Moyers is doing such important work. If only more people would listen. I got energized by the Austin rally yesterday. I at least know one Congressman who is not giving in to coporate need greed bullshit.

another of Greenwalds greatest hits:

All of this hasn’t happened despite the best efforts of the Obama White House to battle against it. To the contrary, Obama himself has been a major beneficiary of this process — helping Democrats to be the leading recipient of corporate money — and key Obama allies like Rahm Emanuel and Chuck Schumer have built their power bases through servitude to corporate interests. The very idea that Obama is valiantly struggling to cleanse the party of its corporate and centrist dominance, yet is just haplessly and helplessly unable to do so, is ludicrous beyond words.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/g…..index.html

OMG. The ad just to the right of this comment says, “Support the REPUBLICAN health care bill of rights for seniors.” It shows one PO’d grandma on there. Of course this is from the RNC and of course it is a way to suck money from their wallets. Fear and manipulation, mixed in with what appears to be hope. Suckers. Sad.

Actually, I found Moyers’ comments extremely depressing — it really does appear that no matter what we do, who we work to elect, how much we give or fight or scream..it all ends up the same way. Are we merely postponing the inevitable?

It is a silly fear thinggy We need to coopt it and make it a Healthcare bill of rights for seniors and all other americans.

I just saw this quote from Albert Einstein (in Pluto’s diary “leaving the US” on dkos this morning)…. this really sums it up and frankly I don’t see much way out… with an increasingly uninformed, complacent public with a coporate controlled news delivery systems … I hate to say it but I think we are hosed:

“Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of smaller ones.

The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature.

The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.”

If the outcome is inevitable (and I’m not prepared to accept that fate just yet), then I intend to go down swinging. Figuratively speaking, a few players are going to end up with black eyes, bloody noses and some knocked out teeth if I have anything to say about it…

I stopped reading Glenn Greenwald after Joe Klein declared he was eeeeeeeevillllll.

-G

Nearly as disgusting as the fact that our government is owned by corporations is the fact that it was purchased so cheaply…

You may be on to something.

Book Salon up at the Mothership with Jill Richardson’s Recipe for America hosted by Toby Wollin

And from Moyers’ Journal on Friday…

This is honestly a must-see… I wonder if it’s on youtube…

He ran an ad showing Barack Obama in a small group setting explaining how the legislative aide that sold out seniors in the medicare “reform” by not allowing medicare to negotiate with Canada or other countries to lower drug prices…. went on to work for private industry making $2M a year. And Obama clearly, plainly says to the effect “We won’t let that happen” Or “That can’t keep happening”.

And then Moyers points out that that same guy, Tauzin, was the SAME GUY who negotiated with the WH so that under healthcare reform the US will not be able to negotiate lower drug prices with Canada or other countries.

This was so graphic… so clear cut… it needs to be being broadcast on the evening new… oh wait… the corporations own the evening news shows so Americans won’t get to see it.

It was absolutley unfucking believable… (and I know about all the other clear cut promises that have been broken… but to hear Obama citing as an abuse that turned out to be the same thing, with the same guy, that they used to negotiate pharmaceutical prices in US healthcare reform… boggles the mind)….

Does he think we’re studid? Or not paying attention?

Does he think we’re stupid? Or not paying attention?

No, he simply believes that enough people fall into those categories that he’ll be able to get reelected. As H. L. Mencken said, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.”

I’m glad Moyers is making these points. I’m happy and not surprised that it is coming from someone of the Johnson administration.

OMG. The ad just to the right of this comment says, “Support the REPUBLICAN health care bill of rights for seniors.” It shows one PO’d grandma on there. Of course this is from the RNC and of course it is a way to suck money from their wallets. Fear and manipulation, mixed in with what appears to be hope. Suckers. Sad.

Ezra Klein explains how this works:

What are seniors so afraid of?

From the beginning, Medicare has been named as one of the potential sources of savings that would fund subsidies for the uninsured. That sounds like service cuts, even if the specific changes don’t involve anything of the kind (most of the savings would come from reducing overpayments to the private insurers that participate in the Medicare Advantage program).

So the fear is not of a welfare state but of changes in their welfare state. The result is that the coalition against reform is an odd union between people opposing government-run health care and people defending government-run health care. It’s a potent combination.

Seniors are also the most conservative segment of the population and are getting more so. They constitute not only the sole age group that Obama lost in last year’s election, but also the sole age group in which his results were worse than those of John Kerry in 2004. And both Obama and Kerry underperformed Al Gore’s 2000 results.

“The Roosevelt seniors are being replaced by the Reagan seniors,” says Paul Begala, who helped run Clinton’s 1992 campaign. A May poll by the Pew Research Center found that for the first time in 20 years, the GOP is now an older party than the Democrats.

The June Post-ABC poll asked whether respondents would prefer a smaller government with fewer services or a larger government with more services. Seventy percent of seniors — the segment of the population with government-run health care and a government pension, also known as Social Security — preferred a smaller government, compared with 37 percent of people 18 to 29. Seniors are the age group most solidly opposed to the public option. In fact, in the August Post-ABC poll, they were the only age group in which a majority opposed it. “Seniors are like the American West,” says Julian Zelizer, a Princeton historian. “They depend on government and then say they hate it.”

But taken as a whole, the attitudes seniors express on health care are arguably the greatest vote of confidence anyone has offered reform. Seniors live in America’s version of Canada. They have single-payer health care. And they love it. They love it so much that they’ve got the chairman of the RNC swearing to protect it.

Moyers was the one who told us about how, when LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act — the act he’d sweated blood to get passed — he said “We’ve lost the South for a generation.” Make that three.

As I have stated many times… the “asselephants” are well entrenched!

Just as Justice Taney protected the institution of slavery for the benefit of slave owners in Dred Scott vs Sanford, we are now witnessing the protection of corporations and corporate identity, by congress. Pretty disgusting to realize the very reason why Jefferson and Madison wanted restrictions of corporations and monopolies is for the very reasons we see today! Corporate due process at the state level trumps the Constitutional rights of Americans? It about protecting rights not leveraging laws under the color of law by corporations in the lust for endless profit, while undermining constitutional protections, liberty and eviscerating Americans!!

One’s health is one’s life and money often has little to do with merit!!!!!!!!!!

One of the most graphic portions of Moyers’ piece was the lists of companies that created companies that created ever more companies in a giant pyramid scheme in the health care industry, the enormous numbers of their buildings in Memphis, TN. That was stunning.

Does he think we’re studid? Or not paying attention?

no, he just thinks that most people who like to call themselves ‘progressive’ actually put their unrequited devotion to the Democratic Party first, and can be counted on to vote (D) no matter what.

it’s long past time to put that pattern to rest.

if PW could take a moment from kicking the Republicans, maybe she could address why anyone should keep voting (D) when:

you really have two corporate parties who in their own way and their own time are serving the interests of basically a narrow set of economic interests in the country…these narrow interests seem to win, determine the outcomes, no matter how many Democrats are elected, no matter who has their hands on the levers of powers, these narrow interests determine the outcomes in Washington, even when they have to run roughshod over the interests of ordinary Americans. I’m sad to say that has happened to the Democratic Party.

I’m with you TobyWollin. I had high hopes after the 2006 elections with the increase in the House and Senate seats then nothing happened. The leaders of both houses provided no leadership.

Once again in 2008 with the seemingly insurmountable numbers of Dems in the Congress and control of the White House I was hopeful. But no longer. I won’t be fooled again by these useless Dems. The only hope I have for the next few years is that there may be more seats on the Supreme Court to open up and possibly get some stronger liberals on the court, but then again the Dems will have to be able to get them thru the Senate and that is no sure thing.

One can only hope Obama serves only one term. Anyone paying attention knows he’s a poser if not an outright liar.

To get a liberal SC nominee through the Senate would require 80 Dems. If given the opportunity Obama will nominate a “moderate” Republican. We’ve been had folks. The sooner we admit it the sooner progressives can formulate a strategy to send him back to Chicago where he can take a position at the neo-fascist University of Chicago.

I’ve been asking — but haven’t received an answer — if we all should “click” on this ad and thereby generate more revenue for FDL.

Anyone know how this works?

And then Moyers points out that that same guy, Tauzin, was the SAME GUY who negotiated with the WH so that under healthcare reform the US will not be able to negotiate lower drug prices with Canada or other countries.

It occurred to me today: can anyone tell me how these “behind closed door” meetings with the drug company execs and the insurance company poohbahs are any different from the meetings held by Cheney’s “Energy Task Force” with the oil, coal and other execs who drafted Bush’s energy policy?

For the life of me, other than the “D” next to the names of the Executive Branch participants, looks pretty much the same.

the strategy is to withdraw allegiance from the Democrats, and make the resulting political energy, money, and votes available to whatever 3rd Party and (I) forces there are in your area.

there’s no reason to be hopeless if enough people finally try what hasn’t been tried seriously and give up on doing what manifestly doesn’t work, which is enabling the Democrats sellout kabuki, year in year out, decade after decade, for some of us.

I had high hopes after the 2006 elections with the increase in the House and Senate seats then nothing happened.

Those “2006 increases” were the result of Rahm [then head of the DCCC] funding Blue Dogs over progressives. While there might have appeared to be an “increase” in the number of folks with a “D” next to their name, it was all an illusion — as we’re witnessing now.

Heath Schuller, anyone?

I’m with you. Death to the Republican and Democratic corporate parties.

No one can tell you the difference because there is no difference. We’ve been chumped by Obama and Rahm. One can only hope these two posers are sent packing in 2012.

People can’t listen if they are not given an opportunity to hear. Having him on NPR is a safe bet for the ruling elites.

depending how a thread goes, it’s kind of fun to ask Obamaphiles, “well, what are his big accomplishments so far, that made him worth supporting and defending?”

let me know if you get any good answers, ok?

Jane, you’ve looked at the Moyers piece twice now, without commenting on the essence of Moyers argument, that the current proposals are corporate friendly and Obama should be fighting for vigorous public health insurance, win or lose. Do you have an opinion on his argument?

Yeah, if I lived in America’s Canada, I’d be protecting my health care too. Perhaps Obama should not have run around talking “entitlement reforms” and Medicare cuts. He has not really been very eloquent in explaining those cuts, and frankly I think Medicare needs to be improved anyway, so some of those cuts to private subsidies(ironic that in the middle of a bill larded with private subsidies this would be the source of financing)should be put right back into Medicare to add to what care it finances. Young Ezra should remember, if he is lucky, someday he too will be old, and he’ll probably want to protect his Canada as well. Honestly, the ageism from the Left gets..well, old.

Moyers is explicitly quoting Glenn Greenwald on the Senate Finance Committee Bill, who explicitly refers to my post on the Baucus Caucus in his piece.

What am I supposed to say? That I agree with myself?

Good article on Lady Bird. I knew about her campaign trip in ‘64 thru the South and that quote by LBJ about losing the South, but didn’t know about her relationship with the Durrs, et al. Thanks!

as long as we’re giving respect to old Mr Moyers, lets highlight something else he said:

MOYERS: I don’t think the problem is the Republicans . . . .The problem is the Democratic Party. This is a party that has told its progressives — who are the most outspoken champions of health care reform — to sit down and shut up.

I wonder why that was omitted – did Winston Smith snip it?

No, that’s not what I meant. I meant Moyers said that the President should fight for public insurance, win or lose, and not the corporate-friendly bill being crafted today in Congress. That opinion is at odds with your advocacy. I thought since you were looking so hard at what Moyers is saying, you may want to discuss the parts where he doesn’t agree with you.

Jane,

It sounds like you, Glenn, Bill Moyers, Tony Benn, Stan Brock and a few folks could make a video and or have a national tour that focuses on the “moral” issue of health care as a nation.

There is another underlying issue. National security. A healthy nation is a productive nation. A healthy and productive nation is also an educated and confident nation. A productive nation builds a stable economy. A stable economy builds on ingenuity, discovery, research and development.

But as Benn noted in SICKO:

“An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern because they (the public) will get out of the control of the top 1% of the world population who own 80% of the world’s wealth.”

Benn followed that quote with:

“But they’re poor, demoralized (the public). They’re frightened. And therefore, they think perhaps the safest thing to do is take orders and hope for the best.”

When the public self censors, they no longer live in a democracy.