Episode 75: Not Your Friends

These people don't care what you think. About anything.

*Repeated polls affirm that Americans want stricter gun control. Our representatives do everything they can to allow guns in schools, bars, churches, and public meetings.

* Multiple polls affirm that a majority of Americans support abortion rights. Our representatives want to deny those rights not only to Americans but to any country in the world that seeks our aid. Orrin Hatch (right) tried pack a prohibition into the already ragged health care propopsal.

* And every recent poll confirms that Americans want a government-run alternative to private insurance plans. Yet members of the NO Party and DINO (Democrats In Name Only) are showing their colors every hour of the numbingly strung-out health care debate. Only a halfwit and/or a politician in thrall to the insurance industry can allow him- or herself to believe that an effective health care system can be created without a public option.

Max Baucus (top, left), Chairman of the Finance Committee and Senator from Nebraska (pop. 1.7 million) is so fixated on getting at least one Republican to vote for his health plan he voted against two public option proposals because he was afraid the NO Party wouldn't approve of them. Senator, they aren't going to vote for any plan. How can that not be clear to you?

Olympia Snow, Senator from Maine (pop. 1.2 million), is Baucus's lone, fragile, wobbly hope for a "yes" vote. She might, maybe, possibly play along, but she wants more time. "Why is there such a rush?" she has said. Senator, health coverage for all Americans has been debated since Truman proposed it...then Johnson...then Clinton...How much time do you need?

Charles Grassley (top, right), ranking committee Republican and Senator from Kentucky (pop. 4 million) says the public option is a "predator" and fears that it would drive private insurers out of business. Senator, exactly how would you otherwise guarantee that insurance companies would do everything in their power to cut administrative expenses, excessive profits, and lavish executive compensation and perks?

John Ensign, ethics-light adulterer and Senator from Nevada (pop. 2 million) says he is fearful that a public option would prove so popular it could never be removed. Senator, in what way would that be a bad thing?

And all of you and your like-minded colleagues: How is it that four senators representing fewer than nine million Americans out of a total population of over 300 million feel entitled to deny the clearly expressed wishes of countrypeople beyond your state borders?
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Youtube Alert
The best health care? Take a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVgOl3cETb4.

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A restaurant full of vegan cellphone addicts isn't as annoying as most of the letters to our local newspaper. These days, many of them have been echoing the declarations of politicians from Bob Dole to Peter King that the U.S. has "the best medical care in the world."
The truth is, of course, we don't.

It seems worthwhile to recall the stats about this claim that Geezer posted in early August:

* The U.S. ranks 17th out of the 24 industrialized nations in life expectancy.
* The U.S. has the second worst newborn mortality rate in the developed world.
* The U.S. is fifth highest in rates of death per 100,00 people.
* The U.S. ranks 13th in deaths due to heart disease, first being the lowest.
* The U.S. is third among nations with the highest rates of diabetes. Ahead of it are India and China.
* The U.S. health care system ranks 37th among 190 nations studied by the World Health Organization. In first place is France.

Deal with it, patriots.
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Faith On Parade
Members of Italy's parliament are about to vote on a bill to legalize living wills. Many of them are nervous about this because - wait for it - the Catholic Church opposes living wills. Welcome to the 11th Century.
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Did You Notice?
A new bank calling itself Ally has been spending big on TV and print advertising. These are the ones that have an adult treating children badly, the point being that mean old-line banks don't reveal the small print in their loan agreements. "At Ally Bank," reads one ad, "we don't bait and switch with teaser rates." Ally is "Straightforward. As opposed to backwards and crooked." Everything is upfront, nothing concealed. That's the message.

Ally Bank is the new name of the General Motors Acceptance Corporation, the loan underwriter for GM products.
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