Diatribune

This is what Paul Krugman's has to say about the collapse of our healthcare system.

Health Care Terror

I say conscience, because the health care issue is, most of all, about morality.

. . ."We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics." So declared F.D.R. in 1937, in words that apply perfectly to health care today. This isn’t one of those cases where we face painful tradeoffs — here, doing the right thing is also cost-efficient. Universal health care would save thousands of American lives each year, while actually saving money.

So this is a test. The only things standing in the way of universal health care are the fear-mongering and influence-buying of interest groups. If we can’t overcome those forces here, there’s not much hope for America’s future.

http://greenpagan.blogspot.com/...

You can read the entire column for free at the link provided.

And Krugman reminds of us of the increasingly high stakes of failure on the same day we learn that Mr. Bush will fight an expansion of funding for SCHIP.

That's right, SCHIP the healthcare program for low income children.

In SiCKO Michael Moore asks, who are we?  This questions bears repeating today as you read about the Republican war against children.

That's right, children.

A Battle Over Expansion of Children’s Insurance

The fight over a popular health insurance program for children is intensifying, with President Bush now leading efforts to block a major expansion of the program, which is a top priority for Congressional Democrats.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

The Bushco SOP--again, just as they did with Iraq--will be a campaign of fear, smear and lies designed to sway public opinion.

And gross elephant Republican shills will leave enormous turds of disinformation scattered across the American landscape which you better believe the MSM won't bother to sweep up.

Cleaning up Republican shit like this is left to us.

Administration officials have denounced the Democratic proposal as a step toward government-run health care for all. They said it would speed the erosion of private insurance coverage. And they oppose two of the main ideas contemplated by Democrats to finance expanded coverage for children: an increase in the federal tobacco tax and cuts in Medicare payments to private insurance companies caring for the elderly.

White House objections to the Democratic plan are "philosophical and ideological," said Allan B. Hubbard, assistant to the president for economic policy. In an interview, he said the Democrats’ proposal would move the nation toward "a single-payer health care system with rationing and price controls."

All in all, it's been a sobering day. It began with Krugman, then the N.Y. Times article on SCHIP. Then on to the Huffington Post where Steven Weber asks the money question, What Does Al Know That We Don't?

Maybe Al knows that America (to paraphrase Paddy Chayevsky) is a dying giant, that perhaps she is dead already. And the "business of government" is merely the scramble of organisms over the carcass's wan, flaking skin; any rumbles from within aren't the sounds of legislators engaged in constructive debate but the gasses issuing from the anuses of the bacteria digesting the sad corpse's putrefying innards. Are we destined to have the presidency so finally and utterly mediocritized that it no longer holds any attraction for the most qualified person in recent memory who would imbue it with the honor and prestige it -- and we -- deserve?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

We ignore Krugman at our own peril. If we don't meet the challenge and beat down the special interests--our survival is uncertain.

Who the hell are we?  What have we become?

How in the world could George Bush be president for eight years?

Will our epitaph be that we waged war against our most vulnerable--children and the elderly?

Crossposted at Daily Kos

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