Get Involved
-
Get Connected
Tag Archives: stimulus package
Bye-Bye, Health Care Provisions!
Sorry, House. Not even the defibrillator will bring the health care provisions back.
In this time of great need, when people are losing jobs, health care without a doubt an issue on the forefront. I guess Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) both thought, when brokering this supposed bipartisan stimulus package, that putting money towards health care related areas wouldn’t really help out the American people. (Education, too, but I think Nathaniel had that one covered well.) It’s like adding coffee to milk instead of the other way around. Weak coffee is bad. The need to reach an agreement is necessary, yes, but diluting the Act defeats some of its purpose. Regardless, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed, $110 billion trimmer. The list below covers a few of the cut items. (Ezra Klein captures some of my unhappiness.)
So yes, in case you’re wondering, the centrist compromises not only cut jobs and increased the long-term cost of health care, but also ensured the preventable deaths of thousands of people. Nebraskans, presumably, think we’re saving enough lives already. And the people in Maine, I hear, think we’re saving way too many lives. (Ezra Klein, The American Prospect)
What didn’t survive (via Kaiser Network and CNN):
+ $2 billion for Health Information Technology Grants
+ $5.8 billion for Health Prevention Activity
+ $870 million reduction in funds to Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for pandemic flu preparedness
+ $5 billion reduction in funds for federal subsidies for health insurance under COBRA
And because I love Paul Krugman and his post was incredible today:
What do you call someone who eliminates hundreds of thousands of American jobs, deprives millions of adequate health care and nutrition … but offers a $15,000 bonus to affluent people who flip their houses? A proud centrist, for that is what the senators who ended up calling the tune on the stimulus bill just accomplished. (Paul Krugman, New York Times)
Posted in Blog, Liberal Blog
Tagged ben nelson, ezra klein, health care, healthy, house md, paul krugman, stimulus package, susan collins
Leave a comment
Stimulated by Rebecca Egler
And so there was once a heated, steamy debate
On spreading bipartisanship or dealing out hate -
I think it’s love’s time to forget
And pink smear any regret
For remember who won, before it’s too late.
Posted in Blog, Economy, Limerick, The Media
Tagged bipartisanship, Limerick, stimulus package, The Media
Leave a comment
Like Cake by Rebecca Egler
And so an author’s name lives up to his prose,
Each point to articulate he carefully chose,
Our friend Frank Rich
Puts Obama in a stitch
And astutely evaluates the package as it goes.
Posted in Blog, Economy, Limerick, The Media
Tagged frank rich, Limerick, new york times, stimulus package
Leave a comment
What is Drudge Up To?
I literally cannot tell you why Drudge is running a picture of Lightning/Tornado in conjunction with this alarming Stimulus headline. Possible reasons why?
+ The Stimulus Bill will fight tornadoes. The Stimulus Bill will fight lightning.
+ Tornadoes and lightning cost about $780 – 827,000,000,000.00.
- Sub-Point – I like how he adds the .00 on the end… just for that wee extra bit of sensationalism.
+ This is what happens when bipartisanship occurs – tornadoes and lightning.
+ The Stimulus Bill is literally causing an apocalypse of tornadoes and lightning.
Posted in Blog, Economy, The Media
Tagged bipartianship, deal, Drudge Report, lightning, stimulus package, the economy, tornadoes, Votes
Leave a comment
Washington Post: Obama's Op-Ed
This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending — it’s a strategy for America’s long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care and education. And it’s a strategy that will be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability, so Americans know where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent. (President Barack Obama, Washington Post)
The Washington Post just this morning published an editorial, written by President Obama, defending the stimulus package. Reading it, I thought smacked of everything he said in his weekly address a week or two ago… and was sort of like a stump speech, more than anything else. Everything Obama wrote was valid, of course, but didn’t really convince me, as a reader, why this stimulus package is going to work. It’s weak point, in my opinion, was that the editorial did not address the concerns tied to the stimulus package. At the same, I do think it is a good idea that he is using the media in such a manner to reach those who don’t watch his weekly addresses (as in, everyone else who is not Nina!).
Thoughts?