According to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, a substantial majority of doctors support a public option; add in the number who prefer single-payer, and the status quo loving group is a small minority.
This post from Orcinus really captures the true horror of Canadian health care.
Most notably, it explains the connections between good privacy laws and good health care.
The ultra-rightist mob had a demonstration in DC this weekend. Although organizers predicted a huge turnout, and some partisans claimed over a million, reports are that there was in fact something in the mid-five figures. So it wasn't a big crowd by DC standards — maybe 30-50% the size of the anti-war rally in 2005 that got almost no media coverage.
This rally, though, got front-page treatment. In addition to having a cable network as a sponsor, this group of protesters had two other advantages: they're overwhelmingly white, and they're scary. Anti-war protesters of this decade have worked within the system, and mostly it has ignored them. (Contrast to the anti-globalism protesters, who have had a violent fringe, and have enjoyed violent police preemption and reaction.) The teabaggers act in a way that makes you think shouting at meetings is only the start.
(Source: Josh Nelson)
Imagine if anti-Iraq-war protesters had carried signs with such a whiff of violence? The media would have crucified them as the second coming of the SLA, Baader-Meinhof, and the Weathermen. But these guys? Salt of the earth, of course.
Rob Miller is running for Congress in SC-02 against Rep. Joe Wilson, the yahoo who heckled President Obama during the healthcare speech. Mr. Miller got within a few percent two years ago despite a shoestring budget that resulted in his being outspent by a large ratio.
That's unlikely to be a problem this time. In the less than 48 hours since the (inaccurate) “You Lie” heard round the nation, ActBlue's Rob Miller campaign has raised over $800,000 from more than 22,000 donors.
And the number is still growing.
This is not a solicitation to donate to Mr. Miller — I don't actually know anything about him other than he's not Joe Wilson…which is almost, but not quite, enough. The public reaction, though, is more than impressive. I'm told the average contribution is $36 and the median contribution is $25, so it's a genuine grass-roots phenomenon.
Jotwell Blenderlaw
