Open Letter to MMJ (Health Care Reform)

[Janet]

I still have this plan in my head to brew the greatest beer to mankind and call it "One Big IPA" and then I'm gonna send kegs and kegs of it to the band as quickly as possible and they have to put in their rider "One Big IPA must be made available at each bar at the venue" and then the band can take the proceeds from it and donate it to puppies and rainbows, and anyone who doesn't agree with this plan will be known to have the following three flaws in their life:

They hate puppies
They hate beer
They hate rainbows

Then they'll have to wear a tshirt that says "I hate puppies, beer, and rainbows" and the shirt is going to be sewn from the shedded hair of puppies, be rainbow colored, and pre-stained with beer so they'll smell like a homeless person and wish that someone was donating some money to them to go to the dry cleaners.

You are sooooo my hero! ;D ;D ;D

[Shepardspy]

I still have this plan in my head to brew the greatest beer to mankind and call it "One Big IPA" and then I'm gonna send kegs and kegs of it to the band as quickly as possible and they have to put in their rider "One Big IPA must be made available at each bar at the venue" and then the band can take the proceeds from it and donate it to puppies and rainbows, and anyone who doesn't agree with this plan will be known to have the following three flaws in their life:

They hate puppies
They hate beer
They hate rainbows

Then they'll have to wear a tshirt that says "I hate puppies, beer, and rainbows" and the shirt is going to be sewn from the shedded hair of puppies, be rainbow colored, and pre-stained with beer so they'll smell like a homeless person and wish that someone was donating some money to them to go to the dry cleaners.

Will this shirt be available for purchase?

[el_chode]

I still have this plan in my head to brew the greatest beer to mankind and call it "One Big IPA" and then I'm gonna send kegs and kegs of it to the band as quickly as possible and they have to put in their rider "One Big IPA must be made available at each bar at the venue" and then the band can take the proceeds from it and donate it to puppies and rainbows, and anyone who doesn't agree with this plan will be known to have the following three flaws in their life:

They hate puppies
They hate beer
They hate rainbows

Then they'll have to wear a tshirt that says "I hate puppies, beer, and rainbows" and the shirt is going to be sewn from the shedded hair of puppies, be rainbow colored, and pre-stained with beer so they'll smell like a homeless person and wish that someone was donating some money to them to go to the dry cleaners.

Will this shirt be available for purchase?

Of course! Proceeds will go to giving every homeless dog a juicy steak

[AMightyCaporal]

I still have this plan in my head to brew the greatest beer to mankind and call it "One Big IPA" and then I'm gonna send kegs and kegs of it to the band as quickly as possible and they have to put in their rider "One Big IPA must be made available at each bar at the venue" and then the band can take the proceeds from it and donate it to puppies and rainbows, and anyone who doesn't agree with this plan will be known to have the following three flaws in their life:

They hate puppies
They hate beer
They hate rainbows

Then they'll have to wear a tshirt that says "I hate puppies, beer, and rainbows" and the shirt is going to be sewn from the shedded hair of puppies, be rainbow colored, and pre-stained with beer so they'll smell like a homeless person and wish that someone was donating some money to them to go to the dry cleaners.

Will this shirt be available for purchase?

Of course! Proceeds will go to giving every homeless dog a juicy steak

socialist!  You commie red! NOT IN MY COUNTRY! THESE COLORS DON'T RUN!  >:(


just kidding- your dream makes me smile

[mgriff73]

I just hope the band understands that defending left or the right side of this political paradign is not for the people.  They have both increased the size of goverment and infringed on our civil liberties with no end in sight.  This health care bill is as dangerous as any other bill that forces the goverment in our lives, maybe more.  Just my two cents.

[Taterbug]

What needs to be done is force the Insurance companies out of making medical decisions and dictating medical care instead of the doctors.  Something needs to be done, doing nothing is down right republican ;) :-*...

[Penny Lane]

it think it needs to start w/tort reform---it's not just insurance companies. it's a vicious cycle..the doctors can't afford the ridiculous coverage so they prescribe 10 follow up visits when only 1 is needed, then the insurance company denies it, sticking the member w/the cost. i mean insurance companies are PART of the problem, but only part...i think there's a misconception that the people making the decisions at the insurance companies are paper pushers when many have been practicing doctors for years...that's not ALL insurance companies, but the ones i've had experience with..

i think obama is on to something requiring everyone to be insured (it shouldn't be a CHOICE just like car insurance isn't a choice because in the end, the tax payer pays the bill for NON CHOOSERS just like the illegals or whoever else can't pay); BUT i don't think his plan is good. it needs to be really hacked apart and costs too much for what the long term effects are.  

i love it that they 'support health care reform' but to me that's like saying 'support peace and love' ..it's more than other artists are doing and those are great ideas but i am just not so sure about this reform. this one particular issue in general is so convoluted and complicated, it puts a LOT of pressure on a few to pay for the many, which i don't like when in the end, you are not going to get the results you get in say, countries like sweden..

i do appreciate when artists get proactive....i just don't trust congress to really push something good through. if this thing goes through, this will probably be the biggest thing obama does in his admin, if it doesn't, it'll be his biggest blunder, like clinton (unless he has a lewinsky to take the pressure off)

sorry..too wordy. i've been away for the forum for a couple weeks, i guess i was making up for something. just my .02

[My Monkey Friend]

and doing too much without much thought is downright democratic.

[el_chode]

it think it needs to start w/tort reform---it's not just insurance companies. it's a vicious cycle..the doctors can't afford the ridiculous coverage so they prescribe 10 follow up visits when only 1 is needed, then the insurance company denies it, sticking the member w/the cost. i mean insurance companies are PART of the problem, but only part...i think there's a misconception that the people making the decisions at the insurance companies are paper pushers when many have been practicing doctors for years...that's not ALL insurance companies, but the ones i've had experience with..

i think obama is on to something requiring everyone to be insured (it shouldn't be a CHOICE just like car insurance isn't a choice because in the end, the tax payer pays the bill for NON CHOOSERS just like the illegals or whoever else can't pay); BUT i don't think his plan is good. it needs to be really hacked apart and costs too much for what the long term effects are.  

i love it that they 'support health care reform' but to me that's like saying 'support peace and love' ..it's more than other artists are doing and those are great ideas but i am just not so sure about this reform. this one particular issue in general is so convoluted and complicated, it puts a LOT of pressure on a few to pay for the many, which i don't like when in the end, you are not going to get the results you get in say, countries like sweden..

i do appreciate when artists get proactive....i just don't trust congress to really push something good through. if this thing goes through, this will probably be the biggest thing obama does in his admin, if it doesn't, it'll be his biggest blunder, like clinton (unless he has a lewinsky to take the pressure off)

sorry..too wordy. i've been away for the forum for a couple weeks, i guess i was making up for something. just my .02

I'd just like to point out something that you touched on regarding car insurance, a bit to the point of why the current state of affairs is all messed up.

Next time you watch TV, count the number of health insurance commercials trying to get you to "buy" their product vs car insurance.

Then tell me where the hell this "free market" of insurance that is supposedly working "so well".

Personally, I believe one of the flaws is taking the power away from the individual to bargain with the insurance company. People are so desperate for coverage that they take whatever group plan comes with their job. You become a number, not the customer. The agent doesn't know you; they can mess up as much as they want and they know they're not going to "lose" you as a customer unless you die.

When I tried switching my auto insurance to Geico, my current provider cut my rates and increased my benefits to keep me.

That's just my two cents on the situation, aside from the puppy-beer-rainbow theory.

[Taterbug]

touché  my little monkey friend.  :)

You gotta love these town hall meetings,  the democrats should  cease this tactic if they are going to pass this legislation.  I don't know what they expect, if you look at the demographic of the meetings, I would say typically 70-80 % of the attendees were bush supporters that currently have insurance or are on medicare.
   
   Obama needs to have more town hall meetings in areas were he gets the most support on this issue, like high un-employment and low income areas, he also needs a better racial mix.
     
    Fear mongoring to your constituents without giving them the knowledge on the issue is not a constructive thing to do when they require them to protest on an issue, it turns into a SHOUTING MATCH that gets tuned out and makes them  look unintelligent.

[My Monkey Friend]

taterbug, i hear that. when i see these clips of people yelling at a podium, i wonder if they really know what they are yelling about. politics as a whole sucks the big one.

[mjkoehler]

taterbug, i hear that. when i see these clips of people yelling at a podium, i wonder if they really know what they are yelling about. politics as a whole sucks the big one.

No the vast majority of them haven't a clue what is the real issue.

[MMJ_fanatic]

I don't want the government taking this over period.  I swear they could screw up a batch of ice cubes.

P.S.:  I thoroughly and heartily support and encourage the guys to post whatever they want and value on their website.  It is theirs to own just our posts and opinions are our own.

[Haldon]

This is a forum.  Just like an album playing on your record player is a forum.  Just like a mic stand on a stage in front of 20,000 is a forum.  The band is merely expressing their opinions, an act which which country promotes.  Another act which this country promotes is the turning away and not listening if you don't like what the person has to say.

I for one don't really mind what the band thinks, it will not change my opinions one way or the other.  It is interested to learn about their view points, but in my opinion, for me, my amount of caring about it stops there.

I appreciate the bands decision to share their opinions with us, and I appreciate that everyone shares their opinions as well.  

I definitely took it as much more of a "here's what we think, if there are any like minded folks out there, here's a website you can go to."

That's all.  My two cents.

Regards,
Haldon

[MMJ_fanatic]

My favorite article on the posturings in Washington about Healthcare Insurance Industry Reform ;D:

'Conservatives, Shut Up And Step Aside'
By David Limbaugh
August 11, 2009
The hubris, arrogance and deceit of President Barack Obama and the Democratic leadership are breathtaking. In their maniacal frenzy to assume control over every aspect of our lives through socialized medicine, they are behaving like the thuggish autocrats they have proved themselves to be.
The jig is up on their designs, evidenced by the very contents of the health bill they're promoting. As increasing public awareness has translated into increasing grass-roots opposition to the bill, the Democrats have ratcheted up their bullying tactics and deceit.
Our self-styled bipartisan president is telling his critics to shut up, while his partners in crime, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues, are calling them un-American and Nazis.
Understand this: The people who are showing up in droves with righteous anger befitting a body politic steeped in a unique liberty tradition are exercising the very type of bottom-up citizen protest and government watchdogging our Founding Fathers envisioned. They are not the artificially driven "AstroTurf" phonies the Democrats are depicting them to be. No, such activities are the province of Alinsky/Obama-type "street organizers" and union thugs enlisted by the administration to discredit these legitimate protests.
It wasn't enough for Pelosi to call us Nazis. She also co-wrote, with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, an op-ed in USA Today calling us un-American and projecting her own nefarious tactics onto her opposition.
Pelosi and Hoyer accuse the protesters of engaging in "an ugly campaign ... not merely to misrepresent the health insurance reform legislation, but to disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue."
They say: "The first fact is that health insurance reform will mean more patient choice. It will allow every American who likes his or her current plan to keep it. And it will free doctors and patients to make the health decisions that make the most sense, not the most profits for insurance companies."
How can these government propaganda ministers sleep at night? They are the ones misrepresenting the legislation and closing their meetings to genuine dissent.
In the first place, it is not "health insurance reform." It is an effort to fundamentally transform the entire health care industry and how decisions are made. Their recent move to euphemize this monstrosity as "insurance reform" is part of their strategy to demonize insurance companies in their ruthless quest to shove this down our throats.
The bill would not allow Americans to keep their plans. It would crowd out and eventually eliminate private care; enormously reduce choice, as well as the quantity and quality of care; and be a fiscal nightmare, as verified by Congressional Budget Office projections. Worst of all, it would further destroy our liberties.
And by Obama's own words, it would decrease doctors' prerogatives over the type of care they provide. He admits he'd control doctors by making their "bundled payments" conditional on their meeting quality standards imposed by an omniscient, omnipotent government, not doctors and their patients.
Pelosi and Hoyer's most laughable claim is that their plan "will stand up to any and all critics."
If that's so, why don't they tell the truth about what's in the bill and truly answer legitimate questions and concerns about it instead of resorting to name-calling and intimidation? If that's so, why is Obama sending out his hired mouthpiece, Linda Douglass, to deny what Obama most clearly said? She protests that his statements promoting a single-payer system were taken out of context and then gives us absolutely no evidence they were. We are just supposed to disbelieve our lying eyes and ears.
It's also disingenuous to argue that in any event, Obama's earlier statements are irrelevant because he says he does not favor a single-payer system today and would protect our right to private care. Again, we have the bill itself, which would phase out private care -- mandatorily -- so the denials are self-evident lies.
Obama isn't delegating all the dirty work to his surrogates. Our pseudo-cool leader himself has become conspicuously unglued. About opponents of his outlandishly reckless agenda, he said that he doesn't "want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking"; he wants "them just to get out of the way so (Democrats) can clean up the mess." He went on, "I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking."
He obviously thinks that he has the unilateral right as president, with 53 percent of the vote, to use our money to impoverish and enslave us and destroy our health care and that we have no right even to object. We only get to speak every two years.
Well, this president -- with a faux-messianic wind boomeranging in his face -- has now met his match: an increasingly informed, vigilant, politically engaged and liberty-loving citizenry. And none too soon.
---
COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM

[Penny Lane]

that is mostly talking about the House bill, which is awful...the Senate Bill (as of last week) had a better chance of passing and had dems and repubs both working on it. it's cutting out (probably) the employer mandate and a few other things that might further cripple the economy. to get anything passed, obama needs to focus on the REFORM part and cut back on the universal coverage aspects (for the sake of making any change) Also this bill needs to focus more on medicare.

i can't wait till pelosi is out of there. she wants to get something passed, she doesn't care if it's a kidney stone ...at least the Senate has a little more sense ...

MMJ it goes both ways, conservatives are criticizing and liberals are championing things they don't understand.

[Taterbug]

'Conservatives, Shut Up And Step Aside'
By David Limbaugh
August 11, 2009


Yes,  he is rush limbaughs brother, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  

[camille]

Well, this president -- with a faux-messianic wind boomeranging in his face -- has now met his match: an increasingly informed, vigilant, politically engaged and liberty-loving citizenry. And none too soon.

I'm sorry - but have you actually watched any of the Town Halls?

I just watched a triple feature: Arlen Specter - PA/Pres. Obama/Claire McCaskill - MO

Obama's forum was incredibly civil. But the people screaming at SPecter and McCaskill were far from civil, and more than a few, straight up crazy. THe THird guy I saw ask a question at Specter's town hall said something unintelligible about healthcare and then - I swear to you - "The Koran says all "unbelievers" will be executed. That is why I cannot support Islam." And while Specter kinda stammered... "okay...." people freaking cheered. That's right Specter! Take that! We're coming for you and your Kenyan Witch Doctor Secret Islamic Terrorist Friend! We are so on to you!

We're Informed! We're engaged! We are nothing if not a Liberty Loving People!

And keep your grubby government hands off my Medicare!

McCaskill's was a little better. But the guy holding up the bible saying he would raise hell if his tax dollars ever paid for an abortion was totally unhinged. And she calmly said that there is currently a federal law prohibiting that and there is nothing in any of the bills to change that and he continued to scream "I don't believe you! I don't believe you!"

So. Tax dollars to kill a hundred thousand innocent civilians half a world away - no problem. But by all means every tax-paying bible-thumping nut job should stand between a woman and her doctor. That's not undue interference at all. That's patriotism! That's an informed citizenry taking a stand!

Reagan was crazy against Medicare. Big Time. Said we'd all wake up In Communist Red Russia with our healthcare and bread lines and you'd have to regale your kids with stories about when America used to be free.

How'd that turn out again?

*update! just as I finished typing this post a woman shoved another woman at McCaskill's town hall and was escorted out by police. Democracy in action I tell you. Oh it's a beautiful thing.

[MMJ_fanatic]

But the guy holding up the bible saying he would raise hell if his tax dollars ever paid for an abortion was totally unhinged. And she calmly said that there is currently a federal law prohibiting that and there is nothing in any of the bills to change that and continued to scream "I don't believe you! I don't believe you!"

So. Tax dollars to kill a hundred thousand innocent civilians half a world away - no problem. But by all means every tax-paying bible-thumping nut job should stand between a woman and her doctor. That's not undue interference at all. That's patriotism! That's an informed citizenry taking a stand!

SO your Uncle Sam should be in the embryo and fetus destruction business?
There is language in the legislation providing federal funds for abortions--completely inappropriate.  Why would anyone buy any of the politicians' answers at face value when they've basically confessed that they do not have time to read these bills to begin with?  It is as if they're all saying "We know what is best for you!  Shut up and get out of our way."  Well, sorry there is no f'ing way that is going to happen with this issue and don't even get me started on how criminal this "cap and trade" bullshit is--too bad citizens didn't get as involved in that one as they are with this.

[The Drake]

But the guy holding up the bible saying he would raise hell if his tax dollars ever paid for an abortion was totally unhinged. And she calmly said that there is currently a federal law prohibiting that and there is nothing in any of the bills to change that and continued to scream "I don't believe you! I don't believe you!"

So. Tax dollars to kill a hundred thousand innocent civilians half a world away - no problem. But by all means every tax-paying bible-thumping nut job should stand between a woman and her doctor. That's not undue interference at all. That's patriotism! That's an informed citizenry taking a stand!

SO your Uncle Sam should be in the embryo and fetus destruction business?

SO if you found out that one of the many Iraqis the American government killed was with child, would you be against the war?