Paying for Public Insurance Option

Paying for a public insurance option, and the only good option is a single payer health insurance system run by the government such as an expansion of Medicare, has become the rallying cry of Republicans and stupid Democrats lately.

The Chicken Littles (whose campaigns are heavily funded by the insurance industry) are running around shouting, "Our sky is falling, our sky is falling." Of course, they’re really talking about the possibility of losing all those campaign contributions. That’s one sky that should fall.

This whole scenario reminded me of the movie, Dave, in which a regular citizen is recruited to impersonate the president during a time of crisis but actually turns the tables on his lobby-financed handlers and sets out to actually make changes to the federal budget. After identifying an appropriation in the Department of Commerce spending millions of dollars to make people feel good about cars they purchase, he asks a simple question.

‘Do you want to tell these homeless children we’re closing their shelter so people can feel good about cars they have already purchased?’ Hey Congress – get a clue. We ordinary American citizens make decisions like this everyday. I read an article recently about a lady who had made a discovery about her childhood. When she was a child she thought her father was a weird individual because he ate mustard sandwiches (or somthing similar) every night for dinner. It was only after she grew up that she learned about the tough financial times her family experienced. Her father ate mustard sandwiches every night so she and her siblings could eat meat and vegetables. These are the caring, unselfish decisions that Americans make – every day!

Congress, are you willing to tell millions of Americans they cannot have health insurance because:

• Oregon Senators Democrat Ron Wyden and Republican Gordon Smith asked for $2 million so manufacturers of certain wooden arrows designed for use by children would get an exception from an excise tax, or
• New York Rep. Charles Rangel, Democrat, needed $1.9 million for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York, or
• $192 million was given to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the form of rebates against excise taxes charged on rum imported from those two territories, or
• Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Rep. Thomas Allen, a Democrat, lined up $188,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to launch the Lobster Health Coalition at the institute, whose other accomplishments include developing a live Internet Lobster Cam and devising lobster treats for dogs called Bisque-its, or
• Republican Rep. Virgil Goode needing $98,000 to develop a historic walking tour of the tiny Virginia town of Boydton. The town is not even one square mile in size, and the $98,000 came to $200 per resident, or
• California Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon needing $50,000 to establish a museum honoring mules because mules were an integral part of the development of this country, or
• U.S. Representative Republican Denny Rehberg needing $583,000 for the Montana World Trade Center
• Four senators and two representatives from Washington and Oregon needed $400,000 for the Northwest Hops Research program, allowing experts to investigate critical issues in the beer industry, or
• Gone but not forgotten GOP Senator Bridge-to-Nowhere Ted Stevens, before being voted out of office, needed $150,000 improve rodent control on the Aleutian Islands. After all, the rats can see Russia from their houses.

These politicians are certainly not alone in saying to America, "We have a few things more important than health care for all Americans." Shame on them. (continued below)

Others Speak About Public Option Health Insurance

Transportation panel to post earmarks; received 6868 requests … – Earlier this week in an editorial entitled “Washington’s spending corruption is a bipartisan rot,” we took to task Rep. James Oberstar, D-MN, the chairman of the Ho.

So much for ending earmarks: What happened with the Cap & Trade Bill – From the New York Times: WASHINGTON — As the most ambitious energy and climate-change legislation ever introduced in Congress made its way to a floor vote last Friday, it grew fat with compromises, carve-outs, concessions and …

Earmarks and geology – There has been a big stink of late in Seattle about a proposal by our congressional representative, Jim McDermott, to obtain $250000 for a tony social club in the city. Seems that The Rainier Club is having issues with some of its …

Gawker – Larry Sabato Will Now Disclose His Punditry-for-Earmarks … – Larry Sabato, the omnipresent pundit and prognosticator who was revealed last week to call races in favor of congressman who send earmarks to his Institute for Politics, says he will work harder at disclosing his relationships with …

Related Articles on Uncle Brice’s Blog

Single Payer Health Insurance for America

Medical Bankruptcy Shows Broken Health Care

Public Insurance Option is Not Optional

Why We Need a Public Option

Sen. Blanche Lincoln Co-sponsors SHOP