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Comments Posted By MurphTheSurf3

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Breaking the Back of the Baggers

Hello Ad Lib…

Another terrific analysis. Why the HELL aren’t you at HP or Politico where your comments would get the kind of wide ranging exposure they deserve.

Ok….I know, I know, I know…..but your comments are so good, so spot on, so pithy….that they deserve HUZZAHS and HURRAHS from a good sized crowd.

So, I shall ask again, as a matter of courtesy, since you have already given me permission.

My I take your post and edit it to meet the 450 word limit (they say its 500 but I find that the number does not quite work) and post it at HP (given name, site, and url credit of course)?

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On October 16, 2013 @ 2:06 pm

Curing Obamacare Fever – Part Three: What The Public Really Thinks About the ACA

When the Heritage crowd penned their plan for health care reform they spoke of “personal responsibility” and “accountability” which are very traditional old GOP values and virtues. What you point to is something that has grown out of those values in such a way as to misrepresent them. Ike, whose GOP was my GOP, created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to emphasize and institutionalize the federal government’s commitment to support the social safety net as the obligation we have to one another. Norquist would not have a friend in Ike.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 26, 2013 @ 10:14 pm

The GOP’s greatest fear….that it will work- thus it is very hard for them to critique as a matter of cold, hard fact. So, they have instead tried to weaken it, hobble it, represent it in ways that would lessen its chances of success and even so they are very aware that it is likely to succeed. In every interview with a GOP member of Congress all they can do is put forth party line lies.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 26, 2013 @ 10:05 pm

Have you seen the polling that shows that calling the program ACA gets it higher ratings than when it is called Obamacare. Seven points in one poll and five in another.

With them it is personal.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 26, 2013 @ 9:59 pm

Partisanship for sure- in this case it would seem to be the best of all worlds to have a policy concept put forth by one party’s think tank and then implemented by the other. Nope.

No joint credit. No working together for analysis and improvement.

Fear of the unknown and inertia are two of the most important tools in the toolbelt of those build on anger, fear, anxiety and hate.

And then we have those at the top of the ladder who believe that only those who have “earned it” have a right to it.

Good call on your part. Thanks.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 26, 2013 @ 9:57 pm

I got this as well. Simple but it makes a strong point.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 26, 2013 @ 9:39 pm

Ad Lib…thanks for the assist in all of this……your text tweaks were spot on and welcome additions.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 26, 2013 @ 12:49 pm

Curing Obamacare Fever – Part Two: The Top 5 Myths About The ACA

This has been very helpful. Thanks for the information.I caught an interview on local tv today featuring someone from the Missouri Health Institute who was questioned as to why the plans in the Mo. exchanges leave out certain hospitals. Her answer was interesting. “Coverage decisions are complex and really up to the companies offering plans. What we are focused on is a simple idea. Prior to the Affordable Care Act many, if not most, of those who will now take part in the exchange had no hospitalization, no primary care physician, no pharmaceutical coverage. As of October 1 they will have options they never had and as of January 1 those plans become operational.”

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 26, 2013 @ 10:39 pm

It is in large part their plan and should be very familiar to them….which is why it is so frightening.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 26, 2013 @ 10:17 pm

You confirm what I am reading at several sites. How will ACA fit into the lack of ER/Trauma Centers in stretches such as you describe here?

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 25, 2013 @ 5:43 pm

Choice- I was hoping you would weigh in on this. ou Make a great distinction between “Private Market” and “Exchange Market”. Excellent. The rest of the concerns fall into place.

Could you take a look at this article?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/09/24/yes-obamacares-exchanges-will-narrow-your-choice-of-doctors-and-thats-a-good-thing/

and the links therein (especially Pear).

I would value your take on this.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 25, 2013 @ 5:40 pm

Ad and I are collaborating on this…so we both take a bow…

I spoke with a ER manager and she said that they plan to do a major push on this with other ER’s.

The implications are staggering. And generally to the good.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 25, 2013 @ 2:39 pm

Nice turning of the tables- I had not thought of this- Given the makeup of the Tea Party I suspect that you may have hit on something here.

And as you say, we have to spread this info about….so facebook away.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 25, 2013 @ 12:36 pm

thank you.

I think that you are correct. I have some concerns about access to some medical groups, hospitals but those will be addressed as the competition ratchets up.

As you say…this is something that we should all be proud of.

And the lies – the last line of defense against a progressive agenda by a regressive party.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 25, 2013 @ 12:34 pm

Curing Obamacare Fever – Part One: The GOP Death Panel

Excellent. Thanks for this.

What a hoot!

Healthcare Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 26, 2013 @ 10:57 pm

Thanks.

I think you make a strong case for the Democratic role in the effort. I read a Boston Globe article that laid out the torturous legislative road for the “Act Providing Access to Affordable, Quality, Accountable Health Care”. The pitfalls you lay out here are a big part of the story. And there is no doubt that motivation was very mixed.

Still it was the three way coalition with an assist by Ted Kennedy that laid the ground work for it all. First, the Senate President Robert Travaglini called for a plan to reduce the number of uninsured by half. Second, the Governor, Mitt Romney, announced that he would propose a plan to cover virtually all of the uninsured. Third, Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi committed to delivering the House…all within a two week period. Momentum is very important.

Obama and his people latched onto the basic model (in recognition that even the public option was not possible- not to mention a single payer Medicare for All)…..and still the GOP denied it all and do right up to today.

Obama’s cunning and wisdom will be remembered in the years to come.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 26, 2013 @ 10:56 pm

Well said.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 26, 2013 @ 10:41 pm

Hope you are correct. The man is dangerous in many ways. To his party, to the other party, to the entire process of participatory government.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 25, 2013 @ 5:07 pm

Thanks.

Right wingers come in several forms:

a) the true believers who see the world through very heavy filters and truly see that which is not, really is and vice versa.
b) the selective believers who pick and choose based on what is a core value for them (while dismissing other points of view even from your own camp).
c) the liars who will say anything, and switch points of view at breakneck speed, to appease (to control) their base.

Cruz….where does he fit? I do not know yet.

I think that single payer is a real possibility but so is the kind of public/private system the Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Nordic nations have.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 25, 2013 @ 5:05 pm

Thank you. More to come. Hope others weigh in on this. In any case…spread the word.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 24, 2013 @ 7:51 pm

Correct. I watch about 2 hours of the “not a filibuster filibuster”. One lie after another after another…when are other senators going to call him on this…when will the media….he is either lying or he is ignorant. I am beginning to think he may not be dumb but that he is ignorant- perhaps a victim of his own worldview.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 24, 2013 @ 7:50 pm

Add to this that a number of those insurance companies are still playing with coverage. I have learned in the last few days that some companies are excluding entire medical systems from their coverage groups (i.e. the expensive ones) and others are sending out letters to those who are currently covered that their policies are being endangered by the exchanges (the first shot in the battle against single payer). So I included the quote as both good news and bad news.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 24, 2013 @ 7:48 pm

In Remembrance of KQuark

I did my final test module today for ACA….had KQ very much in mind. When I came to Mo. I did so because my options were few- 2008, very hard times. When I found the Planet in 2011 (with an invitation from one of our members) KQ really urged me to do some writing. Or, to put it another way, he pushed me to do so. I feel him pushing now= to fight all that mis and dis info……Yes sir!

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 17, 2013 @ 8:41 pm

your portrait seems to pick up on what so many others have shared….powerful….KQ and I sparred a number of times – respectfully but wholeheartedly. In the end, he usually won me over to his POV and it is his perspective that led me to embrace ACA in the way I have. What a tribute it is to KQ, to Bito, to others I did not know that this on line community holds memory so dear.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 17, 2013 @ 8:36 pm

Empi….thanks for the insight. I did not know KQ in the way you did….but I have come to know him in a number of the tributes shared….like yours.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 17, 2013 @ 7:50 pm

A great soul, a wonderful companion.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 17, 2013 @ 7:27 pm

Kesman….I liked KQ a lot….I sensed in him the kind of person who I like working with….make a move, do it, don’t stand still, don’t wallow in the unfairness of it, don’t let the bastards get you down…..he was battling the odds when I got here so I never got to him as well as I wanted to. I am so glad you shared this story. I now know him a lot better….Most appreciated.

I have noted at a few other posts here that it was KQ who really got me turned on to the need for health care reform and the shape that this form should take. He challenged me at several turns. He certainly had a part to play in my becoming a player in the ACA rollout efforts here in Mo. I have just finished Navigator training and will be working on line and by phone helping others here to understand the system.

So hats off to KQ and to you for providing this expanded introduction to a fine person.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 16, 2013 @ 9:04 pm

I am still snickering…..yes, I do laugh at your jokes—- which includes your selection of ediorial cartoons….so there is some high brow stuff there too.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 16, 2013 @ 8:57 pm

Ah….that’s where I picked up on the “founder thing”- bito in admin. Glad to hear that you have long term plans….I am working hard to recruit from “the other place” and have confidence in the admin team in place at PPOV. The new house- moving in – my last time took two full years.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 16, 2013 @ 8:54 pm

Thanks. I am so glad that you and I have made the connection that we have. Mutual support- sincerely given and graciously received.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On September 16, 2013 @ 8:51 pm