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Polled support for the health care plan wending its way through Congress continues to crash downward in the polls. And before you say it, it's not just Rasmussen, which has actually been pretty much in the middle of the other polls. Here's where we stand as of today. For reform advocates, this is not good news. At 40% approval, it probably passes. At 30% approval--what Social Security reform enjoyed by the time it imploded--it's not going to no matter how the Senate massages their plan. Democrats cannot pass a bill this large on a straight party line vote if the...

My last post dealt with Barack Obama's Marxist personal physician of more than 20 years, Quentin Young and his decades long campaign to socialize US healthcare. Young and his comrades in Physicians for a National Health Plan and Healthcare Now! have driven the US healthcare debate for years. Now they have a friend in the Oval Office and both Houses of Congress controlled by the Democrats. Soon the Senate may pass a Healthcare Bill-but whatever form it takes, the drive to fully socialized, government controlled "single payer" healthcare will only accelerate.

Up to 10,000 people die needlessly of cancer every year because their condition is diagnosed too late, according to research by the government's director of cancer services. The figure is twice the previous estimate for preventable deaths. Earlier detection of symptoms could save between 5,000 and 10,000 lives in England a year, Prof Mike Richards will reveal this week. The higher figure is nearly twice his previous calculation, which put the figure at about 5,000. Richards has revised up his estimate after studying the three deadliest forms of the disease ‑ lung, bowel and breast cancer ‑ which together kill...

This WSJ editorial tells it like it is: As usual, the most dangerous parts of ObamaCare aren't receiving the scrutiny they deserve—and one of the least examined is a new commission to tell Congress how to control health spending. Democrats are quietly attempting to impose a "global budget" on Medicare, with radical implications for U.S. medicine. Like most of Europe, the various health bills stipulate that Congress will arbitrarily decide how much to spend on health care for seniors every year—and then invest an unelected board with extraordinary powers to dictate what is covered and how it will be paid...

Thought experiment: Ten years from now, the United States has fully embraced universal healthcare and the government is responsible for administering every aspect of medicine. Two patients' files fall on the desk of a governemnt employee: Both have brain tumours in exactly the same places, and only with heroic attempts will either survive. One is a 25 year old man. One is an 91 year old woman. With heroic methods each have about a 20% chance of survival. Since the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution does not discriminate based on age, can the 91 year old woman expect the...

When asked where specifically the Constitution authorized Congress to mandate that individuals buy health insurance, Sen. Jack Reed (D.-R.I.) said that he “would have to check the specific sections” but said that it was like making people “sign up for the draft.” “Specifically where in the Constitution does Congress get its authority to mandate that individuals purchase health insurance?” CNSNews.com asked Reed. “Let me see,” said Reed. “I would have to check the specific sections, so I’ll have to get back to you on the specific section. But it is not unusual that the Congress has required individuals to do...

I think you will enjoy this! Video at site

A federal bailout of AIG last year attracted angry protesters who for weeks gathered outside the insurance giant's headquarters in New York and stalked company executives at their homes. But there has been little response to the bailout of Peter Miller, who runs a two-person lobster-fishing crew in Maine. Miller, who gets 50 cents on the dollar for his catch these days, a few months ago received a $35,000 loan from a new Small Business Administration program that was crafted in February during final negotiations on the federal stimulus package. The loan program offers an unprecedented 100 percent guarantee to...

Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.), who voted against the Pelosi health-care reform bill that was approved by the House yesterday, said he did so because it raises taxes and will lead to a single-payer health care system in the United States. The bill—the “Affordable Health Care for America Act”—passed the House late on Saturday evening. The final vote was 220 to 215. Thirty-nine House Democrats voted against the proposal and only one Republican, freshman Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted for it. In town hall meetings in August, Boren told constituents he would not support a health care bill that raised...

The Congressional Budget Office is out with its analysis of the House Democrats' health care bill...in reality, the CBO says that the gross cost of the bill will be $1.055 trillion.....the CBO says the bill's gross spending will be $60 billion in the first four years, and $995 billion in the next six years (or 94 percent of the total).

A word search of the 1,502-page Senate health care bill (S. 1796) reveals that the term "tax" is used 124 times, "taxable" is used 158 times, and "excise tax" is used 12 times.

Senate Finance Committee members have been notified that the committee's health reform bill was filed today. S. 1796 weighs in at 1,502 pages, according to a Senate Republican leadership source. It's still not up yet on the Finance Committee website or Thomas.gov. We'll post a link as soon as we get one.

The nation's governors are emerging as a formidable lobbying force as health-care reform moves through Congress and states overburdened by the recession brace for the daunting prospect of providing coverage to millions of low-income residents. The legislation the Senate Finance Committee is expected to approve calls for the biggest expansion of Medicaid since its creation in 1965. Under the Senate bill and the House proposal, a state-federal insurance program targeted mainly at children, pregnant women and disabled people would effectively become a Medicare for the poor, a health-care safety net for all people with an annual income below $14,404. Whether...

So this is how Obama will move the shells around in his massive shell game.....force the states to pay for it all: Democrats want to use Medicaid to cover everyone up to at least 133% of the federal poverty level, or about $30,000 for a family of four. Starting in 2014, Mr. Baucus plans to spend $287 billion through 2019—or about one-third of ObamaCare’s total spending—to add some 11 million new people to the Medicaid rolls. About 59 million people are on Medicaid today—which means that a decade from now about a quarter of the total population would be on...

In 1993, Congressional Democrats worked with newly sworn-in President Bill Clinton to create the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, a student loan public option meant to compete with private student loan issuers. “We are not taking a free enterprise system and federalizing it,” then-Deputy Education Secretary Madeleine Kunin said. “We are...improving the entrepreneurial and competitive possibilities.” Sound familiar? Fast forward sixteen years and the new Congressional majority is again working with a newly installed President on a public option, this time a public option for health care insurance. President Obama’s chief ally in the Senate, Dick Durbin, said...

...44 percent of HIV patients being treated by the National Health Service were not residents of the United Kingdom but were from southern Africa. In essence, a huge number of AIDS patients in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho have decided to outsource their health care needs to British taxpayers. Similar trends will manifest themselves here in nothing flat... ...governmentalization of health care is the fastest way to a permanent left-of-center political culture -- one in which elections are always fought on the left's issues and on the left's terms and in which "conservative" parties no longer talk...

Speaker Gingrich provides us with an excellent litmus test to see how well Obama has been listening to the American people. Check it out: Grading The Big Health Care Speech 84rules September 9, 2009

Doctors left a premature baby to die because he was born two days too early, his devastated mother claimed yesterday. Sarah Capewell begged them to save her tiny son, who was born just 21 weeks and five days into her pregnancy - almost four months early. They ignored her pleas and allegedly told her they were following national guidelines that babies born before 22 weeks should not be given medical treatment. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1211950/Premature-baby-left-die-doctors-mother-gives-birth-just-days-22-week-care-limit.html#ixzz0QaYMk3S0 Miss Capewell, 23, said doctors refused to even see her son Jayden, who lived for almost two hours without any medical support. She said he was...

Who needs scare-mongering tactics when debating socialized medicine? All you have to do is read the true stories: Socialized Medicine: Handing Out Premature Death Sentences 84rules September 3, 2009

I had blogged earlier this year about the horrors patients faced at Stafford and Cannock Chase Hospitals in Great Britain. This story from the Telegraph shows that the policies and attitudes of those who work the socialized medicine system are not restricted to just Mid-Staffordshire. ‘Cruel And Neglectful’ Care Of One Million NHS Patients Exposed 84rules August 27, 2009

Alexandria, VA, August 26, 2009 – New national survey data released today by Public Opinion Strategies shows the country’s opinion of President Obama’s health care plan is virtually the same as that measured for President Clinton’s plan in 1994. “This data is highly problematic for the President and clearly demonstrates the struggle President Obama faces as he tries to sell his health care plan to Americans.” said Bill McInturff, co‑founder and partner of Public Opinion Strategies. The survey, conducted August 11‑13, provides some revealing points of comparison for public opinion today versus June of 1994: President Clinton’s Plan (June 1994)...

(CNSNews.com) – A consortium of two dozen conservative Christian groups launched a Web site Wednesday criticizing President Obama’s health-care reform plan. The site, FreedomFederation.org, carries the tagline “Real Hope. Real Change. Real Freedom,” a swipe at President Obama’s campaign slogan, and features a Declaration of Ideals that citizens can sign. The 10 ideals include free exercise of religion, fair taxes and an affirmation of the sanctity of life -- including the unborn and disabled. Leaders of the consortium used their own health-care stories to highlight the importance of free-market, pro-life reform at a news conference at the National Press Club....

Can you imagine the lawsuit waiting if this had happened in the United States? Man Collapses With Ruptured Appendix ... Three Weeks After (British) NHS Doctors 'Took It Out' 84rules August 26, 2009

After watching my son being born last December and reading about how hospitals in Great Britain are turning away women in labor, I thank God I live in the United States! More Reasons Why We Do Not Want Socialized Medicine 84rules August 26, 2009

A friend sends along a link to a commentary on the current healthcare debate by AQR's Cliff Asness, a hedge fund manager: Ah … one of the holy myths of the “US health care sucks” crowd. This should be fun. The general story is how you can buy many drugs in Canada cheaper than you can buy them in the US. This story is often, without specifically tying the logic together, taken as an obvious indictment of the US’s (relatively) free market system. This is grossly misguided. Here’s what happens. We have a (relatively) free market in the US where...

It turns out that President Barack "Change" Obama isn't changing things that much after all. At least not for David Axelfod, who appears to be playing the classic Washington insider's game for fun and profit.... While Axelrod worked behind the scenes to craft policy that would lead to a government overhaul of the medical industry, his firm in Chicago lobbied special interest groups to earn massive media contracts that would help dictate political discourse during the debate.... Obama's efforts to push his health care reform agenda have created a "financial windfall in the election offseason to Democratic consulting firms that...

This is priceless: One Paragraph Summation Of The Health Care Proposal 84rules August 20, 2009

The government doesn't really want to fix anything for real. What it wants to do is fix things in such a way that we can all know and appreciate the government's great value. It's a bonus, of course, if the fix itself causes other problems that require still more government indetermination. Not only does that process perpetuate government, it grows government. So how is it that I'm so sure those earnest and compassionate (not to mention much smarter than all of the rest of us) politicians care more about their own egos and power than they do about said problems?...

I was kind of impressed that CBS reported on this. But also had to temper my feelings with the knowledge that Fox News was reporting it a week-and-a-half earlier. Interesting story: AARP Loses Members Over Health Care Stance 84rules August 19, 2009

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey is organizing a march on Washington against the Obama administration’s healthcare plan that he hopes will finally finish off the Democratic push for socialized medicine. The march, organized by Armey’s political group FreedomWorks, is scheduled for Sept. 12 and is already generating hundreds of thousands of responses, the Texas Republican tells Newsmax.TV. The group is isn’t providing transportation, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem. See Video: Fomer House Majority Leader Dick Armey talks about the movement to defeat Obamacare

As President Obama and his Democrat-controlled Congress try to force healthcare reform on an American population largely pleased with the current system, our neighbors to the north are actually considering improving their structure by -- wait for it!!! -- welcoming additional competition from private insurers. I kid you not. Within hours of the Obama administration saying that it might consider a reform package without a government option, the Associated Press inconveniently reported the following: Story Continues Below Ad ↓ The incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association says this country's health-care system is sick and doctors need to develop a...

I haven't found this language in HR3200 yet. But it does exist in the as yet un-numbered Senate version of the socialized medince bill. The Senate Version Of The Socialized Medicine Bill Exempts Congress From Socialized Health Care 84rules August 14, 2009 If anyone can find where a Congressional exemption exists in HR3200 (Section and page number), please post it. Thanks.

Despite Barack Obama's claim that he wants the truth to be known about his Universal Health Care plans, he sure does his part to spread his own disinformation: Statement From The American College Of Surgeons Regarding Disinformation Being Spread By Barack Obama 84rules August 13, 2009

If you liked the first list of questionable items found in HR3200, you are going to love the new list. It is longer and more comprehensive and was compiled by Liberty Counsel, a Civil Liberties Law Firm. More Items Found In HR3200, The Socialized Medicine Bill 84rules August 13, 2009

If you're not creeped out by ObamaCare yet, you will be after you've read this passage from the New York Times transcript of the president's "town hall" meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., yesterday: "The rumor that's been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the House of Representatives voted for ‘death panels' that will basically pull the plug on grandma because we've decided that we don't--it's too expensive to let her live anymore. (Laughter.)" Laughter? Way to knock 'em dead, Mr. President! You can hear the "joke," and the laughter, on NPR's Web site. Now, this column certainly is...

The revelation last week that a majority of Americans may actually disagree with the President was something for which his team was clearly not prepared. Their attempt to marginalize citizens across the country who dared to speak out against a government-takeover of health care is shameful, arrogant, and desperately sad. With the American people growing increasingly unhappy with the President’s health care plan, Democrats in Congress are working feverishly to cast those who are concerned as radical props to the special interests. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in a sign of bold leadership, last week told reporters that protests of...

http://redistributingknowledge.blogspot.com/2009/08/rick-larsens-town-hall.html#comment-form Info on Larsen’s Town Hall today: Update: The Democrats are planning a rally outside the venue at 3:00 p.m. so you know they will be there way before that. If you can go, please go early! It’s in, from Rick Larsen’s office: Town Hall Meeting on Health Care Reform Hosted by U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen Wednesday, August 12 5:00 PM PT Aquasox Ballpark at Everett Memorial Stadium Everett, WA

The below blog posting is actually a story that broke last year but never got much media attention, or at least, nowhere near the attention that it should have received. Oregon has Universal Health Care and this case offers a preview of what we can expect nationally if Obamacare passes: A Preview Of Universal Health Care: Oregon Woman Denied Medicine, Offered Assisted Suicide Instead 84rules August 11, 2008

MORE PRIVATE HEALTH CARE IN CANADA URGEDFebruary 20, 2008 The architect of Quebec's now-overburdened public health care system is proposing a strong and controversial remedy that includes further privatization and user fees of up to C$100 (about U.S. $98) for people to see their family doctor. In a 338-page report, former provincial Liberal health minister Claude Castonguay concluded that Quebec can no longer sustain the annual growth in health care costs. The province currently spends about C$24 billion (about U.S. $23.6 billion) annually on health care, or about 40 per cent of its budget. Other recommendations include: - A new...

Child with possible meningitis was 'failed by system' say parentsThe parents of a two-year-old girl thought to have died from meningitis after they were told she was suffering from swine flu said yesterday that she had been "failed by the system". Georgia Keeling, from Norwich, died after being rushed to hospital on Tuesday. Her parents, Paul Sewell, 21, and Tasha Keeling, 22, said they contacted health services, including NHS Direct, the swine flu helpline and the emergency services, five times after their daughter first developed a temperature on Saturday. The couple said that by Tuesday she had also developed a...

DeWitt, NY. -- Over 100 people packed a conference room at DeWitt Community Library to talk about health care reform this morning in an impromptu town hall meeting organized by Rep. Dan Maffei, D-DeWitt. The event was originally planned to be one-on-one by-appointment-only sessions between constituents and Maffei. Because many people did not reserve a spot, the public forum was held after the two-hour block set aside for those who made reservations. Many people expressed concerns about government-run health care, raising questions about whether current employer-provided health care would be lost, how the bill would impact taxpayers and why Congress...

I got an email today that listed some of the items that exist in HR 3200 (America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009). So, I immediately got a hold of the text of the bill and did some comparisons to make sure the list was accurate. It is. I am posting this here in the hopes that this information will get spread far and wide and that more socialistic/government control nonsense will be found in the 1017 pages that thus far make up this legislative abomination. A Look At Some Items In The Socialized Medicine Bill (HR3200) 84rules August 5,...

Sibelius, Obama's Secretary of Health got an earful too!Benedict Arlen Specter (DEMOCRAT-PA) got an earful when he held a Town Hall meeting on health care at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia over the weekend. Andrew Monaghan who blogs at Panzramic, showed up to document the ACORN/union thugs who were bused in along with exploited handicapped people to help make the case for Obama care. Andrew also found a very raucous crowd of citizens who are mad as hell at the socialist circus in Washington and are not going to take it any more. So many voters angry at Obama's...

This is a movie that should be seen by every American, in particular senior citizens. The movie is called "The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu" and it's a (very) dark foreign comedy about an old man with a drinking problem and his tribulations in the state run medical system. After literally an entire night of being sent by ambulance from one hospital to another (I believe 6 hospitals in total) where doctors and medical personnel are overworked, underpaid and completely disinterested in the medical act, Mr. Lazarescu finally dies on a stretcher, victim of a state-run medical system that is as...

We all keep hearing of how the costs of healthcare have skyrocketed and that the government has to "do something" about it. Obama keeps claiming, despite the evidence put out by the Congressional Budget Office, that his plan will lower costs. Still, the cost issue is central to this debate so in that vein the House healthcare bill has a few interesting ways to address costs. One of those cost saving measures seems to be a patient dumping plan that will move the elderly away from more expensive medical procedures and place them in an institutionalized "home" setting reminiscent of...

I attended "office Hours" at an Austin Randalls, for Congressman Lloyd Doggett today, supposed to be 11-12:30.

We’ve all heard the drum roll about how horrid the Cambridge Cop James Crowley was to Black, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. According to Gates, Crowley was a typical white guy with a power complex, exercising racial profiling when he came to his home in response to a 911 call from a concerned neighbor. According to witnesses, 911 records and the report of Officer Crowley, Professor Gates started verbally attacking Crowley, saying he was racially profiling and daring Crowley to arrest him. In fact, Crowley had simply asked him to come outside and talk. According to the record of the...

Support for Obama's socialized health care plan keeps dropping and who does our MSM blame for this? The stupidity of Americans: While viewers may seize upon numbers that indicate the size and scope of reforming health care — 47 million uninsured Americans or costs in the trillion-dollar range — most eyes glaze over when terms like “public option” or “bundled payments” get tossed around on the air. “It’s not only not a cable TV-friendly story; it’s not a journalism-friendly story,” said John Harwood, chief Washington correspondent for CNBC. Harwood, also a political writer for The New York Times, explained that...

Unhealthy ProgramPublished Fri, Jul 24, 2009 HOLLYWOOD — God bless America, and how's everybody? President Obama hosted his fourth primetime press conference in six months Wednesday as he continued to try to rush health care through Congress. The strain is beginning to show. When Susan Boyle got this kind of exposure she cracked like an egg. Pakistan passed a law Tuesday jailing anyone who tells a joke about Pakistan's leader. It's a first. President Obama likes the idea so much he's demanding that Democrats attach it to the health care bill before they leave on their August recess. Italy's prime...

Tomorrow Shona Holmes will testify before Congress about Obama’s proposed health care plan, but unlike most of the people debating health care on the Hill, Holmes is not a lobbyist, a doctor, a policy wonk or even an American. Shona Holmes is a Canadian who almost went blind waiting for vital brain surgery in her country’s nationalized health care system, and who owes her sight to the quick care of American doctors. When Holmes went to a doctor complaining of headaches and fuzzy vision, an MRI revealed a brain tumor. Unfortunately, she was told she would have to wait four...