Tea Parties Calling Kettles Black

Listening to the traffic reports here in Northern California means hearing stuff like, "Meanwhile, on the Zinfandel on-ramp..."

One of those cute toys we give little kids, rubber duckies, really are pretty good role models, when you think about it. No matter how much they get bounced around in the bath water, they don't sink.

The just keep bobbing back up to the top of the water.

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The health insurance company for myself and my kids is Anthem Blue Cross, that's right, the one raising premiums on us by 39 percent this spring.

Those of you who have stuck with me over the past year will perhaps remember that this same company refused me coverage when I got laid off a year-plus ago, claiming I had a pre-existing condition -- falsely.

I still would be uninsured except for President Obama, whose stimulus package brought this and other insurance companies back after folks like me in order to collect their two-thirds reimbursement checks.

It worked like this -- a half-year after cutting me and others off, the companies took us back on and then charged us back fees for all those months we thought we were uninsured.

This way they made a killing off the stimulus money and we got to be insured again. Of course, we hadn't gone to doctors all those "uninsured" months, so now we were literally paying for nothing but that's how capitalism works in America.

This week, Obama has finally gotten back out into the country to lobby for what's left of his dream for health policy reform. In the process, he's telling the truth about Anthem and the other monstrous gougers who continue their shameless plundering of poor and working Americans, and he is using their foolish actions to mobilize support for the bill awaiting passage by Congress.

Is this a perfect bill, or even a very good one?

Of course not.

Blame can be assigned, depending on your political persuasion, but that seems pointless now. If Obama has to use raw political power to get it passed, so be it. He's got the votes and who knows how much longer he will have, so I say, do it now.

We can all ignore the Republicans who denounce him for not being non-partisan.

Let the tea-party call the kettle black. Who gives a fuck about them?

Bad losers always scream.

Let's just use any means possible to slam these out-of-control health insurance companies against the wall, break up their monopolies (which are corporate socialism) and start allowing working people the chance to try and start taking care of our health care needs once again.

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