Good News: The Government Will Be Examining Our Health Care Crisis
Finally, there's some good news about our health care crisis. The publicity from Michael Moore’s next movie — Sicko, about the crisis in America’s health coverage — has gotten a response from the government.
Let’s give credit where it’s due. Sometimes the system works. Sometimes the American government listens and responds to a public outcry. Just when we thought America’s health care would always be at the mercy of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, we get a heartwarming story like this.
Part of Moore’s movie deals with some 9/11 rescue workers who went to Cuba to get medical treatment that wasn’t available in the U.S. It seems that even some of the most cut-throat HMOs were moved by this revelation, and now finally we’re — uuhhh…hmmm…wait, this can't be right…WTF???
OOPS. No, the government isn't investigating the lack of health coverage. Nope. They're investigating the injured 9/11 workers themselves. These rescue workers had the nerve to travel to Cuba seeking medical treatment that wasn’t available here, and now they might be prosecuted for violating our Cuban embargo.
Talk about “sicko.” How low have we sunk?
Labels: 9/11 rescue workers, Cuba, Cuban embargo, Michael Moore, Sicko
posted by Tom Harper @ 10:52 AM
16 Comments:
Sicko, indeed. This administration always finds a way to make themselves look petty and misguided.
J. Marquis: Yeah, it seems like no matter what the issue is, this administration always takes the side of Goliath over David.
This was supposed to be about helping America back together after 9/11... somewhere between Iraq and Oil, 9/11 only comes up when Bush needs the word.
It's just a shame that 11 Ground Zero worker had to take a visit to Cuba to receive care for being heroes and 9//11 victims.
That's sick, indeed. And when this gross injustice is so blatantly obvious, it leads me to wonder whether these people leading the U.S. either follow the media about them or just no coherent understanding of how much they're hated.
They were waiting for Moore to do something like this, because we just can't have filmmakers exposing injustices like this now, can we.
Let's Talk: Yup, it's a shame. The wingnuts invoke "9/11" whenever they need a soundbite, but the real 9/11 heroes get dumped when we don't need them any more.
Benjamin: It's hard to tell whether our "leaders" know how hated they are or not. Sometimes it seems like they live in a bubble where everything is just wonderful and carefree. Or maybe they just think they're so powerful and so removed from any sort of accountability that it doesn't matter what the world thinks of them.
Lizzy: No doubt they've been just lying in wait for Moore so they could try to get something on him. He's a threat to HMOs and the drug companies, and we can't allow that.
Lizzy is exactly right, and the whole investigation seems like Bullshit to me. I posted that M. Moore is also very good at getting national publicity for his movie. The priorities of this administration seems so out of wack for me. Good post.
John: Thanks. This investigation is definitely a crock of shit. The drug and insurance companies (and their puppets in the government) can't stand the idea of any light being shed on their devious practices.
I remember Hillary Clinton and her forum on National Health Care. So many people testified about "pre existing condition" that many HMO's ended that policy. Of course since it was totally voluntary once the coast was clear those same insurance company's brought it back.
Most distressing was hearing Phil Gramm criticizing the Clinton hearings and his immortal line how she "is trying to fix the health care plan and there is nothing wrong with it...."
So now the Government wants to go after Moore for violating our Cuban embargo eh? How come it does nothing about the estimated tens of millions a year in money sent to Cuba from America also in full Violation of our Cuban embargo, Maybe because it comes from the mostly republican Cuban Americans in the Southeast.
Erik
Well, it works both ways. Michael Moore is very good at creating publicity for his movies, and this was a stroke of genius on his part.
True, the administration is utterly fucked up, but he DID take them to Cuba on purpose. If he took them to India, or Brasil, there wouldn't be anything to talk about.
Those scums shoulda kept their mouths shut and died quietly like they do in Iraq and Walter Reed! Frigging anti-American leftist wackos...
Erik: Yeah, this Cuban embargo is completely absurd. The only people who want it are the wealthy Cuban expatriates in Florida. They have a scrotal grip on Florida's government, and since Florida has so many electoral votes, no presidential candidate will dare offend them. And these same expatriates don't follow the embargo themselves; they send millions back to their relatives in Cuba. They just don't Cuba's riffraff -- the ones who don't have any wealthy relatives in America -- to get any money or aid.
Montchan: You're correct about Michael Moore. He isn't a saint; he's a shrewd businessman. Then again, I'd guess the reason he took those people to Cuba instead of Brazil or India is that Cuba has better medical care than those 2 countries (plus it's closer).
Jolly Roger: Goddamn right! If those potsmoking flagburners hate America so much they should just leave :)
I believe it is very possible that Moore did what he did knowing the administration would take the bait and threaten him with an investigation. By doing that, Bu$hCo gives Moore plenty more publicity than he might have gotten. Heck, what if Moore basically blew his wad on his last two films? What if there was the beginnings of a backlash against him, or what if there have been signs of boredom from the public re. Moore? Well, I think the administration just blew any headway they might have been making against him in the propaganda wars. Like the dumbasses they are, they have played right into his hands. They have set themselves up for being exposed as liars, exposed as ones who would censor free speech, exposed as ones who care more about money than about Americans, and exposed as ones who would cover up information that would expose them as crooked... and all of those things so many times that Moore is having a blast shooting the Bu$hCo fish as they flail around in the barrel. Sheesh.
So when desperate times call for desperate measures, and when you get backed into the corner, anything goes. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Moore arrested and put in jail during the next 18 months, and if it happens, it will be because he spoke his mind...
Well, I can see I am a minority here, but here goes:
I hate health insurance; in fact; it might be because companies started to offer health benefits back in the 40's and 50's that we find ourselves in the fix we are now. As soon as health coverage became the norm for all full-time workers, the prices began to skyrocket. Anytime you make something essentially free, the price goes up. Of course it wasn't free, our employers paid for it, but it eventually got out of control because of abuse by us and they had to start passing on some of the premium cost to us. We don't like that, so we want it to be free again. In fact it is our right, some say. Get the government in on it and it might seem free, but it will also be lousy, non-innovative, and take 6 months to get a doctor's appt. If we could just make insurance disappear and go back to the days when everyone just paid their doctor cash, we would be alright. I have no flippin' idea how we get back to that point, but universal health care is not the right answer.
I'd say, "Unbelievable," but then...
It'll be interesting to see how far they take this "investigation."
I can hardly wait to see this movie.
Snave: I think you’re right, Moore is manipulating the Bush Administration and they're playing right into his hands. They may have all the wealth and power, but Moore is a shrewder chess player. Like you say, making Bush look stupid and sleazy is like shooting fish in a barrel.
Ugly Naked Guy: I don’t claim to have an answer to the health care crisis. I don’t agree with you that health coverage is causing these problems, but it’s a complicated issue. I mostly did this post because of the irony: the government looks the other way while 45 million Americans are uninsured, but when somebody goes to Cuba seeking better coverage, this same apathetic government springs into action.
As far as those good old days when everyone just paid cash to the doctor, medical costs were a tiny fraction of what they are now, even accounting for inflation. I doubt if any families got pitched out of their homes back then, just because somebody needed an operation. It seems to me corporate money-grubbing is behind these higher prices, and not the fact that some companies were providing coverage to their employees.
Candace: Yeah, it’ll be interesting to see how far this investigation goes.
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