I just heard the public option (who names these things?) is dead. Have to check the news. Incidentally, I heard an interview with Harry Stein, who wrote I Can’t Believe I am Sitting Next to a Republican (something someone said to him at a party when he murmured that Obama was inexperienced—and then he switched from a lifetime of liberalism to being more conservative and lost most of his friends). Anyhow, Stein says he thinks conservatives or libertarians tend to listen more to both sides and know what the other side is saying. I know I cover both. For those who tend to stick with MSNBC or CNN, here is a site that will blow your mind: http://newsbusters.org. We have lots of fun over there.

I get a last straw with this guy everyday! Now he swanning around AZ and I can hardly open the paper. Just because this special Medicare reimbursement (hah) is out of the Senate bill, doesn’t mean it won’t be on the table in conference—because it is still in the House bill. And they can still do it anyway—since reimbursements are done adminstratively. I think now they just want people to focus on this because they are doing something ELSE…trying to figure out what. 

The GOP and health insurance lobbyists are taking a page from the Atwater-Rove playbook on using fear-mongering tactics and maliciously disseminating misinformation to sway public opinion

I thought that was the Alinsky playbook. It’s the Battle of the Playbooks!

I sure don’t trust him. I saw him prancing around yesterday using double negatives to "mirror" the people asking questions and throwing around "folks" and "ruckus." Nobody here but us common er, folk.

I believe neither of those statements is true. If this monstrosity in most of the forms I have seen is signed, things will settle down for a couple of years while the worker bees craft all sorts of interesting "regulations" we can’t even imagine yet—and it will be too late. Ooops—should have spoken up sooner. Oh, that’s right. We did.

The Daily what?

I never know what to make of this hip replacement story of his. I am not a physician, but my sister is about to have her second replacement and this is a huge surgery. I would not have chosen that for my mother (I have power of atty). We don’t get her mamos anymore (92, suffers from dementia) because we could not put her through chemo and radiation. These are decisions people make…in their families. This gets done—advance directives and so on. We don’t need the govt noodging it along.

Yes, toast—so you said. How about sourdough toast! Burned toast! Incinerated toast! How does this follow? It’s not just the Republicans questioning this, believe me.

Actually that would be "death work stations." I believe this would be done by computer algorithm.

The GOP—apparently they got organized while I wasn’t looking.

The SECOND he said you can keep your doctor, I said, "Uh-oh." Will your doctor keep you? Will docs have to take the public option reimbursement?

The president was just riffing off like he does when he did the tonsillectomy and foot numbers. I doubt this was looked into.

Amazing how smart he has become since I became more "conservative."

By the way—none of these proposals go into effect until 2013—many of you may qualify for Medicare by then, if there is Medicare.

That is the kind of snide remark that makes me leave this list for months at a time. Yes, my mother and I want to deny people care—sure do, we think about it all the time (she can’t think too well, but hey). First, we are talking about insurance, not care. You can get care, rudimentary, of sort (we will all be boiled to basics eventually, if this goes through). I cobbled together insurance for myself and my family in the individual market for 25 years. I know what a hell hole it is. When the so-called reform thing started, I was vaguely (a la SICKO) in favor—my 28-yr-old kid has no insurance. Then I spent a few months looking at this and see that the plan, so-called, is another part of an overall push to grab the reins and get control of our lives and personal information—and it won’t cut the cost curve (though some prepricing effort for services might). Have you looked at that so-called public option? This is my opinion. If you don’t share it, OK, fine—but don’t insult me.