public option
GRITtv: Michael Moore & Donna Smith: Still Sicko
"Sooner or later people are going to realize that decisions about whether one lives or dies should not be predicated on 'How much money can I make off this?'" says Michael Moore, looking back at his film Sicko with Donna Smith of National Nurses United. They both note that it's the health care workers who are leading the fight for a better system for all, even as those workers are under attack themselves. To kick off our new series, The Nurses' Station, Michael and Donna joined Laura in studio for a look back at Sicko and a conversation about what has changed since the film was made, and why it's not enough. Distributed by Tubemogul.
Email this pageGRITtv: March 18, 2011
"Sooner or later people are going to realize that decisions about whether one lives or dies should not be predicated on 'How much money can I make off this?'" says Michael Moore, looking back at his film Sicko with Donna Smith of National Nurses United. They both note that it's the health care workers who are leading the fight for a better system for all, even as those workers are under attack themselves. To kick off our new series, The Nurses' Station, Michael and Donna joined Laura in studio for a look back at Sicko and a conversation about what has changed since the film was made, and why it's not enough. "It wasn't public workers or high school students or single mothers on Medicaid who plundered public treasuries or caused the meltdown on Wall Street. Talk of shared sacrifice is hollow when all the blame and concessions are forced on working families and those who can afford it the least." So wrote Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United. Rose Ann joins us via Skype to give us her thoughts on the attacks on workers and the role of the nurses' unions in the fight. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Jan. 20, 2011
"It's dangerous to discount as mere theater what the Republicans do," notes Rebecca Dana of the Daily Beast. ; She points out that a lot will depend on who controls Congress in 2012--symbolic moves to repeal health care reform will be a lot less symbolic if the Senate is under Republican control as well.Rebecca joins guest host John Fugelsang to discuss the ongoing political debates over health care, over Sarah Palin, and over political language itself.In the first week of 2011, the now defunct Tunisian regime made a series of arrests in an effort to silence online activists critical of former president Ben Ali and his supporters.
GRITtv: John Fugelsang: GOP Should Love the Public Option
Republicans in Congress, we need to talk. Congrats on your inspiring vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. I know you hate Obamacare – and on some levels, I agree with you. This bill is so watered down Dick Cheney could take it to Gitmo and pour it on Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s face. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Hari Kondabulu: Health Care and the Lost Art of Compromise
Comedian Hari Kondabolu has some thoughts about what kind of starting place progressives should've chosen for health care negotiations. Here's a hint: it involves the phrase "Scalpel-wielding Robin Hoods of the night."
GRITtv: Karen Higgins: Nurses United for Health
The California Nurses Association and other nurses' unions were some of the strongest voices for real healthcare reform, continuing to call for single-payer Medicare for All even now. But with the birth of the new National Nurses United, the nurses are fighting battles on all fronts for healthcare--from a strike at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia to struggles with Massachusetts' program. Joining us from Boston to talk about the nurses' union, patient care, and what's next after this healthcare bill is Karen Higgins, co-president of National Nurses United, who says that any fight on behalf of patients is their fight. GRITtv with Laura Flanders brings participatory democracy onto your computer screen and into your living room, bridging the gap between audience and advocates. Watch any show, at any time: http://grittv.org Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Health Care: What's In The Bill, Anyway?
The most asked question after the historic passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as the health care bill, is "How does this affect me?" While we can't answer all your individual questions in a 30-minute show (or a week of 30-minute shows), we thought we'd pull in some experts to lay out what's in the new law. Jacob Hacker, Yale professor, is known as "The Father of the Public Option," and Maggie Mahar is the author of Money-Driven Medicine and editor of HealthBeatBlog.org, and they join us to break down the pluses and minuses of the biggest social reform legislation since the Johnson era.
GRITtv: Jesse Jackson: Take it to the Streets
Last weekend, Rev. Jesse Jackson came to New York to speak at the Left Forum. While he was there, he took some time to chat with Laura about the health care bill--now the health care reform law--and the forces fighting against it. The veteran of the civil rights movement told us "The way not to be marginalized is to be in the streets."
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.
GRITtv: The F Word: Stupak vs. The Nuns
Poor Bart Stupak. Apparently his life has become a living hell. That's according to a recent profile in The Hill. Ever since he started trying to hold health care reform for ransom over abortion, he's had to deal with critics. He's had to deal, for example, with receiving letters from religious leaders representing 59,000 Catholic nuns. Of the letters sent to Congress this week calling the health care reform bill “the real pro-life stance,” Stupak said, "When I’m drafting right to life language, I don’t call up the nuns.” They're only women, after all. Women, as Jodi Jacobson at RH Reality Check notes, who do the real work of ministering to women in need. Stupak's clearly worried that his anti-reform stance may turn out to be the petard on which he hoisted his career. It's possible, but really it's not actually about him -- or even the President, or the Democrats. It's about people's health. Will the Senate bill give more people more access to insurance? Probably. Will they be able to afford it? That's an open question. But will it save lives? No doubt. And that was the nun's point. Just how many saved lives does he have to oppose before Stupak's stripped of the term "pro-life" once and for all?
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.
