Bill Moyers's Blog, page 16

Balancing Big Money and Free Speech

(Photos by Robin Holland)

This week on the JOURNAL, Bill Moyers spoke with two prominent legal experts about an important case regarding campaign finance restrictions and free speech that the Supreme Court will hear in a special session on September 9th.

The case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, concerns a political film, HILLARY: THE MOVIE, that criticized Hillary Clinton during last year's bruising race for the Presidency. The conservative group Citizens United had planned...

Maggie Mahar Answers Viewer Questions - Part I

We'd like to thank Maggie Mahar for agreeing to answer viewers' questions about the health industry. Below, in no particular order, is her first set of answers. More of her answers can be found here.

Please note that the views and opinions expressed are not necessarily the views and opinions held by Bill Moyers or BILL MOYERS JOURNAL.

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Q: Comparing Medicare Costs between NJ and Iowa: I suspect that the lower cost in Iowa is primarily due to the difference...

Michael Winship: Coming Soon to a Democracy Near You...

(Photo by Robin Holland)

Below is an article by JOURNAL senior writer Michael Winship. We welcome your comments below.

"Coming Soon to a Democracy Near You..."

By Michael Winship

The envelope, please. And the winner for "most influential motion picture in American politics" is… HILLARY: THE MOVIE.

Never heard of it? Not surprising – very few people saw it in the first place. But HILLARY: THE MOVIE – a no-holds-barred attack on the life and career of Hillary Clinton intended for viewing during h...

Michael Winship: Even Camelot Needed Health Care

(Photo by Robin Holland)

Below is an article by JOURNAL senior writer Michael Winship. We welcome your comments below.

"Even Camelot Needed Health Care"

By Michael Winship

Toward the end of George McGovern's failed presidential bid in 1972, I was helping advance a bus trip for vice presidential candidate Sargent Shriver. The final weekend of the campaign, his caravan would start in New Hampshire and work its way down the Eastern seaboard, holding rallies along the way and winding up in Washington,

Ask Maggie Mahar

Meet Maggie Mahar. You'll be seeing more of her next week, when we present MONEY-DRIVEN MEDICINE, a film produced by Academy Award winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (TAXI TO THE DARKSIDE, ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM). Ms. Mahar was kind enough to take questions from The Moyers Blog readers, so, over the next two weeks, as you watch the debate over health care reform unfold please submit your questions here. We'll post her answers after next week's edition of the JOURNAL.
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Why Maggie Mah

The Human Toll of America's Health Disaster

This week, the JOURNAL presented CRITICAL CONDITION, a heart-rending documentary that follows several working families facing a terrible ordeal – getting treatment for ailing loved ones without the aid of health insurance.

Several people featured in the film speculated that access to public health insurance might have helped them afford basic preventative treatment long before they needed financially devastating emergency care.

With an estimated 47 million Americans without health insurance, Presi

Michael Winship: Tom DeLay and the Woodstock Nation

(Photo by Robin Holland)

Below is an article by JOURNAL senior writer Michael Winship. We welcome your comments below.

"Tom DeLay and the Woodstock Nation"

By Michael Winship

A sorry state of affairs. If it wasn't for all the 40th anniversary celebrations of Woodstock, the primary cultural contribution of the month would be the announcement that former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas will be a contestant in the next round of DANCING WITH THE STARS.

Still, better to see DeLay tro

Towards a Healthier Debate on Health Reform

(Photos by Robin Holland)

This week on the JOURNAL, Bill Moyers asked three veteran observers for their perspectives on the health care debate playing out across the country. Each suggested that media coverage has presented unhelpful and misleading narratives that have not adequately informed the public about important issues.

Media analyst Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, argued that raucous town hall meetings have not allowed for constructive dialogue, and

Michael Winship: The Gorilla Dust of Health Care

(Photo by Robin Holland)

Below is an article by JOURNAL senior writer Michael Winship. We welcome your comments below.

''The Gorilla Dust of Health Care''

By Michael Winship

When I was 15, my father was in a near-fatal car collision with a semi-trailer truck. At Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, he lay in a coma for two months.

As the medical bills mounted and the insurance was running out, my mother had to make an agonizing decision. My father would have to be airlifted to the VA Medical

Another Chapter, Another Adventure

In this week's JOURNAL, Bill Moyers conversed with sociologist Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot about her book, THE THIRD CHAPTER: PASSION, RISK, AND ADVENTURE IN THE 25 YEARS AFTER 50, which explores the challenges and exciting opportunities for people in that age range.

Lawrence-Lightfoot said:

"All of us, at this point, to some degree are on a search for meaningfulness, for purposefulness, and we want to find what this next 25 years – the penultimate