Media Goes Crazy Over Joe Biden F-Bomb (Video)

Yesterday, during the signing the health care reform bill both VP Joe Biden and President Barack Obama were there. Obviously, they should have been, as it was a big deal. The Joe Biden f-bomb (video below) inserted between big and deal is what is causing an uproar.

Seriously, though, why is this such a big deal? The Joe Biden f-bomb is barely audible. What happened is that Biden introduced Obama, and said "this is a big f*cking deal," into Obama's ear. It's not like he shouted the f-bomb or anything?

At any rate, listen very carefully to the Joe Biden f-bomb video and as he hugs Obama, you can barely hear it. A big uproar over nothing really, though Biden is known to be a victim of foot-in-mouth disease.

Palin Punk'd By Canadian Comedian Again

Sarah Palin has been tricked by a second Canadian comedian. Last year, she was "punk'd," made to think she was talking to French president Nicolas Sarkozy when in reality it was The Masked Avengers, a Quebec comedy duo. At a recent stop on her "Going Rogue" book tour, Sarah Palin told Canadian comedian Mary Walsh that Canada should get rid of its public health care system (which will go over poorly with Canadians; more on that later).

Walsh is the co-creator and star of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, similar to both The Daily Show and The Colber Report. She arrived in character, as the faux conservative Marg Delahunty, at the Columbus, OH Borders book store where Palin was signing books.

Delahunty said, although Palin was not allowed to answer:

"I just wanted to ask you if you have any words of encouragement for Canadian conservatives who have worked so hard to try to diminish the kind of socialized medicine we have up there."

However, later in the parking lot, Palin answered Delahunty by saying that she should "keep the faith because common sense conservatism can be plugged in there in Canada too. In fact, Canada needs to reform its health care system and let the private sector take over some of what the government has absorbed."

This would be a tough sell in Canada. A recent study (.PDF) found that 90 percent of Canadians support universal, single-payer health care. At the same time, a poll taken last summer shows 82 percent of Canadians believe their health care system to be better than the U.S. system. It's also true that Canada has a longer lifespan than the U.S., and lower infant mortality.

Watch the video:

Rape Called a Pre-Existing Condition

This is a disturbing story. It's the story of a woman who made the choice, after being raped, of taking anti-AIDS medication for a month, as a precautionary step. Little did she know it would scar her for life, in the minds of insurance underwriters.

Consider that choice: HIV / AIDS or health insurance? Consider also, that in most industrialized nations, that choice does not have to be made. Why should the victim of a rape be made to suffer again?

The Huffington Post Investigative Fund has the story of Christina Turner, now 45. Slipped a "Mickey," and fearing she had been sexually assaulted outside a bar in Fort Lauderdale, FL, she took anti-HIV drugs as a precaution. Despite the fact that she never developed HIV, the mere taking of the drugs flagged her as too high a risk, and she has been rejected by many insurance companies.

Turner had let the men buy her drinks at a bar in Fort Lauderdale. The next thing she knew, she said, she was lying on a roadside with cuts and bruises that indicated she had been raped. She never developed an HIV infection. But months later, when she lost her health insurance and sought new coverage, she ran into a problem.

Turner, 45, who used to be a health insurance underwriter herself, said the insurance companies examined her health records. Even after she explained the assault, the insurers would not sell her a policy because the HIV medication raised too many health questions. They told her they might reconsider in three or more years if she could prove that she was still AIDS-free. [...]

Some women have contacted the Investigative Fund to say they were deemed ineligible for health insurance because they had a pre-existing condition as a result of a rape, such as post traumatic stress disorder or a sexually transmitted disease. Other patients and therapists wrote in with allegations that insurers are routinely denying long-term mental health care to women who have been sexually assaulted.

I recently ran a story about an underweight baby denied health insurance; there was also a recent story of a baby deemed overweight by an insurance company that was also denied health insurance.

His father, Bernie Lange, told a Colorado newspaper, "I could understand if we could control what he's eating. But he's 4 months old. He's breast-feeding. We can't put him on the Atkins diet or on a treadmill. There is just something absurd about denying an infant."

Grayson Starts Website to Honor Those Dead From Health Insurance Denials

Rep. David Grayson (D-FL), has started a new web site, to honor the dead. However, not the dead from a war or other such calamity. Rather, Grayson's site, Names of the Dead, will honor those "more than 44,000 Americans who die simply because have no health insurance," annually.

Grayson has been hitting the GOP hard over health insurance reform, calling the GOP plan "Don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly."

Since then, he's been making the rounds of talk shows and news shows. He's refused to apologize for the comment, and one might say he's upped the ante with this site.

Every year, more than 44,000 Americans die simply because have no health insurance.

I have created this project in their memory. I hope that honoring them will help us end this senseless loss of American lives. If you have lost a loved one, please share the story of that loved one with us. Help us ensure that their legacy is a more just America, where every life that can be saved will be saved.

A recent Harvard study showed as many as 45,000 deaths annually are tied to lack of health insurance. That's where Grayson got his statistics.

Watch Grayson unveiling his site on the floor of Congress Wednesday.

Specter: GOP "A Party of Obstructionism"

Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA), longtime Republican who switched sides earlier this year, described his former party as a group of naysayers Sunday on Fox News, calling them a group of obstructionists.

On the Republican side, it’s no, no, no. A party of obstructionism. This is no longer the party of Jon Hymes and "Mac" Mathias and Lowell Weicker. You have responsible Republicans who had been in the Senate, like Howard Baker, Bob Dole, and Bill Frist, who say Republicans ought to cooperate. Well, they’re not cooperating. Bob Dole reportedly wouldn't return a telephone call from a Republican leader who wanted him to back off. Take a look at the absence of any Republican plan ...

Specter isn't the first to say this. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) said recently that the GOP is against anything President Barack Obama is for, regardless of if it is good for Americans.

"They understand if Barack Obama were somehow able to cure hunger in the world, the Republicans would blame him for over-population.

They understand that if Barack obama could somehow bring about world peace, they'd blame him for destroying the defense industry.

In fact, they understand that if Barack Obama has a BLT sandwich tomorrow for lunch, they will try to ban bacon."

Watch it:

Mitt Romney: Public Option is "Absolute Death"

The GOP has changed its message. No longer do they talk about "death panels," since the end-of-life counseling provisions have been removed. Now, they are using the term "absolute death."

Mitt Romney on Sean Hannity's Fox News show last night, said the following:

ROMNEY: The right way to have proceeded was to let each state create their own plan, to learn from the laboratories that the states were meant to be, and then adopted the very best in the federal system. But that hasn’t been done. And as a result, you’re seeing Democrats fighting Democrats. And the idea that we’d have — the government get into a — if you will, the public or government option is absolute death, I think, across this country.

Of course, the only ones facing death from a public option would be the insurance companies. And really, do we need them? Countries like Canada, the U.K. and more do just fine without them. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation without some sort of universal health care. Since people in those aforementioned countries have longer lifespans than us, there's no "absolute death" involved.

Watch the video:

N-Word Used in Anti-Health Reform Sign

"N**** Rig It." That's the sign outside the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in Paulding County, Georgia. It's been put up by restaurant owner Patrick Lanzo to protest health insurance reform.

As CBS Atlanta reported:

When you walk into the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in Paulding County, you feel like you've walked into a different era.

First, the restaurant has a mannequin in a Klu Klux Klan costume standing behind the pool tables, but the sign outside is the real shocker. It says: "Obama's plan for health-care: N***** rig it."

According to the Urban Dictionary, that term means either:

• To put something together in a very poor manner, or
• To temporarily "fix" something using whatever materials are at hand. Perfectly acceptable in an emergency, but not as a general rule.

Hey, it says "perfectly acceptable in an emergency," which is what our health care system is in right now, is it not?

At any rate, Patrick Lasko claims he is not a racist, but that instead, he has simply "used that term all his life." He also says the sign is about a "substandard health care plan."

Now, if he means that in terms of a lack of a public option, I agree with him. If he means that in terms of any change at all, that's something different. At any rate, Lasko said “I stand by my president, but I also stand by my First Amendment right to criticize him if I feel he’s wrong."

It's not the first time Lasko has put up these sorts of seemingly racist signs. And that prompted the The West Metro NAACP to issue this statement:

"This latest ploy for attention by Mr. Lanzo is not surprising. What is of concern however, is the total lack of leadership and action from the elected officials of Paulding County, who repeatedly have allowed this type of toxic public display."

Watch a video report from CBS Atlanta, via Raw Replay:

CIGNA Employee Flips Off Mother Of Girl Who Died, Denied a Transplant

You may recall the case of Nataline Sarkisyan, 17, who was denied a liver transplant by CIGNA, on the grounds that the operation was "too experimental." Nine days later, following a number of protests, the company changed its mind, but it was too late: Nataline died hours later, on Dec. 20, 2007.

Ten months later, Hilda and Krikor Sarkisyan went to CIGNA's Philadelphia headquarters, along with members the California Nurses Association, who have long supported Medicare for All, to confront CIGNA CEO Edward Hanway over the death of their 17-year-old child.

Naturally, they were not allowed to talk to Hanway. Far worse, however, was the fact that a CIGNA employee flipped the group off from a balcony. That finger may cost CIGNA dearly, despite a later CIGNA apology.

The Sarkisyans filed a wrongful-death suit againt CIGNA, but a Los Angeles judge threw out the suit, saying it was barred by a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that protects employer-paid health care plans from damages with regards to their coverage decisions. That's the bad news.

The good news, from U.S. District Judge Gary Allen Feess, is that the Sarkisyans could pursue damages for any emotional distress caused by the Philadelphia incident. Indeed, that's where the finger comes into play.

Essentially, as Hilda Sarkisyan admitted herself, it's ludicrous. They cannot sue because CIGNA denied treatment, essentially killing their daughter, but flipping the bird, that they can sue for. Admittedly, it would seem a jury would be sympathetic to the family.

The family is not interested in the money. They are interested in change.

"If you don't sue, you can't make changes," Hilda Sarkisyan said. "It's not about the money. It's about the principle. They are just going to keep denying people care if we don't stop them."

Watch a video showing the Philadelphia "incident."

Ensign: Exclude Gunshot Wounds from Lifespan Stats; We Love Our Guns

It's been tried before: those against the public option for Universal Health Care like to say that we should exclude deaths from guns from statistical evidence that the U.S. lags behind other nations. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) made not just that statement, but also that deaths from auto accidents should be excluded as well, as both are "cultural factors." Here's an exchange between him and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND).

ENSIGN: The first one you said on preventative deaths — Are you aware on that if you take out gun accidents and auto accidents, the United States actually is better than those other countries?

CONRAD: You can rack and stack –

ENSIGN: Auto accidents don’t have anything to do with health care. I mean, we’re just a much more mobile society. On the preventative deaths, if you take out auto accidents — because we drive our cars a lot more, they do public transportation — and so you have to compare health care system with health care system.

If you compare cancer rates, survival rates after five years, cardiovascular disease after five years, the United States does better than Europe.

CONRAD: We do very well.

ENSIGN: We do better than any of the countries that you pointed out.

CONRAD: Well, I can tell you this: I’d go back to the statistics that have been generated by lots of organizations on quality outcomes, and other countries that do have universal care and do a much better job of controlling costs than we do, on metric after metric, finish ahead of us. And I’d just direct you to the T.R. Reid book which is loaded with analysis from objective observers as to quality outcomes. And those countries, much lower costs than we do as a share of GDP, high quality outcomes — whether we’re first in a category or someone else is first — nonetheless, high quality outcomes in those countries, at much lower costs.

The problem with jobbing statistics as Ensign wants to do, is that we can't ignore those losses. It's not like you can say, OK, no auto accidents and no gunshot wounds in this hospital. I guess we need to stop having those whiny police officers complaining about gunshot wounds.

In reality, the United States currently ranks 50th out of 224 nations in life expectancy, with an average life span of 78.1 years, according to 2009 estimates from the CIA World Factbook.

We're the only industrialized nation without some sort of universal health care. A recent Harvard study said as many as 45,000 people die annually due to lack of insurance. How sad is that?

Update: the Senate Finance Committee has defeated the public option for health care.

Watch the video:

Expectant Fathers, Firefighters, Police Officers, Those With Toenail Fungus Denied Insurance: Report

This is disturbing, and it shows, as Bill Moyers said recently to Bill Maher, lack of morality in American Society. He told Maher that Universal Health Care is evidence of a "deeply moral society," yet our finest and bravest* are excluded from private health insurance?

Granted, in general those professions, in large metropolitan areas, would receive insurance as part of their job, but what about small, rural communities, or volunteer firefighters? A report released Friday by the California group Consumer Watchdog shows, via the direct underwriting documents of a number of insurance firms, just how focused these companies are on the bottom line.

Of course, if you are looking for profits, these exclusions make sense, right? Other examples of professions excluded from private health insurance include off-shore oil workers, stunt people, ski patrol. Other rather arbitrary health conditions that may cause exclusion are infertility, premature birth (within 12 months), and sex reassignment.

Here's the kicker, from PacifiCare's guidelines:

Currently experiencing/experienced within the last 12 months symptoms for which a physician has not been consulted.

Based on the horror stories of people who have their coverage revoked when an insurance company finds some condition they neglected to tell them about, this could be taken to the extreme: "Sorry, Mr. Johnson, you forgot to tell us about that runny nose you had in March."

It is obvious, that we need a public option, or at least some law that prevents insurance companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, as well as from charging exorbitant fees to those who had them.

Jerry Flanagan, Consumer Watchdog's Health Policy Director said:

“These documents show that just giving the insurance industry an uncontested franchise by requiring Americans to buy policies will not solve the health care crisis. Americans need a strong 'public option' which would not have the tendency to game the system like private insurers and strong regulation to watch over the industry day-to-day."

Carmen Balber, Consumer Watchdog's D.C. Director added:

"These documents show why health care reform must include serious curbs on insurance companies including regulation of rates and practices so insurers can't continue to price gouge or find new ways to refuse customers as part of their business model."

A Harvard study released earlier this week noted that some 45,000 Americans die annually because of a lack of health insurance. So what do you say, America, particularly those in the right (to life) group? Are we a moral society?

* New York police officers are called "New York's Finest," while their firefighters are called "New York's Bravest"

Pre-Existing Condition Craziness Highlights the Need for Health Insurance Reform

While the storm continues to circulate around proposed health care reform, it is clear it should be called health INSURANCE reform. And while "death panel" arguments make the rounds of the conservative pundits, they fail to address the "death panels" already existing in the form of, once again, insurance companies. Take a look at some reports about crazy insurance company opinions on "pre-existing conditions."

An example from earlier this week comes from HuffPo. Did you know that in eight states, and the District of Columbia, domestic violence is a pre-existing condition. Not only is it bad enough to be beaten by your spouse, this just adds insult to injury.

To be honest, it makes sense when you consider insurance companies care only about the bottom line: if you are married to someone who has beaten you in the past, you're more likely to get beaten again. Therefore, you are more expensive to insure.

While many may think that someone will leave a relationship once beaten, that's not the case. Speaking with a psychologist, many of these relationships are co-dependent, and the person taking the beating will return given reassurances by the beater that "it won't happen again." It usually does, however.

It's also clear that women are subjected to a pregnancy surcharge. Because women can get pregnant, as described in a recent Perspective series entry on NPR, they usually are charged more for health insurance. The younger (and more fertile) are charged still more. For example, women in California pay an average of 39% more than men.

That's just the start of it. More private insurance policies are being written without maternity coverage, period. As Anthem Blue Cross said:

"The point of insurance is to insure against catastrophic care costs. That's what you're trying to aggregate and pool for such things as heart attacks and cancer. "Having a child is a matter of choice. Dealing with an adult onset illness, such as diabetes, heart disease breast or prostate cancer, is not a matter of choice."

Talk to the Duggars.

C-sections are also considered pre-existing conditions. Take a look at this New York Times story from 2008. Golden Rule Insurance Company rejected Peggy Robertson's application for health coverage in 2007 because she had a prior C-section. As doctors will tell you, once you have a C-section, it is more likely any later pregnancies will require one. It's all about the bottom line.

Yesterday, a Harvard study was released linking 45,000 deaths a year to lack of insurance. Dr. Stephanie Woolhandler, from Harvard University and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program said on Democracy Now! this morning:

The way to afford Universal Health Care is to go to Medicare for All, also known as Single Payer, also known as non-profit national health insurance. That the way every other developed nation achieve universal health care. They spend less than we do; in fact, the average for other developed nations is about 1/2 the per capita cost that we have. People in Canada and Western Europe live longer, they don't have to worry about having medical bankruptcies because their health insurance din't pay for things, so the non-profit Medicare for All approach is the only affordable way to cover all Americans. Of course, the insurance industry hates it. And when you put an insurance industry vice-president in charge of writing a bill, you shouldn't be surprised to see that the insurance industry profits are protected, but American lives are sacrificed.

Liz Fowler is the person that Woolhandler was talking about. Woolhandler went further, saying that insurance companies are unnecessary, and add nothing to the equation of health care. Realistically, what do they add, besides adding cash to their execs' pockets and those of their shareholders? Readers?

Nearly Three-Quarters of Doctors Favor a Public Option: Survey

The New England Journal of Medicine released the results of a national survey of physicians on Monday. Of the 2,130 physicians surveyed, nearly 3/4 of them support some type of public option.

A total of 62.9% of physicians said they favored a public option along with private health insurance. Another 9.6% favored a completely government-owned health care coverage system. Total them up, and that's 72.5% who favor some sort of public option.

To be clear, the completely government-owned system would be similar to Canada's or the U.K.'s, and is usually called "Medicare for All" or "Single Payer."

General practitioners or primary care providers were the most likely to support a public option (65.2%). Specialty groups, those in fields that have less regular direct contact with patients, such as radiology or anesthesiology, were the least likely to support a public option, though a majority (57.4%) still did so.

A majority in every part of the country supported a public option, ranging from ranging from 58.9% in the South to 69.7% in the NorthEast. Those old, stodgy, conservative folks IDed as AMA members also showed majority support for a public option (62.2%).

This survey shows that physicians as a whole solidly back the public option. As I've said before, forget about price arguments. Forget about big government arguments. People should not be allowed to die because they lack health insurance. It's not a health issue, it's a moral issue. Obviously, these physicians are remembering their Hippocratic Oath.

Racism At Heart of Anti-Obama Sentiment: Carter

What's behind all the uproar from certain circles about Barack Obama, health insurance reform and just about anything about you can think of? What's behind all the signs purporting to socialism and naziism (which are mutually exclusive, by the way; just think of how Hitler felt about the U.S.S.R.)? Jimmy Carter summed it up in one word: racism.

When bringing up racism, Jimmy Carter was specifically addressing the "You Lie!" outburst by S.C. Congressman Joe Wilson last week during Barack Obama's speech on health insurance reform.

"I think it's based on racism. "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.

"Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care. It's deeper than that."

Earlier Jimmy Carter outlined his concerns about racism against Barack Obama in an interview that aired Tuesday on "NBC Nightly News.”

“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American.

“I live in the South, and I’ve seen the South come a long way, and I’ve seen the rest of the country that shared the South’s attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans. And that racism inclination still exists. And I think it’s bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It’s an abominable circumstance and grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

In fact, Jimmy Carter's comments on racism and Barack Obama may be true, but perhaps too simplistic a view of what is happening. Comparing a black man to a Nazi is obviously ridiculous, based on Hitler's views on blacks. Speaking to a psychologist, it may be more deeply rooted than that.

Things are changing. For example, in the relatively near future, whites will no longer be the majority in this country. While there are white supremacist groups chanting that whites need to take back the country, in reality, if any taking back of this country needs to occur, it needs to be from Native Americans. But I digress.

The GOP is predominantly male, and white. In general, people do not like change. Change has come in the form of an African-American president. That frightens people. As the GOP has been known to stir the pot of the "politics of fear," it would seem that fear, pure, unrelenting fear of the type that FDR warned against, is causing these outbursts.

Readers?

Watch a video report:

Rep. Saves Urine at Town Hall; Refuses to Pee on Man's Leg

Well, at least we know the rather crass behavior at health insurance reform town halls isn't just coming from one side of the aisle. In this case, the latest incident involves Rep. Don Stark, (D-CA).

It was a town hall in Fremont, CA, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a constituent stood a few feet away from Stark relating why he was opposed to the "smoke and mirrors" in President Obama's health care plan, he closed his remarks by saying to Stark:

"Mr. Congressman, don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."

Showing it's not just the GOP who have been engaging in this less than polite discource, Stark replied:

"I wouldn't dignify you by peeing on your leg. It wouldn't be worth wasting the urine.

Ouch!

Watch it, about 1:30 into the video:

After Vandalism, Wikipedia Locks Joe Wilson's Article

The hits just keep on comin' for Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), also known as "You Lie Guy." He's the member of Congress who blurted out "You lie" during Barack Obama's speech on health care reform on Wednesday night. Things are so bad Wikipedia had to lock his article.

His article currently says, "Editing of this article by new or unregistered users is currently disabled due to vandalism." Small wonder, what with the uproar his disrepectful action has caused.

While addressing a series of falsehoods that have been cast at the idea of health care reform, which is really health insurance reform, Obama denied that his health care proposal would cover illegal immigrants. To that, Joe Wilson shouted, "You Lie!"

Bipartisan criticism has followed. Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ), said the outburst was disrepectful and demanded an apology. He told Larry King, "No place for it in that setting or any other, and he should apologize for it immediately."

Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) said, "I've never seen anything like that before. We do not invite the president of the United States into the House of Representatives and hurl insults."

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), the longest serving member in House history, said: "Well, you've got to understand: They're Republicans. They're just doing what comes natural."

Joe Wilson has since apologized, but that hasn't stopped continued criticism as well as sites like joewilsonisyourpreexistingcondition.com from popping up. Additionally, Democrat Rob Miller raised, at last report, upwards of $400,000 for a possible rematch with Wilson in next year's midterm elections.

In addition to locking the article, Wikipedia added the following note: "This article or section may be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective."

Joe Wilson's "You Lie" Outburst During Obama Speech Draws Bipartisan Criticism

The name Joe Wilson has entered another firestorm in politics. No, not the Joe Wilson whose wife and CIA operative Valerie Plame was outed during the Bush administration, allegedly as retribution. No, this is Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina.

While addressing a series of falsehoods that have been cast at the idea of health care reform, which is really health insurance reform, Obama denied that his health care proposal would cover illegal immigrants. To that, Joe Wilson shouted, "You Lie!" According to HuffPo, he drew attention, and shocked looks, from many:

All eyes turned in the South Carolina Republican's direction -- including Obama's, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's and Vice President Joe Biden's.

Wilson, looking agitated, leaned forward and began tapping away at his BlackBerry, as if he were Googling up proof that the president had, in fact, lied.

"Shame on you!" shouted someone from the Democratic side. "Throw him out!" shouted someone else. First Lady Michelle Obama, seated behind and above Wilson, seemed to mouth a drawn-out "damn" at the scene unfolding before her.

Following Obama's speech, Joe Wilson was criticized by both sides of the aisle. It seems to be a character flaw of his. The New York Times pointed out that "Jackie Calmes points to the biography of Mr. Wilson in CQ’s “Politics in America,” which includes this line: “Wilson’s sharp and careless remarks sometimes land him in hot water.”

Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ), said the outburst was disrepectful and demanded an apology. He told Larry King, "No place for it in that setting or any other, and he should apologize for it immediately."

Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) said, "I've never seen anything like that before. We do not invite the president of the United States into the House of Representatives and hurl insults."

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), the longest serving member in House history, said: "Well, you've got to understand: They're Republicans. They're just doing what comes natural."

Not long after the speech ended, Joe Wilson issued an apology.

"This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. While I disagree with the President's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility."

Joe Wilson also phoned the White House to apologize. However, he did not reach Obama, but spoke to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who accepted the apology in Obama's stead.

Meanwhile, Joe Wilson's web site crashed, his Twitter page took a beating, and Democrat Rob Miller raised thousands of unexpected dollars online for a possible rematch with Wilson in next year's midterm elections.

Despite what Joe Wilson may want to think, there is nothing in bills from the House or Senate that allows illegal immigrants to partake of any subsidies of any sort, in this plan, or the public option.

What many people complain about is treatment of illegal immigrants in ERs. While I would grant that places a burden on the rest of American society, I would ask this:
Would you turn away someone who is dying of a heart attack because he is illegal? You forget that there's this thing called the Hippocratic Oath that prevents doctors from doing so no matter what you might think.

At any rate, Joe Wilson's outburst just shows that our republic has degraded into disrepect, outbursts, and an apparent lack of the ability to allow someone to speak in a dissenting voice without trying to shout him or her down.

Watch John McCain call for an apology from Joe Wilson on Larry King:

Ahead of Obama Speech, Palin Repeats "Death Panel" Rant

Despite the fact that "death panels" in any health care reform legislation have been debunked, Sarah Palin continues to rant about them. In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Palin once again brings up the topic, as once again the GOP focuses on "fear" as their only way to influence the public.

She did so ahead of Obama's planned health care reform speech, scheduled for tonight.

It would be interesting to know what their true aim is here. Is it because the health care industry has their hands in the GOP's wallets? One would think that "right-to-lifers," in particular, would be aghast to know that 20,000 people die in America annually because of lack of health insurance. Additionally, if they really want to "be afraid, be very afraid," how about fear of bankruptcy? Over 60% of bankruptcies in America are health care expense related.

You'd also think that they would understand the point that as Bill Moyers said, health care for all is necessary for a society, or at least, is representative of a "deeply moral society."

At the same time, Palin said that we need health care reform, saying "Let's talk about real healthcare reform: market-oriented, patient-centered, and result-driven." Strange how anyone could consider keeping for-profit corporations involved would be patient-centered. A recent study showed that 21% of claims were denied in California from 2002 to 2009. Those are real death panels.

Soldier Killed After Re-Enlisting to Get Health Insurance

While people still continue to fight over whether or not health care should be provided for all, and the morality of allowing people to die because of lack of health insurance, here is the sad story of a soldier who re-enlisted to get insurance for his family, then later died in Afghanistan.

Army SPC Greg Missman lost his job as a computer consultant, and along with losing the job he lost health insurance for his family. Missman had ended his military service 11 years ago, but re-enlisted in order to be sure his family had health insurance coverage.

After only one month in Afghanistan, Jim Missman, Greg's father received the news that his son's convoy had been ambushed. Greg was killed in the attack. His father said he was told "I'm going to go back in the Army, and make sure Jack (his son Jack) has health insurance. That was really the motivating thing to have him go back in."

CNN reported that a "Pentagon spokesman said there is no way to count how many soldiers have joined the armed services to get health care benefits. As for Greg Missman, his son will continue to receive military health insurance so this soldier's sacrifice will live on."

It's curious that the world's richest nation is also the only industrialized nation to not provide some sort of universal health care. It's sad that Cuba has better infant mortality rates than us and the same lifespan, while Canada and the UK better us in both categories, according to UNICEF statistics current as of 2007. All have some sort of Universal Health Care.

Watch the video report:

GOP Rep Tells Uninsured Cancer Patient: You're Bankrupt, But Things Worked Out Well

Released in June, a national study by the American Journal of Medicine (.PDF) showed that 62% of bankruptcies in 2007 were tied to medical expenses. That's what a constituent told Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) at a recent town hall, but despite his bankruptcy, Kingston told the man he did "very well."

Eh? The elderly man, Jim Parker, told Kingston that he was recently treated for colon cancer, but did not have insurance. Kingston replied by telling Parker “you did do very well” because he was able to get treated when he arrived at the hospital. Parker responded, “I am functionally bankrupt!” Kingston cut him off and said:

But you did get coverage. You didn’t get the insurance, but they won’t turn you down at the door. And we do need to focus on people like you. However, here’s the problem: among other things, in countries that have socialized medicine, you have longer waiting lines, you have bureaucracy ... it does lead to rationing.

In reality, Parker didn't get coverage. He got treatment. Big difference. Two things, in addition, however: we already have rationing; the insurance companies ration health care by denying claims. As many as 20,000 people die because of lack of insurance annually, according to studies.

Additionally, while people like George W. Bush speak of America's health care saying (in 2007): "The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private insurance plans. I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room," that is utter claptrap. After all, one of the talking points against Universal Health Care is "the wait;" has anyone looked an an ER waiting room?

ERs? Why do you think our life expectancy is so low compared to other industrialized nations, all of which have Universal Health Care in one form or another? Because when you enact such a system, you have to concentrate on Wellness, proactive health care that keeps people healthy from square one rather than reacting to type 2 diabetes and the like.

Watch the exchange between Parker and Kingston:

California's Real Death Panels Exposed: Insurers Deny 21% of Claims

On Friday, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) issued a press release analyzing data reported by the insurers to the California Department of Managed Care. More than 1/5 of all claims were denied, according to the report.

From 2002 through June 30, 2009, the six largest insurers operating in California rejected 31.2 million claims for care or 21% of all claims. The press release goes on to detail examples:

Kaiser Permanente (28% denial rate in the first half of 2009): one of two systems to reject options for radiation and chemotherapy for 57-year-old Bob Scott of Sacramento after his diagnosis of a brain tumor in 2005. The reason cited was his age, according to wife Cheryl Scott, RN.

Cigna, famously denied a liver transplant for 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan of Northridge, CA and then reversed itself, albeit too late to save her life, in 2007. They are still rejecting one-third of all claims for the first half of 2009.

PacifiCare denied 40% of claims in the first half of 2009. It denied a special procedure for the treatment of bone cancer for Nick Colombo, a 17-year-old teen from Placentia, CA. as in Sarkisyan's case, PacifiCare reversed its decision after much bad PR. Also like Nataline Sarkisyan, the delay cost time, and he ultimately died.

California Blue Cross rejected 28% of claims in the first half of 2009. In 2008, six days before RN Kim Kutcher of Dana Point, Calif., was scheduled to have special back surgery, the company denied authorization for the procedure as "investigational" even though the lumbar artificial disc she was scheduled to receive had FDA approval.

Deborah Burger, RN, CNA/NNOC co-president said (emphasis mine):

"The routine denial of care by private insurers is like the elephant in the room no one in the present national healthcare debate seems to want to talk about. Nothing in any of the major bills advancing in the Senate or House or proposed by the administration would challenge this practice.

"The United States remains the only country in the industrialized world where human lives are sacrificed for private profit, a national disgrace that seems on the verge of perpetuation."

CNA/NNOC has long supported expanding Medicare to cover all Americans. According to dData released in late August by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which tracks developed nations, among 30 industrial nations, the U.S. ranks last in life expectancy at birth for men, and 24th for women.