For many weeks now, New Mexico Tea Partiers have been publicizing their planned presentation of an anti-healthcare petition to state Attorney General Gary King. This morning, it finally happened. And the excitement was impalpable.

This wasn’t exactly a storming of the gates. The receptionist provided each Tea Partier (and media representative) with a red “visitor” badge; everyone was then everyone upstairs to their meeting with the AG.

SFR just popped in for a minute to snap a photo. King listened with practiced expressionlessness.

Continue reading »

Dear America,

Now that we’re soon to revel in all the evils of giant socialized government health care (aka “deathcare”), we will no longer have to resort to big-box health care alternatives, such as the ones provided by Target. No more “Plastic Organs” as placebo for failing naturally occurring organs—a result of not having regular check ups. Additionally, Target’s “Youth Storage” for sick children will be virtually useless, now that kids under 19 can’t be excluded from heath insurance plans based on pre-existing conditions. You’ve made your bed, America. Now sleep soundly and without sharp pains in it.

Pro-choice advocates protesting in January.

This January, SFR reported on a rally for abortion rights. Pro-choice groups worried that with a federal health care bill could come a rollback in women’s right and access to abortion and reproductive health care—a possibility that seems to become more likely by the hour.

Yesterday, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., of the now-infamous Stupak Amendment to forbid federal funding for all insurance plans that allow abortion, said he and 11 other Dems won’t vote for health care unless the Senate bill is equally restrictive. Continue reading »

In case there was ever a moment when you weren’t less than two feet from the worst, most expensive coffee in the universe, Starbucks has invented a mobile canister of the crap to be force-fed to passersby on the Plaza.

The paragon of liberal-acceptable capitalism was doing taste tests this weekend to see if people could tell the difference between Starbucks Instant Coffee™® and the company’s regular brewed stuff. And—no way—they couldn’t. People had no idea which was worse. A little tweaking (“People had know idea which was better!”), and this becomes a multimillion dollar ad campaign.

A little tweaking of the silly vessel this poor Starbucks employee is forced to tote around for the prospect of living wage and health care—assuming he’ll be allowed access to the highly touted but practically mythical coverage—and he can be a Ghostbuster for Halloween.

Show us what has left the back of your eyelids burning. Send pictures
of visual trespass and peculiarities to copyeditor [at] sfreporter.com,
subject “eyedropper.”

The Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics have released an extremely timely and thorough expose,
“Curious Clusters“, involving “hidden” Congressional campaign contribution bundling by health care special interests. Here’s their 1-2-3 on the investigation:

The investigation identified outside lobbyists that donated to the same members of Congress as their clients, and strongly suggests that special interest giving is enhanced by the K Street contributors they hire…

There is no indication that the extra giving by lobbyists was part of a planned effort by the healthcare firms to solidify their support among key members of Congress. But whether coordinated or not, the newly-found clusters of lobbyist giving clearly illustrate the intensity of the full-court press that the industry is currently waging on Capitol Hill.

In all, 61 members of Congress—39 in the Senate, 22 in the House, 38 Democrats and 23 Republicans—got money from 10 or more outside lobbyists whose healthcare or health insurance industry clients also contributed to their campaigns.

Sen. Max Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee chairman who recently voted down two public-option amendments, was the third largest recipient after Republicans Sen. John McCain and Sen. Mitch McConnell. (click the chart to enlarge). Of the 61 members, only two New Mexican names turn up: Sen. Tom Udall and Rep. Martin Heinrich, both Democrats.

According to the research, Udall accepted $2,250 from two health-related organizations—Roche Holdings and UnitedHealth—which was then “enhanced”  ten-fold by $22,700 in donations from 21 lobbyists. Heinrich accepted $2,250 from Amgen, which was then amplified by $9,850 from 11 lobbyists.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, one of the original “gang of six” assigned to hash out a health reform bill and one of the eight Senate Finance members to vote for both public option amendments, was not one of the 61 Congressmen. Nor was Rep. Ben R. Lujan or Rep. Harry Teague.