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GRITtv: Health Care: Fight's Just Starting
The House of Representatives, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, passed historic health care reform late Sunday night. That's a fact. Also a fact is that the bill is far from perfect, and legislators from all sides will be working to shape the bill more to their liking. Progressives regret the lack of a public option, let alone single payer, and the use of women's reproductive choice as a political football in the negotiations--Obama was forced into an executive order reaffirming the Hyde Amendment's commitment not to use federal dollars for abortions. But what does it all mean? Will the protests die down, or just get worse? What can we do to get REAL change we can believe in, with a country this polarized? Laura asks Chip Berlet, an expert on right-wing populism and senior analyst with Political Research Associates, and Nina Agrawal, pediatrician and director of community outreach with the National Physicians Alliance.
Email this pageGRITtv: The F Word: Learning From Health Care Reform
So this is what I learned from the last weekend of the health care reform debate. First, lay a coffin at a white house fence and you're subject to arrest. Spit and yell abuse at members of the Black Caucus as they enter the Capitol and you'll be left in peace. The same goes for screaming epithets at Barney Frank. If you're going to mass half a million strong for immigration reform, don't expect coverage on CSPAN when they're covering live events in and around Capitol Hill -- not if there are hundreds of epithet throwers somewhere close to cover. And I learned that after all, it has to be said, some Democrats do have spine. Unfortunately the rest could take some lessons in how to negotiate from the teeny weeny criminalize-abortion caucus and Rep. Bart Stupak. Finally I learned that Nancy Pelosi is one hell of a house leader. She really can corral a majority when she wants. In fact, she and President Barack Obama can be really persuasive, when they want to be. So let's not hear any more bunk about the impossibility of the aforementioned immigration reform, or repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell, or actually coming up with some real financial regulation. They can do it when they want to. The one thing that remains a mystery is how to make them want to. If you don't have a mountain of cash, that is.
The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.
GRITtv: Homestretch for Healthcare Reform
After nearly a year's worth of fighting over health care reform, Congress is finally perceived to be in the final stretch. Of course, that means more fighting, more grandstanding from legislators on all sides, and last-ditch efforts to include a public option or keep alive the hope of single payer. Joining us to discuss what happens if the bill passes--and the consequences should it fail--are Dr. Anne Davis of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, Enzo Pastore, health care policy specialist with the Progressive States Network, and Chris Meyer, Executive Vice President, External Affairs with Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports.
GRITtv: Jay Smooth: The Hyde Amendment
Jay Smooth of Ill Doctrine teamed up with the Center for Reproductive Rights and several of our favorite bloggers and activists to bring you this video on the Hyde Amendment, its restrictions for women's rights, and how Stupak and Nelson would restruct those rights even further. Think about it: if they don't want their tax dollars spent on abortion, what don't YOU want your tax dollars spent on?
GRITtv: Reproductive Rights as Human Rights
Jan. 22 is the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that finally recognized a woman's right to her own reproductive choices. With the election of a prochoice Democrat last November, many assumed that we might finally have some breathing room around the issue of abortion. Instead, we've seen Stupak and Nelson trying to use the health care reform bills to restrict rights even further, and clinics around the country have seen increased aggression, culminating in the brutal murder of Dr. George Tiller. To fill us in on the abortion wars, we spoke to Silvia Henriquez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, author Carole Joffe and Lynn Paltrow, Executive Director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women.
GRITtv: Healthcare Day of Action Jan. 13
The final fight over the health care reform bill is coming up, and women's health care been a key issue throughout, as we've reported many times. This video from Not Under the Bus is here to remind us not to give up and to take action to ensure women don't get thrown under the bus for the sake of reform. January 13 is the national day of action!
GRITtv: The F Word: Who You Callin' Moderate?
The Senate held a historic vote on health care reform this morning at 1 AM. Splitting exactly along party lines--that is, if you call Joe Lieberman a Democrat--the health care bill made it through a cloture vote and is one step away from final passage and the conference committee. To get so-called moderate Democrat Ben Nelson on board, however, Harry Reid had to agree to a decidedly un-moderate compromise on abortion rights. It's not Stupak language--but it's close. Stupak's staffers, meanwhile, were sending frantic emails to catholic bishops and top republican staffers asking for their help to keep his amendment in the final bill. If that's bipartisanship, they can keep it. So who says these guys are so moderate, anyway? -- Laura Flanders
