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In his latest attempts to pit groups of Americans against each another, President Barack Obama has taken aim at senior citizens with a one-two punch of bribery and bullying. First the bribe of a paltry $250 to supposedly convince Medicare recipients that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) is a good idea. Then the threat that voting for Republicans will be akin to "tying your benefits to the whims of Wall Street traders."

AS I SEE IT Congress must repeal Obama's health-care rationing plan By SEN. PAT ROBERTS Special to The Star SNIPPET: "U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican from Dodge City, Kan., is a member of the Senate Health and Finance committees. He voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." SNIPPET: "It has scarcely been three months since the new health reforms, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), were signed into law. Unfortunately, as I and many of my colleagues predicted, the promises made to the American people by the president and the majority are already unraveling. The...

As weeks turned to months during the Great Debate over what to do about health care this past year, President Obama made one solemn pledge to the nation and its seniors: He said health care would not add one dime to the deficit. And if all of us liked our doctor, we would get to keep our doctor. Fast-forward almost 90 days after the passage of ObamaCare and the attitude of most Americans to that pledge is: "Prove it." In the past two weeks, the Obama administration has been trying to stem the tide of skepticism toward its health care...

Driving is a major issue for seniors and frequently referred to as the nuclear warhead of caregiving. For many, driving is the last bastion of independence and the prospect of giving it up is tantamount to stepping into the grave. Some seniors refuse to acknowledge their limitations, although many have forgotten the rules of the road they learned decades ago. In such cases, family members spend countless hours worrying. Stop the inner turmoil and look for solutions. If you reach the point where you have to lay out the issue firmly, have some ideas or solutions for transportation needs already...

A very knowledgeable insurance woman called Rush Limbaugh today, and told Rush that people won't see the increase in insurance premiums until AFTER the November elections, because insurance premiums don't increase until the January of each year. So parents will see their adult children covered, and seniors will see that "whooping" $250 toward their drugs, but won't see the increase in premiums or rationing yet. Take action: Call a talk show, write a letter to the editor, and talk with everyone you know and let them know the "other" side that LMSM won't tell them.

Health Reform: The linchpin of ObamaCare 2.0 is that 31 million uninsured will be covered at little added cost. But in fact, White House estimates for low costs are based on little more than accounting tricks. The president's plan "puts our budget and economy on a more stable path by reducing the deficit by $100 billion over the next 10 years — and about $1 trillion over the second decade — by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse," the White House says on its Web site. Sound too good to be true? It is. None of...

Social Security News Senior Citizens May Not Get Social Security COLA for Years Says Kaiser Medicare BriefNo Social Security increase also means higher Medicare Part B fees for many seniors says the analysis. June 29, 2009 – Senior citizens are not expected to receive a cost of living adjustment (COLA) in 2010 – for the first time ever. What’s worse, they may not receive an increase for the next three years. And, it keeps getting worse - no COLA means high Medicare Part B premiums for about a quarter of all Medicare beneficiaries, according to an analysis by the the...

They are objects of derision.  Influential government officials refer to them as unproductive, of less value than others in society. The political party running the government aggressively denies them access to health services while putting in place bureaucracies devoted, in effect, to ending their lives. The Jews in Nazi Germany?  In the Soviet Union of Stalin? In a socialist paradise set up by the rabidly anti-Semitic United Nations? No, seniors in a United States governed by the party of President Barack Obama and his allies on the Democratic left. The Democratic Party senate healthcare bill makes it official: Seniors are...

The Ronald Reagan U.C.L.A. Medical Center, one of the nation’s most highly regarded academic hospitals, has earned a reputation as a place where doctors will go to virtually any length and expense to try to save a patient’s life. “If you come into this hospital, we’re not going to let you die,” said Dr. David T. Feinberg, the hospital system’s chief executive. Yet that ethos has made the medical center a prime target for critics in the Obama administration and elsewhere who talk about how much money the nation wastes on needless tests and futile procedures. They like to note...

GOP Leader: “Senate Democrats Have Sunk to Plenty of New Lows to Jam Through This Government Takeover of Health Care, But Putting Their Votes on the Auction Block Tops Them All.” Washington, Dec 22 - Americans are still combing through all the sweetheart deals Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made in order to jam through his government takeover of health care on the night before Christmas. To be fair, Washington Democrats are making it easier to sort out this calamity by rushing to take credit for all these payoffs, proving once again how out of touch they are with...

Should the “greatest good for the greatest number” be the guiding principle behind health care? As I have said before on Breakpoint, much of the hype and even hysteria surrounding the H1N1 flu strain is unwarranted. That’s not to say that the swine flu’s potential impact isn’t devastating—it is, but not in the way cable news would have us think. And now the Florida Department of Health has issued a set of guidelines that instructs hospitals on what to do “if the state is overwhelmed by [H1N1] cases.” The guidelines recommend that hospitals bar “patients with incurable cancer, end-stage multiple...

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a coup for House Democrats, AARP will endorse sweeping health care overhaul legislation headed for a history-making floor vote, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. An endorsement from the seniors' lobby was critical when then-President George W. Bush pushed the Medicare prescription drug benefit through a closely divided Congress in 2003. House Democratic leaders are hoping it will work the same political magic for them as they strive to deliver on President Barack Obama's signature issue. An announcement from the 40-million member group is expected Thursday, said officials with knowledge of the group's decision. They...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama called on Congress Wednesday to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year. The Social Security Administration is scheduled to announce Thursday that there will be no cost of living increase next year. By law, increases are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year.

Unfortunately it is very doubtful that we will have a full opportunity to read the entire Senate Finance Committee Bill before its voted on. Its not ready yet and besides, the committee chairman Senator Baucus doesn't believe in sharing. There is however an available summary, and little by little some of the worst provisions are leaking out, such as the one that will act as a de facto tax on Senior Citizens. A provision in the would tax the manufacturers of medical devices and replacement parts those higher costs will be passed on to consumers. The selected taxed Items are...

Barack Obama already has had a tough time with seniors on the health-care reform initiative, and for good reasons. The latest news from Social Security won’t make them any happier about it. The Social Security administration has canceled cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for the next two years, which means the fixed income on which these seniors rely will freeze at current levels. However, their Medicare premiums will still increase, which means they will get less money over the next two years, the first declines in SSA in more than 30 years: Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next...

... The President has already come under heavy criticism concerning his plan to reform national health care. Seniors have turned out in droves at town hall meetings across the nation, voicing their opposition and outrage regarding $500 billion of projected cuts to Medicare. Many seniors feel the reform of America's health care system would primarily by paid for on their backs. According to data, 25% of Medicare's budget is spent on the last year of an individual's life. Even the most steadfast supporters of health care reform admit one day medical services to the elderly would eventually have to be...

Here is a video report on the conviction senior citizens now have that ObamaCare will give them a lower quality of health care. A CBS News poll shows 57% of seniors believe ObamaCare will harm them with less access and higher costs. This has become a major obstacle for Obama in trying to get his plan through Congress. This could also be a real problem for both Obama and the Democrats in 2010 if Senior Citizens turn against them. They tend to be voters who turn out in mid-term elections at a very strong rate. . . . . (Watch...

Rationing: In the recesses of the House health care "reform" bill is a provision for end-of-life counseling for seniors. Don't worry, granny, they're from the government and they're here to help.At a town hall meeting at AARP headquarters in Washington, D.C., President Obama was asked by a woman from North Carolina if it was true "that everyone that's Medicare age will be visited and told they have to decide how they wish to die." At first, the president joked that not enough government workers existed to ask the elderly how they wanted to die. The idea, he said, was to...

As Obama continues to press his plan for federally-mandated healthcare that clearly is meant to morph into a single-payer, socialist healthcare program, those who have the most to lose should face the fact that they elected him by staying home last November. Senior citizens, the same group who couldn’t be bothered to learn of Obama’s true character and plans, and couldn’t be bothered to vote, put Obama into the presidency. It is the elderly who will be the first ones to be denied healthcare services under Obama’s plan, which squeezes out Medicare providers to pay for the plan.