So it's been weeks since I've blogged, and we have so much to catch up on! First of all, my April 14th blog about the diner has made me somewhat of a local celebrity...at least at one New York diner...where the owners put a copy of the blog in every menu. I don't know why that tickles me so much, but it truly does.
And keeping with the theme of food as well as shameless self-promotion, the video for "Costco Queen" is now available on iTunes and word has it that it will be advertised in future Costco store catalogs! The song, written by me and Sue Fabisch, is in the hit show Motherhood the Musical, which will have another limited run in the fall of this year and make its worldwide debut in 2010.
So where have I been and what have I been doing absent blogging? I've been recording with a very talented fifteen year old in Nashville. And while she was in town recording, she was nice enough to help me set up a MySpace page, so if you'd like to hear some of my music, please check it out at www.myspace.com/ileneangel and if you'd like to hear different songs, you can also go to www.reverbnation.com/ileneangel which I started setting up myself last night - which is why there's nothing on it but songs yet. Hey, gotta start somewhere.
So in summation (and shockingly) - I can now be found here (at the trusty blog), Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Reverb Nation...not to mention my yet to be updated website! Not bad for someone who just started texting on her cell phone a couple of weeks ago! I'm sure that these sites will be expanded and updated as I get new pictures in July and August and finish more recordings. But for now, at least I can be found!
Okay, I'm done talking about me, me, me! It's time to get back to something that sort of matters - healthcare and politics. Oh yes, I've missed a couple of weeks of ranting and raving and waxing poetic about the human condition, and what an opportune time to return to it as our President tries to accomplish what no one before him has been able to. (God love him.)
Sunday's This Week with George Stephanopoulos saw lively discussion about healthcare reform - by Senators, the roundtable, etc. The only problem with that is that everyone talking about it has good healthcare coverage, especially Congress...which is why it infuriates me when they say the cost of covering every citizen is too high. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq aren't too expensive? Somehow we find the money for that...and for AIG, the auto industry, and banks. But for the American people who have footed the bill for all of those things, we can't get decent healthcare? Every member of Congress should be ashamed of themselves. I have stood at the pharmacy and watched elderly people leave the medications they needed behind because they couldn't pay for them. I myself have borrowed money to pay for prescriptions that were in the hundreds of dollars that I didn't have. Drug companies profit on illness and insurance companies profit on premiums that they take in before denying coverage to those that pay in. I can say that because I fall into that category. I've had to say to a neurologist, "I can't see you because Blue Cross won't cover my visit to you or the migraine medication you prescribe." I'm not someone who actually believes in hell, but if I did, there'd be a special place in it for health insurance companies...and a Congress who chooses not to represent the people who put them there to look out for their interests. It is a sin and an awful truth that in a country that boasts of "the American dream" and "good values" we let people live or die based on how much money they have.
How to rectify this. Well, first of all, for any real change to occur, there has to be a shift in our basic philosophy about healthcare to begin with. Since politicians are so fond of catchphrases and terms, they need to take the word "industry" far far away from the word "healthcare," because as long as it remains a for profit business, there is no way anything will significantly change in our capitalist society. Keeping people alive and healthy should not be something that is done for monetary gain. And drugs that cost pennies to produce should not be costing the average person hundreds of dollars while we are being prohibited from getting our drugs from other countries that don't do that...in the name of our best interests, of course.
So tonight our President will be talking about healthcare in prime time on ABC - a smart move to garner support and action from the American people as much as it is to inform and educate us. I have my own ideas about accomplishing this. It generally involves Rahm Emanuel having closed door meetings with each individual member of Congress in which he vigorously beats them about the head until they beg to go pass a sweeping and just universal healthcare program. The President could be out on one of his spur of the moment burger runs while Rahm's "persuading" Congress to come to their senses. That's my idea. Rahm. He's my guy for this.
And when it's all done and fabulous - we can all resurrect our "Yes, we did!" tee shirts and bumper stickers. And Secretary of State Hillary can shed a tear of joy with the rest of us and say, "Finally!"
Thanks for stopping by. It's good to be back. Please tell your friends.
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