So, maybe Adam is right as he so cavalierly put it, he’s really not for me and I don’t think I am alone.

You can see the video of the performance HERE.

For his part, Lambert made no Monday-morning apologies for the spectacle, telling “Access Hollywood,” “You know, honestly, if I offended some people … it’s apples and oranges. I’m not an artist that does things for every single person. … I believe in artistic freedom and expression, I believe in honoring the lyrics of a song, and those lyrics aren’t really for everybody either.”

Besides, he said, shock is fun. “Shock rock is like something that existed, for example, like in the ’70’s, Alice Cooper … David Bowie, you had artists that liked to push the envelope and that’s what made them so fresh. I think that surprise is part of entertainment. I think that it keeps people watching. It’s fun, it makes you laugh and it should be that way. And if it made you uncomfortable, maybe I’m not for you.” SOURCE

“If it’s gonna be edited, then in a way that’s discrimination,” he told The Los Angeles Times after show when asked if he thought the most extreme moments would be edited out for the West Coast broadcast, which they subsequently were.

“I don’t mean to get political, but Madonna, Britney [Spears] and Christina [Aguilera] weren’t edited. It’s a shame. Female entertainers have been risque for years. Honestly, there’s a huge double standard.”

Lambert added “the energy felt good” during the performance.

“Adrenaline is a crazy thing to feel,” Lambert told The Times. “That’s what I love about performing. I’m hoping people were entertained. For those who weren’t, maybe I’m not their cup of tea.”

According to Lambert, he was just trying to have “a good time” with his performance.

“I’m just trying to have a good time onstage,” he told The Times. “It’s a sexy song. It’s 2009, it’s time to take more risks. It’s about entertainment. People want to be surprised. It’s too bad that people are so scared.” SOURCE

Just what is a public option?

A public option is a government health insurance program much like Medicare but which would be open to anyone who cares to opt into the it.  Nobody would be required to choose the public option over private health insurance.

Why do we need a public option?

“In many states small insurers compete against one another in the individual market to insure only low-risk, healthy individuals. They refuse to insure Americans with pre-existing conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma, cancer, or diabetes and those who have ever taken certain prescription drugs—and they create barriers to needed care for those who are insured.

In at least 21 states, one carrier controls more than half the market. More than half of the market is controlled by two carriers in at least 39 states. In 2007, a survey conducted by the American Medical Association found that in more than 95 percent of insurance markets, a single
commercial carrier controlled at least 30 percent of the insurance market. “¹

So, the greatest need for a public option is due to lack of competition.  Profit driven health insurance has one goal and that is to produce a larger profit yearly for the stockholders and consumers are the one’s who lose.  Insurance company CEO’s receive huge salaries while insurance companies routinely deny benefits to increase their profit margin.  The video below sheds more light on the problem of CEO’s salaries and denied benefits:

Is it any wonder that insurance companies have spent millions to fight health care reform?  Maybe you don’t feel this is a problem for you but what if it became personal…..what if it was your loved one denied benefits?

Obama gets boost from American Medical Association

Posted: September 9th, 2009 09:29 AM ET

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Just hours before President Obama speaks out on health care reform in front of a joint session of Congress, the president has secured an important boost.

The American Medical Association, in an “Open Letter to President Obama and Members of Congress,” signed by the group’s president, is urging Congress to reach a deal on health care reform

“On behalf of America’s physicians and their patients, we strongly urge you to reach agreement this year on health system reforms,” says the AMA President, Doctor J. James Rohback.

On its website, the AMA describes itself as the largest medical association of physicians in the nation, representing physicians from every state work together to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.

September 8, 2009

Open Letter to President Obama and Members of Congress

As our nation’s elected leaders, you have an historic opportunity to improve the health and well-being of the American public.

On behalf of America’s physicians and their patients, we strongly urge you to reach agreement this year on health system reforms that include the following seven critical elements:

• Provide health insurance coverage for all Americans
• Enact insurance market reforms that expand choice of affordable coverage and eliminate denials for pre-existing conditions
• Assure that health care decisions are made by patients and their physicians, not by insurance companies or government officials
• Provide investments and incentives for quality improvement, prevention and wellness initiatives
• Repeal the Medicare physician payment formula that will trigger steep cuts and threaten seniors’ access to care
• Implement medical liability reforms to reduce the cost of defensive medicine Streamline and standardize insurance claims processing requirements to eliminate unnecessary costs and administrative burdens

The challenges in our health care system are many and complex.Enactment of the above policies will create the foundation for a stronger, better performing health care system, improve access to affordable, high-quality care and reduce unnecessary costs. Further, those who are currently insured, including Medicare patients, and those who are uninsured will all benefit from greater security and stability.

The American Medical Association and our individual members are working hard to improve health care delivery and quality through a broad range of initiatives to promote best practices and reduce unnecessary costs.

We reaffirm our commitment to work with each of you to adopt and implement health system reforms that will benefit all Americans.

Sincerely

J. James Rohack MD

SOURCE

¹ SOURCE

Democrats on a key Senate committee have devised a new plan with a public option that reduces the cost of the plan from the earlier proposed plan that cost $1 trillion and left millions uninsured.

The Obama administration took the health care reform show on the road yesterday with a town hall meeting in Virginia. President Obama made it clear in that meeting that doing nothing is not an option and that health care reform is imperative if the country is to have a full economic recovery.

The Health Care Industry vs. Health Reform

By Wendell Potter

I’m the former insurance industry insider now speaking out about how big for-profit insurers have hijacked our health care system and turned it into a giant ATM for Wall Street investors, and how the industry is using its massive wealth and influence to determine what is (and is not) included in the health care reform legislation members of Congress are now writing.

Although by most measures I had a great career in the insurance industry (four years at Humana and nearly 15 at CIGNA), in recent years I had grown increasingly uncomfortable serving as one of the industry’s top PR executives. In addition to my responsibilities at CIGNA, which included serving as the company’s chief spokesman to the media on all corporate and financial matters, I also served on a lot of trade association committees and industry-financed coalitions, many of which were essentially front groups for insurers. So I was in a unique position to see not only how Wall Street analysts and investors influence decisions insurance company executives make but also how the industry has carried out behind-the-scenes PR and lobbying campaigns to kill or weaken any health care reform efforts that threatened insurers’ profitability.

I also have seen how the industry’s practices — especially those of the for-profit insurers that are under constant pressure from Wall Street to meet their profit expectations — have contributed to the tragedy of nearly 50 million people being uninsured as well as to the growing number of Americans who, because insurers now require them to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pockets before their coverage kicks in — are underinsured. An estimated 25 million of us now fall into that category.

What I saw happening over the past few years was a steady movement away from the concept of insurance and toward “individual responsibility,” a term used a lot by insurers and their ideological allies. This is playing out as a continuous shifting of the financial burden of health care costs away from insurers and employers and onto the backs of individuals. As a result, more and more sick people are not going to the doctor or picking up their prescriptions because of costs. If they are unfortunate enough to become seriously ill or injured, many people enrolled in these plans find themselves on the hook for such high medical bills that they are losing their homes to foreclosure or being forced into bankruptcy.

What I saw happening over the past few years was a steady movement away from the concept of insurance and toward “individual responsibility,” a term used a lot by insurers and their ideological allies. This is playing out as a continuous shifting of the financial burden of health care costs away from insurers and employers and onto the backs of individuals. As a result, more and more sick people are not going to the doctor or picking up their prescriptions because of costs. If they are unfortunate enough to become seriously ill or injured, many people enrolled in these plans find themselves on the hook for such high medical bills that they are losing their homes to foreclosure or being forced into bankruptcy.

REST OF ARTICLE