Half of US is already on govt. healthcare

The argument for a universal “National Health” style system for the people of the United States going forward. Healthcare is a primary need for people in the United States and so it should be in no way private.

Currently, the United States is the only wealthy industrialized country that has not achieved universal health coverage. The nation’s existing health care system is inefficient, unaffordable, unsustainable, and inaccessible to many. Healthcare is one of the most significant socio–political topics in the United States (U.S.), and citizens currently rank “healthcare” as the most important issue when it comes to voting. The U.S. has historically utilized a mixed public/private approach to healthcare. In this approach, citizens or businesses can obtain health insurance from private (e.g., Blue Cross Blue Shield, Kaiser Permanente) insurance companies, while individuals may also qualify for public (e.g., Medicaid, Medicare, Veteran’s Affairs), government-subsidized health insurance.

In contrast, the vast majority of post-industrial, Westernized nations have used various approaches to provide entirely or largely governmentally subsidized, universal healthcare to all citizens regardless of socio–economic status (SES), employment status, or ability to pay. The World Health Organization defines universal healthcare as “ensuring that all people have access to needed health services (including prevention, promotion, treatment, rehabilitation and palliation) of sufficient quality to be effective while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user the financial hardship”

Differing versions of universal healthcare are possible. The United Kingdom’s National Health Services can be considered a fairly traditional version of universal healthcare with few options for, and minimal use of, privatized care. Switzerland, The Netherlands and Germany use a public/private blended approach with the government as the primary payer. This shows that universal healthcare does not necessarily preclude the role of private providers within the healthcare system, but rather ensures that equity and effectiveness of care at population and individual levels are a reference and expectation for the system as a whole.

In the United States, the system with the best health outcomes and highest patient satisfaction is the Veterans Administration (for those who can get the care). In survey after survey, the doctors, the treatments and most importantly the hospitals out poll any private hospital, outperforming private hospitals by 26 percentage points, according to data released in 2023.

Making medicine a government career may reduce the number of people who go into the field for a rich lifestyle (though plastic and cosmetic surgeons can always get financial rewards) but the job satisfaction for doctors will likely go up as they are not forced to have artificially short meetings with the patients they care for. The money mixed with satisfaction and time off leads to a better work/life balance for doctors, nurses and medical professionals in countries with a national system. There is no reason that the US will be any different. Also when it comes to medicine, nearly all the vital research for new medications is already done at universities mostly subsidized by taxpayers. The wild profiteering by middlemen harms US health outcomes.

Those activists on the left and far left still calling for “Medicare for All” might want to look again at calling for a fully government run and staffed health system like the Veterans Health Administration – and consider changing the chant to “Veterans Healthcare For All”

• Corporations Ate My Baby 2/20.2024

Further reading

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/07/27/va-hospitals-rate-higher-civilian-facilities-new-federal-survey.html

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M19-2415

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7692272

The People Rise & Fight

When the people choose the rule of law…

In 1776 the former colonies told the King of England and all kings, that a new kind of nation would obey a document instead. In 1789 the 13 crown colonies became 13 states who submitted to the power of that Constitution. This document made the people the ultimate source of power.

 

The wealthy would-be royals have always been able to moderate the power of the people. Starting with Reagan and accelerating with Nixon defenders in Clinton’s house and senate and going supersonic with Fox’s Cheney Administration.. The “symptom” that is Trump is the biggest (and most real) opportunity for the wealthy few to end the constitution completely.

 

Going back to Clinton/Obama/Biden centrism will do nothing to save our constitutional rights let alone improve or expand them. The people must remind the few who are stealing from and threatening the world that we still intend to be moderated by LAW and not ruled by WEALTH.

 

Liberal Democracy in the Workplace

Defending Freedom, Voting and Human Rights in the workplace

Matt McManus has me Thinking Out Loud

1. US Liberalism started as a radical idea that a united population of formerly English Land Owning Men could take the power of monarchs with democracy and debate. White, English/Scottish landowners, could leave England, start a new nation and share political power. Liberalism grew to include less-wealthy white English men too. Liberalism had a schism next and sought to include some “non-whites” like Irish Catholics and German Catholics (lol) who had moved to the interior of the US to displace natives. General George Washington was concerned with Germans particularly as he felt they were “ungovernable” – The idea of sharing power with “Chinamen, Indians and freed slaves” was considered mental illness for long time. Then it too was liberal. Today sharing political power with ALL Mentally Competent Adults is still way too controversial. But to say sharing votes with women or black women is “too liberal” is a misnomer. It is simply redefining liberal to see the equal value and humanity of every competent adult in our society.
   
   
2. Where liberal/conservative are concerned with political power between the classes, so Socialism/Capitalism are concerned with the economic power resulting and affecting that political power. Socialism is required to bring the benefit of voting to the real daily lives of those who voted. Socialism must bring the freedoms we experience in the halls of government power also into the offices and factories of economic power. Socialism will democratize the workplace. Pee when you want to in a sanitary facility that must be provided to you. You workplace may not give the best hours and clients to men but not women… or give the night shifts and difficult clients to workers with dark complexions. You can’t do that at the DMV so you can’t do that at work. Socialism greatly expands the power of organized workers in their work places including providing paid time for family and medical leave including vacations. Capitalism’s arm of force is fascism. Uniformed, armed private officers sh00ting at you if you strike. So in order to protect your liberal voice from royal power, Socialism or community organization must protect working families from Capitalism and Authoritarian Fascism.

NYT Questions Biden’s Age

YouTube Link

Kyle Kulinski reports very well on this topic

Prince Andrew calls for ceasefire

Corporations get us to pay their tax bills

Bernie Sanders reminds us:

In the Cayman Islands, there is a modest five-story building that is home to 18,857 companies.
Either this is one very crowded building, or it is a phony address used by those corporations for one purpose: To avoid paying taxes to The United States of America.

Resist the looting of America

 

Bernie People v. Hillary People: A plea

Here’s my observations on the endless battle for progress among liberals:
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Bernie people: “I want Democratic Socialism in one election cycle, Hillary not only says, “no,” she says she wants to ‘help’ us her way… therefore she made a pact with Wall Street Satan and is therefore secretly the devil. But we figured out the secret. Plus … I love bernie, I want Bernie… I love Bernie… oh, wait, he endorsed her? Bernie is a chickenshit sell out!! Vote for a bucket of Chicken!”

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Hillary People: “Those Sanders Supporters are … um.. “Not Democrats” , “sexist bros”… “a cult” … “are lazy or ignorant and don’t understand that you can’t just have free stuff…” & “Hillary is our only realistic firewall against Trump.”

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Me (somewhat ineffectually): Hey. Do you want to keep moving to a socially just and equal-opportunity society with greater wealth and income fairness? yeah? Ok. Democracy is incremental. Now that Bernie helped NAME the goal, how about we get together and let it take a few election cycles.. maybe 10… maybe less? How about we vote for progressives at every level? How about we do what Bernie suggests and continue the move to Social Democracy with the HELP of The Clintons, who match our goals pretty closely? How about we stop with the emotions and conspiracy theories and just embrace good old fashioned Democracy? How about we make progress election by election, candidate by candidate and never let another Dick Cheney ever happen to us again in our lifetimes?
–

 

Short link: http://wp.me/pqMgr-eU

Open-Primaries movement? More democracy?

Open Primaries Movement Interview with John Opdycke of OpenPrimaries.org

From Bradblog (http://bradblog.com/?p=11660)

“What the open primaries movement is pushing for is public primaries, not partisan primaries,” he tells me, citing states like California, Nebraska and Washington that hold “Top Two” primaries (also known as “Cajun” or “Jungle” primaries) for many elected public offices, allowing candidates of all (or no) parties to compete against each other to run in the general election. “This is a fundamentally different conception of what a primary is. It’s a public primary. Not a partisan primary.”

While recognizing that political parties are private organizations with a First Amendment right to organize as they see fit, Opdycke explains how the result blocks people from the process and makes it nearly impossible to change the system. “They control the political process. They control the boards of elections. They control how redistricting is done. They control the primaries. They control voter registration. They control every aspect. They even control the Presidential debates. And we Americans, we’ve participated in that. We have in some ways ceded our power to these political organizations and I think the time has come to take that back. Not abolish political parties, but simply return them to an appropriate place.”

The April 21 BRADCAST is worth a listen! (www.bradblog.com)

 

Fix War-Capitalism with More Democracy?

Capitalism?

* I care about Wealth Disparity & International Wall Street abuse.

* Less oligarchy and more democracy.

* War-Capitalism. War for money… when we have no major enemy.

* 60% of our tax money goes to war for profit… and not mine.

* A good sufficient education

* Infrastructure, water, power, air and public transportation

* Women’s rights. Pay equity and social equality.

* True LGBT rights… total equality.

* The end of systematic government oppression based on skin color

* Mass incarceration and criminal justice reform. End legalized slavery.

* Union rights and American workers – the crime of outsourcing.

* Banking freedom for the scammers who break the law and get slaps on the wrist, or a big bonus while robbing our families of their savings.

—

One of the greatest things about 2015 and 2016 is that the idea that war-capitalism can be reset, redone and retired has been mainstreamed. We are all focused and changed by this. People have been overly focused on the White House. That’s how Americans are… “who will be our new parents?” But the IDEAS that we can be free of CORPORATE and OLIGARCH TYRANNY … we have the power of democracy to become free again… is a joyful thing. And I am running into more and more people who are saying, some for the first time, “It doesn’t have to be this way anymore…”

 

They are exactly right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro8WT7DAh1I