• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

In my day, never was longer.

Everybody saw this coming.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

This blog will pay for itself.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

No one could have predicted…

The words do not have to be perfect.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Come on, man.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Military / Keep Government Out of the Wilson Family Healthcare!

Keep Government Out of the Wilson Family Healthcare!

by John Cole|  September 10, 20097:01 pm| 98 Comments

This post is in: Military, Republican Stupidity, Assholes

FacebookTweetEmail

I’m sure this will surprise no one:

Cut the man some slack. He’s passionate! I know this because he told me, in the sole message that blazes across his campaign Web site: JOE WILSON IS PASSIONATE ABOUT STOPPING GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTH CARE!

Except that he’s not─at least not when it comes to his, and his family’s, government-run health care. As a retired Army National Guard colonel, Wilson gets a lot of benefits (one of which, apparently, was not a full appreciation of the customs, traditions, and courtesies that mandate respect for one’s commander in chief). And with four sons in the armed services, the entire Wilson brood has enjoyed multiple generations of free military medical coverage, known as TRICARE.

Yes, it’s true. As politicos and town-hall criers debate the finer points of the public option, employer mandates, coverage for undocumented immigrants, and who’s more Hitler-like, they seem to miss a larger point: the United States has single-payer health care. It covers 9.5 million active-duty servicemen and women, military retirees, and their dependents─including almost a 10th of all Californians and Floridians, and nearly a quarter of a million residents of Wilson’s home state.

It just never stops.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Watch this space
Next Post: Steelers Open Thread »

Reader Interactions

98Comments

  1. 1.

    freelancer

    September 10, 2009 at 7:06 pm

    “I gotta solution! You’re a dick! South Carolina, what up?”

  2. 2.

    cleek

    September 10, 2009 at 7:06 pm

    careful, citizen. it sounds to me like you’re using facts which haven’t been approved for use by the GOP. as you well know, using non-approved facts can result in the loss of McCain Points or worse, a singling-out by the voice of the GOP: Rush himself. do yourself a favor and double-check your words. make sure you’re not overstepping the GOP’s approved boundaries.

  3. 3.

    JGabriel

    September 10, 2009 at 7:07 pm

    John Cole: “It just never stops.”

    World without end. Amen.

    .

  4. 4.

    Jorge

    September 10, 2009 at 7:07 pm

    Joe the Congressman was just saying what alot of American’s are feeling about Obama’s plan to spread the healthcare to islamo-Mexican facist.

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    September 10, 2009 at 7:09 pm

    Heh. Guess the Congressman is finding out the hard way that there *is* such a thing as bad publicity.

    -dms

  6. 6.

    MikeJ

    September 10, 2009 at 7:11 pm

    Miller got another $25k in the last half hour. Up to $530k.

  7. 7.

    linda

    September 10, 2009 at 7:11 pm

    holy crap… miller’s raised $530,242 so far; $187k from kossacks.

    http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/19079

  8. 8.

    jl

    September 10, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    Oh yeah? Wilson’s opponent, Rob Miller was in the Marines for 10 years and served in Iraq. That sponger and government welfare king mooched off the government bigtime.

    I bet if people would look into it, I bet Rob Miller drew more government benefits and perks as a part of a totalitarian STANDING ARMY, than Joe Miller did as a reserve citizen soldier.

    (I am practicing wingnut logic. A commenter in a previous thread said that the Obama liberal secret police attacked his opponents with FREE-RANGE SEX. Which perked my interest.)

    Barry Obama is teh suck and he lies!

    Come and get me.

    Rob Miller’s contribution site (now over $530K):
    http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/19079

  9. 9.

    General Winfield Stuck

    September 10, 2009 at 7:13 pm

    Boltin’ Joe is burning the candle at both ends against the middle.

    Top campaign contributors for Joe.

    Health Professionals $244,196
    Lawyers/Law Firms $211,870

    That’s right, raking it in from both the Health Care Industry AND Trial Lawyers. Enterprising wingnut up to his yahoo in debt. Where did all the money go Joe?

  10. 10.

    Cat Lady

    September 10, 2009 at 7:14 pm

    I’m sure we’ll find out what John McCain thinks about this on Sunday.

  11. 11.

    JK

    September 10, 2009 at 7:14 pm

    Joe Wilson Recieves Masonic Award
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfMY5xnbVjI

    Regardless of Nancy Pelosi’s opinion, Joe Wilson must be censured and must be forced to issue a public apology on the floor of the House in front of his colleagues.

    Wilson engaged in thuggish, holligan style behavior and his bullshit written apology doesn’t cut it.

    Heckling is unacceptable behavior for political events such as townhall events held by politicians, congressional hearings, candidate debates, presidential speeches to Congress, or any other political event.

    Heckling should be confined to sporting events, concerts, theatrical performances, and standup comedy routines.

  12. 12.

    arguingwithsignposts

    September 10, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    @linda:

    $187k from kossacks.

    People can bitch about the Great Orange Satan all they want (and some of it is warranted), but those folks do put their money where their mouths are. I can’t think of a single GOP web site that has similar fundraising impact. Not one.

  13. 13.

    freelancer

    September 10, 2009 at 7:17 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Uh Redstate. Duh.

    oh, missed the “k” there, my bad.

    Go on with the chlorophyll.

  14. 14.

    Comrade Jake

    September 10, 2009 at 7:18 pm

    The only sure things in life are death, taxes, and John McCain on Sunday Morning, my friends!

  15. 15.

    JK

    September 10, 2009 at 7:18 pm

    Joe Wilson on FISA
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efVlBuDngvs&feature=related

    Joe Wilson Blasts Dems on Taxes
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64ctYnDpZL0&NR=1

  16. 16.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    September 10, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    This is exactly the type of hypocracy that I have been talking about. There is going to be a “tea party” here on Saturday, I am sure it will be overstuffed with military and government employee retirees, all of whom’s very existence is paid for by the taxpayers (them included) who are fat and happy with their “government health care” and their retirement checks and who will be waving signs “no government health care” and “taxed enough already” and not a single one of them will see the irony of their position, not a single one.

    Just like the idiots supposedly marching on DC on 9/12 to protest “the federal government” and “taxes” cannot see the irony of the fact that in order to protect the country from another 9/11 the federal government has to pay someone (FBI, CIA, Military) and state government has to pay firefighters and policemen. The stupid really does burn.

  17. 17.

    JK

    September 10, 2009 at 7:21 pm

    Joe Wilson – Statement on Guanatanamo Detainees
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBPJ6yynDDA

  18. 18.

    Crashman06

    September 10, 2009 at 7:22 pm

    @jl: Free range sex? Where can I sign up for some of that?!

  19. 19.

    Tsulagi

    September 10, 2009 at 7:23 pm

    Yeah, surprise factor is zero at this guy’s hypocrisy. Or any other winger’s. It’s a feature, not a bug, in that species.

  20. 20.

    JGabriel

    September 10, 2009 at 7:23 pm

    holy crap… miller’s raised $530,242 so far; $187k from kossacks.

    The real “holy crap” worth exclaiming in that statistic is that Miller raised more than $340,000 even without the Kossacks.

    We already know DKos can have a formidable fundraising presence. That nearly 2/3’s of Miller’s new funds (in less than 24 hours and way the fuck outside of the campaign season) are coming from elsewhere means a lot more than just libs and progressives are pissed at Wilson.

    .

  21. 21.

    Brick Oven Bill

    September 10, 2009 at 7:24 pm

    Re: “Heckling is unacceptable behavior for political events such as townhall events held by politicians, congressional hearings, candidate debates, presidential speeches to Congress, or any other political event.”

    Joe Wilson is a lightweight. A pushover. Quivering, soggy, over-cooked spaghetti in a pile on the floor.

    Now here is some proper decorum.

  22. 22.

    JK

    September 10, 2009 at 7:24 pm

    Joe Wilson speaks on the wasteful Washington spending in the Stimulus bill
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_GtG3gxXlU

  23. 23.

    General Winfield Stuck

    September 10, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    Wilson once had to apologize for attacking Strom Thurmond’s illegitimate black child.

    Rep. Wilson, a former page of Thurmond’s, immediately told The State newspaper that he didn’t believe Williams. He deemed the revelation “unseemly.” And he added that even if she was telling the truth, she should have kept the inconvenient facts to herself: “It’s a smear on the image that [Thurmond] has as a person of high integrity who has been so loyal to the people of South Carolina,” Wilson said.

    As the stomach churns. A southern wingnut soap opera. The founding father of the old Dixie Party for segregation knocks up his black maid, and comes along another southern wingnut, a current member of the neo Confederate SCV to defend Strom’s honor when the product of that trist comes forward with who her daddy is.

    Take two. The gallant Joe the Rep. Who is he?

    Obama heckler Joe Wilson a member of neo-Confederate SCV, fought to keep Dixie flag flying in South Carolina

    And then Joe winds up calling the first black president a liar during a joint congressional session speech. Apologizes and then goes on Fox News to stick by his heckle.

    Only in America. You can’t make this shit up!

  24. 24.

    arguingwithsignposts

    September 10, 2009 at 7:27 pm

    @JGabriel:

    Check out some of the other pages. Wes Clark’s PAC in the hizzouse! $28K

  25. 25.

    cleek

    September 10, 2009 at 7:28 pm

    i’m not a kossack, and i donated on that link.

    maybe i should’ve gone with “Send Joe Wilson a message” ($28K so far) or “Help vet Rob Miller beat Joe Wilson” ($2.4K) or any of the other eight or nine groups he’s getting funds under.

    either way, good for him.

    i hope he’s not a fucking blue dog, though.

  26. 26.

    JK

    September 10, 2009 at 7:29 pm

    Rep. Filner and Rep. Wilson on U.S. Policy Toward Iraq
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9_x_o0LzjA

  27. 27.

    Splitting Image

    September 10, 2009 at 7:30 pm

    I’ve noticed quite a few similarities between the healthcare debate and the gay marriage issue. Chief among them is the fact that many of the Republicans’ opposition is, um, compromised. Yesterday a gay-basher gets caught on the mike talking about his two mistresses, today a free-marketer gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

  28. 28.

    arguingwithsignposts

    September 10, 2009 at 7:30 pm

    Am I the only one who finds it weird that CAPS are black, even though they are part of a link, which is blue?

    Has anyone heard the status of the site redesign?

    Just out of curiosity, when would such a change take place? This place is humming pretty much all day. I’d assume sometime between 3 and 5 a.m. EDT is optimum.

  29. 29.

    General Winfield Stuck

    September 10, 2009 at 7:31 pm

    forgot link for first quote

  30. 30.

    arguingwithsignposts

    September 10, 2009 at 7:33 pm

    @cleek:

    I like the one from the former son of S.C. As someone who lived in the upstate for a while, it pains me that such beautiful country is home to so many stupid fucking racist rednecks.

  31. 31.

    demkat620

    September 10, 2009 at 7:33 pm

    I am just stunned at the total lack of shame from these self professed christians.

    Now, I’m a catholic but my dad’s family is methodist and I got plenty of Vacation Bible school along with my cathechism and I really don’t remember the part where hatin’ on people who don’t look like you followed the way of the Old Rugged Cross.

    I don’t think it was in the Upper Room either.

  32. 32.

    JK

    September 10, 2009 at 7:33 pm

    Dylan Ratigan Provides Rare Fact Check Of Wilson
    h/t http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/10/dylan-ratigan-provides-ra_n_282318.html

  33. 33.

    arguingwithsignposts

    September 10, 2009 at 7:34 pm

    Also, note that ActBlue has raised $100 million since 04. That’s still a drop in the bucket compared to what the K Streeters and their corporate overlords give, but thankful for the ActBlue!

  34. 34.

    kay

    September 10, 2009 at 7:35 pm

    It’s a good piece, so thank you, John Cole. I enjoyed reading it.

    About the author:

    “Adam Weinstein, an Iraq veteran, is a freelance journalist. He is uninsured.”

    I like that idea. I think all health care debaters should state their coverage status, right up front. If I’m to be forced to listen to screeching lunatics, I wanna know if they’re on the government-run option.

  35. 35.

    JK

    September 10, 2009 at 7:35 pm

    Wonderful website
    http://joewilsonisyourpreexistingcondition.com

    OT

    Yosi Sergant, Administration Aide, Asked To Resign: Glenn Beck Strikes Again
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/10/glenn-beck-strikes-again_n_281986.html

  36. 36.

    arguingwithsignposts

    September 10, 2009 at 7:35 pm

    @cleek:

    BTW, I just have to thank you again for the pie filter, which has been put to good use on BOB and Mankewi.

  37. 37.

    Stooleo

    September 10, 2009 at 7:38 pm

    I don’t understand why there isn’t more focus on the fact that all these assholes in congress get free health care. The hypocrisy is stark. Isn’t it their patriotic duty to purchase insurance on the open market. Why do they continue to suck at the government tit. Walk the walk motherfuckers.

  38. 38.

    linda

    September 10, 2009 at 7:38 pm

    @JGabriel:

    yeah, reading thru a couple of papers’ comments last nite, and noted they were coming from across the country. people are pissed. hell, even the comments at milbank’s piece are off the charts.

    i think this may have been the proverbial straw.

  39. 39.

    arguingwithsignposts

    September 10, 2009 at 7:38 pm

    @JK:

    Beck attacked Sergant and the NEA on his Fox News talk show, accusing the agency of propaganda efforts similar to those used by Nazi Germany.

    Beck should know all about propaganda efforts similar to Nazis. Pot/Kettle and all that.

    I don’t remember such a lot of witch hunts after relatively low-level staffers during the last eight years. Am I wrong about that?

  40. 40.

    linda

    September 10, 2009 at 7:39 pm

    @Stooleo:

    do you know if it’s for life – regardless of their senate/house status.

  41. 41.

    Demo Woman

    September 10, 2009 at 7:40 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: I saw that.

  42. 42.

    cleek

    September 10, 2009 at 7:40 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: you’re quite welcome.

    i also have them for Yglesias, Obwi, Ezra and BoingBoing (front page only). they have all saved me dozens of hours i would’ve otherwise spent trying to argue with sociopathic trolls.

  43. 43.

    arguingwithsignposts

    September 10, 2009 at 7:42 pm

    @cleek:

    i also have them for Yglesias, Obwi, Ezra and BoingBoing (front page only). they have all saved me dozens of hours i would’ve otherwise spent trying to argue with sociopathic trolls.

    It would be nice to have one for Ms. McArdle, but I guess the entire site would be a huge discussion of pie if I tried to use it on that one. ;-)

  44. 44.

    Ash

    September 10, 2009 at 7:43 pm

    A lot of those military types, when confronted with this, will try to tell you that Tricare isn’t reeeeeeeeaaaaallllllyyyyyyy government run, since they contract out to insurance companies.

    SO STOP LYING OK WILL YA JESUS CHRIST ON A CRACKER.

  45. 45.

    JK

    September 10, 2009 at 7:46 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Megan McArdle is a useless, clueless wankertarian. It’s long overdue for her to go galt.

  46. 46.

    Cat G

    September 10, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    I don’t know what term(s) to use to describe what appears to be a fairly widespread pathology among many republicans, and certainly for types like Wilson and Duvall and any number of gay bashing “family values” types. Hypocrisy is just not a strong enough word. It’s like their brains and personalities are not integrated/congruent. Some shrink types need to seriously explain this. We’re way past garden variety human frailty.We’re watching seriously pathologic behaviours. I’ve worked with a couple of people who I thought were psycopaths even though I’m certainly not qualified to make that diagnosis. This is seriously baffling.

  47. 47.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    September 10, 2009 at 7:51 pm

    One really trivial problem.

    Can we stop using the term commander in chief to refer to people who aren’t currently in the military, even if they are retired? Just seems like one of those annoying Bush era things, is all.

  48. 48.

    Colette

    September 10, 2009 at 7:57 pm

    @Cat G:

    I don’t know what term(s) to use to describe what appears to be a fairly widespread pathology among many republicans … It’s like their brains and personalities are not integrated/congruent.

    I recommend The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer for an explanation. It’s free online and quite enjoyable and enlightening (as well as depressing).

    *crosses fingers that html tags work and presses “submit”*

  49. 49.

    HyperIon

    September 10, 2009 at 7:58 pm

    @cleek: i hope he’s not a fucking blue dog, though.

    cleek, that is one of the most insightful asides i have read on this site in months. thanks.

  50. 50.

    arguingwithsignposts

    September 10, 2009 at 8:00 pm

    @Amanda in the South Bay:

    Can we stop using the term commander in chief to refer to people who aren’t currently in the military, even if they are retired?

    Huh? Are you talking about referring to the President as commander-in-chief OF retired or non-active military? If so I think I see your point.

  51. 51.

    r€nato

    September 10, 2009 at 8:01 pm

    @Amanda in the South Bay:

    agreed. He’s not MY commander-in-chief, since I am not in the military. He is, however, THE commander-in-chief and he is both THE president and MY president.

    Using ‘commander-in-chief’ is just a euphemism for “Dear Leader”. Another of the language atrocities foisted upon us by the neo-cons.

  52. 52.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    September 10, 2009 at 8:07 pm

    “one of which, apparently, was not a full appreciation of the customs, traditions, and courtesies that mandate respect for one’s commander in chief”

    Wilson is a racist scumbag, but its just that I don’t want to see left wing pundits/writers trying to out do themselves in executive branch adoration. Wilson has no commander in chief that he owes deference to. He had a responsibility to not act like a fuckwad who will drag the GOP down even further by interrupting the speech, but that is a completely different thing. Unless all members of Congress have commanders in chief now?

  53. 53.

    bobbo

    September 10, 2009 at 8:08 pm

    Here we go. Erica Werner, AP, once again proving that all Republicans have to do is lie, and now we have a “debate”:

    However, Wilson is far from alone in thinking that the prohibition in the House bill doesn’t go far enough. For him and other Republicans, the problem is not what’s in the bill, it’s what the bill leaves out. There’s no provision for how the prohibition would be enforced, or any requirement for people to prove they are citizens or legal residents before getting health care benefits. In fact, Democrats on the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees defeated Republican-offered amendments that would have required people to verify their legal status before getting care, with some Democrats saying such requirements would be unnecessarily burdensome for people legally entitled to coverage. Wilson cited the defeat of those two amendments Thursday when he discussed his outburst with reporters.

    Kill me now.

  54. 54.

    Brian J

    September 10, 2009 at 8:10 pm

    This is a great catch by the people at this Newsweek blog. If nothing else, it shows that Pelosi was right not to push for a formal rebuke. There’s bound to be more, but if nothing else comes out, he’s already damaged, possibly beyond repair.

    On a more serious note, does anyone know about this TRICARE program? From what I can tell, it’s more like Medicare and less like the V.A., which doesn’t really make it any less cynical and hypocritical. But if it was with the V.A., it’d truly be government health care, as opposed to government insurance.

  55. 55.

    Demo Woman

    September 10, 2009 at 8:14 pm

    Wilson and his family have government health care, he holds town halls in large retirement communities where they have government health care and he’s afraid of what? The Republican Party is so confusing these days. Decades ago there was a political party called the Republicans that I voted for. These days I don’t even recognize them.

  56. 56.

    Brian J

    September 10, 2009 at 8:14 pm

    Oh yeah, does anyone know how much of a target Wilson’s district was for 2010? Wilson won by less than 10 points in a very conservative district in a very conservative state, but Obama did very well, relatively speaking, in 2008, and it’s not clear that Miller will have anything close to the advantages he enjoyed because of Obama’s campaign. I don’t meant to sound like a sourpuss. I’d love it if this was a target, because even if we end up losing, keeping it competitive now is the only way to make it competitive in the future. Expanding the map now also means that any problem areas in other parts of the country become less significant, as a win here could offset a loss in some other district.

  57. 57.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    September 10, 2009 at 8:16 pm

    I had pretty good experience with Tricare.

    I was a reservist, but spent some time on active duty at DLI, and when I had to go to the hospital (CHOMP) I ended up with some pretty hefty bills which…I didn’t have to pay a dime of, of course. It didn’t hurt that the hospital was pretty familiar with military personnel, and knew how to process everything. I *always* made sure to get stuff like dental and eye exams done when I was on orders.

  58. 58.

    Jorge

    September 10, 2009 at 8:22 pm

    Tricare rocks – as well it should. You can get a 90 day supply of top line prescription pills for $9. Like alot of insurances, there are alot of doctors who don’t take it but there is usually a surplus of doctors who will in areas with a heavy military pressence.

  59. 59.

    Cat G

    September 10, 2009 at 8:25 pm

    @Colette: Thanks for the link.
    @Brian J: My Dad has TRICARE, it functions like Medicare being a “single payer” benefit for those under 65 and supplements Medicare when the individual qualifies for Medicare. It is my impression is that is in sum better than Medicare. It was developed to provide medical benefits to military and their dependents to free up military resources and make health care benefits available to those who are not close to military facilities.

  60. 60.

    JackieBinAZ

    September 10, 2009 at 8:25 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: When BOB’s talking about pie, he’s just downright adorable.

  61. 61.

    IndyLib

    September 10, 2009 at 8:32 pm

    @Brian J:
    What do you want to know about Tri-Care?

    I can tell you that it is undoubtedly a form of government run health care for active duty military and their dependents, that live anywhere near a military base. Our hospital and doctors office are on the base, most of the doctors, some of the nurses and a most of the tech people are uniformed active-duty military. The pharmacy is on the base and staffed by active-duty military. The doctor’s network that is mentioned is used for active duty and dependents who live in places that aren’t near a base, like recruiters. I’m not sure exactly how it functions once you are retired, but if you’re really interested I could find out pretty easily.

  62. 62.

    IndyLib

    September 10, 2009 at 8:34 pm

    Why the heck is my Tricare comment in moderation?

  63. 63.

    IndyLib

    September 10, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    Oh, hell, I bet it’s because I used ph*rm*cy.

  64. 64.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    September 10, 2009 at 8:37 pm

    Behold, everything you wanted to know about TRICARE

    http://www.tricare.mil/

  65. 65.

    Linkmeister

    September 10, 2009 at 8:40 pm

    @Brian J: Tricare’s About page.

    My mother, by virtue of being a widow of a retired Navy officer, has it. It’s government-paid insurance. The docs she sees are private, working for local health institutions. They ask for her Medicare or Tricare card and bill accordingly.

  66. 66.

    PurpleGirl

    September 10, 2009 at 8:56 pm

    A tidbit: When the US occupation leadership drafted/wrote the new Iraqi constitution in 2005 they included a single-payer health system (Article 31) in it…The creeps who weren’t into nation building gave the Iraqis a SINGLE-PAYER health system. It’s good enough for Iraq but not for us domestically. WTF!

  67. 67.

    Brian J

    September 10, 2009 at 9:00 pm

    The reason I was asking was because it seems to be a slight mix of both: in some cases, it employs health care professionals directly, while in others it acts more like an insurer. That’s pretty much what I figured after doing a quick search today, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything. It looks like I didn’t.

  68. 68.

    kay

    September 10, 2009 at 9:00 pm

    @bobbo:

    “For him and other Republicans, the problem is not what’s in the bill, it’s what the bill leaves out. There’s no provision for how the prohibition would be enforced, or any requirement for people to prove they are citizens or legal residents before getting health care benefits.”

    Yeah, except it’s bullshit. You have to provide proof of citizenship now to receive Medicare or Medicaid, and they’re going to run the expansion of benefits through the Medicaid system, for lower-income. It’s a proposal. It doesn’t reach administrative nitty-gritty, which is probably going to have to be enacted by the states, in some fashion.

    The AP reporter should stop taking dictation, get off her ass, and research before she writes. It’s so sloppy, it’s wrong.

    Did she ask why Republicans were offering amendments on a proposal they announced they weren’t voting for in April?

    Because they wanted to pull out the “illegals are getting free stuff!” card in September, that’s why.

  69. 69.

    kay

    September 10, 2009 at 9:12 pm

    @bobbo:

    Is she the health care expert at the AP? That’s GREAT!

    She needs a primer on Medicaid and Medicare.

    June 9, 2006 SMD 06-012

    This is one of a series of letters that provides guidance on the implementation of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) enacted on February 8, 2006. (Pub. L. No. 109-171). Section 6036 of the DRA, Improved Enforcement of Documentation Requirements, creates a new subsection 1903(x) of the Social Security Act (the Act) that requires individuals claiming U.S. citizenship to provide satisfactory documentary evidence of citizenship or nationality when initially applying for Medicaid or upon a recipient’s first Medicaid redetermination on or after July 1, 2006.

  70. 70.

    Alan

    September 10, 2009 at 9:15 pm

    @Linkmeister:

    My mother had TriCare too. Though it acted as a supplemental policy to Medicare, due to her age. Up until she died (last year), her care was superb. Her heart doctors put a pacemaker/defibrillator in three days before she died just so they could change her heart medication.

    My father never reached retirement. He died from a heart attack.

  71. 71.

    General Winfield Stuck

    September 10, 2009 at 9:19 pm

    It is amazing to me how tenaciously the right wing clings to a meme once it’s been fed into the Mighty Wurlitzer. This whole thing about the HCR bill allowing illegal immigrants to get in on a PO. Besides the fact that there is explicit language in the bills that forbid this, it is mind boggling even if there wasn’t/

    First off, illegals have been able to purchase private insurance forever, and there is no outcry to ban this, even though the insurance industry gets government subsidies all the time, including with the recent stim bill.

    And now, the wingnut plan to fix healthcare would give insurance industry oodles more tax payer subsidies for about everything under the sun, including to help the uninsured get covered. No outcry to ban illegal immigrant dollars from going to Aetna. Just good bidness.

    And why the outcry only with the dems govment PO? That Obama and dems have said WILL NOT get subsidies from the gov, except maybe some startup seed money.

    Pure ideology, nothing more, nothing less. Mindless tribalism that is soaked thru with hypocracy, lies, distortions and general skullfuckery. The right wing is going to bring down this country, if we let them.

  72. 72.

    Mayken

    September 10, 2009 at 9:27 pm

    @Jorge: TriCare rocks in SOME places. In California it sux rocks. In college I would go to the UCLA clinic rather than deal with my TriCare coverage. And when my mother had her final fight with cancer… well, let’s just say I am NOT their biggest fan. I believe it is run by HealthNet here in Cali, which is all you really need to know.

  73. 73.

    JK

    September 10, 2009 at 9:39 pm

    Joe Wilson: I’ve Received Encouragement From My Colleagues
    h/t http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/joe-wilson-ive-received-encouragement-from-my-colleagues.php?ref=fpblg

  74. 74.

    Mike G

    September 10, 2009 at 9:45 pm

    Repigs are happy to screw themselves if they’re sure it will also lead to screwing over people they hate.

  75. 75.

    Michael Gass

    September 10, 2009 at 9:47 pm

    The state of South Carolina has turned into one, big, sick joke. You see it in the state’s politicians. You see it in The State newspapers reporting, or more importantly, lack thereof. It was bad enough that the state of South Carolina continually ranked near the bottom of every category, to include unemployment and education, the level of poverty in the state, among other issues. It was bad enough that for decades, without fail, the electorate continually allowed the Republican Party to stay in power despite its inability to deal effectively with these issues. Now, like the Republican Party itself, the state of South Carolina has simply devolved into a national joke.

    It started with State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel’s arrest for buying and distributing cocaine at parties as “party favors”. The City of Charleston police department pushed the investigation off onto the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). SLED, consequently, pushed the investigation off onto the FBI to deal with, and, deal with it they did. Thomas Ravenel was arrested and charged under federal drug statutes and sentencing guidelines. That was quite a boon for Mr. Ravenel since the federal mandatory sentencing was far more lenient than state drug statutes. But, the circus didn’t stop at that point. The State newspaper refused to investigate just who it was at these parties given by Thomas Ravenel who was doing cocaine as “party favors”. Was it other GOP politicians? Was it young college Republicans? The State didn’t ask, and, the citizens of the state of South Carolina never found out.

    When one of the state commission’s “lost” $50 million dollars of taxpayer money, The State never investigated where that money disappeared to, and, because of it, nobody has ever found out. It seemed that SLED was just as ineffectual in finding out. While members of the commission were “embarrassed”, nobody was ever charged with a crime. The money was never found. It was simply allowed to disappear down the rabbit hole and the state of South Carolina was the worse for it.

    When The State was given emails between Gov. Mark Sanford and his mistress in Argentina, The State sat on the story for six months, only “breaking” the story once Gov. Sanford disappeared for a week leaving nobody in charge of the state. Once the questions about the Governor’s whereabouts started, The State then decided to “break” the story. Once that cat was out of the bag, and after it was reported that The State had the emails in their possession, did The State publish the emails. To add insult to injury, it took the Associated Press investigating, not The State newspaper, for the citizens of South Carolina to learn that the Governor illegally used the state aircraft for personal trips. To this day, Governor Sanford refuses to resign, and, The State newspaper still refuses to call for his resignation.

    Then, when President Obama decided to address the school children, the GOP and its supporters called the action “indoctrination”. The State newspaper “reported” that “other districts” were doing it, and, let it end there. This was despite that Ronald Reagan address school children, George H.W. Bush addressed school children, and George W. Bush was reading My Pet Goat with school children the morning of 9/11. No, because there were “concerned parents”, ie, a bunch of ideological bat-shit insane parents that didn’t want their children to hear a Democrat President, school districts in South Carolina decided to let parents keep their children home and The State newspaper’s Editorial Board was silent once again.

    The latest joke is South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson who called President Obama a liar during his address to a joint session of Congress. Rep. Wilson’s rudeness was the least of his transgression, though, since the issue on which he called the President a liar was that the health care reform bill would allow coverage to extend to illegal aliens. In fact, the health care bill specifically states that no federal funds can be used for illegal aliens, making then, Rep. Joe Wilson not only a classless, rude individual, but, the one who is the liar. But, to read The State newspaper, Rep. Joe Wilson’s action is just another “he said/she said” situation as it was “reported” that the reaction to Rep. Joe Wilson’s action was “mixed”. The State’s Editorial Board is, once again, silent.

    It is because of the actions of the GOP these past eight years that the GOP has been relegated to being a regional political Party that is only good to play obstructionist. It is because of its lies that seniors have been terrorized, being told that Democrats wanted to “kill grandma” and health care reform would institute “death panels”. It is because of the GOP and its astroturfing organizations that Town Hall debates turned into screaming matches in which the people spouted these lies despite the facts. It is because of the lack of journalism done by The State that the citizens of South Carolina still do not know the facts, of anything, that has happened in the past, or, that is happening today.

    Rep. Joe Wilson has made a video trying to raise money off of his classless, rude, factually incorrect outburst. He claims that he will not be “muzzled” by Democrat’s as if he was right to call the President a liar, or, that he was right on the issue itself. Obviously, this video was done by Rep. Wilson because his challenger Rob Miller has raised over half a million dollars from his one outburst. Rob Miller did not have to beg for donations, however, as Rep. Wilson is doing.

    In fact, the GOP, its operatives, and its organizations, have called for people to show up to Town Halls to create disorder. They have called for people to show up to Presidential events armed. They have pushed lie after lie trying to terrorize the populace and create a culture of fear. Outside of the 20% that still calls itself Republican, these actions are reprehensible. Inside that 20%, and inside of South Carolina, these bat-shit insane lunatics are still being treated as serious, concerned individuals. The violence that has already erupted is not lost on the rest of us from the attack on the holocaust museum, to the officers shot and killed in Pennsylvania.

    Republican’s believe that these actions will somehow propel them back to power. The reverse is true; they lost power in 2006 and they lost even more in 2008. The people of South Carolina, one of the bastions of conservatism, have turned from solid Republican to a mere majority of Republican’s. Yet, The State newspaper continues to play apologist for the GOP’s actions. It still refuses to act in a responsible manner. It continues to be nothing more than a GOP shill rag even as the GOP lose its support even in South Carolina.

    I have lived in South Carolina for 20 years. This state has simply gone from being one of the worst to being nothing more than a national joke, all thanks to Republican politicians and The State newspaper.

    Michael Gass

  76. 76.

    HRA

    September 10, 2009 at 9:57 pm

    I am a state government worker. I have had the same health insurance provider under the family plan for 23 years. I contribute towards the payment. In 1986, it was free. Now my payment is $144 per month. Last year the insurance company hooked up with a state run program and they are both my providers.
    In 1986 my infant granddaughter was also on my policy since she was living with us. One year later her parents were married and I tried to get her off of my policy for years. I gave up. It was never used for her. The state program that hooked up with my insurance sent a questionnaire. She, a college student, is finally off. Now the state wants to know if I want to purchase a plan for her.
    My husband and I were married in 1984. His employer has coverage that no one buys. It’s too expensive. He is on my plan since 1986. Now I have to send proof that we are married to the state insurer.
    I am not even going to go where my health insurance denied me 3 times for medication.

    Does anyone see where the problem lies within our system?

  77. 77.

    IndyLib

    September 10, 2009 at 10:03 pm

    @Mayken:
    That’s why such a huge number of military retirees live in San Diego County, they use Balboa.

  78. 78.

    Mayken

    September 10, 2009 at 10:21 pm

    @IndyLib: Yeah, I understand it. We took my younger brother down there when he had heart troubles. Great care there.
    Vandenberg AFB, not so much.
    I know a lot of folks are big on military health care but my experience has been largely less than satisfactory, both on base on off.
    I’m still pro-public option, just as long as they don’t let whomever is running TriCare in Cali within a thousand miles of the program. :-)

  79. 79.

    Mike in NC

    September 10, 2009 at 10:37 pm

    South Carolina has turned into one, big, sick joke.

    South Crackerstan, indeed. But the SC House GOP did today vote 61 of 72 to force Sanford to resign.

    I know a lot of folks are big on military health care but my experience has been largely less than satisfactory, both on base on off.

    As a reservist with almost 30 years in, I looked into Tricare when I got laid off six months ago. COBRA was a better deal. Pathetic.

  80. 80.

    tripletee

    September 10, 2009 at 10:44 pm

    @bobbo:

    However, Wilson is far from alone in thinking that the prohibition in the House bill doesn’t go far enough. For him and other Republicans, the problem is not what’s in the bill, it’s what the bill leaves out.

    I actually think this is a fair criticism. For instance, the bill doesn’t explicitly ban medical services for Glenn Beck if he were to be scratched or otherwise injured while raping and killing young girls. Seems like a significant loophole to me.

  81. 81.

    Tom, just Tom

    September 10, 2009 at 10:51 pm

    Joe Wilson’s website is temporarily unavailable due to high traffic. I wonder if he has a facebook?

    http://www.joewilson.house.gov/

  82. 82.

    Mayken

    September 10, 2009 at 11:09 pm

    @Mike in NC: Ouch! Yeah, that is pretty bad. It really shouldn’t be that way. Should be taking better care of our servicemen and women and their families. Ugh!

    Hope you job search is going better than mine, btw. I’m about ready to hang it all and go back to school till the economy gets better.

  83. 83.

    gocart mozart

    September 10, 2009 at 11:26 pm

    Holy shit tripletee, did Glenn Beck really rape and murder a girl in 1990? It must be true because its on the internet and everything. Also, he has never denied it. Why won’t he release the long form statement from the police exonerating him for his crimes? Why the silence? He can clear this controversy up so easily. What is he hiding?

    http://glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com/

  84. 84.

    IndyLib

    September 10, 2009 at 11:45 pm

    @Mayken:
    I’m lucky I guess, every base we’ve lived near has had good healthcare. We don’t use it much, even with 4 kids, though. All 3 of my boys were born in Japan and the navy hospital there was excellent. When I had my twins, they were worried because they were a little early, they were all set up to send them to a Japanese neo-natal if they needed to, but there weren’t any problems, so I didn’t have to experience that. I went through a nasty dysplasia ordeal while we were in San Diego and I have no complaints at all about my care. Great Lakes isn’t as good as what we had in San Diego, in fact they’re currently moving the entire med facility to the VA medical center. We are already sharing the ER with them. I’m guessing going to the ER is now equivalent to going to the ER in a civilian facility as far as wait times go, but we haven’t had to use it so I can’t say for sure.

  85. 85.

    Wile E. Quixote

    September 10, 2009 at 11:47 pm

    My father used to have to go to Charleston, SC on business trips and he hated the place, apparently in the 60s and 70s it was even more of a shithole than it is today. Once a southerner asked him how he liked Charleston and he replied that it was a great pity that William Tecumseh Sherman didn’t have thermonuclear weapons during the Carolinas campaign. I have to say that I agree with him.

  86. 86.

    Mike in NC

    September 11, 2009 at 12:01 am

    For a city in SC, Charleston isn’t so bad. Nice architecture and some great restaurants. But we went to Columbia a few months back and it was what I imagined Alabama or Mississippi to be like in the 50s. Sherman had the right idea: just burn the fucking place to the ground.

  87. 87.

    Free At Last

    September 11, 2009 at 12:04 am

    @Wile E. Quixote:

    Back in the late ’90s I was taking lots of business trips to state capitols, and I have to say that Columbia, SC won the gold medal in suckiness, although silver medalist Jackson, MS was pretty close.

  88. 88.

    Mayken

    September 11, 2009 at 12:24 am

    @IndyLib: Yeah, I understand the quality of health care is often base and/or service branch dependent.
    Maybe my family is just especially unfortunate – the three bases I can recall we got mediocre care. There were times we had some great doctors – the doc who finally diagnosed me with asthma after 3 years of being treated for non-existent bronchitis and pneumonia by her less-competent brothers and sisters is one such stand out – but they always seemed to get transferred out pretty quickly. Weird, too, because at least one base, Wright-Pat had a lot of heavy-duty brass hanging about – you’d think the care would have been better there… Maybe it’s an AF thang? I don’t know.
    I’m really glad your experiences have been better.

  89. 89.

    IndyLib

    September 11, 2009 at 2:36 am

    @Mayken:
    It may be a branch of service thing. Most Navy tours are 3 years per command and a lot of people stay in the same city and just go back and forth between sea duty and shore duty. Hell, there’s only 6 major metro areas you can be stationed at in the States for the Navy that have a large number of active duty personnel. San Diego, Seattle, Jacksonville, Norfolk, and Honolulu and Chicagoland. I know Navy people who have lived in one city for 12-15 years at a stretch.
    From what I’ve seen with the high school friends I have that are Air Force, they get moved a hell of a lot more often than we do.

    There were things I really liked about living in California (the beach, the food, the entertainment), but holy hell, that is one messed up state in a lot of ways. Southern Cali is too crowded, the traffic is horrid and the cost of living was for us unsustainable, and that was with us living in base housing and no out of pocket for health care.

  90. 90.

    zoe kentucky

    September 11, 2009 at 8:06 am

    I find it fascinating that the very people who demonize government-run health insurance are the very people who already HAVE IT FOR LIFE. Why this isn’t raised again I’m not quite sure.

    If the dems really wanted to engage in some good political theatre they’d very publicly distribute a form to republican congresscritters that allows them to opt-out of their government-run, taxpayer-supported health care insurance that they all enjoy. At the very least there should be a campaign that demands that those who oppose health care reform need to give up their government health insurance and go get their own on the free market.

  91. 91.

    Zak44

    September 11, 2009 at 10:30 am

    As a former National Guard officer, Ol’ Addison should have been familiar with the precept was drilled into every GI: That you “salute the uniform, not the man.”

    Then again, maybe he was National Guard like GWB was, in which case, he probably wasn’t around long enough to learn anything.

    PS to Jorge: It’s “a lot.” There is no such word as “alot.”

    Ins’t it ironic that the same right wing that freaks out at the idea of Spanish-speaking people in America so often uses English as if it’s their second language?

  92. 92.

    Bender

    September 11, 2009 at 11:33 am

    This post is just stupid.

    Comparing voluntary health insurance from Wilson’s (or any other soldier’s) employer to mandates and the government option for private citizens, and saying they are exactly the same, is as dumb and/or dishonest as The Zero comparing State Universities to federal health care.

    If those two whiny, ignorant scrunts from the Newsweek blog want government health care, they can damn well serve their country to get it, instead of being slimy, fake journalists, lying about the positions of people far more honorable than they are.

  93. 93.

    Bender

    September 11, 2009 at 11:43 am

    Wilson gets a lot of benefits (one of which, apparently, was not a full appreciation of the customs, traditions, and courtesies that mandate respect for one’s commander in chief).

    And of course, those two lefty Newsweek scrunts are also too stupid to know that Obama isn’t Wilson’s Commander-in-Chief, either.

    So they’re dishonest about the main point, and ignorant about the details — it’s like they are the Patron Saints Of Balloon Juice!

  94. 94.

    Mayken

    September 11, 2009 at 1:36 pm

    @IndyLib: Yeah, Dad was moved a lot during his early career. Much less as he got more established/moved up the ranks. (Having memory of only 3 bases is pretty unusual for an AF brat like me. I guess 2 year postings was and maybe still is the norm.) We came out to VAFB for Dad to work on Slc 6 when Shuttle was going to be launching there, then Challenger disaster derailed the Western launches so he stayed to work on missiles. Longest posting he’d ever had. And despite being really highly valued there, we would have been moved again if he hadn’t decided to retire at his 20. (I think Mom has just a little bit to do with that decision!)
    Anyway, slightly off-topic rambling, but yeah, AF policies such as moving servicemen and women (including doctors) around so much may be the real culprit in why our family experienced mediocre to truly bad care during my dad’s career and after.
    And, yeah, Cali, man, this is one fraked up state. But I’ve been here 20 years now so I’m committed to sticking around to see if we can make it any better.
    Cheers!

  95. 95.

    Ruckus

    September 11, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    @Free At Last:
    Stationed in Charleston 71-72 and have to agree with your dad – a shithole. Did find one pretty good restaurant that I could afford once in a while on enlisted pay but other than that….
    Other than spending time in Daytona and Atlanta that was my main exposure to the south. And it made me want to never, ever live in the south.

  96. 96.

    Ruckus

    September 11, 2009 at 7:40 pm

    @Wile E. Quixote:
    My comment at 95 was tagged wrong. For you not Free at Last. Can’t imagine it was my fault.

  97. 97.

    bill

    September 11, 2009 at 8:18 pm

    FWIW, as a military retiree, I have Tricare, which I pay for. It’s cheap but it ain’t free. Free medical care is only for active-duty troops.

  98. 98.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    September 14, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    This works?

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8

Recent Comments

  • Geminid on Still a BFD (Mar 23, 2023 @ 12:43pm)
  • Anya on Still a BFD (Mar 23, 2023 @ 12:42pm)
  • lowtechcyclist on Still a BFD (Mar 23, 2023 @ 12:41pm)
  • Paul in KY on Thursday Morning Open Thread: Ramadan Kareem! (Mar 23, 2023 @ 12:41pm)
  • BigJimSlade on On The Road – BigJimSlade – Hiking in the Alps, Chamonix and Grindelwald 2022, Männlichen – Wengen, part 2 (Mar 23, 2023 @ 12:40pm)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
Classified Documents: A Primer
State & Local Elections Discussion

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice Events

5/14  The Apocalypse
5/20  Home Away from Home
5/29  We’re Back, Baby
7/21  Merging!

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!