Yeah, I have an opinion, and I can sum it up real easy: I don't want health insurance, I want health care.

When I'm not feeling well, I want to be able to go to a doctor without worrying about how much it's going to cost. If the doctor recommends tests or a specialist, I want to be able to get them or go there without having to get permission, If I need to take prescription drugs, or get a follow-up therapy, I want to be able to get them at an affordable price and without having to do a stack of paperwork for every appointment.

Don't let the health insurance companies and the health care syncopates in congress bullshit you. Our health care industry is about making money for the health insurance companies. Health insurance companies make money by:

• Denying claims
• Raising rates
• Canceling coverage for sick people

Consumer choice doesn't have much play when it comes to health care. Insurance companies aren't in business for your health, they're in business for profit. That means paying for your health care is a loss from their point of view. This means insurers try to deny as many claims as possible, they try to avoid covering people who might actually need care, and they try to cancel people who have shown they need care.

I saw Rush Limbaugh, the fat pig, on TV last night, talking about anyone who needed health care could get it, all they had to do was go to the emergency room. If you're in a car accident, or shot, or have an acute problem, that's true. But once your not going to die, you're on your own. Try getting follow-up therapy or treatment. Try getting chemotherapy or radiation for cancer. Try getting an organ replaced. You're not going to get it unless you have insurance or pay yourself. And even if you do have insurance, they will cancel you the first chance they get, or blackmail your company into firing you so you're no longer covered.

Universal health care is implemented in all but one of the wealthy, industrialized countries. Can you guess what that country is? I bet you can. Estimates put support for universal health care at 70 - 75%. Why aren't our elected officials listening? Money in their pockets, that's why.

All together: Health care isn't about health, and it isn't about care, it's about making money.

I heard some Republican ass-clown say, "Health care should be between people and the government, it should be between people and their doctor." If that's the case, ass-clown, then why is health care currently between people and-if they're lucky enough to even have it-their health care company? How can you spout such complete and utter nonsense?

Congress needs to stop protecting insurance companies and start protecting people. In the U.S. health care has become a privilege, another tool used to keep you compliant to you capitalist master. I say it again: the United States remains the only industrialized country in the world that doesn’t guarantee health care to all its citizens.

Did you know members of the U.S. Representatives and Senators alike receive some of the best health care benefits in the country, much of it paid for with taxpayer dollars? Yet these same members are unwilling to extend similar protections to the rest of America. As soon as members of Congress are sworn in, they may participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). The program offers an assortment of health plans from which to choose, including fee-for-service, point-of-service, and health maintenance organizations (HMOs). In addition, Congress members can also insure their spouses and their dependents.

Not only does Congress get to choose from a wide range of plans, but there’s no waiting period. Unlike many Americans who must struggle against precondition clauses or are even denied coverage because of those preconditions, Senators and Representatives are covered no matter what - effective immediately.

And here’s the best part. The government pays up to 75 percent of the premium. That government, of course, is funded by taxpayers, the same taxpayers who often cannot afford health care themselves. Despite the services that members of Congress receive at the taxpayer’s expense, they’ve done little on behalf of those who cannot afford or cannot get health care. Their attention is instead focused on the financial well being of pharmaceutical and insurance companies.

Case in point: according to the Medicare Reform Act of 2004, Medicare is prohibited from negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices. That means the pharma companies get to charge whatver they want. Not only is this negotiating power available to governments in other industrialized countries, it’s also similar to the power granted to the FEHBP, which itself is permitted to negotiate premiums and prices. Yet another case of they get what they won't give you.

So while our elected official luxuriate in any-where, any-time, afforable health care, all the while snatching the dollars flung at them by big pharma and insurance companies, millions of Americans are receiving inadequate health care, and millions more could lose their health insurance at any time since it's tied to their employment. And those with insurance have seen their rates go up and up and their deductibles rise. Even with insurance, many end up medically bankrupt.

Yet throughout all this, one thing has remained steady--the health care coverage afforded members of Congress. If they’ve proven nothing else, they’ve shown taxpayers that they know how to take care of themselves, and their wallets.

There are no examples of successful health care based on the principles of the free market for one simple reason: in health care, the free market just doesn’t work. And people who say that the market is the answer are deluded or outright liars.

Or maybe they're our Congressmen, who don't have to worry about their health care at all.

Related stories:
Wendell Potter on Profits Before Patients

Sarah Palin's resignation--obviously not anything you haven't already heard about. The amazing thing is that millions of people thought (and probably still think) she was a good candidate to be vice president. Amazing.

Even more ludicrous is that she'll go on to make millions with her book(s) and guest appearances and, I even read, a potential TV show.

Only in America.

Added:

I suppose I owe my readers a more in-depth editorial, but I' not sure how much effort this is worth. It seems pretty straight forward to me. McCain's picking Palin was a Hail Mary pass in an attempt to appeal to a demographic he had no influence with, that being middle-aged white women. He figured he already owned the white mail demo and thus didn't need to bolster it (by choosing, say... Romney), and he thought Palin would bring in the votes he needed to push him over the top.

Perhaps a rational decision at the time: Palin looks good on paper. At first blush, she seemed young, articulate, smart and tough. Also a Pro-Lifer, a positive as far as the Republicans are concerned, since there are some people in this nation who simply won't vote for someone who is Pro-Choice. Son in the Army headed to Iraq, mother of five, including a disabled child, member of the NRA.... She's also very attractive, and there's no denying the power of a pretty face in the U.S. of A. She has a compelling story; small town Mom makes good. She's Every Woman (more on that later).

But maybe they should have interviewed her a little more before tossing her the slot. Once she opened her mouth, it was pretty much all downhill, at least with those voters who exercise a modicum on rationality when it comes to choosing their team. There was also some contradiction coming out of the gate. The RePubs had been bashing on Obama's lack of experience, and Palin, despite their protestations, had even less. Then there's the pregnant teen-age daughter--despite Palin's record of promoting abstinence as opposed to sex education. She's been associated with the Alaska Independence Party, which wants Alaska to secede, and attends a church that can most kindly be described as being on the fringe.

And then came the lunacy of her interviews. She came across as more than incoherent. It was as though she lived in a fantasy world. Her responses were so idiotic, Saturday Night Live was able to lift them whole for Tina Fey's comedic skits.

Lastly, referring back the the Every Woman role they planned for Palin to fill, which was a big tactic of the McCain's campaign. We don't want elitists! We want someone just like you! The message they sent was if you were educated and thoughtful, you were an elitist. Boo! Down with education! Down wirth rational discourse! Down with thoughtfulness! Boo!

Do we really want someone who represent the 'average' American as President or Vice President. I run into average American's all the time. They can't get my order at McDonald's right. They tailgate me when I'm already going 10 over. They can't count change. They can't point out Iraq on a map. The average American on the street is overweight, uneducated, irrational and confident that they are the smartest person walking. One of the stalwart signs of incompetence is the inabliity to recognize it in yourself. I can't speak for you, but personally I want someone educated, thoughtful and rational as president.

Maybe now with her resignation, we can hope we've seen the last of her. I doubt it though. Soon her book with be on the best seller racks and we'll be seeing her all over the daytime talk shows pimping it. She'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Maybe she's not so stupid after all....