Comments on: What would Julia Child say?

By: money

money — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:10:26 +0000

@Kaylee, you look like you know what you are talking about. Would you mind sending me your e-mail? I would like to speak more with you.

By: muscle relaxer

muscle relaxer — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:40:17 +0000

You need think about it. Despite the emails, the overwhelming evidence showing global warming is happening hasn’t changed.
“The e-mails do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus . . . that tells us the Earth is warming, that warming is largely a result of human activity,” Jane Lubchenco, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told a House committee. She said that the e-mails don’t cover data from NOAA and NASA, whose independent climate records show dramatic warming.

By: Anita

Anita — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:14:17 +0000

We’ve noticed comments coming from your IP address that use different names and email addresses. This practice is known as sockpuppetry. It is a bannable offense because it undermines the trust required for honest conversation that we work to nurture on our blog. If we notice another instance of sockpuppetry from your IP address, we will ban comments from that IP address. Sockpuppetry violates our website’s Terms of Use. Thank you for understanding.

By: Patriot

Patriot — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:23:29 +0000

@Donna Norton, Please cite the pages and lines of the bill that support your statement. It is in direct contradiction to the citations that I wrote, which prove that this proposed health care is not an option. In case you and others did not read the specific citations yet:

1. Force individual Americans to obtain health insurance, whether they want it or not. This is not an option for any U.S. citizen. (Pg. 167, lines 18-23 — ANY individual who doesn’t have acceptable healthcare according to the government will be taxed 2.5% of income.)

2. Force businesses to pay the premium, for either the private plan (Pg. 144, lines 5-8) or the govt. plan (Pg. 144, lines 9-17). This is not an option for the business. This will make the smallest businesses fold first. Larger businesses will not be able to compete with low premiums that the government will command just by sheer numbers. Private insurance companies will fold, and the only insurance left will be the government plan (or maybe concierge medicine for the uber-wealthy, like what Congress uses). It is predicted that this will happen in as little as 2 –3 years, maybe take as long as 4 – 5 years.

3. Force every business to pay taxes for the government plan. This is not an option. (Pp. 149-150, lines 16-24 — any employer with payroll $400k and above pays 8% tax on all payroll, all the way down to businesses with payroll $251k – $400k pays 2 – 6% tax on all payroll.)

4. Force every business to auto-enroll each employee in the cheapest plan (i.e., govt. plan) if the employee hasn’t actively selected one. Not an option. (Pp. 145-148).

5. Force private insurance out of business (i.e., only govt. plan will be left). (Pg. 151, lines 7-19 — The government can “induce” individuals to take the govt. plan instead of the private one.)

6. Prevent companies from suing the government for monopolizing health care, which, as we all know, is all about eliminating options. (Pg. 124, lines 24-25 — No company can sue the government on price fixing. No judicial review against govt. monopoly.)

This doesn’t even scratch the surface. There are items that make government direct access to your financial accounts MANDATORY. NO OPTION. And NO JUDICIAL REVIEW ALLOWED when government sets payment rates (Pg. 124).

So, please, cite the parts of this plan that support your assessment.

The public option is called a public option because the name is designed to get the legislation passed. Many bills are named the OPPOSITE of the authors’ intent, a common marketing tactic. If this program truly is for those who don’t have insurance, why are the rest of us regulated?

By: Donna Norton

Donna Norton — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:44:15 +0000

@Julie, I was concerned about fixing the Baucus bill and baking a Betty Crocker cake for my son’s 7th birthday yesterday (in the shape of a caterpiller, no less,) so the connection worked for me, but I’m sure it didn’t work for everyone. Thanks for the feedback!

By: Donna Norton

Donna Norton — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:41:34 +0000

@Patriot, the public option is just that, an option. If you have employer sponsored coverage now, you wouldn’t even be able to choose the public option under current versions of the bill, let alone be forced to accept it.

By: Patriot

Patriot — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:40:05 +0000

The recipe analogy would be great if we assume that everybody could choose whether or not they want to eat cake! But the public option shoves cake down our throats! (H.R. 3200, page 145 lines 15-17, page 149 lines 16-24, page 150 lines 9-13, page 167 lines 18-23.)

By: Serena Eisenberg

Serena Eisenberg — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:32:13 +0000

This is really helpful and informative, Donna. I’m not much of a baker, either, but I do care about healthcare for kids, and I appreciate your guidance…

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:39:00 +0000

Are we out of ideas to draw attention to this topic?

I am a baker and yes, love Julia Child as much as the next person – but as far as I know she did not have a public nor professional opinion on healthcare. She wasn’t even a mother (although I did think of her as a mother figure in my kitchen).

Love the message (YES we need a public option) but the message is lost when we drag poor Julia into the fray.

When you are ready to talk about the quality (or lack thereof) of food in the country, then yes, by all means – invoke the spirit of Ms. Child.