Because Health Care Is Not a Right

The long summer has finally come to an end, along with August’s endless supply of bread and circuses we all enjoyed so much. The spectacle of so many angry elderly folks demanding that the government stay OUT of their Medicare, the long parade of signs depicting the President of the United States as Adolph Hitler for daring to suggest there’s something wrong that needs fixing, and a long line of leftover Republican lawmakers acting as town hall ringmasters for the Greatest Show On Earth. Brought to us by Big Pharma and the for-profit insurance industry lobbies who have spent nearly $1.5 million dollars a day to make darned sure that Health Insurance executives never have to give up a single vacation McMansion swimming pool, winter in Bermuda or multi-million dollar bonus just so we and our families can obtain a basic level of health care.

Here’s what some Hollywood actors have to say in defense of those pitiful corporate victims of possible competition in todays health care market… Enjoy!

Useful link:
New health care plan and your wallet

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Got Credit?

For those of us out there who still have work and a regular paycheck, and who managed to put some store-bought presents under the tree on Christmas, some shock and awe may be hitting home right about now when the credit card bills are received. Seems the credit card companies have exercised the clauses in the light gray 6pt type nobody ever reads to raise their interest rates and fees through the roof and cutting off available credit altogether no matter how good your credit score may be or how promptly you pay your bill. Some card companies have been creative about shuffling due dates at will, confusing customers and hamstringing small business, and some are refusing to even try to explain to customers what’s going on or what their options may be.

As Kathleen Ryan O’Connor explained in a recent CNN article, Credit cards gone wild: Shocking rate hikes, “Faced with the same economic pressures as other companies affected by the ongoing recession and credit crunch, credit card companies are racing to protect themselves from the costs of more defaults by hiking interest rates and slashing credit limits, even for cardholders with excellent credit histories.” Banking analyst Meredith Whitney predicts that $2 trillion in credit lines will be wiped out over the next year and a half.

As if to add a note of irony to the pain and suffering of consumers and businesses being screwed by their credit card companies, those new card offers are still coming in at the undiminished rate of one a day. One wonders if the marketing department ever even communicates with the front office!

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