Health care heats up; some thoughts

May 31, 2009 in Healthcare, Max Baucus, Missoula, Montana, Montana Republicans

by Pete Talbot

First this

Mark your calendar, folks.  As part of a statewide and national campaign, there’ll be a rally at Sen. Baucus’ Missoula office at 280 E. Front St. on Friday, June 5 at noon.  

Here’s a note from Montanans for Single-Payer, the organizer of events across the state:

” … as part of national events held by Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) and Healthcare-NOW! rallies are planned to give Montanans an opportunity to show their support for single-payer universal health care and to continue to request that Sen. Baucus include single-payer representatives in the national debate on health care reform … “

More information at www.montanansforsinglepayer.org and a contact for the Missoula event is Bill LaCroix at blacroix@cybernet1.com.  

See you there.

Max gets hammered 

I overheard some Baucus staffers saying they were surprised by the overwhelming support here in Montana for single-payer. Sure, Missoula was bound to be feisty, but Anaconda? Glasgow? Pablo? I don’t know what Max was expecting with his “listening” tour but apparently his staff is getting an earful.  We’ll see if the message gets through to the senator.

I went to the session in Missoula.  The anger over our broken health care system was palpable.  A standing-room-only crowd responded with shouts and applause over any mention of single-payer.  ”Bullshit,” said one audience member as a Baucus staffer tried to explain the complex issues the senate was facing.

In some ways, it was a surreal event.  It started out with a welcoming video from the senator himself, which due to technical difficulties, didn’t air.  Then a powerpoint presentation on the health care problem and Max’s role in the debate.  Then a panel discussion.  Then, fifty minutes into the program, an opportunity for the audience to speak (the program was scheduled to run an hour).  Staff did take questions after the hour was up but for how long I’m not sure.  I couldn’t stay for the whole thing.  For Christ’s sake, the session was scheduled for 10 a.m. on a weekday — kinda hard to get too much time off.

There were three gentlemen standing in front of me.  Dressed in khaki Dockers and polo shirts, they’d shake their heads at any mention of “Canadian style” health care or other single-payer systems.  Don’t know if they were health care industry reps or just conservative guys with really good, private health insurance plans.  
“You say something,” said one.  ”No, you,” said another.  ”Not me,” said the third, “the crowd’s against us here.”  And he was right.

Stupid is as stupid does  

Problembear beat me to the punch and Jay has some good comments over at Left in The West, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on the Republicans’ really bad roll out of their anti-health care reform campaign.

“Our role right now is to stand up and say, ‘Let’s take a minute, let’s not rush to health care reform just for the sake of health care reform,’” said lead organizer Jake Eaton.

That has got to be the stupidest quote I’ve heard in a long time. We shouldn’t rush to health care reform just for the sake of health care reform?  Sure, let’s take our sweet-ass time, Jake.  Health care in America is hunky-dory — we all have nothing better to do than try to reform this great system of ours — we’re thrilled with the status quo.

Lee newspapers’ Mike Dennison has the story about this anti-reform group called Patients United Now and its shadowy front organization, Americans for Prosperity Foundation. 

But it gets better.  Does that name Jake Eaton ring a bell?  He was the guy who fled the state in disgrace after heading up the failed voter suppression drive for the Republican Party last summer.

Just when you thought the Republicans couldn’t do any worse …