language and using “the N-word” here because it’s really important to understand what was said.) First reported on The Hill blog (no hotbed of left-wing fervor), the stories of Lewis being called “nigger” were confirmed by Lewis spokeswoman Brenda Jones and Democratic Rep. Andre Carson, who was walking with Lewis. “It was like going into the time machine with John Lewis,” said Carson, a former police officer. “He said it reminded him of another time.”

Another Congressional Black Caucus leader, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, was spat upon by protesters. The culprit was arrested, but Cleaver declined to press charges.

House Majority Whip James Clybourn told reporters: “I heard people saying things today that I have not heard since March 15, 1960, when I was marching to try to get off the back of the bus.”

There were many reports that Rep. Barney Frank was called a “faggot” by protesters, but the one I saw personally was by CNN’s Dana Bash, who seemed rattled by the tea party fury. Frank told AP: “It’s a mob mentality that doesn’t work politically.”

Meanwhile, a brick came through the window at Rep. Louise Slaughter’s Niagara Falls office on Saturday (the day she argued for her “Slaughter solution” to pass health care reform, though it was rejected by other Democrats on the House Rules Committee). (Read Full Article at Salon.com)

The incident was spoken of on the House floor by Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) who called on Republican lawmakers to condemn the Teabaggers for their overt racism:

Calling an individual or an organization’s motives racist is as taboo as being racist itself. You just don’t go there without proof of such claims. Keith Olbermann was one of the first to call out the Tea Party about their racial overtone, and his statements were met with a lot of push back and denial from the organization and the right in general. They rejected his claims that the Tea Party movement has very few if any non-White members, and the right wing bloggers cried foul for even suggesting that Tea Party protestors are racist. Now given the events of yesterday, Keith Olbermann’s words this past President’s Day have been vindicated:

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DENNIS KUCINICH WILL VOTE FOR THE HEALTH CARE BILL

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) who pledged to vote against the current health care bill because, just like the House bill he voted against it did not contain an all inclusive public option, has had a change of heart and decided to vote for the health care bill. A stalwart proponent of a single payer health care plan system which would exclude insurance companies altogether, Rep. Kucinich saw a robust public option as a viable alternative to provide competition to the health insurance industry.

A year in the making, the health care legislation is at a critical juncture where every vote counts. With Kucinich being a consistent hold out, firm in his commitment to vote no on any bill that did not include the public option that anyone can participate in, this was a major victory by President Obama who made a campaign style stump speech in Cleveland, OH to rally support for the health care bill. He even pleaded with the people of Cleveland to lean on their representative to support the bill.

Finally, with mounting pressure from his constituents, his Democratic colleagues, and the White House, along with the realization that the final bill will not have the provisions he deemed essential to win his support, Dennis Kucinich conceded. He pledged to vote for the bill, not as a compromise to his principles but as a means to an end – a single payer system:

I want to thank those who support those who supported me personally and politically as I’ve struggled with this decision. And I ask for your continued support in our ongoing efforts to bring about meaningful change. As this bill passes I will renew my efforts to help those state organizations which are aimed at stirring a single payer movement which eliminates the predatory roll of private insurers who make money not providing health care. I’ve taken a detour through supporting this bill. But I know the destination I will continue to lead for as long as it takes for whatever it takes to an America where healthcare will be firmly established as a civil right.

WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE:

Latest Health Care Insurance Woes

by Diane Mayer Christiansen
UPDATE:

March 15, 2010 2:00pm

Shot down by the insurance company again! Yes, today I received a letter in the mail from my husbands company, telling me that my son’s therapies for autism are not covered by our policy. Shocker! Here’s what bothers me the most:

The insurance company contests that my son is receiving Sensory Integration Therapy and since that type of therapy is considered “experimental” they can not cover it.
Okay…first of all J is not receiving therapies for Sensory Integration. I’ve explained this time and time again. I’ve sent letters from doctors and therapists telling them this time and time again. Every time someone tells them the therapies are Speech and Feeding, they somehow magically turn that into Sensory Integration.

Secondly, he did have Sensory Integration therapy several years ago, that I paid for. Unbeknown to the Insurance company, I am well versed in their lingo, after all, I’ve been battling the beast for seven years. I feel like I’m in this battle of good verses evil and the monster is barring his sharp teeth daring me to flee…but I can’t…it’s my son we’re fighting for.

The truth is, I just don’t understand why we’re fighting at all. Isn’t insurance about us paying our monthly fees and them taking care of our medical needs? I don’t care if any of my son’s therapies are “experimental”. They’re helping him. Looks like the insurance company is still just waiting until he ends up in the hospital due to malnutrition (have fun with that big bill). I think that in no time in the history of America, have so many people felt so completely misunderstood by medical insurance companies than today. Count me in!

Oh, and by the way…if you’re reading this Insurance Company…Not everyone is trying to take advantage of you. We’re just trying to help our kids.

March 11, 2010

Okay…the latest insurance issue: At the beginning of the new year, we were asked by the insurance company to prove that I was indeed married to my husband and that our son was really our son. I sent in my marriage license among other things as well as my son’s social security card and birth certificate. Apparently this wasn’t enough and they are questioning weather J is really my son.

OMG…really? Will they sink to any means to NOT pay. Let’s see, I distinctly remember going to the hospital for my scheduled inducement of labor. I remember vividly, how my unborn child’s heart rate became too low and how I was rushed into emergency surgery for a cesarean. I also remember thinking a was going to die as the anesthesiologist hummed the theme song from Star Wars and the many doctors crowded around me getting my son to breathe. Oh, yeah, I also vaguely remember how the insurance wouldn’t cover the cost of a Billy Blanket at home when my son was jaundice, causing me to have to stay in the hospital an extra couple of days so he could receive treatment (does this make sense?).Funny thing…I did bring a child home from the hospital seven days later.

Could it be that I imagined all of this and forged a birth certificate out of pure longing for a child? Hmmm, better not let the insurance company hear me say that.

(Read more from Diane Christiansen at www.imautisticnotartistic.com)

Poll Position: The Deceptive Misinterpretation of Opinion Polls

The opponents of health care reform have been making their case by quoting the number 73, as in the percentage of Americans who are “opposed to the health care reform bill and want it scrapped altogether”. So there you have it folks. To paraphrase the conservative talk shows and Fox News, the American people have spoken; an overwhelming majority wants to see this bill killed. Time to move on to other pressing issues.

But wait. Not so fast! Shouldn’t we be a wee bit curious about this number “73%”? How could these robust debates over the past year survived such a huge opposition? If like me you think something’s just not adding up, well you are right to be suspicious. Here’s where that number comes from:

The number 73% comes from adding the 48% of those polled who want Congress to create a new bill and the 25% who say scrap the bill altogether and stick with the health care system we currently have. The deception lies in lumping nearly half of the population who want to see a new bill with the far lesser group who wants no changes at all. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart calls out Fox News for using polls to manipulate the results:

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This is not the first time Fox News has deliberately misrepresented polling results to push a political adgenda. For example, before the invasion of Iraq a poll was released saying that 67% (with a margin of error of plus or minus 3) of Americans support going to war against Iraq only with the support of the UN or international community. The emphasis of the poll was “NO PREEMPTIVE GO AT IT ALONE WAR”. Fox News, however, added the plus three part, shaved off the international support condition part, then every 5-10 minutes on its ticker fed its audience:

70% of Americans support going to war against Iraq

73% of Americans wanting to do away with this health care reform bill disguises the fact that a major part of that number is made up of liberals who want to scrap the bill and start over, not from scratch, but to include a public option. But to leave out that pesky detail only lends credence to the crowd who do not want to see reform if for no other reason but to simply deal President Obama a political defeat. Ironically, adding the 48% to the 25% who wants a similar bill that has already made its way through Congress passed actually means an overwhelming majority of Americans want the health care system reformed, to the tune of 73%!

Health Care Summit 2010: Republicans You’re Excused!

Have you ever had a presentation to make in front of a crowd and were not prepared? Oh how you wished the meeting was cancelled. Remember how relieved you felt when you heard the buzz that the teacher was out and how jubilant you felt when you poked your head in the classroom to find a substitute sitting at the teacher’s desk? You felt like you dodged a bullet and did not have to make a fool of yourself in front of the entire class, exposing how unprepared you were! OK maybe it was just me.

With Anthem Blue Cross of California aiming to increase its rates by as much as thirty-nine percent despite record profits serving as a back drop, President Obama’s weekly address (see video below) makes the case for why the need for health care reform is all the more important. He therefore calls for bipartisan participation in the health care summit schedule for Thursday, February 25th, 2010, even releasing in advance the proposals for health care reform.

But House Republican Leader John Boehner, visibly not prepared to make his presentation in front of the entire country, has presented everything except a doctor’s note as an excuse not to attend the summit.

VAN SUSTEREN: The president said, you know, he was going to put everything on C-Span, so we can’t criticize him now for when he finally does put it on C-Span.

BOEHNER: Well, that’s fine, but I want to make sure that we’re going to have an honest conversation, you know, an honest, bipartisan conversation about how we can approach this. I don’t want to walk into some set-up. I don’t know who’s going to be there. I don’t know how big the room’s going to be. I don’t know — what the set-up is going to be.

Regarding the president’s proposal and transparency of a televised summit:

“The President has crippled the credibility of this week’s summit by proposing the same massive government takeover of health care based on a partisan bill the American people have already rejected,” Boehner said. “…This week’s summit clearly has all the makings of a Democratic infomercial for continuing on a partisan course that relies on more backroom deals and parliamentary tricks to circumvent the will of the American people and jam through a massive government takeover of health care.”

If the president’s proposals are that bad, would it not behoove the Minority Leader to attend the summit to make a case for reform? His complaint that the Democratic plans are not GOP enough is a very juvenile argument to make. Does he want the Democrats to do his homework for him? Is that not the Republican’s job, to present their own plan in front of the American people, making a stronger case as to why their ideas are superior? Or could it be, as I suspect, that Republicans really do not have a plan to present? Misleading health insurance lobbyists’ talking points and saying “No” to a Democratic proposal does not a health care plan make.

Perhaps Boehner is afraid that he and his party will yet again have another painfully embarrassing showing as was the case during debate with President Obama during the House Republican Retreat. Whatever the true reasons behind his trying to get out of attending the summit, they only amount to excuses. Excuses only satisfy those who make them. Therefore if Boehner wants to worm his way out of debating an important issue of our time because he has nothing to offer, excuse him and get on with passing a reform bill with or without Republican support. If there is one group of people who are not satisfied by all of his excuses, it’s the 50 million people in America who are uninsured or under insured.

Bill Maher to Evan Bayh: Good Riddance!

Every now and then, just when I’m looking for the right words to express my discontent and frustration with the political establishment, Bill Maher comes along and steals the words right from my mouth! Bill Maher spoke to CNN’s Larry King on various topics including the resignation of Evan Bayh, the Tea Party movement, health care reform, and President Obama’s first year in office.

Evan Bayh? Good Riddance? My sentiments exactly! “Democratic” Senator Evan Bayh sucker punched his party with a deliberate last minute resignation, denying more progressive Democratic candidates the opportunity to run to replace him in a primary election, and therefore increasing the chance that a Republican can take the Indiana Senate seat. Bill Maher not only calls out Bayh on the hypocrisy of his disingenuous holier than thou resignation speech, but he also sites who he really represents – the corporations.

With the Tea Party Convention just behind us and the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) just under way, the silly season of the Tea Party crowd is in full effect. Pointing out their inconsistencies and hypocrisies is difficult not because of challenges with fact checking but because of shear volume. With so many twisted logics to contend with where do you begin? Well Bill Maher found a good starting point, and that’s in their so called movement for controlling the deficit and the insatiable demands for tax cuts.

Last but definitely not least, President Barack Obama had it coming also. A stalwart supporter of candidate Obama, Maher speaks candidly about the president’s short comings his first year in office to seize the opportunity to pass meaningful health care reform. His main complaint is how he gives up too much ground on his important agendas because of his futile obsession with bipartisanship. I have already made my case against bipartisanship , and if this interview is any indication I believe Bill Maher would agree with me.

Pfizer Pays Record Breaking $2.3 Billion Settlement

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) — Pfizer Inc. will pay $2.3 billion to settle a U.S. investigation into illegal marketing of medicines, the largest agreement in such a case, and a subsidiary will plead guilty to a criminal charge.

The amount, which Pfizer disclosed in January, includes $1.3 billion to close the criminal part of the investigation, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Pharmacia & Upjohn Co., acquired by Pfizer in 2003, will plead guilty to a count of felony misbranding of a pharmaceutical, according to a Justice Department summary of the agreement.

The criminal case stems from promotion of Bextra, a painkiller that Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, acquired through Upjohn and withdrew in 2005 because of its connection with a rare skin condition. Investigators also looked at practices, including kickbacks to doctors in the sale of nine other drugs, among them the impotence drug Viagra and cholesterol treatment Lipitor, the company and government officials said. (READ FULL ARTICLE)

Watch the entire joint press conference featuring the Secretary of Health and Human Service Kathlene Sebelius and Justice Department Attorneys.