By Denis Campbell
(Political Satire Warning) In 1605 Catholic dissident Guy (Guido) Fawkes planted 36 barrels of gunpowder beneath the UK House of Parliament intent on blowing it and King James 1 up on its opening day. The plot was foiled by a Member, liked by Guido and told to stay home that day. Fawkes and [...]

by Charley James
Here’s a special note to the Republican Party, its Congressional leadership, fellow-travellers like Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin and Rush Limbaugh, big Pharma and the insurance industry as the Senate Finance Committee prepares to debate the public option on Tuesday: Every 12 minutes, you kill a fellow American who doesn’t have access to health [...]

by Robert Reich
How is it that a decision next week by a single Senator from Maine will almost certainly determine whether America’s future healthcare system is still in the hands of private for-profit insurance companies and Big Pharma or enables more Americans to get better health care at lower cost? Bear with me, because you [...]

by Robert Reich
Last night, the so-called “gang of six” — three Republican and three Democratic senators on the Senate Finance Committee — met by conference call and, according to Senator Max Baucus, the committee’s chair, reaffirmed their commitment “toward a bipartisan health-care reform bill” (read: less coverage and no public insurance option). The Washington Post [...]

 
by Charley James
In so-called “public service” ads appearing on TV and radio, or in print and on the intertubes, many health insurance companies urge people to stay healthy by quitting smoking. The company that provides a supplemental policy to me that covers things not paid by Canada’s national health even e-mailed a helpful PDF brochure [...]

 
And What Obama and the Rest of Us Must Do
by Robert Reich
I’ved poked around Washington today, talking with friends on the Hill who confirm the worst: Big Pharma and Big Insurance are gaining ground in their campaign to kill the public option in the emerging health care bill.
You know why, of course. They don’t want [...]