An excellent article about how to stop this orgy of killing we live with daily from The Nation:

It’s Time to Repeal—and Replace—

the Second Amendment

https://www.thenation.com/article/repeal-second-amendment-gun-control/

P.S. I’d also suggest the quickest way to de-fang the NRA is to run full page, color police photos of mass killing sites, especially Sandy Hook. Show the public photos of six-year children with their heads blown off. Show the blood-spattered walls. Show the bodies piled on top of each other. Public outrage would force Congress to bring the NRA to its knees.

The HealthCare Debate

• We made a huge mistake after WWII by privatizing the healthcare industry.

• Most outrageous: capitalism and medical care. Why should insurance company share holders make money when we get sick?

• The average healthcare CEO compensation is $20 million. Where does that $20M come from? Our premiums, that’s where. The head of the VA makes $160,000. With a socialized system, that extra $19,999,840 could be used for healthcare. What a concept. Ain’t the “private sector” great?

• Why should my healthcare “insurance” be the responsibility of my employer? This keeps hundreds of thousands of people tied to jobs they hate. Hell, if my employer pays my healthcare insurance, why not my car insurance? my home insurance?

• How do healthcare insurance companies (Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Humana, Aetna, etc.) make money? Very simple. Charge sky-high premiums with huge deductibles and then refuse to pay when we get sick. (Oh, we’re sorry, Mrs. Johnson, your policy just doesn’t cover that kind of pancreatic cancer. Thanks for paying your premiums all those years.)

• Let grandma die in poverty. Sixty-two percent of bankruptcies are due to medical bills.

• The far right (think Karl Rove) warns that Medicare for All or the “public option” will be a huge tax burden on the middle class (what’s left of it). No, no, no, Karl.  Instead of lining the pockets of the healthcare insurance shysters we pay that money in taxes to build a healthcare delivery system that serves all the citizens of this country. We no longer pay our premiums to the insurance companies. So, it’s a wash. We will no longer have a “fee for service,” profit-motivated system designed to enhance the wealth of the top 1%. Instead,  the money will be used to deliver healthcare to everyone. Think this sounds like the dreaded socialized medicine we are warned about? Hey, next time you meet a Canadian, ask them how much they hate, hate, hate their oppressive, big-gubment, deep-state socialized system. They will stare at you in befuddlement.

• We socialize lots of services we take for granted: the highway system; public education; fire and police protection. We agree to tax ourselves so everyone gets the services and protection they need. No one makes a profit if the fire department comes to my house to put out the fire. That is just how healthcare insurance should be.

• Hey you big, obscenely overpaid healthcare CEOs: your time is over. Your industry will be a thing of the past. I suggest you get ahead of the curve. The writing is on the wall. Quit your job. If you want to continue to make the big bucks, become a quarterback for the 49ers. Better yet, learn to drive a truck, instead of driving old ladies into poverty.

• The far right loves to talk about “choice.” OMG, the big bad deep state is going to take away my healthcare choice. Oh, bullshit. When I need an appendectomy, I’m not all upset about whether I have “choice.” Nope. All I need is a healthcare professional who is credentialed by the state and licenced to practice medicine. Get over this “choice” nonsense.

• “Oh,”cries the far right, “the government cant’ do anything right. We need to privitize everything.” Of really? I think the big, bad gubment does things pretty well: Social Security; the DMV; Medicare; the VA… oh then there’s Hoover Dam; National highway system; the moon landings; winning WWII, etc. And, oh BTW, let’s look at how great the private sector is: Enron; VW; Boeing 737; Wells Fargo, PG&E; Lehman Brothers; Theranos (Elizabeth Holmes.) Hooray for the free enterprise system.

• Finally, let’s stop using weasel words like “Medicare for all,” or “public option.” What we are talking about is SOCIALIZED MEDICINE like all other advance countries have – with much better outcomes. You know, we all pay taxes to create a system that takes care of everyone, cradle to grave. Hmmm? Isn’t that what Jesus preached?

To see my recent video rant about this: