Comments on: Spratt makes NRO list of swing Democrats

By: Philip

Philip — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:10:34 +0000

Sad day. What’s sad is that much needed true reform is nowhere to be found in this bill. Just a political agenda with little thought to the actual merits, just “getting something passed”.

I agree with Kristoff’s editorital that it is all about access. Problem is, this bill won’t really help. Through one law or another, hospitals are already required to see all patients. They can’t turn them away due to ability to pay. So, those horror stories don’t apply there. Only providers that can turn away patients for any reason are . . . guess . . . no wait for it . . . that’s right, doctors. Medicaid, no dice. Low paying insurance, no thanks. Slow pay insurance, maybe next year.

So, query, how can a bill that completely ignores the fact that physician’s can and will continue to deny treatment to patients with no or poor coverage increase access to care?

Interesting. I guess we will soon find out.

By: Elliott

Elliott — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 02:31:01 +0000

Thanks. I’ll try the email address. I am in his district. I’ll also try the phones.

By: Brad Warthen

Brad Warthen — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:03:59 +0000

I went out to my car and got my laptop to do that. Boy, it takes a long time to connect to the free wi-fi in a McDonald’s.

Ah, well. Time to head on down the road …

By: Brad Warthen

Brad Warthen — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:02:48 +0000

Here are numbers for…

his Washington office:
Phone: (202) 225-5501
Fax: (202) 225-0464

his Rock Hill office:
Phone: (803)327-1114
Fax: (803) 327-4330

his Sumter office:
Phone: (803) 773-3362
Fax: (803) 773-7662

his Darlington office:
Phone: (843) 393-3998
Fax: (843) 393-8060

Hope that helps.

By: Kathryn Fenner

Kathryn Fenner — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:55:07 +0000

@ Elliott–It first struck me during the Reagan regime–how many people of low-to-moderate means favored the policies that favored the wealthy.

I think maybe people have lost sight of the concept that sometimes freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose. They have nothing, but goldarnit, they’re free.

I just watch the second episode from the second season of This American Life on Netflix. An Iraqi sets up a booth “Ask an Iraqi” in Savannah and elsewhere in the South and has many interesting conversations. During one, he is talking to an older white man who informs him that the Iraqia are happier now because “they are free.” The Iraqi, who has had relatives killed by Saddam, but who also has seen the war scatter his family, suggests that nightly curfews and being afraid to leave your house is not his idea of being free. The white guy jus repeats his assertion that the Iraqis are better off now because they are “free.”

By: Brad Warthen

Brad Warthen — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:00:24 +0000

You’re probably better able to find it right now. I’m at a McDonald’s in Birmingham, Ala., looking at this on my Blackberry.

Near as I can tell from here, you can e-mail him using the form at this address, but only if your zip code is in his district: https://sprattforms.house.gov/spratt/forms/contact-form.shtml

That’s all I can see from here on this little screen…

By: Elliott

Elliott — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:47:09 +0000

Spratt’s mailbox is full. (I could not leave a message.) Is there an email address?

By: Elliott

Elliott — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:20:55 +0000

Spratt’s line is busy. I will keep trying. I’m for the bill. What is the matter with these people from SC who need health care (I have good health care insurance) who are against this? I cannot follow their logic. Do they truly believe the right-wing propaganda? Most of these people seem to have good judgment otherwise. What causes them to vote against their own self interests?

By: Bart

Bart — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:06:24 +0000

Thanks for the list and phone numbers. Know what I will be doing tomorrow.