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Every cell in your body has a direct relationship with Creative Life Force, and each cell is independently responding. When you feel joy, all the circuits are open and the Life Force or God Force can be fully received. When you feel guilt or blame or fear or anger, the circuits are hindered and the Life Force cannot flow as effectively. Physical experience is about monitoring those circuits and keeping them as open as possible. The cells know what to do. They are summoning the Energy.
Abraham
Helen Keller — inspiration to generations and inspiration for an entire genre of schoolyard humor — and her teacher and friend Anne Sullivan in a clip from 1930 in which they describe the way in which Helen learned how to speak … It’s a fascinating little clip which pays homage to a woman who, even beyond her amazing circumstances, was a radical socialist, suffragist, and supporter of birth control, who was friends with the likes of Mark Twain and who worked tirelessly to champion the rights of both the downtrodden and the physically disabled.
Every time you tell your better-feeling story, you will feel better and the details of your life will improve.
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Why Low Vitamin D Raises Heart Disease Risks In Diabetics
ScienceDaily (2009-08-25) — Low levels of vitamin D are known to nearly double the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes, and researchers now think they know why. … > read full article
Rep. Mike Rogers: Healthcare Reform Will Punish the Already-Insured
by: Eclectablog
Tue Jul 21, 2009 at 12:12:55 PM EDT
Cross-posted at The Daily Kos.
In todays edition of Livingston Press & Argus, Republican Representative Mike Rogers (R-Brighton) goes on the attack against the health care legislation currently being considered by Congress. According to Rogers:
“We are going to punish the 85 percent of Americans who have private health insurance so that we can try and fix this problem of the 15 percent who don’t,” he said. “It makes no sense to me that we would abandon American ingenuity.”
Given Rogers’ ties to the health care industry, his stance to protect the health insurance companies at the expense of the un- and under-insured citizens of the U.S.A. is no surprise.
Eclectablog :: Rep. Mike Rogers: Healthcare Reform Will Punish the Already-Insured
According to OpenSecrets.org, Mike Rogers has received over $800,000 from health-oriented sources since 2006. Perhaps this explains, at least in part, his vociferous defense of private health insurance. What it doesn’t do is explain his bizarre explanation for his stance. To wit:
Rogers…found several issues with the existing plan. For starters, he noted, according to Democrats, 45.8 million (roughly 15 percent) of Americans do not have health insurance.
However, he added that 9 million people in that group make more than $75,000 and do not purchase insurance, while another 11 million are people eligible for a government program but choose not to enroll.
“We are going to punish the 85 percent of Americans who have private health insurance so that we can try and fix this problem of the 15 percent who don’t,” he said. “It makes no sense to me that we would abandon American ingenuity.”
Let’s parse that a bit, shall we? According to Rogers, 20 million people in this country are uninsured by choice. 9 million, he says, can afford it but choose not to buy it anyway. As FactCheck.org points out, this number is quite inflated. Annual health care insurance costs can be as high as $16,000 in some places plus many folks are turned down for insurance due to pre-existing conditions and those that do qualify are often quoted higher rates.
Of the 11 million he cites that supposedly qualify for federal assistance but don’t avail themselves of it, over half are children under the age of 18. There are many reasons why people don’t seek federal help. Some of them may simply be unaware the programs exist while others fear the shame they would experience having to “be on the public dole”. Why children don’t go down to the government offices to apply on their own behalf is left to the reader as a take-home exercise.
At any rate, those (less than) 20 million “uninsured-by-choice” people are not 15% of the uninsured so his statement that we’re punishing the other 85% on their behalf is, well, absurd.
Rogers also thinks it’s unfair to tax the wealthy.
“This is just for health care,” Rogers said. “They’ve gone after them for other things. When it’s all said and done, that income level will spend more than half of its income on the federal, state (and) local government. When you start taking that much money from anybody, it becomes an issue of fairness and growth.”
What Rogers doesn’t say is that the level of taxation of the über-wealthy under the proposed plan would still be less than that during the Reagan years. In the meantime, improving our health care insurance system and lowering costs helps everyone, including wealthy business owners who now compete on a slightly more level playing field in the global market against countries with single-payer systems. All of that money they don’t spend on health care costs? It goes right to the bottom line.
However, Rogers’ real motivations can be found in the following quote:
Moreover, Rogers said that under the Democrats’ plan, businesses would actually save more money by kicking employees off their private insurance plans and onto a government-run plan.
“They’ve created this perverse incentive for people to get off their private plans and to get on the government plan,” he said. “They’ve made no provision to handle that many people.”
That’s the key to the whole thing isn’t it? He’s worried people will actually like the government-run insurance because it will be lower costs (no profit motive, right?) and because you can’t be kicked off due to a pre-existing condition. What happens when people begin to move to the public option? Rogers benefactors see their profits go down. And this, as they say, simply can not stand!
So what’s Rogers’ answer?
Rogers…said the keys are to expand federal support for state high-risk pools, so the larger the pool, the less the premiums. Small businesses should also be allowed to band together to purchase insurance, which he noted would lower insurance costs and make coverage available to more people.
“All of those things are part of a complicated way of lowering costs and bettering access to better quality without turning over your doctor-patient relationship to the federal government,” Rogers said.
Rogers also wants to expand and protect health savings accounts, noting the plans are, on average, 20 percent cheaper for employers than traditional insurance plans, while giving patients more control and choices.
Rogers plan doesn’t help the uninsured that don’t belong to one of these so-called “high-risk pools” and there’s certainly no guarantee that privately insuring “high-risk” Americans will mean their rates will be lower than would be the case with a public insurance program. The plan to “expand and protect health savings accounts” is ludicrous. Those plans exist now and expanding them will have an infinitesimal effect on health care costs.
But it’s Rogers’ concern about the federal government being involved with the doctor-patient relationship that is most ridiculous. He would, apparently, prefer that bureaucrats from for-profit insurance companies be the only ones allowed to get between the doctor and patient. And when profits are on the line, I think we all know who gets “punished”.
There is some good news, however:
[Rogers] said he plans on proposing all the aforementioned items as amendments to the health-care reform plan currently before Congress, but he acknowledges they will likely be shot down during committee hearings.
Can I get an amen?
I’m just sayin’…
Dee — Michelle and I were heartbroken to learn this morning of the death of our dear friend, Senator Ted Kennedy. For nearly five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well-being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts. His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives — in seniors who know new dignity; in families that know new opportunity; in children who know education’s promise; and in all who can pursue their dream in an America that is more equal and more just, including me. In the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle. His seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth and good cheer. He battled passionately on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear, and yet still maintained warm friendships across party lines. And that’s one reason he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy. I personally valued his wise counsel in the Senate, where, regardless of the swirl of events, he always had time for a new colleague. I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the Presidency. And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I’ve benefited as President from his encouragement and wisdom. His fight gave us the opportunity we were denied when his brothers John and Robert were taken from us: the blessing of time to say thank you and goodbye. The outpouring of love, gratitude and fond memories to which we’ve all borne witness is a testament to the way this singular figure in American history touched so many lives. For America, he was a defender of a dream. For his family, he was a guardian. Our hearts and prayers go out to them today — to his wonderful wife, Vicki, his children Ted Jr., Patrick and Kara, his grandchildren and his extended family. Today, our country mourns. We say goodbye to a friend and a true leader who challenged us all to live out our noblest values. And we give thanks for his memory, which inspires us still. Sincerely, President Barack Obama
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