((this is reprinted, with permission, from a DailyKos diary by nyceve. Nyceve is one of the most astute advocates for universal health care in the blogosphere. You can read her many thoughts on the subject here. California will be a health care battleground in 2007, so it’s important to keep the pressure on. – promoted by dday)

As I write this, the Republican governor of California lies in a hospital bed receiving V.I.P. treatment for a broken leg the result of a skiing injury suffered several days ago at his palatial estate in Sun Valley.

Schwarzenegger to undergo surgery in L.A. today on broken leg
By Peter Nicholas, Times Staff Writer
December 26, 2006

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital Sunday in preparation for surgery early this morning on his right leg – broken in a skiing accident in Sun Valley, Idaho, the governor’s office announced.

Schwarzenegger’s orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Kevin Ehrhart, said in a prepared statement that the surgical procedure planned for the governor was “relatively common” and was expected to last two hours.
link

Allow me to contrast the treatment Mr. Schwarzenegger  received to what you or I would get–if we were lucky, and if we had insurance.

Notice the Governor was admitted to the hospital on Sunday, which happened to be December 24th?  Now note that his surgery was actually performed on December 26th–two long days later.

You think you or I would be invited to spend two days malingering in a very expensive hospital bed if we needed orthopedic surgery?

But hey what’s ten thousand here or there, he’s the governor.

When was the last time, you knew anyone admitted to the hospital two days in advance of a surgical procedure? Doesn’t happen–unless you’re a government official–say Denny Hastert, Dick Cheney or Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Just sayin.

Mr. Schwarzenegger has said that providing healthcare to the 6.5 million uninsured Californians is a priority. He is promising that the State of the State speech will explain how he will move the Golden State closer to universal healthcare in the coming year.

The Orange County Register, lies at the heart of one of the most conservative regions in the United States, Orange County, California. Hence the series of editorials on the healthcare crisis in California becomes a delightful preview of the right wing noise machine in action. This is but a taste of what’s to come. The smears, fear and deceive campaign against universal healthcare we should expect heading into the 2008 Presidential election.  And today, the venom is directed toward the Republican governor of California.

Universal healthcare will result in huge tax increases and there is already too much regulation of the insurance and healthcare industries:

The governor should avoid any proposal that can be implemented only by imposing new taxes, which always seem to metastasize and never shrink. The current vogue among “reformers” is to tout Massachusetts’ new universal health care law, which originally was advertised to cost “only” $125 million. But soon after its adoption this year, a bond measure revealed the cost to be $276 million instead.

. . .It is the over-regulation of medical professionals, facilities, technologies and health insurance that price quality health care beyond the reach of consumers.link

Universal coverage will cause insurance premiums to skyrocket.

The governor should avoid like the plague any calls to require insurers to accept every applicant, regardless of risk. By forcing insurance companies to insure people they otherwise would not, several states devastated their markets in the 1990s. When this regulation was combined with restrictions on pricing premiums according to risk, it drove “numerous insurance carriers out of the market, and increased premiums beyond the reach of all but the wealthy,” according to “What States Can Do to Reform Health Care,” a recent book published by Pacific Research Institute.

. . .Rather than rely on more federal – or state – taxes, the governor should break away from the Nanny State mindset and work to deregulate the industry so market forces can bring costs under control. As long as someone else pays, the people selling health care, and the people receiving health care always will demand more. When the third party paying for it is the government, there is even less incentive to say “No.”

And most appalling, health care is not a right. And I fear we’ll be hearing a lot about socialism, communism, Cuba and long waiting lines.

Health care is a desirable commodity. But it’s dangerous stuff to elevate it to a “right.”Health care is a “right” in communist Cuba. And that’s one reason Cuba’s economy is abysmal. Health care is a “right” in socialized Canada. And that’s the reason in Canada treatment is rationed, and people must wait months for surgery.

As we all know, the Republican/AHIP lies and misinformation noise machine exists to maintain the for-profit status quo.

Here’s the truth about single-payer health care. You can read everything you need to know on the web site of Physicians for a National Health Plan.  link

Single-payer national health insurance is a system in which a single public or quasi-public agency organizes health financing, but delivery of care remains largely private.

Currently, the U.S. health care system is outrageously expensive, yet inadequate. Despite spending more than twice as much as the rest of the industrialized nations ($7,129 per capita), the United States performs poorly in comparison on major health indicators such as life expectancy, infant mortality and immunization rates. Moreover, the other advanced nations provide comprehensive coverage to their entire populations, while the U.S. leaves 46 million completely uninsured and millions more inadequately covered.

One final thought. I’d like to highlight a comment Elizabeth Edwards made yesterday.

This thread is exactly right (24+ / 0-)

Putting a face on the victims of poverty or racism is so essential. And it is, if I may say so, what John does so well: tell someone’s story, with honesty and compassion. It is what he has been doing for his adult life.

Join me at http://blog.johnedwards.com

by elizabethedwards on Thu Dec 28, 2006 at 01:37:26 PM PST

The reason I mention this is because, like John Edwards, I believe putting a human face on pain and suffering is the way to make the American people sit up and demand change.

While George Skelton’s latest column, which Brian linked to below, contains a fascinating revelation regarding a political lesson the governor learned from his wife — all I’ll say is weiner schnitzel is involved — the part that really caught my eye was some interesting analysis on Skelton’s part on the subject of Schwarzenegger’s ambitions (or not) beyond the governor’s mansion.

He starts out by summarizing the conventional wisdom: that Arnold will challenge Sen. Boxer in 2010.

Does the centrist governor envision personally taking his bipartisan message to the U.S. Senate in 2010, when he’ll be termed out? Top advisors are spreading the word that he might run against Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, who’s up for reelection that year.

But then goes on to debunk it. Follow me…

I figure it’s all spin. The advisors fear that people will start regarding Schwarzenegger as irrelevant if his political career seems to be nearing an end – as if anybody with the power to sign and veto bills can ever be irrelevant. Also, they want to keep those special-interest donations flowing into his political kitty.

Interesting point. Certainly when Arnold appeared on Meet The Press after the election, I was convinced the guy is running for higher office. But maybe he was just really only selling his own relevance. Or it could be a combination of the two pending a decision down the road.

“My next move will be totally in Maria’s hands,” he says. “Not mine. Because I promised her the next move will not be without her having a big say. I think it’s incredible how much time and effort the family has put in with me doing this. So I’ve got to respect that.”

And Skelton’s instinct as to what her decision will be?

Regardless, nobody I’ve talked to can picture Schwarzenegger as just one of 100 senators, and a junior member at that. Moreover, his wife wouldn’t be happy. Washington’s a long way from Brentwood.

THis will be a quick one.  Not a whole lot going on, but there were a few things of note.  The blogs are pretty quiet so a bunch of MSM stories here.

Teasers: Sacto is sooo bipartisan, Juan Arambula, redistricting, $200 million for the FTB, new laws, new schedules, new year.  And oh yeah, the 49ers.

The CA Majority Report has the scoop on Juan Arambula (D-Fresno) announcing his intention to not seek re-election in 2008. He’s not termed out until 2010, but opted not to seek his final possible term.  Steve Maviglio says the seat is safe for Dems with Fresno City Councilman Henry T Perea.  Perea looks to be a solid candidate, he previously worked with Nicole Parra on Congressman Cal Dooley’s staff, and the seat is generally a fairly safe D seat, at least for Fresno.

Frank at the CPR also noticed the LA Times article on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s payments to staffers from campaign coffers, and calls for “Hiram Johnson” reform on the practice.  Hiram would likely go all railroad on the big money.  Or something like that.

Nik Bonovich argues that “communities of interest” for redistricting must be real communities of interest.

On the MSM side, the SF Chron reports that a bunch of gay rights legislation will go into effect Jan 1.  Most notably, domestic partners can now file state taxes jointly.  Other notable laws include the requirement for state contractors to offer DP benefits and protections against discrimination in housing.

Many more laws go into effect on Jan 1 (SF Chron), including animal protection measures, drug discounts, and most notably, the minimum wage will go up by 75 cents from $6.75 to $7.50.

Some taxpayer paid a $200 MILLION settlement with the Franchise Tax Board almost singlehandedly keeping the state’s deficit under $100 million.  That’s a lot of money and one seriously rich person who decided to come clean during the state’s amnesty program.

Oh hmm, it seems the 49ers might not be THAT opposed to staying in SF, as long as they get a big payout. I’m really quite sick of cities giving sports teams money.  They should go where it is profitable for them and cities should provide only the support they would offer to any other business.  I hope both SF and Santa Clara hear that.

In a column that I missed on Xmas day, George Skelton argues that we should be exporting Sacto’s bipartisanship to DC.  Um, I really, really appreciate George Skelton, but I think this column is a bit off.  Mostly because Mike Villines is threatening to blow the place up if people don’t pay attention to his GOP minority in the Assembly.

School districts are giving longer winter breaks to help families who take long vacations, typically to visit family in other countries.