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Why Hillary Clinton Has Always Been a Republican In the first of a series of profiles, Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair chart the formative years of Hillary Clinton. Watch her as she zigzags from Nixon campaigner and vote-fraud investigator in 1960 to Goldwater Girl and President of Young Republicans at Wellesley to her internship for Gerald Ford and campaigner for Nelson Rockefeller. Witness her reaction to the student protests at Yale and the demonstrations at Grant Park during the Democratic Convention in 1968. Learn how she and Bill vowed to "remake" the Democratic Party--using the Nixon model HRC learned about as a member of the House impeachment staff. And much more! Plus: David Price on anthropologist Andre Gunder Frank, the FBI and the Bureaucratic Exile of a Critical Mind.
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Today's Stories July 7 / 8, 2007 Saul
Landau July 6, 2007 Daniel
Ellsberg Gary
Leupp Harvey
Wasserman Omer
Subhani Marjorie
Cohn Christopher
Brauchli David
Michael Green China
Hand Renee
Saucedo Corporate
Crime Reporter Website
of the Day
July 5, 2007 Andy
Worthington Mike
Stark Norman
Solomon Michael
Schwartz Susie
Day Jacob
Hornberger Bill
Hatch Don
Fitz John
Wright Website
of the Day
July 4, 2007 St.
Clair / Frank Vijay
Prashad Carl
G. Estabrook Ron
Jacobs David
R. Dow Claudia
Johnson William
S. Lind Gregory
Afghani Paul
Edwards D.
K. Wilson Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Thomas
Jefferson Cindy
Sheehan Website
of the Day
Bill
Quigley Gary
Leupp Lynda
Brayer Richard
Thieme Helen
Redmond David
Swanson Jacob
Hornberger Ayesha
Ijaz Khan Franklin
Lamb Ray
McGovern Kevin
Zeese Dave
Lindorff Website
of the Day
Andy
Worthington Nina
Serrano Jack
Hirschman Paul
Craig Roberts Bill
Williams Anthony
Papa Sonja
Karkar Louay
Safi Anthony
Gregory Monica
Benderman Website
of the Day
June 30 / July 1, 2007 John
Ross Alan
Farago Peter
Quinn Christopher
Brauchli Robert
Fisk Uri
Avnery Judith
Siers-Poisson Saul
Landau Abbas
Zaidi Ron
Jacobs Ralph
Nader Donald
Worster Mike
Whitney Jacob
Hill Kenneth
Couesbouc Missy
Beattie Mohammad
Kamaali Ramzy
Baroud Leonard
Peltier Phyllis
Pollack Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
June 29, 2007 St.
Clair / Frank Brian
Cloughley Patrick
Cockburn Gilad
Atzmon Dave
Lindorff Jennifer
Matsui / Kevin
Zeese Daniel
Klimek David
Michael Green John
Chuckman Website
of the Day
June 28, 2007 Bill
Quigley Vijay
Prashad Margaret
Kimberley Winslow
T. Wheeler Philip
Rizk D.
K. Wilson Bill
Williams Mahmoud
El-Yousseph Richard
Rhames Paul
Krassner Website
of the Day
Marjorie
Cohn Dr.
Susan Rosenthal, MD Alan
Farago Carla
Blank Matthew
Abraham Sunsara
Taylor Russell
D. Hoffman Robert
Weissman Sen.
Russ Feingold Paul
Buchheit Website
of the Day
June 26, 2007 Jonathan
Cook Ralph
Nader Corporate
Crime Reporter Ron
Jacobs Martha
Rosenberg John
Chuckman Denny
Haldeman Anthony
DiMaggio Stephen
Fleischman William
S. Lind Website
of the Day
Paul
Craig Roberts Jennifer
Loewenstein Bob
Anderson Robert
Pollin Patrick
Cockburn Eva
Liddell Dan
Bacher Larry
Atkins Mark
Brenner James
Rothenberg Website
of the Day June 23 / 24, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Jeff
Taylor Oren
Ben-Dor Gary
Leupp Robert
Fisk David
Rosen Russell
Mokhiber Alison
Weir Robert
Fantina D.
K. Wilson Nicole
Colson Stephen
Soldz, Steven Reisner and Brad Olson Dave
Lindorff Benjamin
Dangl Michael
Dickinson Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
June 22, 2007 Andy
Worthington Sherwood
Ross Eliana
Monteforte Robert
Weissman Richard
Rhames Christopher
Brauchli Ramzy
Baroud Ehud
Krinis, David Shulman and Neve Gordon David
Michael Green Kathryn
Webber Website
of the Day
June 21, 2007 Peter
Linebaugh Natsu
Saito Ron
Jacobs Saree
Makdisi John
Stauber Scott
Liebertz Tom
Clifford Robert
Jensen Michael
J. Smith Jeb
Sprague Website
of the Day
Omar
Barghouti Andy
Worthington Margaret
Kimberley Robert
Weissman Russell
D. Hoffman Rannie
Amiri Stephen
Lendman Dave
Lindorff David
Swanson Anne
Dachel Website
of the Day
June 19, 2007 Ralph
Nader Dr.
Shepherd Bliss Bill
and Kathleen Christison Jeff
Leys Dave
Zirin Chris
Floyd Ben
Terrall Anthony
Papa VIPS Linda Flores Website
of the Day
John
Ross Paul
Craig Roberts Martha
Rosenberg Norman
Solomon Don
Santina Isabella
Kenfield James
Brooks Eva
Liddell Sam
Husseini Akiva
Eldar Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn John
Halle Robert
Fisk Andy
Worthington Uri
Avnery Fred
Gardner Saul
Landau P.
Sainath Missy
Comley Beattie Alan
Gregory Walter
Brasch Website
of the Weekend
June 15, 2007 Alan
Farago Andy
Worthington Michael
Simmons Franklin
Lamb Gary
Leupp John
Ross Website
of the Day
June 14, 2007 Michael
Donnelly
Faisal
Kutty Harry
Browne Charles
Jonkel Steven
Higgs Bruce
Dixon Bruce
K. Gagnon
Website
of the Day June 13, 2007 Glen Ford Marjorie Cohn Bill Christison Charles Jonkel Silvia Cattori Richard Gott Firmin DeBrabander William S. Lind Keith Rosenthal Website of the Day June 12, 2007 Jeffrey St.
Clair Paul Craig
Roberts P. Sainath Ralph Nader Omar Waraich Dave Lindorff Harvey Wasserman Malini Johar
Schueller Ramzy Baroud Website of
the Day
June 11, 2007 Patrick Cockburn Paul Craig
Roberts Uri Avnery Norman Solomon Eva Liddell Rannie Amiri Rachel Voss Christopher
Brauchli D. K. Wilson Website of
the Day
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Weekend
Edition A Film, Militant Nurses and a New Opportunity for Single Payer Health CareWill "Sicko" Spark a Movement?By ALAN MAASS At sneak previews across the country last month, the red carpet outside the theater wasn't for preening and paparazzi, but picket lines. Members of the California Nurses Association (CNA) traveled to the premieres on a bright red bus that let them off to hold protests and pass out information before each screening. Also on the bus were representatives of Physicians for a National Health Program and a number of other unions, including state chapters of the American Nurses Association, the United Steel Workers and the Communications Workers of America. The tour was capped off with a turnout of nurses and doctors at theaters in 30 cities when the film officially opened to sold-out audiences June 29. Some reporters from the mainstream media complained that chanting nurses interfered with their red-carpet interviews of Moore, but the activists got a warmer greeting from audience members. "I think that one of most notable things was how universal the response was, no matter which city we went to," said Jan Rodolfo, a CNA member and nurse at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, Calif., who traveled across the country on the bus. In Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., said Rodolfo, the first five rows of the theater were reserved for nurses, and in New York, the CNA members escorted Moore into the theater and stood with him as he introduced the film. "In every premiere, there were people weeping," she said. "And when the film was over, there were people walking out of the theater, just demanding to know what they could do to change things." According to the CNA, at least 10,000 nurses have signed up to help in a campaign to win legislation from Congress creating a "single-payer" system that would cut out private insurance companies, and expand a vastly improved Medicare system to cover every person in the country. "There were huge numbers of nurses, in particular, coming out in the different cities, who had never been involved in unions or health care reform activism before, and who were just beyond excited to be there and wanting to get involved for the first time," Rodolfo said. The impact of the movie was felt beyond the theaters where the activists turned out. A movie reviewer in Dallas--the heart of Bush country--described how he emerged from the bathroom after a screening to find that "[t]he entire Sicko audience had somehow formed an impromptu town hall meeting in front of the ladies room...[H]ere these people were, complete strangers from every walk of life, talking excitedly about the movie. It was as if they simply couldn't go home without doing something drastic about what they'd just seen." The meeting ended, said the reviewer, with an exchange of e-mail addresses and plans to "get together and do something...It was like I was standing there at the birth of a new political movement." SICKO IS perfectly made to give form to the simmering bitterness with U.S. health care system. Its focus is on the victims of the system--in particular, people who thought they were fully covered, but discovered they really weren't when they needed it. That's a familiar story--as Moore learned when he made an appeal on YouTube for people to reach him with their "health care horror stories." In the first 24 hours, he got than 3,700 responses. More than 25,000 people had contacted him by the time a week had passed. People often live through their own health care nightmares without a sense that the system is a source of frustration for millions of other people throughout U.S. society. Sicko is changing that. Politicians of both parties are alert to the discontent. But their rhetorical flair in sympathizing with victims of the health care system hasn't been matched by action. The latest mantra among politicians of both parties is "universal health coverage." Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney claims he achieved it with a Massachusetts law passed while he was governor, and Oregon's Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden says this is the goal of his Healthy Americans Act, proposed in Congress late last year. But in reality, these bipartisan proposals would be a cash cow for the insurance industry--and would worsen the health care crisis facing working people. In Massachusetts, for example, Romney's "universal coverage" proposal requires all residents to be signed up with a health insurance plan by the beginning of this month, or face a stiff penalty on state income taxes. On the other hand, fines for companies that don't meet requirements for providing health coverage for employees are a drop in the bucket. The effect of the law will be to undermine the already ailing employer-provided insurance system, while driving the uninsured into stripped-down insurance plans, with high deductibles and out-of-pocket costs--the very plans that Sicko took special aim at. Instead, Sicko stakes out the case for a real alternative--a single-payer system that eliminates private insurance and covers everyone. That's created an awkward situation for the leading Democratic presidential candidates, who have put forward health care proposals that, on closer look, have a lot in common with the "universal coverage" shell game. As the Los Angeles Times reported, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards "all have staked out positions sharply at odds with Moore's approach. But none of them is eager to have that fact dragged into the spotlight." The liberal Internet network MoveOn.org tried to blur the differences between Moore's call for fundamental change and the Democrats' proposals. "Several 2008 candidates--John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, and Barack Obama--have plans to guarantee affordable health care for everyone with a public insurance option," MoveOn said in an e-mail to members. "These are the most forward-thinking proposals ever seen in a presidential race." But only Kucinich supports single-payer legislation. Edwards' and Obama's plans fall short of "guaranteeing affordable health care for everyone." As for these being the "most-forward thinking proposals ever seen in a presidential race," Democrat Harry Truman backed a far more radical national health insurance plan in his 1948 presidential campaign, and for decades after, Democrats regularly affirmed their commitment to this goal--though they didn't do much to work toward it. On its bus tour, the CNA challenged not only Democrats but other unions that have made concessions to the health care industry, rather than commit to a single-payer proposal. CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro accused the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in particular of giving cover to politicians who refuse to support legislation for a single-payer system. "[I]t makes [the politicians] look like they are accomplishing something when in fact they are accomplishing nothing," DeMoro told the Corporate Crime Reporter. The proposals put forward by Clinton, Edwards and Obama are the product of 30 years of retreat and rightward shifts in official Washington politics. By contrast, ordinary people are clearly ready for much stronger measures. According to a CNN poll in May, 64 percent of people said they thought the government should "provide a national health insurance program for all Americans, even if this would require higher taxes." A New York Times/CBS poll in February found that six in 10 people were willing to pay higher taxes so that everyone had insurance. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, its survey found that "by a two-to-one margin, most prefer 'a universal health insurance program in which everyone is covered under a program like Medicare that is run by the government and financed by the taxpayers' nationally to 'the current health insurance system in the United States, in which most people get their health insurance from private employers, but some people have no insurance.'" As Rodolfo pointed out, "The public in general in the U.S. is ready for some kind of universal health care, but it isn't clear enough about what that needs to look like." If a case isn't made for a genuine alternative, she said, it's easy for people to be pulled toward one of the more "realistic" proposals. "[M]y sense is that up until this movie came out, you could be Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or John Edwards--or even Rudolph Giuliani or Mitt Romney--and be out there talking about supporting universal health care, and the folks you're talking to weren't looking for a distinction in terms of what that actually meant," Rodolfo said. "So my hope now is that any time one of these politicians stands up and advocates for health care reform that would expand the private health insurance industry, people are going to stand up and go, wait a second, the health insurance industry is the problem, not the solution. "I'm hoping that the movie is going to bring a new consciousness about the role of insurance companies, in particular, as the root of the problem, and it will really refocus things on single-payer." THE SINGLE-payer legislation sponsored by Reps. John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich is a stark contrast to the half-measures and concessions to industry floated by other politicians. Known as HR 676, it would create a comprehensive system under which everyone--all U.S. residents, regardless of immigration status, from cradle to grave--is covered by a single, government-administered health program. The proposal would forbid "a private health insurer to sell health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided" under the government system. The bill would allow a mix of private and public health care providers, but all private companies would have to convert to not-for-profit status--though over a too-generous 15-year "transition" period. Estimates of funding for the program are $1.9 trillion a year--to be raised through the already existing Medicare tax on employees and employers, an additional payroll tax on employers (which nevertheless would still pay less per worker for health care than under the current system), and increased taxes on the wealthy and big corporations and banks. Mainstream politicians claim that a single-payer system is a pipe dream--and that their "universal coverage" proposals are more "realistic." But the problem, as Sicko makes clear, is built into the fabric of a privatized system. As Nation reviewer Christopher Hayes put it, Sicko shows why "if single-payer is ever going to come to America, it's going to be over the insurance companies' dead bodies." A single-payer system would be only a first step toward truly rational health care. For example, though the government system would negotiate a better deal on drug prices, pharmaceutical companies would remain private. And in other countries with national health care, any restrictions in coverage have served as the means for private insurers to undermine the state system by "supplementing" it. But a single-payer system in the U.S. would be a huge advance. Above all, it would establish in the U.S. the principle that exists in other industrialized countries--that health care is a right, guaranteed to everyone. The fundamental priority, as left-wing British Labour Party leader Tony Benn says in Sicko, "is solidarity." The health care industry won't give in without a sustained struggle--one that organizes health care providers as part of a broader political mobilization to demand change. It will take more than a movie to win the kind of dramatic change that's needed to begin fixing the American health care system. But this movie--along with the efforts of the activists who greeted viewers outside the theaters with information on how to get involved--could be the first spark of a new movement. Alan Maass is the editor of the Socialist Worker and author of The Case for Socialism. He can be reached at: alanmaass@sbcglobal.net
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CounterPunch Books of the Crossroads: HOW THE IRISH INVENTED SLANG By Daniel Cassidy  Click Here to Buy! How the Press Failed The Gang's All Here: Judy Miller, Bob Woodward, Rupert Murdoch, Bill O'Reilly...End Times Leaves No Reputation Unstained!  Buy End Times Now! CounterPunch Books! Saul Landau's Bush and Botox World with a Foreword by Gore Vidal  Click Here to Order!  Michael Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair           The Occupation by Patrick Cockburn   Humanitarian Imperialism By Jean Bricmont               CITY BEAUTIFUL By Tennessee Reed        Bruce Springsteen On Tour By Dave Marsh                   |
