I just cannot believe that John McCain’s health care proposal is not causing panic in the streets.  It should.

McCain plan to reform health care: It's scary
The proposal should scare the heck out of the millions of Americans who rely on employer-based coverage. Iowans who have tried to buy affordable coverage on their own know they need more than a tax credit and good health. Sometimes they need a winning lottery ticket.

Buying individual policies means having your health history reviewed. It means not having the bargaining power and protections that come with being part of a plan offered by an employer. And it's expensive.

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OK guys, I need some help here. I have been posting on the blog for our local newspaper regarding the Libby case. This particular blog is called "Law Talk" and the blog entry by William H. Freivogel (Interim Director, Southern Illinois University Carbondale School of Journalism) said:

[...]
The testimony of Russert was apparently important to the conviction.  But Russert himself said that it was easier throwing grenades than catching them on the witness stand.  All in all the press looked bad.  The claim of a reporter’s privilege to protect confidential sources wasn’t helped by the way the privilege was evidently abused in this case.  Nor is it good for a person to be convicted essentially as a result of leaking information to the press.  This basically criminalizes the newsgathering process.

I emailed the author, asking him "Umm, Bill, are you saying that you believe it is OK to leak the identity of a covert agent?"

Click for his response ->

I got an interesting email today from Missourians for Single Payer that I wanted to share. It shows how easily someone with very good employer-based health insurance can lose their safety net. In the case of 3 year old "Thomas", it is the $1 million lifetime cap that is the culprit. When your annual bills are running at $800,000, a $1 million lifetime cap isn't much help. Does your health insurance policy have a lifetime cap (if you are lucky enough to have health insurance)? Do you know what the cap is? A lot of people who oppose Single Payer Health Insurance because they think they are protected by good health insurance from their employer, would be shocked to realize how quickly a person can reach a $1 million lifetime cap, which happens to be the norm.

Thomas' story ->

Last night I had dinner with two friends. One of them asked us if we had heard about all of the women dying from infections (more on that later) caused by the "morning after pill". I explained that she probably meant RU-486 (the abortion pill), not the "morning after pill". She said, "you know, the pill that pharmacists refuse to sell because it causes abortions."

I explained that RU-486 is not sold in pharmacies, you must get it from your doctor. I explained that the "morning after pill" does not cause an abortion, in fact, it won't work if you are already pregnant. I explained that the "morning after pill" is simply a high dose of regular birth control pills. I'm not sure if my friend believed me, she seemed skeptical. The "pro-lifers" are deliberately trying to muddy the waters and make people think the "morning after pill" causes abortions. They are succeeding.
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I got an email from a right-wing "friend", someone I know from another message board. Can anyone help me come up with a response to this?

Email after the jump-->

I just finished writing a letter to a guy I met on a Kidney Board. He is opposed to single payer healthcare, and I have been trying to change his mind. By the time I finished the letter, I had even surprised myself with the great argument I had made. (LOL) Here's the letter:

Dear xxx,
I have some thoughts on Single Payer.

At least 45 million people in our country don't have health insurance (15.7% of the population).  The vast majority are in a family where someone is working (80% or 90%, don't remember exactly).  The vast majority are middle class.  They pay taxes.  And they are bitter that their taxes help pay for Medicaid for the poor, when they don't have any health insurance.  And I don't blame them.  I think that is a very unfair situation.
(rest of letter below the fold)

We just had a special election on April 5 to fill an empty state senate seat. I volunteered for Rick Johnson, the Dem. candidate, even though it wasn't my district. Everyone said the district (Jefferson County) was overwhelmingly democratic, so I thought I would finally get to work on a winning campaign. Especially with our governor waging war on Medicaid, surely people would be angry with the republicans. Wrong.

I feel like I'm losing my mind here. Shouldn't the ELIMINATION of Medicaid in the state of Missouri be a REALLY big deal? Apparently not.

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Great column in the Business section of the StL Post-Dispatch today about private accounts. Considering it is in the Business section, I'm kind of surprised it isn't cheerleading for private accounts. And notice he uses "private" not "personal".

I have hated the idea of SS privatization from day one, but yesterday I read an article about requiring retirees to purchase annuities that just enraged me.  These annuities are horrible for married women who rely on their husband's SS for their benefits. I got the link from dKos, but I can't remember where, so thank you to whoever provided the link. Here is the article:

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