Woman Goes Nuclear At California Town Hall Meeting

[zeos3]

Run time: 02:24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAm6Qck5v78   Posted on YouTube: September 03, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: September 07, 2009 By DU Member: zeos3 Views on DU: 2801

 
People can be very passionate and very wrong at the same time.

I can understand the frustration of being a small business owner under current conditions. I can also understand the frustration of getting an auto-reply from an elected official. She is dead wrong about opening up "competition" in the health insurance industry.

Insurance works best when there are lots and lots of people in the pool. This is what annoys me about those who say "I don't want to pay for someone else's bills." If you have any type of insurance at all, you are paying for someone else's bills who is covered by the same company. If we open up competition to over a thousand health insurers, each company might have a smaller number of members with which to spread their risk. I am not implying that a monopoly would be best in this situation, I'm saying that health insurance can not function well under for-profit free-market rules.

Another problem I have with opening up "competition" or using exchanges to buy insurance across state lines is that you would effectively nullify the regulations of the individual states' insurance commissions. Some states require specific coverages in the policies sold in their states. It seems to me that exchanges would put an end to these required benefits because there would be a "race to the bottom" of insurers creating plans in states with the least regulations to be sold nationwide. I'd suggest that people who are in favor of this might not actually believe in insurance and should pay out of pocket for everything and not stress themselves out by arguing over reform.

[Stardust]

1. Insurance works best when it's out of the equation. Single-payer, Medicare for all. nt

[Cleita]

2. Yes, this is why the employer mandates are wrong.

What we need is to up the FICA tax by a few percent points and tax the rich much more than the 15% they are paying. We could have Medicare for all, fix Social Security, pay down the debt and put people to work.

[nbsmom]

4. Since when are the rich paying 15%?

I thought it was much less than that.

[Cleita]

5. That's the average thrown out pretty consistently in the discussions

on the topic.

[zeos3]

12. Warren Buffet mentioned 17%

a year or two ago. (We're talking income tax now, right?)

[zeos3]

9. I'm not sure about raising the FICA tax

but I'd definitely like to see the cap removed from that tax that might go a long way in helping the situation.

[Cleita]

19. I would like to see the caps removed, but raising the FICA a few percents

is probably less costly than paying for health insurance as it is today. Also, since people will get immediate recompense for their contribution like access to health care when they need it, instead of having to wait until they are 65, I think most people and businesses would find it agreeable once it's explained to them.

[zeos3]

26. I see where you're going with this

In my fantasy world I thought we might be able to reduce the tax by a couple of % by lifting the cap. I'd like to give those of us making less than $106K and the businesses who pay us some relief. I guess that's wishful thinking on my part. It makes sense when you put it like that, though.

I think I still might want that extra couple of % on income and capital gains and estate taxes (that cap on FICA really bugs me). Won't you join me in my wishful thinking? It's nice here.

[zeos3]

13. Agreed

[nbsmom]

3. She started a lot of points that she didn't finish.

Seems as though she was just yelling the talking points fed by the RW media, and venting for a 'supportive' audience.

And could somebody please tell me where DOES this 1300 figure come from? Last I looked, it's basically a flavor of the six majors in California (Kaiser, Blue Shield, Blue Cross, United Healthcare, Aetna or Cigna) licensed in 50 other states as different entities (I mean, you can call it Anthem or Wellpoint but it's still Blue Cross and then if they've licensed as an HMO product or a life insurance carrier that doesn't make them a separate company.) Who knows how bad this system would be if there were actually 1300 INSURERS.

Ironically, she doesn't want a plan 'shoved down her throat' that would probably improve her situation as a small business owner. That's the most amazing thing out of all of this. Just when you think she's expressing frustration about the lack of progress in reforming health care in the U.S., she starts spewing this RW garbage and speaking as though we've been underserved here in California. And your point about removing the state by state protection -- dead on. Just as now the credit card companies are all incorporated in South Dakota (?) because S.D. has the loosest restrictions, you can just imagine how quickly the payors would all incorporate in some low-consumer-protection state (Arkansas? Texas). Of course, then that woman would have what she _thought_ she wanted, right?

Too bad for the rest of us.

[zeos3]

15. Correct

I know of many small business owners who can't afford to cover their employees. Good health reform would remove this burden from them. It would be a benefit to both employee and employer.

She seemed sincere but misled. She doesn't seem to understand that big businesses don't have to follow the same rules of competition and free market and the rest of the BS she was talking about, like she does.

[unapatriciated]

18. Yes , they will flock (Insurance Co) to the states with the loosest restrictions.

She did not do her research as to why, she can only buy HC Ins. from a few Co. in CA. She should have looked into legislation passed in the early 90's. "fair Claims Practice Act" for one. Many smaller Ins. Co do not want to adhere to those laws so they choose not to go into the Ca market. They are not forbidden, it just means less profit for them.
She should have also looked into what happened in Ca in the early 90's regarding 'off shore accounts' and the insurance industry (this was mostly in personal and commercial liability lines). Many thought they had insurance until they filed a claim, only to find out their Insurance Company was no longer in business.

[zeos3]

27. Thanks

Good info to look up.

[TankLV]

24. Nevada now only has ONE - United Healthcare - they bought out their rival last year...

and PREMIUMS and CO-PAYS went UP!!!

Imagine that...

tell us WHERE are all those companies, please - we certainly didn't have them in Hawaii - HMSA was the ONLY one there, too...

[zeos3]

28. Choice...

They want choice...they don't want to be forced...don't ram this down our throats...blah...blah...

[JHB]

35. My first thought on the "1300" was...

"Bring down those restrictions, lady, and that 1300 will be back down to 6 or less faster than it'll take you to drive home.

[MichiganVote]

6. Makes you wonder what her business is. Brillo pads?

[uberblonde]

14. She owns a bakery/cafe.

In Marin County, of all places - it's called "FlourChylde." I wonder how many of her customers know how she feels? That's a pretty liberal area.

[zeos3]

17. Really?

Where was her outrage last year when the price of dairy went sky high? Where was she when her purveyors were charging an extra fuel charge because gas prices had soared?

[Julius Civitatus]

7. Bunch of screaming and posturing to say nothing at all

and to contradict herself several times.
These people just want to disrupt town halls, for the f*ck of it.

[Joanne98]

8. I think I saw that video being promoted.

She's probably a LIAR!

[zeos3]

16. It was a featured video

I was checking out the video you posted about the kid replying to the preacher and saw it in the related videos. I wonder why Youtube would feature a crazy townhaller...?

[uberblonde]

10. I'll bet you...

That she used to be a cheerleader.

[lib2DaBone]

11. Let the Free Market System Work...?

....Duh.. What have we been doing for the last 50 years? Free Market means Insurance Monopoly..

[Cleita]

20. Yes, that's like people saying why can't government be run like a business.

Fer chrissakes. We had that for eight years with Bush. Look where it got us.

[underpants]

22. The other side of the free market is consumers making demands

these people are publicly asking to pay more for less

[lumpy]

32. No kidding, that was a most ridiculous statement she made.

x

[Why Syzygy]

21. OMG. Don't shop at her place. nt

[underpants]

23. Tort reform won't help you honey

Tort reform only lowers the liability of the malpractice insurance providers. There is nothing in any legislation that has been passed anywhere that says anything about keeping Doctors' premiums in check or even lowering them

http://www.insurance-reform.org/

[ZackH]

25. Check out How Athens Liberals Handle These Town Hall Meetings

Paul Broun said that people were going to come to his town hall meeting to "disrupt" it. From what I see most of them came to just ask questions. Then, he ignored them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXm3Xe33CSM

[zeos3]

29. It was a bit difficult to hear what was being said.

Good question, though. I liked the use of the visual aid too (the baggie with the kidney stones he had passed).

[ZackH]

30. Anyway You Can Make A Thread For It?

I don't have enough posts yet to give this its own thread.

Broun said that Obama supporters were planning to disrupt this town hall event. However, from most accounts I've heard they had a well reasoned debate with the opponents and didn't cause the stir in the way he claimed they were going to. They even said that this Watkinsville town hall was the Athens town hall. Odd considering Watkinsville is an upper middle class and mostly Republican neighborhood. That's why people went to this so it actually would represent the diverse views of the Athens area.

[zeos3]

33. Done

I'm pulling your comment and posting it there as well.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x368887

[lumpy]

31. She says if you let the free market work, everybody could have

insurance. Well the free market has been working for a lot of years and still everyone doesn't have health insurance, so somthing is wrong. Right?

[EnviroBat]

34. Gobble gobble gobble....

All that "passion" to say absolutely nothing...

:boring: