my new d.o.d. vaginal-rectum microchip

several lawmakers down in atlanta are paying far too much attention to the scary oogity-boogity email forwards they've been getting from their crazy aunts. (you know -- the ones you can go to snopes.com to debunk.) so much so that they've introduced legislation designed to prohibit... well. just read it:

Last Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee entertained SB 235, the bill sponsored by Sen. Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville) to prohibit the involuntary implantation of microchips in human beings.

At the House hearing, state Rep. Ed Setzler (R-Kennesaw), who is shouldering the legislation in the House, spoke earnestly for better than a half hour on microchips as a literal invasion of privacy.

He was followed by a hefty woman who described herself as a resident of DeKalb County. “I’m also one of the people in Georgia who has a microchip,” the woman said. Slowly, she began to lead the assembled lawmakers down a path they didn’t want to take.

Microchips, the woman began, “infringe on issues that are fundamental to our very existence. Our rights to privacy, our rights to bodily integrity, the right to say no to foreign objects being put in our body.”

She spoke of the “right to work without being tortured by co-workers who are activating these microchips by using their cell phones and other electronic devices.”

She continued. “Microchips are like little beepers. Just imagine, if you will, having a beeper in your rectum or genital area, the most sensitive area of your body. And your beeper numbers displayed on billboards throughout the city. All done without your permission,” she said.

It was not funny, and no one laughed.

“Ma’am, did you say you have a microchip?” asked state Rep. Tom Weldon (R-Ringgold).

“Yes, I do. This microchip was put in my vaginal-rectum area,” she replied. Setzler, the sponsoring lawmaker, sat next to the witness – his head bowed.

“You’re saying this was involuntary?” Weldon continued.

The woman said she had been pushing a court case through the system for the last eight years to have the device removed.

Wendell Willard (R-Atlanta), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, picked up the questioning.

“Who implanted this in you?” he asked.

“Researchers with the federal government,” she said.

“And who in the federal government implanted it?” Willard asked.

“The Department of Defense.”

"i can’t tell you exactly what the deal is."

did you hear the one about the florida doctor who posted a sign on his door - "if you voted for obama, seek care elsewhere?" the punch line is, he just admitted he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

frivolous and political

wisconsin governor jim doyle has responded to his state attorney general's request to sue the federal government over health care legislation. pretty. clear.

March 25, 2010


Dear Attorney General Van Hollen:

I have received your request for permission to file an action to contest national health insurance reform. I am denying that request.

This law is an act of Congress, signed by the President of the United States. The lawsuit you suggest is a frivolous and political attempt to thwart the actions of Congress and the law of the country.

National health insurance reform will extend coverage to more than 172,000 Wisconsin residents and will benefit families and small businesses throughout the state.

This year, small business owners will receive tax credits to buy health insurance. Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to American children because of a pre-existing condition; nor will they be able to drop someone's coverage when they get sick and need it the most.

This law enhances the actions taken by my Administration to make Wisconsin America’s health care leader.

The State of Wisconsin will not enter into litigation intended to deny health care for tens of thousands of residents.

Sincerely,


Jim Doyle
Governor

quote of the day

"Leaders of the Republican Party called the passage of (the Health Care Reform) bill Armageddon! Armageddon! The end of freedom as we know it!

So after I signed the bill I looked around to see if there were any asteroids falling, some cracks opening up in the earth. Turned out it was a nice day."

– president barack obama

i'm not dead yet

no last minute public option in the senate reconciliation bill.

i'm not dead yet

could there still be life for the public option in this health care bill? this news late wednesday, early thursday from huffington post:

Senate Republicans succeeded early Thursday morning in finding two flaws in the House-passed Health Care reconciliation package. Neither is of any substance, but the Senate parliamentarian informed Democratic leaders that both are in violation of the Byrd Rule.

The House is once again required to vote on it. With no substantial changes, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) should have little problem assembling the same coalition of 220 Democrats who passed the measure Sunday night. That's already four more than the minimum 216 required for passage.

The ruling might give Democrats another option -- the public one.

Democratic leadership no longer has to worry that additional amendments would send it back to the House, since it must return to the lower chamber regardless. The Senate is now free to put to the test that much-debated question of whether 50 votes exist for a public option. Democrats could also elect to expand Medicare or Medicaid, now that they only need 50 votes in the Senate and the approval of the House.

the winds begin to shift

a recent cnn poll measuring public opinion on the health care reform bill showed 39% in support, 59% opposed.

those numbers look quite different if you break them down a bit. of that 59%, 13% opposed it because it isn't liberal enough. in other words, 46% actually opposed the bill. 52% supported it or wanted it to go further.

today, both a usa today poll and a gallup poll show public opinion is shifting in favor of the legislation, the president and - hold on to your hats - democrats.

usa today:

By 49%-40% those surveyed say it was "a good thing" rather than a bad one that Congress passed the bill. Half describe their reaction in positive terms, as "enthusiastic" or "pleased," while about four in 10 describe it in negative ways, as "disappointed" or "angry."

The largest single group, 48%, calls the bill "a good first step" that should be followed by more action on health care. An additional 4% also have a favorable view, saying the bill makes the most important changes needed in the nation's health care system.

gallup:

Nearly half of Americans give a thumbs-up to Congress' passage of a healthcare reform bill last weekend, with 49% calling it "a good thing." Republicans and Democrats have polar opposite reactions, with independents evenly split. Americans' emotional responses to the bill's passage are more positive than negative -- with 50% enthusiastic or pleased versus 42% angry or disappointed.

whose waterloo is it anyway?

senator jim demint's prediction about obama may well come back to haunt him and the party of "hell no" in november.

killing grannies and babies

what obamacare actually means for most americans.

a president of great historical import

the new republic's jonathan chait reacts to the passage of health care reform:

Let me offer a ludicrously premature opinion: Barack Obama has sealed his reputation as a president of great historical import. We don't know what will follow in his presidency, and it's quite possible that some future event--a war, a scandal--will define his presidency. But we do know that he has put his imprint on the structure of American government in a way that no Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson has.

teddy is smiling

he worked tirelessly his entire life for health care reform and called it "the cause of my life."

"Quality care shouldn't depend on your financial resources, or the type of job you have, or the medical condition you face. Every American should be able to get the same treatment that U.S. senators are entitled to.

This is the cause of my life. It is a key reason that I defied my illness last summer to speak at the Democratic convention in Denver—to support Barack Obama, but also to make sure, as I said, "that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American…will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not just a privilege."

For four decades I have carried this cause—from the floor of the United States Senate to every part of this country. It has never been merely a question of policy; it goes to the heart of my belief in a just society."

showing true tea party colors

calling one congressman a "nigger," one a "faggot," spitting at another, and threatening violence if health care reform passes.

rep. james clyburn (d-sc) responds to the racial slurs:

"It was absolutely shocking to me.

Last Monday, this past Monday, I stayed home to meet on the campus of Claflin University where fifty years ago as of last Monday. I led the first demonstrations in South Carolina, the sit ins... and quite frankly I heard some things today I have not heard since that day. I heard people saying things that I have not heard since March 15, 1960 when I was marching to try and get off the back of the bus.

It doesn't make me nervous as all. In fact, as I said to one heckler, I am the hardest person in the world to intimidate, so they better go somewhere else.

A lot of us have been saying for a long time that much of this, much of this is not about health care a all. And I think a lot of those people today demonstrated that this is not about health care."

there comes a time when you either have to denounce this kind of rhetoric and behavior, or embrace it and be it.

but larry had a heart attack. and then another one. and then another one.

and then donna got cancer. and even though they had health insurance, the co-pays and deductibles soon added up to the point where they could no longer afford to keep their home.


buy the dvd here. or click here to watch part 2.

"this is not the bill i wanted to support."

rep. dennis kucinich (d-ohio) announces his decision to vote in favor of president obama's health care reform bill, despite the fact that it does not contain everything he wanted, including a strong public option.

"I know I have to make a decision, not on the bill as i would like to see it, but as it is. My criticism of the legislation has been well reported. I do not retract those criticisms, I incorporate them into this statement. They stand as legitimate and cautionary."

thinking...thinking...

rep. dennis kucinich (d-oh) is on my tv right now, holding a press conference. if he announces his support for the health care bill, he's a hero. if he announces he's voting no, he's an attention seeking fame-hog.

UPDATE 10:10 am est: hero.

UPDATE 10:15 am est: even more fascinating – while kucinich is basically mid-sentence explaining his decision to vote for hcr, rep. john shadegg (r-az) is on msnbc critiquing what he cannot hear kucinich saying.

pro-life orgs for the senate health bill

from the national catholic reporter:

Twenty-five pro-life Catholic theologians and Evangelical leaders yesterday sent letters to members of Congress urging them not to let misleading information about abortion provisions in the Senate health care bill block passage of sorely-needed reform.

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, a Washington-based advocacy group, said that the Senate health bill upholds abortion funding restrictions and supports pregnant women. The letter included a page by page analysis of the Senate bill as it pertains to abortion.

hcr (or not) in the next 9 days?

open left calculates a health care reform timeline, based on president obama delaying his asian trip:

If President Obama is delaying his trip, that strongly implies the House leadership is looking (for) a vote on the Senate health reform bill for next Saturday, March 20th, at the very latest. He is sticking around to sign it into law, so the Senate can take up the reconciliation bill that the House will pass nearly simultaneously.

if that timeline plays out, news like this mean it's going to be a fairly intense week.

the three great health reform myths

1. obama is proposing a government takeover of one-sixth of the economy.

2. reform does nothing to control costs.

3. health reform is fiscally irresponsible.

three of the most often repeated arguments against the current health care reform plan. all three easily debunked. ladies and gentlemen, mr. paul krugman.

a rush to health care reform

further incentive to pass health care reform now.

CALLER: If the health care bill passes, where would you go for health care yourself? And the second part of that is, what would happen to the doctors, do they have to participate in the federal program, or could they opt out of it? [...]

RUSH LIMBAUGH: My guess in even in Canada and even in the UK, doctors have opted out. And once they’ve opted, they can’t see anybody Medicare, Medicaid, or what will become the exchanges. They have to have a clientele of private patients that will pay them a retainer and it’ll be a very small practice. I don’t know if that’s been outlawed in the Senate bill. I don’t know. I’ll just tell you this, if this passes and it’s five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented — I am leaving the country. I’ll go to Costa Rica.

do we really have to wait five years?

the obama we voted for

if this is what we see between now and november, democrats have a lot more to be hopeful about than they thought.