Obama’s health care plan is good for everyone, and can even serve to stimulate the economy, but in many cases it might be better to boil it down for eager parents who are worried about their childrens’ futures.

While adults twiddle their thumbs and the free-marketeers scrabble for government bailouts with one face and then tell us that universal anything is socialism with another, the rest of us have seen the greedy, self-mutilating monster (no, the market is not self-correcting, sorry Friedman) that the free-market is not just in the news every day but in the faces of the people who have gone bankrupt or even died because they can’t pay their medical bills, can’t afford live saving medical care or preventative treatment, the health care of children in America continues to suffer from the crushing SCHIP blockade from congressional Republicans just over a year back.

The American people know where their interests are best served, and frankly, they’re not served by people who think that health care is a challenge that’s “too big” for America, or that the well being of their families is “too expensive,” and should be left up to the types of profit-driven markets that brought you the credit crunch.

Over at MainStreet.com, there’s an excellent dissertation on how Obama’s planning to hit the ground running by bringing SCHIP back to the table, fully funding it, and proving his commitment to America’s health care by putting our children’s health and livlihoods first.

Cook thinks that a large energy plan will be in the works for Obama in the upcoming days, as will the beginnings of healthcare reform. But, don’t expect to see a huge ground shift when it comes to healthcare. “The Democrats learned their lesson with the Clintons,” says Cook, referring to President Bill Clinton’s failed 1993 healthcare plan that was prepared in secret within the White House, and dropped on Congress all at once. “Obama will want to roll things out in small increments.”

On his Web site, Obama’s healthcare plan offers six ways towards new, affordable health care. One of them is the expansion of SCHIP, or the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan, which President George W. Bush vetoed in September of 2007 after it had passed the House (265-159) and the Senate (67-29). “SCHIP is a great example of incremental change,” says Cook. “It’s something that’s already in the pipeline and should be easy to get out.” If Obama chooses, he should have no problem passing SCHIP through Congress and signing it into law on his desk.

Obama’s nomination of Tom Daschle to head up the massive Department of Health and Human Services is more proof of his commitment to health care and real medical research and advancement. Read the whole article below.

[ How Obama's Healthcare Plan will Help Your Kids ]
Source: Main Street

It’s been a little while since the election, and I have to admit that I’m still thrilled. Even with the downturn in the economy, the American auto industry in turmoil and the prospect that congress not willing to do anything about it (I’m personally a fan of taking the money out of the existing $700 billion TARP bailout), things may be looking bad. But there’s more than enough proof that things are already starting to turn up.

Hillary Clinton is looking to be the Secretary of State, something that will all but certainly improve international opinion of America abroad, Obama’s pick for Treasury sends stocks soaring, it’s been looking more and more like good news come January.

But that being said, I have asked myself: when Bush is gone, whatever will we do? We’ll have an intelligent person in the White House now, so there’ll be no silly blunders, no mispronunciation of words, no absolute disregard for seriousness or civility. And it’s all of those things on top of his horrific policies that burned my ass so much that I had to raise my voice against it.

They say that if you’re not outraged you’re not paying attention, and when I was outraged I had to do something, and getting active was the way I dealt with it. Joining the rising chorus of voices opposing Bush’s policies and those of his cronies, shouting about injustice, hatred, and our eroding civil liberties in the face of a senseless war and deteriorating domestic landscape was all I could do. And I’m not the only one.

But nowhere did I benefit more from the First Fool’s reign of error than when I started “The Rant”. Writing it has been a joy that I can’t even describe and I’ve made thousands of friends worldwide. I never imagined it would get the response it seems to be getting but I’m truly grateful for it. And to think that I owe it all to the nasty, half-witted little frat boy who at this very minute, is tucked away under his quilts, sleeping soundly in the Executive Mansion. Life is kind of funny that way, isn’t it?

Yeah, I owe an awful lot to George W. Bush. Me ‘n’ George have been on one hell of a journey together. The awful irony is the fact that the moment the disgusting little bastard breathes his final breath in the infirmary of the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kentucky, he will probably have lived his entire life not knowing that Tom Degan ever existed. That doesn’t really matter, though. What matters is that you and I and our children – and the great grandchildren who will never even know our names – will know the name of George W. Bush. The American people will be living with the strychnine-like aftertaste of his legacy for generations.

But not me, man! This imbecilic man has given me a direction and a purpose that I had previously been lacking. His failure has tuned out to be my ultimate triumph. In a very weird and disturbing way that I can barely articulate, George W. Bush really is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I owe the bastard — BIG TIME!

Thank you, Georgie.

Indeed, thank you!

[ My Shameful Confession: I Owe Bush Everything ]
Source: Alternet