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Merry Christmas Eve y'all! Guess what…? Our lovely Congress has just bestowed upon this nation a most wondrous gift of “universal” health care during this joyous season – a gift that will keep giving and taking. Giving in the sense that never before have we seen such blatant kickbacks and special-interest deals to put another ol’ legislative “victory” on the mantel. Taking in the sense that it’ll be we taxpayers who will reap the long-term consequences of this “reform” through more taxes, loss of medical innovation, and (most importantly) the failure of enacting true, progressive revisions to a restraining, high-cost...

Sen. Tom Coburn has just demanded that the Senate clerk read the single-payer amendment offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders -- and it's 767 pages. Typically, Senators offering amendments will ask for unanimous consent to avoid reading the entire meausure, but all it takes is one Senator to object to demand its reading, and Coburn objected to Sanders attempt to dispense with the reading of the amendment. To give you a sense of how this could delay things, it took the Senate clerk 18 minutes to get through the first 6 pages of the amendment, which were the table of contents....

For days now, the health care legislation in the Senate has been stalled. Democrats are divided over a proposed amendment that would let consumers buy pharmaceuticals from abroad. During the presidential campaign, Obama promised to allow such purchases. But earlier this year he announced his opposition in return for pharmaceutical companies promising to spend at least $150 million, and possibly as much as $200 million, to push his health care legislation. President Obama obviously faces a dilemma: either he keeps the campaign promise he made to voters or he keep his later promise to drug companies. Passing the proposed drug...

More on Politics >> * That Grand Health Care Compromise? Jerry Nadler Has His Doubts * With Sampson's Support, Malcolm Smith Might Just Hang On * Unless He Wins the Governor's Race, Paterson Wants to Be on The View * Between Andrew Cuomo and a Balanced Ticket * The Elephants and the Ants All year, the biggest fault-line in the health care debate has been the public option–a proposed government-run insurance plan that Americans without access to group coverage would be eligible to sign up for. To liberals, it has been the reason for doing health care reform, an innovative...

Below is the description of the videos posted on the Docs4PatientCare page at PopModal.com the Conservative Alternative to YouTube. http://www.popmodal.com/Docs4PatientCare.php ------ Hugh Hewitt is interviewed by Jeffers Dodge: Topics include key economic consequences regarding Obamacare, including the future of the Medical profession and the integrity of the American economy as a consequence of the Democrat's actions. The obvious amount of chaos coming from the White House: is it on purpose or mere incompetence? Also, who benefits the most; job creation; and if the bill passes and when the Republicans take back Congress can the damage be reversible? This is the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House budget director said Wednesday that it may take decades for America to have an efficient health care system even if Congress passes a major overhaul this year. "It will be years to decades" before the nation has a properly working health care system that rewards quality over quantity, Peter Orszag told reporters. He said improving the quality of health care "is more like a lifelong nutrition or diet, not studying for an exam," but he added that continuous progress is a crucial goal.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2009 – A young Army captain wounded in Iraq and now working to improve conditions for other wounded servicemembers will be honored by the Business Executives for National Service tonight in New York. Capt. D.J. Skelton will receive a special recognition from the group during its annual black-tie Eisenhower Award dinner. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is the recipient of this year’s Eisenhower Award. Skelton, from Elk Point, S.D., was grievously wounded when he was hit in the chest by a rocket-propelled grenade in Fallujah in November 2004. Today, he works in the Office of Warrior...

Make no mistake about it: the health care bill that moved forward to debate in the Senate on Saturday is simply a power play by the government to gain more control over how we live our lives. It could easily lead to government control over the continuation of our families.

The health-care bill in its current form would create a regulatory mess estimated by one Senator to add100,000 new administrators in over 100 new bureaucracies. Many of these bureaucracies will get between doctors and patients. Others are simply a waste of money.... To pay for all this new bureaucracy there will be dozens of new taxes totaling nearly $800 billion and extending to items such as wheelchairs and hospital gowns. Almost every major recent public opinion poll has shown more Americans oppose Obama/Pelosi/Reid Care than support it. Just this week, in The Wall Street Journal, the Dean of the Harvard...

Obama provides his people a link to contact media to support healthcare bill! We can take advantage of it! We can use this same link to OPPOSE it. Dick Morris says we have to get 8% points in disapproval ratings to defeat it! Please follow this link, send your letter of opposition. (and continue to fax): Barack Obamas " Organizing for America " has put the call out for people to Email their local papers and write a letter to the editor. They have created a VERY easy and fast way to write all your local papers with just a...

GATESVILLE, Texas, Nov. 12, 2009 – The citizens of the “Spur Capital of Texas” here opened their arms and hearts to Army Reserve soldiers affected by the Nov. 5 Fort Hood shooting by hosting them for dinner at a local restaurant Nov. 8. The community of Gatesville, Texas, hosted a dinner at the Prima Pasta restaurant for Army Reserve soldiers affected by the Nov. 5 shootings on Fort Hood, Nov. 8, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Tony Lindback  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “It is absolutely wonderful to see all these folks together and to show our...

KILLEEN, Texas, Nov. 10, 2009 – Waiting at the airport last night for the last families to arrive for today’s ceremony honoring victims of the fatal shooting rampage at nearby Fort Hood, several soldiers were dealing with their own pain and confusion by reaching out to families of the fallen and to each other. Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Hall, Army Sgt. 1st Class Marcus Rodriquez and Army Spc. Laurence Palmer man a table in Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport in Texas on Nov. 9, 2009, to welcome families arriving for a ceremony scheduled the next day to honor the 13 people...

The politicians come out of their bunkers and cloud-filled backrooms and promise us goodies and treats. They promise us a vision of hope and utopia where everything will finally be right and just. All we have to do is just sign over our freedoms. Here is a GOP Congressman on the Pelosi health care bill: Why, it's almost like it's so good it hurts you! Or it's health care that's so good you'll end up in prison if you don't accept it. Maybe that's an idea. If we break the law, we will have government-run health care. There's only one...

To make a long story short, I went to the post office to send a package COD and you will never believe what I was told. I could send it, but if I send it COD, I could not insure it. So if the post office black hole eats it in transit, I have to take the loss all by myself, hook, line and sinker! I argued till I was blue in the face with the Post Master that this was stupid, but he said it was USPS policy and he defended it with a smile. "That," I replied, "is...

WASHINGTON – The typical family would be spared higher taxes from the House Democratic plan to overhaul health care, and their low-income neighbors could come out ahead. Their wealthy counterparts, however, face big tax increases that could eventually hit future generations of taxpayers who are less wealthy. The bill is funded largely from a 5.4 percent tax on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and couples making more than $1 million, starting in 2011. The tax increase would hit only 0.3 percent of tax filers, raising $460.5 billion over the next 10 years, according to congressional estimates.

With his second term set to expire at the end of next year, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is widely considered a likely contender for the 2012 Republican nomination. Pawlenty took a step toward raising his national profile recently when he formed a political action committee, called Freedom First. Last Friday, TAS's Philip Klein spoke to Gov. Pawlenty over the phone to get his reaction to the Democrats' current health care push. The following is a transcript of the exchange.

Democrats want you to know that your McDonald's Angus Burger meal has about 1,500 calories -- before you buy and burp. Buried deep in the House health care bill is a provision, likely to raise nanny-state hackles, requiring fast-food chains and vending machine owners to notify customers of calorie counts -- by conspicuously posting nutritional information on menus or machines.

WASHINGTON – House health care legislation expected within days is likely to include a new long-term care insurance program to help seniors and disabled people stay out of nursing homes, senior Democrats say. The voluntary program would begin to close a gap in the social safety net overlooked in the broader health care debate, but it must overcome objections from insurance companies that sell long-term care coverage and from fiscal conservatives.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation's health care tab would increase even more under legislation in the House, according to a government report released Wednesday. The analysis by the Health and Human Services Department looks at the impact of the health care bill drafted by House Democratic leaders. It concludes that total national health care spending would increase by an additional 2.1 percent from 2010-2019, mostly because newly insured people would seek medical care.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's willingness to consider alternatives to medical malpractice lawsuits is providing a boost for taking such cases out of the courtroom and letting experts, not juries, decide their merits. The idea of appointing neutral experts to sift malpractice facts from allegations appeals to conservatives in both political parties, who are looking to address medical liability as part of health care overhaul legislation. Trial lawyers remain steadfastly opposed.

The Pasadena Star News reports on a religious "vigil" held Monday night at the Pasadena City Hall by a group of about 100 health care reform advocates reportedly from various churches in the area (All Saints, Cavalry Chapel, Altadena Baptist, Jewish synagogue, etc.) propounding a big lie that there are medical "uninsured" in California who do not receive medical treatment. Read here: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_13594645 This propaganda should not go unchecked. For the record, there are no people living in California who are denied medical treatment. Everyone is potentially eligible for Medi-Cal, which is partially subsidized by the Federal government. We already...

The Pasadena Star News posted a public notice online (since removed) that an interfaith group is to hold a health care "vigil" at Pasadena City Hall on Monday night, October 19. It seems to this writer that any such "vigil" is an exercise in what Theodore Dalrymple calls "moral exhibitionism," which is defined as "generosity of spirit at other people's expense; "the desire to feel more compassionate-than-thou" without regard for the larger consequences. No doubt this "interfaith" coalition is comprised of those "usual suspects" who also have advocated affordable housing, among a number of other social justice "causes," only to...

New Study Evaluates Surgical Masks Vs. N95 Respirators For Preventing Influenza Among Health Care Workers Surgical masks appear to be no worse than, and nearly as effective as N95 respirators in preventing influenza in health care workers, according to a study released early online today by JAMA. The study was posted online ahead of print because of its public health implications. It will be published in the November 4 issue of JAMA. Influenza is the most important cause of medically attended acute respiratory illness worldwide and the authors write there is heightened concern this year because of the influenza pandemic...

WASHINGTON - Nobody knew for sure what Senator Olympia J. Snowe would do yesterday when the Finance Committee gathered to vote on its health care bill - not even Snowe. Chairman Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, had been courting her vote for months, investing long hours in closed-door negotiations with her and the other members of the “Gang of Six.’’ In the late summer and early fall, President Obama spoke with her on the phone and invited her to the White House to address her concerns.

The Baucus Concepts are disasterous, but that’s for another post. For this post, let me get across a simple concept: THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL. Your esteemed Senators on the Senate Finance Committee will not be voting on legislation because THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL. Your esteemed Senators have so little respect for you that some of them are willing to vote in favor of legislation which does not exist because THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL. The actual legislation will be drafted in secret by Harry Reid and a few other people, including staffers whose names and political connections you...

A couple of days ago, we learned President Obama’s rock tour for universal healthcare may have given his plan a tepid shot in the arm. 46% of Americans support it now (Rasmussen Reports, October 5, 2009, http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform). The week before, 41% of America said they wanted universal healthcare. No matter. Consider that even after Obama’s non-booster shot, fewer than half of U.S. citizens want the healthcare fixit the president is proposing. We have the best heath care in the world and many who can afford it come to the America to get treated for ailments and illnesses when they are...

"Sen. Thomas Carper (Democrat-Del.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, told CNSNews.com that he does not expect to read the actual legislative language of the committees health care bill because it is confusing and that anyone who claims they are going to read it and understand it is fooling people."

Sometimes, patriotism can be awkward. Especially when it means admitting to an international TV audience that your nation’s broken health care system forced you onto welfare, into adult diapers, and hobbling with a walker. And all before the age of 30. Embarrassing perhaps, but for Canadian Lin Gilbert, the time had come to share her story publicly this week. Especially after her 15-year-old son was recently diagnosed with the same health condition leading to her suffering. “As a parent, I will do anything to help him. I will borrow the money, I will do whatever it takes,” she said. “If...

Just about all of us want some kind of health care reform. But different people want different things from that reform. One trouble with crafting legislation that would make some people happy is that it would make other people unhappy. But the proposals put forth so far by Democrats, and supported by President Obama, have the unique gift of satisfying virtually no one. ObamaCare, inasmuch as there is such a thing, is bound to disappoint you, no matter what you'd like to see in health care reform. If you think you'd get free health care, you wouldn't. Instead, you'd be...

HELENA — Within hours after Sen. Max Baucus voted Tuesday to omit a government-run insurance option from his health-reform bill, a pair of liberal groups vowed to use a critical TV ad to "pummel" the senator for his action. "These senators just voted against what their constituents want n DASH n and voted with corporate interests that have given them millions," said the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

Fearful that they're losing ground on immigration and health care, a group of House Democrats is pushing back and arguing that any health care bill should extend to all legal immigrants and allow illegal immigrants some access, The Washington Times reported on Monday. The Democrats, trying to stiffen their party's spines on the contentious issue, say it's unfair to bar illegal immigrants from paying their own way in a government-sponsored exchange. Legal immigrants, they say, regardless of how long they've been in the United States, should be able to get government-subsidized health care if they meet the other eligibility requirements....

Quick! What's the name of President Barack Obama's health care plan? We can't remember, either. We seem to recall "health" and "choice" is in the title, but we're not sure. We were reminded of this when we saw the latest New York Times poll, which showed a large bloc of Americans still don't understand major elements of the plan. We'd say the challenge for Obama and the Democrats is even broader: Not only do people not understand the bill, they don't even know what it's called. So let's have a contest to give it a name! We'll have two categories...

The Wyden-Bennett plan seeks to achieve universal coverage by creating a new private insurance system for the United States. It would establish state-based purchasing pools, with nearly all Americans (except those in Medicare and the military) required to enroll in a private insurance plan made available through their state’s pool. Employer-based coverage would likely be reduced substantially over time (few, if any, small employers likely would continue to offer coverage although a number of large employers probably would do so, at least initially), and Medicaid and SCHIP would be converted into supplemental insurance programs that “wrap around” the private insurance...

If federal health care reform achieves its goal of providing health coverage to most of the 46.3 million uninsured Americans, it could strain a large segment of the local medical provider workforce, many experts warn. The bills proposed before Congress could give patients who were uninsured, and more likely to put off preventive care, access to insurance so they can see family physicians. While this could prove good for their health and their wallets, it is not clear whether there will be enough workers on the primary care side of health care to accommodate all those new patients.

Health care bill squeezes the middle class By Juanita Thouin At a press conference held after his town hall meeting in Murfreesboro last month, Congressman Bart Gordon was asked if he could say with certainty that, under H.R. 3200, citizens with pre-existing health conditions and income above a certain poverty level would have their health insurance premiums capped. Gordon responded, “I cannot.” H.R. 3200 is the health care reform bill now under consideration in the House of Representatives. It contains no language stipulating premium caps for families earning more than 400 percent above the federal poverty level. This means that...

One of the oft heard challenges to government run health care is that it will lead to rationing. I believe we on the right need to be more careful about way we express this argument. The easy retort to this challenge is that rationing goes on right now, in that only the wealthy can afford health care (whatever wealthy may mean). The truth is that this retort is absolutely correct; arguing that government run health care will lead to rationing is a non-starter.

President Obama said this week that his health care plan won't cover illegal immigrants, but argued that's all the more reason to legalize them and ensure they eventually do get coverage. He also staked out a position that anyone in the country legally should be covered - a major break with the 1996 welfare reform bill, which limited most federal public assistance programs only to citizens and longtime immigrants.

Health care and illegal immigrants They were the words heard 'round the world. "You lie!" That was Rep. Joe Wilson's retort to President Obama's statement last week that his health care reforms would not insure illegal immigrants. The president had said, in his address to Congress, "There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false. The reforms -- the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." That's when the gentleman from South Carolina shouted that the president was lying. He later apologized. The House voted...

The Truth About the Health Care Bills - Michael Connelly, Ret. Constitutional Attorney 08.24.09 Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected. To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true,...

A top Senate Democratic negotiator on health care reform said he's moving forward with President Obama's chief domestic initiative next week -- with or without Republicans. Obama delivered a nationally televised speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday in which he embraced several Senate proposals and set a 10-year spending target of $900 billion. On Saturday, he again pressed his case for the need for reform, at a rally in Minneapolis, and he'll appear Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes" and is planning trips to New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate...

A new report that for the first time gauges the impact of health care reform two decades out shows the nation's budget imbalance would skyrocket after 2020. The House bill would increase the budget deficit by $1 trillion between 2020 to 2029, up from $39 billion from 2010 through 2019, says the Peterson Foundation study, conducted by the nonpartisan Lewin Group. For "health care reform to be fiscally responsible, it must not just pay for itself over 10 years and beyond, it should also result in a significant reduction in the tens of trillions of dollars in the federal government's...

The Conservative party says hospitals are at breaking point and claims that a second wave of swine flu could result in a bed shortage The NHS may not have enough intensive care beds to cope if a second wave of swine flu hits the country, the Conservative party claimed today. Hospitals are already at "breaking point" and are having to close critical care beds to new admissions for large parts of the year, according to the shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley. The allegation comes amid intensifying party exchanges over the future of the NHS. The Tories are attempting the novel...

The Obama Health Care Plan Let me see if I could understand the Obama Government Health Care Program. Our government had been denying veterans claims for health care for years. Our government gave Veterans crappy service at Walter Reed Veteran Hospital. Our government found out that they contaminated a few veterans by given them Hepatitis and HIV. Our government is having our veterans pay for their own combat related Injuries. Let's not forget having our Veterans identity stolen recently by a VA staff Worker. In addition, we have not had a VA Hospital in Southern Nevada since 2003. Oh yea,...

(CNSNews.com) – The health care bill under consideration in the House of Representatives would give President Obama the authority to name a new federal “Health Choices Commissioner” who would have sweeping power to govern the health insurance plans offered in a so-called "exchange" where millions of Americans would get their health insurance if the bill is enacted. These powers would include deciding which treatments are covered, which companies can participate, which states can run their own exchange, and enrolling individuals into the public exchange.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2009 – Defense Department federal employees could receive up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a military family member injured in the line of duty if an Office of Personnel Management proposal is adopted. The proposal would allow eligible federal employees to take 26 "administrative work weeks" provided for under the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for a servicemember wounded in the line of duty, OPM officials explained during a telephone conference call. The provision would extend to families of National Guard members or reservists injured while on active duty, explained Jerry...

The MinnesotaCare health care plan for the poor and working poor is struggling to keep up with the demand for applications fueled by the sour economy. The Star Tribune reported Tuesday that applications are up 25 percent so far this year, and in July alone are up 43 percent from July 2008, to 5,473 applications. That rush has resulted in long delays to process applications and jammed telephone lines as the agency that runs the program cuts back on answering the phone so employees can work on the backlog. Minnesota Department of Human Services spokeswoman Lisa Wilder says the department...

Sen. Al Franken holds his first meetings in the Twin Cities that focus on health care reform. The first meeting Wednesday brings together faith leaders, union representatives, health and welfare groups and consumer advocates to talk about what they want for Minnesota as the federal government grapples with policy changes. The second discussion Wednesday focuses on women's health issues, with an array of women's groups on the agenda. Franken is a Democrat who took office seven weeks ago after a lengthy unresolved election.

Two tax provisions in the health-care bill voted on by the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this summer have gained significant attention. One would impose a surtax on high-income earners. The other would force individuals (or their employers) who do not have approved health-insurance plans to pay a tax penalty. But there are other "revenue provisions" in the bill that also deserve a close look. One would change the law to mandate that the Internal Revenue Service slap penalties on honest but errant taxpayers. Under current law, taxpayers who lose an argument with the IRS can generally avoid penalties...

(CNSNews.com) – Restaurant chains with 20 or more stores would be required to display nutrition information, including calorie counts and “suggested daily caloric intake” on their menus, under a mandate contained in the health-care reform bill drafted by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

I seem to remember Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign saying something about how lobbyists would would have greatly reduce roles in his government. Couldn't prove it by Tom Daschle: Tom Daschle: Conflict Of Interest On Health Care 84rules August 24, 2009