The power of music and images to convey a video message in less than 5 minutes; some with over a billion views; the future of politics? The end of political parties as we know them today?
The United States Constitution has never formally addressed the issue of political parties. The Founding Fathers did not originally intend for American politics to be partisan. In Federalist Papers No. 9 and No. 10, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, respectively, wrote specifically about the dangers of domestic political factions. In addition, the first President of the United States, George Washington, was not a member of any political party at the time of his election or throughout his tenure as president. Furthermore, he hoped that political parties would not be formed, fearing conflict and stagnation, as outlined in his Farewell Address.[6] Nevertheless, the beginnings of the American two-party system emerged from his immediate circle of advisers. Hamilton and Madison, who wrote the aforementioned Federalist Papers against political factions, ended up being the core leaders in this emerging party system. It was the split camps of Federalists, given rise with Hamilton as a leader, and Democratic-Republicans, with Madison and Thomas Jefferson at the helm of this political faction, that created the environment in which partisanship, once distasteful, came to being.[7][8]... read more
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for being here today. It’s a great honor for you to share your personal stories of struggle under the enormous strain imposed on you by the very, very failed and failing Obamacare law. Secretary Price and I, along with my entire administration, and a lot of people in the Senate and a lot of people in the House are committed to repealing and replacing this disastrous law with a healthcare plan that lowers cost, expands choice, and ensures access for everyone.
You represent the millions of Americans who have seen their Obamacare premiums increase by double digits and even triple digits. In Arizona, the rates were over 116 percent last year -- 116 percent increase. And the deductibles are so high you don’t even get to use it.
Many Americans lost their plans and doctors altogether, and one-third of the counties -- think of it, one-third only have one insurer left. The insurance companies are fleeing. They’re gone; so many gone. The House bill to repeal and replace Obamacare will provide you and your fellow citizens with more choices -- far more choices at lower cost. Americans should pick the plan they want. Now they’ll be able to pick the plan they want, they’ll be able to pick the doctor they want. They’ll be able to do a lot of things that the other plan was supposed to give and it never gave. You don’t pick your doctor, you don’t pick your plan -- you remember that one.
We’re not going to have one-size-fits-all. Instead, we’re going to be working to unleash the power of the private marketplace to let insurers come in and compete for your business. And you’ll see rates go down, down, down, and you’ll see plans go up, up, up. You’ll have a lot of choices. Read more
Business owner Richard Master knows firsthand how the dysfunctional U.S. health care system punishes not only patients, but also employers who are forced to spend more and more to insure their workers. His documentary, "Fix It," makes a strong business case for addressing this festering problem, and includes interviews with many PNHP members. A trailer for the film can be accessed above, or you can view the full version for free by visiting the "Fix It" website. Read more
In the fall of 1994, the Clinton Administration’s much debated comprehensive, and complicated, health-insurance bill—known derisively as Hillarycare—died quietly on Capitol Hill. It was a moment that, the Princeton sociologist Paul Starr later argued, would "go down as one of the great lost political opportunities in American history." But, before the end, talk of another approach kept bubbling up: to allow those Americans who couldn’t get insurance elsewhere to buy a policy that was just as good, and inexpensive, as what members of Congress got. When Senator Edward M. Kennedy, of Massachusetts, said that Americans should get "exactly what we have," he meant the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
The F.E.H.B.P., as it’s known, was started in 1959, a few years before Medicare, and was meant to cover some nine million government employees—civil-service workers, the courts, the Post Office, members of Congress, and more. It wasn’t a single plan but, rather, as a Times story put it, "a supermarket offering 300 private health plans." (Even the right-learning Heritage Foundation called it "a showcase of consumer choice and free-market competition.") One may get a sense of its scope and inclusiveness—its supermarket-ness—in the way that the Office of Personnel Management, which administers the program, explains it to federal employees. Much of the program—for instance, the idea that no one can be refused, or charged more, for a preĆ«xisting condition, or that dependents under twenty-six are covered—will sound familiar to anyone conversant with the most attractive parts of the Affordable Care Act. Read more
"If I Die Young" is a song written by Kimberly Perry, and recorded by American country music group The Band Perry. It was released in June 2010 as the second single from the group's self-titled debut album, which was released on October 12, 2010. Wikipedia
If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song,
Uh oh, Uh oh (Metrolyrics)
