The only way the Chamber of Commerce can get people to agree with them on health care? Hooters.
Posted on December 16th, 2009 by Jason Rosenbaum in Profits Before People
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The insurance industry's allies - in this instance, the ultra-right wing Chamber of Commerce - seems to have run into some tough times. It looks like the only way they can get people to get involved with their anti-health care campaign is to offer free gift certificates to Hooters:
Online ads have popped up lately, telling readers that they can win a $150 Amex Gift Card for use at Hooters, if they complete a survey about other offers. One of those urges them to sign up for "free emails" from the Chamber of Commerce, which will explain "how to protect your family's future and bring common sense solutions to the health-care debate." In other words, getting involved with the Chamber's campaign against reform. These "incentivized ads" appear to be the favored new tactic of lobbying groups looking to generate the appearance of grassroots support for their positions.
This is of a piece with the astroturfing Blue Cross Blue Shield, AHIP, and the rest of the insurance industry is running, giving away fake "money" in popular online games like Mafia Wars and Farmville in exchange for sending anti-reform letters to Congress:
"Get Health Reform Right" has been caught offering Facebook users this "virtual currency" if they submit a form telling their Congressional representative "to get health reform right."
There's a lot of real fury out there right now about health reform. A ton of it is coming from the left. The right-wing, a handful of whom ironically showed up at the Senate yesterday for a "die-in," has to pay people to support their messages and get involved with their campaigns.
This tactic is one only the insurance industry, run by Wall Street businessmen, could endorse: If you can't get the people on your side for real, pay them to do it.
A personal note:
My English mother-in-law told me once how her father lost his job in England in the 1930s. The man had an "insurance book" for the Royal Liver Insurance Company (Liverpool, England). He would bicycle around town collecting 'twopence' or 'sixpence' from working families for their medical insurance. When the British government brought in National Health, he lost his job.
My mother-in-law, a child at the time, asked him if he was angry at the government for doing him out of a job. His reply was roughly: "well, it's tough on blokes like me, but we can find other work, and this is best for the country."
Now, what is missing here in America about health insurance reform? It is that kind of patriotism.
Senator McCain said during the recent presidential campaign that "We have the best health care system in the world."
Well, for a man with a millionaire heiress wife and access to the GOVERNMENT health care sysytem provided to Senators, that may be true.
The rest of us deal with insurance bureaucrats telling us what care we can get, and from which medical service provider, and then we get bills that nearly bankrupt us because the services our doctor said we needed aren't covered.
I am not questioning the man's patriotism, but he may not remember anymore what it is like for the rest of us. He has, after all, spent his life with various forms of government health care (Navy, Veterans Administration and Senate).
His colleagues in the Senate are also wealthy, insulated people. I am glad they have found good careers. But shouldn't they have a thought for the American people once in a while?
Please feel free to share this with your colleagues. And I support the following letter.
Jason, I think we're beyond this type of argument at this point. It's time for the basic structure of this bill to change significantly. The exchanges, mandates and subsidies have to go. HCAN needs to take of the public option blinders and start dealing with what we have here. I came over to your blog because I thought surely now HCAN has some plan to deal with this disaster. If all you can do is make fun of the Chamber, you're months behind. Been there. Done that. We have much bigger worries at this point.
Well, hey, nothing will get done while the Republicans keep baiting the average Joe Plumber with the propaganda machine and fearmongering. Nothing like pushing the family in this while providing free T&A at the same time. Ask Vitter and his friends.
By the way, it's backward thinking that is creating all the problems with this, but it seems America likes to wallow in worry and fear while solutions are there for forward-thinkers. Hence the amount of time it has taken for ANYTHING to be started to solve this problem. But while the Right pushes having a brew and a body part or 2 in your face, the Left is working on the dilemma.
A little off topic, but what ever happened to the CBO score on the medicare buy-in idea? Did it ever come out? Or did it somehow mysteriously disappear - into a secret bunker, perhaps?
We're still expecting to see it any day…
After today I changed my screen name. This is just proof that unlike industrialized countries that used decency and intelligence to enact health care for all, the good ol' US of Greed uses that Almighty Dollar and the Bible of Forget The Less Fortunate in that DC Church of Do As I Say, Not As I Do to screw the American people. Thank you GOP! You have proved my point that money is the god you worship!