skip to main | skip to sidebar

The Virtual World

Poetry, the imagination, and the creative life.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Health Insurance Reform: Makes a Great Xmas Gift!

. . . Perhaps because of the early hour, Harry Reid accidentally called out "no," but quickly clarified that he meant for vote "aye," to the laughter of the chamber.

The approved Senate bill would reform health insurance regulations, require individuals to purchase insurance, and create a subsidy from the federal government for those who cannot afford it to purchase it on a health exchange managed by the federal government. To pay for the expanded coverage, the bill raises payroll taxes for income over $250,000, imposes a 40 percent excise tax on high-dollar insurance policies, and creates new taxes and fees for medical suppliers.


*

My hope is that this is just the beginning of a major shift in how we provide health care in the US. Eventually bringing us in line with the rest of the "civilized" world: universal access, low costs, great outcomes.
Posted by Peter at 7:16 AM
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest

4 comments:

Collin Kelley said...

I hope so, too, Peter.

Happy holidays!

December 24, 2009 10:48 AM
esther said...

Yes, indeed. Happy holidays, Peter:-)

December 24, 2009 12:05 PM
Peter said...

Thanks C and E.

Yes: all our lives depend on it!

December 24, 2009 12:58 PM
Susan Rich said...

A great Christmas gift for the nation. Happy Holidays, Peer!

December 24, 2009 1:44 PM

Post a Comment

Newer Post Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • What Is Your Humor Style?
    But I wanted to be a Pot Roast . . . the Ham (19% dark, 50% spontaneous, 21% vulgar) your humor style: CLEAN | SPONTANEOUS | LIGHT Your st...
  • (no title)
    EAT ,  NEWS Third Annual “Plate of Nations” Celebrates Global Cuisine in Rainier Valley Posted on March 24, 2013 by  Editor RAINIER V...
  • The Things They Googled
    I just loved reading this essay by Marion Winik in the latest issue of Utne Reader , reprinted from The Sun (and, it looks like, an earlier...
  • Bishop Boring?
    Safer than Ambien? An interesting take on Bishop. I admire it when someone is willing to take on a sacred cow. Check it out here at poetry f...
  • (no title)
    "The Most Exciting Thing To Do With Your Head" A great essay "interview" by Sam Anderson with the amazing Anne Carson...
  • I Just Want the World to See
    Great article from Michael Moore, about Sandy Hook (and likening it to Emmett Till, the holocaust, Mai lai etc) and how we all really need t...
  • (no title)
    Love this poem from Writer's Almanac a few days ago. The February Bee  The bumblebee crept out on the stone steps. No roses. Nothi...
  • I Could Pee on This???
    A Cartoon Tribute To Cats, And The Poets Who Loved Them Francesco Marciuliano and Camila Domonoske April 30, 2...
  • Fairyland, a memoir
    Fascinating story on NPR today, about a woman's memoir of being raised by a single gay father, Steve Abbott, who was a poet and part of ...
  • Bloom is Fresh!
    Received my copy of Bloom in the mail the other day. I love the cover, with the flag-like red and white stripes (or are they prison bars?...

Some Poems Online

  • "Magnolia Blossom"
  • Body Talk
  • Crossing the Pear
  • "Wordsword" "Adagio"
  • "Twenty Years After His Passing, My Father Appears . . ."
  • "Think or Swim"
  • "The Cruciverbalist"
  • "Reconsidering the Seven"
  • "October Journal"
  • "Nursemaid's Elbow"
  • "Lost in Translation"
  • "Holy Shit"
  • "Her Name is Rose"
  • "Fugue"
  • "Anagrammer" (video)
  • "Anagrammer"
  • "After the Pillow Book"

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (15)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  February (2)
    • ►  January (3)
  • ►  2012 (44)
    • ►  December (4)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (4)
    • ►  September (3)
    • ►  August (4)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (7)
    • ►  February (6)
    • ►  January (6)
  • ►  2011 (96)
    • ►  December (5)
    • ►  November (6)
    • ►  October (3)
    • ►  September (8)
    • ►  August (7)
    • ►  July (8)
    • ►  June (7)
    • ►  May (9)
    • ►  April (10)
    • ►  March (10)
    • ►  February (13)
    • ►  January (10)
  • ►  2010 (121)
    • ►  December (12)
    • ►  November (7)
    • ►  October (11)
    • ►  September (9)
    • ►  August (8)
    • ►  July (10)
    • ►  June (9)
    • ►  May (14)
    • ►  April (10)
    • ►  March (11)
    • ►  February (8)
    • ►  January (12)
  • ▼  2009 (147)
    • ▼  December (8)
      • Blue Moon to End the Year, the Decade
      • The Twelve Days of Poetry
      • Health Insurance Reform: Makes a Great Xmas Gift!
      • Yay Bernie Sanders. You Rock!
      • I was so looking forward to reading Amy Gerstler's...
      • This is such a heartwarming story. They sound like...
      • John Ashbery’s new collection, dedicated to his pa...
      • Calder & Michelangelo at SAM
    • ►  November (8)
    • ►  October (11)
    • ►  September (5)
    • ►  August (5)
    • ►  July (10)
    • ►  June (9)
    • ►  May (20)
    • ►  April (20)
    • ►  March (14)
    • ►  February (19)
    • ►  January (18)
  • ►  2008 (246)
    • ►  December (22)
    • ►  November (16)
    • ►  October (27)
    • ►  September (22)
    • ►  August (27)
    • ►  July (25)
    • ►  June (28)
    • ►  May (23)
    • ►  April (21)
    • ►  March (21)
    • ►  February (12)
    • ►  January (2)
  • ►  2007 (340)
    • ►  December (20)
    • ►  November (26)
    • ►  October (38)
    • ►  September (24)
    • ►  August (24)
    • ►  July (35)
    • ►  June (31)
    • ►  May (27)
    • ►  April (30)
    • ►  March (30)
    • ►  February (25)
    • ►  January (30)
  • ►  2006 (421)
    • ►  December (30)
    • ►  November (28)
    • ►  October (38)
    • ►  September (34)
    • ►  August (41)
    • ►  July (37)
    • ►  June (35)
    • ►  May (27)
    • ►  April (47)
    • ►  March (34)
    • ►  February (34)
    • ►  January (36)
  • ►  2005 (414)
    • ►  December (41)
    • ►  November (36)
    • ►  October (45)
    • ►  September (32)
    • ►  August (42)
    • ►  July (37)
    • ►  June (33)
    • ►  May (39)
    • ►  April (30)
    • ►  March (35)
    • ►  February (25)
    • ►  January (19)
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poetry can communicate before it is understood. ~T. S. Eliot

*


Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. ~ Plato

*


A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep. ~ Salman Rushdie

*


Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason. ~ Novalis

*


Poetry is what maintains our capacity for contemplation and difficulty. — Carolyn Forche

*


Poetry must have something in it that is barbaric, vast and wild. — Denis Diderot

*


Sometimes something wants to be said, sometimes a way of saying wants to be used. — Paul ValĂ©ry

*