TPM Live Wire

Jillian Rayfield | February 10, 2010, 1:33PM

After slamming the Obama administration for “secret deliberations” and going back on his campaign promise to televise the health care debate, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) criticized the President yesterday for televising the bipartisan health care summit on Feb. 25, asking “is this a political event or is this going to be a real conversation?”

Boehner had been a rather vocal supporter of C-SPAN’s request to televise the earlier negotiations, writing to the network in January that “House Republicans strongly endorse your proposal and stand ready to work with you to make it a reality.”

Well now, it seems, the idea of televising the health care summit has Boehner a bit squeamish.

Last night, Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren asked him what he thinks about the fact that it’s going to be televised, and added that “the American people are probably delighted that we’re getting this televised.” Source Article

The Huffington Post | Rachel Weiner
First Posted: 10- 8-09 02:15 PM | Updated: 10- 8-09 03:39 PM

A CIGNA employee gave the finger — literally — to a woman whose daughter died after the insurance giant refused to cover her liver transplant.

Hilda and Krikor Sarkisyan went to CIGNA’s Philadelphia headquarters, along with supporters from the California Nurses Association, to confront the CEO Edward Hanway over the death of her 17-year-old child.

In 2007, Nataline Sarkisyan was denied a liver transplant by the company, on the grounds that the operation was “too experimental” to be covered. Nine days later it changed its mind, in response to protests outside its office. It was too late: Nataline died hours later.

“CIGNA killed my daughter,” Nataline’s mother Hilda told security. “I want an apology.” Sarkisyan was not able to speak to Hanway; a communications specialist talked to her instead. After their conversation, employees heckled the group from a balcony; one man gave them the finger. CIGNA called the police and had the family and their friends escorted from the building. Source

The Huffington Post | Elyse Siegel
First Posted: 10- 8-09 11:05 AM | Updated: 10- 8-09 03:28 PM

A new Oklahoma law requires physicians to disclose detailed information on women’s abortions to the State’s Department Of Health, which will then post the collected data on a public website. The controversial measure comes into effect on November 1 and will cost $281,285 to implement, $256,285 each subsequent year to maintain.

Oklahoma women undergoing abortion procedures will be legally forced to reveal:

1) Date of abortion
2) County in which abortion is performed
3) Age of mother
4) Marital status of mother
5) Race of mother
6) Years of education of mother
7) State or foreign country of residence of mother
Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother

Source

Think Progress

By Lee Fang at 4:50 pm September 28, 2009

At the How To Take Back America Conference last weekend, conservative speaker Kitty Werthmann led a workshop called “How to recognize living under Nazis & Communists.” Announcing the panel in a column preceding the conference, talk show host Janet Porter gushed how Werthmann’s description of Austria in the 1930s is a “mirror to America” today — noting “They had Joseph Goebbels; we have Mark Lloyd, the diversity czar.” The room was packed over capacity to hear Werthmann, who grew up as a Christian in Austria and serves as Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum South Dakota President.

During her session, Werthmann went through a litany of examples of how President Obama is like Adolf Hitler. She noted that Hitler, who acted “like an American politician,” was “elected in a 100% Christian nation.” Although she failed to once mention Antisemitism or militarism, Werthmann explained how universal healthcare, an Equal Rights Amendment, and increased taxes were telltale signs of Nazism. Werthmann also warned the audience:  Source

HuffingtonPost | Jenna Staul
First Posted: 09-28-09 04:12 PM | Updated: 09-28-09 04:52 PM

Two progressive organizations would like to introduce you to Bing Perrine — an uninsured father from Montana who’s got something to say to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) in a new released TV ad.

“Senator Baucus, when you take millions of dollars from health and insurance interests that oppose reform, and oppose giving families like mine the choice of a public option, I have to ask, whose side are you on?”

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America are making waves Monday for the ad. USAToday, CBS News, the New York Daily News and the Wall Street Journal are among the outlets chattering about the spot.

Past advertising campaigns from the groups have targeted Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe and Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley. The groups have launched a fundraising effort to raise $100,000 to air the ad, according to a statement released Monday. The Washington Post’s Capitol Hill Briefing blog reports that the group has raised $50,000 so far. Source

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is a critical day in the saga of the public option. Democrats Charles Schumer (New York) and Jay Rockefeller (West Virginia) are introducing an amendment to include the public option in the bill to be reported out by the Senate Finance Committee — the committee anointed by the White House as its favored vehicle for getting health care reform.

Before you read another word, call and email the Senate offices of Democrats Max Baucus (Montana), Tom Carper (Delaware), Robert Menendez (New Jersey), Kent Conrad (North Dakota), and Ben Nelson (Florida) — telling them you want them to vote in favor of the public option amendment. And get everyone you know in these states to do the same. Hell, you might as well phone and email Republican Olympia Snowe (Maine) and make the same pitch. Source

TPM Muckraker

Brian Beutler | September 22, 2009, 5:24PM

Zack asked this question earlier, and we’re still waiting for an official answer, but news stories from back in April strongly suggest that Humana wasn’t the only insurance company enlisting seniors (legitimately and otherwise) to lobby against changes to Medicare Advantage. In fact, the problem may have been industry-wide.

Here’s an April 13 story from the Eagle Tribune in Massachusetts:

Across Massachusetts, senior citizens are writing letters to newspapers demanding that their representatives in Congress protect a form of health insurance called Medicare Advantage.

At least that’s what newspaper editors are supposed to think.

Source

TPM DC

Brian Beutler | September 17, 2009, 7:50PM

Howard Dean and Democracy for America have launched a new campaign called America Can’t Wait, to bring grassroots pressure to bear on elected officials to pass health care reform with a public option through via the filibuster proof budget reconciliation process.

In a letter to supporters, obtained by TPM, America Can’t Wait founder Howard Dean to supporters writes that pursuing the 51-vote should be the priority over the regular legislative order because it will be more likely to produce a public option.  Source

Think Progress

By Matt Corley on Sep 17th, 2009 at 5:02 pm

In an impromptu news conference with reporters today, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) lashed out at President Obama and the White House, saying that he “resents” the administration “associating” him with “extreme” claims about “the end-of-life situation.” Obama “gave some speeches during August in which he was associating me with efforts to make this a political document and efforts that other people in the country were making to give extremes, like on the end-of-life situation and associating me with things — I [never] used the words he said,” Grassley told the reporters. But as FirstRead points out, Grassley did “lend credence” to the outrageous “death panel” attacks:

And on death panels last month, Grassley did lend credence to the idea that the government would “determine if you’re going to pull the plug on grandma.”

Source

Think Progress

By Faiz Shakir on Sep 16th, 2009 at 11:00 am

Health Care for America Now (HCAN), a pro-reform health care advocacy group, started a new advertising campaign on Tuesday that calls for a public option. “The commercial, entitled ‘How to Get Rich,’ says the insurance industry is motivated by greed.” It references Ronald Williams, chief executive of Aetna, who received a compensation package of $24 million in 2008. Watch the ad:  Source