Rush on Free Medical School for Primary Care Doctors

Well once again, Mr. Limbaugh makes an excellent observation.  It seems that even the Obama administration acknowledges that there will likely be around a 40,000 shortfall of needed primary care doctors by the year 2020.  One of the main reasons for this shortfall, they claim, is due to the exorbitant $150K in costs that it takes to complete medical school.  Their solution to this is to provide $2.5 Billion dollars a YEAR to provide free medical school tuition to those aspiring doctors that want to become primary care doctors.  If a doctor wants to specialize in a field, and thus make more money, then of course his tuition fees will not be waived and paid for by the tax-payers.

I find all of this particularly interesting in light of the fact that we were told that Obamacare would fix these problems.  Further, we were told that the conservatives were "lying" about all of the disincentives that were being created in the legislation that would cause many current doctors to thus leave their practices and discourage future potential doctors from ever entering the medical profession.  Evidently, the "lie" was actually the truth all along.

We won't even get into the fact that this shortage of primary care doctors when taken in conjunction with the 30 million more people now being covered by health insurance will create much longer waiting lines, higher costs, and rationing just by looking at the simple supply and demand economics equation of it all.  One adds more patients and has less doctors to treat those patients, then the inevitable results are poorer access and rationing of available doctors and services to all.  Wonderful job there, President Obama!  Thanks!

So now the solution to this shortfall of doctors, that the progressives' own un-Constitutional legislation has created, is to spend even more tax payer dollars in order to solve the problem.  I guess there is no issue that cannot be solved by big government and YOUR money, at least to the liberal mind's way of thinking, and may reality be damned! 

One Congressional District Receives 20% of Latest Health Care Law Waivers

Last month, April 2011, the federal government issued 204 additional new waivers to President Obama’s signature piece of legislation that was misnamed the Affordable Care Act; more commonly known as Obamacare.  That makes over 1700 waivers that have been granted thus far to various labor union chapters, large corporations, financial firms, and local governments to excuse them from having to comply with this new law, like the rest of the nation will have to do. 

What is particularly unusual is that in this last batch of 204 waivers, nearly forty of them all went to one congressional district.  In other words, one congressional district out of 435 received nearly 20 percent of the waivers issued in this last round.  Who is the congresswoman for this district, you ask?  Well, it is none other than the former Speaker of the House and current House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Ms. Pelosi maintains that this is simply a coincidence and that she had nothing to do with this seemingly disproportionate awarding of waivers to businesses and friends within her own congressional district.  What is further striking is that many of these waivers went to expensive top-notch restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels in Pelosi’s district.  

This is quite a departure from the typical businesses that were awarded waivers in the past.  Indeed, restaurants such as McDonald's now have something in common with such upscale places as Boboquivari’s in San Francisco, which advertises $59 porterhouse steaks, $39 filet mignons, and $35 crab dinners.  Both businesses now are exempt from having to abide by the dictates of the Affordable Care Act. Now aside from the fact that this supposedly well-intentioned and yet un-constitutional health care law was designed to fix all of our health care issues and provide coverage for all of those yet un-insured folks, whether they really wanted coverage or not, one has to ask why is it even necessary to grant waivers, let alone so danged many of them, if this is such a fantastic law? 

The fact that local governments and some unions are the biggest beneficiaries of these waivers, and thus will not be lawfully obligated to abide by the very law that so many of their members fought and argued for, strikes me as inconsistent at best and perniciously hypocritical at worst.  I guess we can add the friends of Nancy to this list of now-waivered hypocrites.  After all, laws are only meant for those of us without political clout and connections which would allow us to otherwise skirt these nuisance laws.  It’s just one more bit of hope and change to believe in, I suppose.

The First Problems of Obamacare and Health Care Waivers

A story in yesterday's New York Times described some of the issues that were coming to light now that the first phase of Obamacare is going into action.  It would seem that one of the first big problems is coming from companies like McDonalds and from some insurance companies as they are requesting and being granted waivers by the federal government in order that they may maintain even their comparably minimal coverage that is substantially below that of which the new law requires.

It would seem that over the last several weeks, these waivers have had to be issued in order to mollify threats by some health insurers that they were intending to abandon certain markets, refuse to sell certain types of policies, or drop out of the business altogether.  Basically these companies are unable to make a profit and remain solvent when burdened with the dictates of the Obamacare law otherwise.

According to the NY Times article "To date, the administration has given about 30 insurers, employers and union plans, responsible for covering about one million people, one-year waivers on the new rules that phase out annual limits on coverage for limited-benefit plans, also known as 'mini-meds.' Applicants said their premiums would increase significantly, in some cases doubling or more."

So evidently the purportedly unintended bitter fruits of the Obamacare law are already beginning to ripen.  It would seem that already many private companies and insurers are not going to be able to meet the standards and requirements set forth in the un-constitutional health care act.  As more of these regulations and requirements go into effect for companies and their insurers, rest assured that we will see even more insurance companies refuse to offer certain plans or quit the business altogether. 

Of course this will create less competition for our health care insurance dollar and thereby drive up costs, which we were all told would not happen.  Ultimately, over the course of the next decade, one can count on seeing a lot of insurance companies quite the business and thereby in the end leaving only the federal government to pick up the tab via a single-payer government-run health care system.  (Just like President Obama and the progressives wanted all along.) 


Despite all of the rhetoric to the contrary from Obamacare supporters, in just around six months after the law's passage we are already are seeing some of our worst fears about this law come to fruition. 


As I have said ad nauseum, when you enact a law that provides for huge disincentives for doctors, you will lose many of the existing doctors and discourage new talent from entering the profession.  Then when you add 30 million more people to the rolls of those that are now theoretically covered for health care, what results is a simple mathematical example of supply and demand economics.  You have fewer doctors available to provide service to a far greater amount of patients.  The inevitable result is that costs rise, waiting times increase, and ultimately rationing will occur.  Welcome to the beginning of the Obamacare nightmare!

Pelosi Disparages Pledge; States Democrats "Stand By" Obamacare

I have never seen anyone more politically tone deaf than our current Speaker of the House seemingly is.  Perhaps Nancy Pelosi is trying to just put a good face on her impending removal from the Speaker's chair come November's elections.  Perhaps she really does believe what she says and thinks what she has accomplished with her Democratic colleagues is good and not just more cynical legislation enacted in order to gain or hold onto power.  Perhaps the only voices she hears on the day's issues are those of her decidedly far-left progressive constituents from her San Francisco congressional district.

Regardless, her statements of naivety and foolishness, particularly when it comes to the health care reform act actually "saving" us money is a pipe dream.  The Congressional Budget Office back in May even restated  the total cost of implementing health care and determined that we would indeed exceed the dreaded $1 Trillion threshold that was supposedly the deal killer for many folks in congress for voting for this travesty of an unconstitutional law in the first place.

Further, the health care act will indeed cause the rationing that many feared, and it is guaranteed to create a huge rise in costs to consumers rather than a reduction thereof.  The disincentives and price fixes created under the bill are such that many doctors will retire and fewer young people will go into medicine.  With the addition of millions more of Americans now being covered and with less doctors to provide care for them, this would suggest by simple supply and demand economics that costs will go up.  Fewer doctors plus more patients equals higher costs and longer waiting times and rationing of services.  It is simple mathematics.

Pelosi claims regarding Democrats and the Obamacare legislation, “Our members have stated where they are on it," said Pelosi. "They have voted for it. They stand by it, and they are great advocates for it.”  Indeed if this were true, how come we hear nary a member of congress running on the fact that they helped pass Obamacare with their vote?  Rather, the silence on the issue from Democrats is quite deafening!

Again though, Speaker Pelosi seems to think that this gargantuan expanse of government and the draconian costs associated with it so that "children" can take their sweet time to follow their dreams of what to do with their lives and still be covered under their parents health care policy until the age of 26 is exactly what America wanted.  The storm clouds are ominously darkening and swirling at full gale and Speaker Pelosi seemingly is out in the middle of a vast field without an umbrella to be found.  Talk about sowing the tempest, Ms. Speaker!

The Obama Paradox

This quotation was forwarded to me that was supposedly attributed to the brilliant Ben Stein.  I have been unable thus far to corroborate that he is the source of the statement, however.  Nevertheless, the point is most excellently made:


"Fathom the odd hypocrisy that Obama wants every citizen to prove they are insured, but people don't have to prove they are citizens."

Billionaire Steve Wynn's Take on the Economy

Below is a short interview with Steve Wynn. He is a multi-billionaire, hotelier and real estate investor in Las Vegas, Asia, and Macau . He's been a guest from time to time on all the network financial news programs.  Back on May 28th of this year, he gave this interview on CNBC which absolutely encapsulates our economic problems for America in a nutshell.  (This guy must be brilliant because he said almost word for word what I have been saying all along regarding Obamacare and how it will RAISE costs rather than lower them.)  :)  Anyway, I can only assume that Mr. Wynn's truthfulness in describing our economic situation will result in his name being removed from the White House guest list.

Rush: CBO Estimates that Obamacare Exceeds $1 Trillion

Yep, even by CBO standards the newly passed Obama-care law will cost over $1 Trillion dollars.
Let me go out on a limb here (actually this is a very safe bet) and say that the costs of this program that Obama promised would REDUCE costs is going to cost us far far far more than the current CBO estimates.

This is just the first lie of the progressives that has been debunked. Unfortunately, once the entire plan is implemented in four years, we will see the other lies they told us be debunked too, like "there will be no rationing" and "there are no 'death' panels".

Unfortunately my being able to say "I told you so!" will be small consolation as our country implodes from all of this spending and the destruction of the world's best health care system. Dang, I hate being right on this issue!

The Health Care Law and Your Lack of Freedoms

I saw this small litany of the freedoms that we no longer enjoy thanks to the passage of the unconstitutional health care bill this week. I thought it was worthy of posting here just to give everyone an idea of why I say this is NOT about health care but rather the expansion of government control.

We let congress do THIS instead of fix the actual problems with our health care system. Now we will all suffer the costs of this unless there is enough ground-swell of public support to repeal this monstrous law and replace it with something that actually addresses the problems we have with health care and its insurance.

1. You are young and don’t want health insurance? You are starting up a small business and need to minimize expenses, and one way to do that is to forego health insurance? Tough. You have to pay $750 annually for the “privilege.” (Section 1501)

2. You are young and healthy and want to pay for insurance that reflects that status? Tough. You’ll have to pay for premiums that cover not only you, but also the guy who smokes three packs a day, drink a gallon of whiskey and eats chicken fat off the floor. That’s because insurance companies will no longer be able to underwrite on the basis of a person’s health status. (Section 2701).

3. You would like to pay less in premiums by buying insurance with lifetime or annual limits on coverage? Tough. Health insurers will no longer be able to offer such policies, even if that is what customers prefer. (Section 2711).

4. Think you’d like a policy that is cheaper because it doesn’t cover preventive care or requires cost-sharing for such care? Tough. Health insurers will no longer be able to offer policies that do not cover preventive services or offer them with cost-sharing, even if that’s what the customer wants. (Section 2712).

5. You are an employer and you would like to offer coverage that doesn’t allow your employers’ slacker children to stay on the policy until age 26? Tough. (Section 2714).

6. You must buy a policy that covers ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment; prescription drugs; rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices; laboratory services; preventive and wellness services; chronic disease management; and pediatric services, including oral and vision care.
You’re a single guy without children? Tough, your policy must cover pediatric services. You’re a woman who can’t have children? Tough, your policy must cover maternity services. You’re a teetotaler? Tough, your policy must cover substance abuse treatment. (Add your own violation of personal freedom here.) (Section 1302).

7. Do you want a plan with lots of cost-sharing and low premiums? Well, the best you can do is a “Bronze plan,” which has benefits that provide benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60% of the full actuarial value of the benefits provided under the plan. Anything lower than that, tough. (Section 1302 (d) (1) (A))

8. You are an employer in the small-group insurance market and you’d like to offer policies with deductibles higher than $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families? Tough. (Section 1302 (c) (2) (A).

9. If you are a large employer (defined as at least 101 employees) and you do not want to provide health insurance to your employee, then you will pay a $750 fine per employee (It could be $2,000 to $3,000 under the reconciliation changes). Think you know how to better spend that money? Tough. (Section 1513).

10. You are an employer who offers health flexible spending arrangements and your employees want to deduct more than $2,500 from their salaries for it? Sorry, can’t do that. (Section 9005 (i)).

11. If you are a physician and you don’t want the government looking over your shoulder? Tough. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to use your claims data to issue you reports that measure the resources you use, provide information on the quality of care you provide, and compare the resources you use to those used by other physicians. Of course, this will all be just for informational purposes. It’s not like the government will ever use it to intervene in your practice and patients’ care. Of course not. (Section 3003 (i))

12. If you are a physician and you want to own your own hospital, you must be an owner and have a “Medicare provider agreement” by Feb. 1, 2010. (Dec. 31, 2010 in the reconciliation changes.) If you didn’t have those by then, you are out of luck. (Section 6001 (i) (1) (A))

13. If you are a physician owner and you want to expand your hospital? Well, you can’t (Section 6001 (i) (1) (B). Unless, it is located in a country where, over the last five years, population growth has been 150% of what it has been in the state (Section 6601 (i) (3) ( E)). And then you cannot increase your capacity by more than 200% (Section 6001 (i) (3) (C)).

14. You are a health insurer and you want to raise premiums to meet costs? Well, if that increase is deemed “unreasonable” by the Secretary of Health and Human Services it will be subject to review and can be denied. (Section 1003)

15. The government will extract a fee of $2.3 billion annually from the pharmaceutical industry. If you are a pharmaceutical company what you will pay depends on the ratio of the number of brand-name drugs you sell to the total number of brand-name drugs sold in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the brand-name drugs in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2.3 billion, or $230,000,000. (Under reconciliation, it starts at $2.55 billion, jumps to $3 billion in 2012, then to $3.5 billion in 2017 and $4.2 billion in 2018, before settling at $2.8 billion in 2019 (Section 1404)). Think you, as a pharmaceutical executive, know how to better use that money, say for research and development? Tough. (Section 9008 (b)).

16. The government will extract a fee of $2 billion annually from medical device makers. If you are a medical device maker what you will pay depends on your share of medical device sales in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the medical devices in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2 billion, or $200,000,000. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that money, say for R&D? Tough. (Section 9009 (b)).
The reconciliation package turns that into a 2.9% excise tax for medical device makers. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that money, say for research and development? Tough. (Section 1405).

17. The government will extract a fee of $6.7 billion annually from insurance companies. If you are an insurer, what you will pay depends on your share of net premiums plus 200% of your administrative costs. So, if your net premiums and administrative costs are equal to 10% of the total, you will pay 10% of $6.7 billion, or $670,000,000. In the reconciliation bill, the fee will start at $8 billion in 2014, $11.3 billion in 2015, $1.9 billion in 2017, and $14.3 billion in 2018 (Section 1406).Think you, as an insurance executive, know how to better spend that money? Tough.(Section 9010 (b) (1) (A and B).)

18. If an insurance company board or its stockholders think the CEO is worth more than $500,000 in deferred compensation? Tough.(Section 9014).

19. You will have to pay an additional 0.5% payroll tax on any dollar you make over $250,000 if you file a joint return and $200,000 if you file an individual return. What? You think you know how to spend the money you earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9015).
That amount will rise to a 3.8% tax if reconciliation passes. It will also apply to investment income, estates, and trusts. You think you know how to spend the money you earned better than the government? Like you need to ask. (Section 1402).

20. If you go for cosmetic surgery, you will pay an additional 5% tax on the cost of the procedure. Think you know how to spend that money you earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9017).

What seems to be the common thread in the above provisions of this wonderful law? Basically if you want to exercise your freedom of choice in how you care and provide for yourself and your family's health care... TOUGH!

The Transformation of America

Despite the fact that President Obama claimed he was a pragmatic just-left-of-center kind of guy during his presidential campaign, anyone that took the time to do even a minute amount of research would see this for the lie it was. Obama had one of the most liberal voting records of all legislators during his short tenure in the senate. He never moved to the right to compromise on any legislation and yet talked incessantly about being bipartisan. He claimed to represent the view of a majority of Americans but associated with former terrorists (Bill Ayers), racists (Reverend Wright), and all manner of extreme left-wing socialist types (like Acorn). Despite all of his window-dressing in order to win the election though, he was truthful about one thing. He claimed that he wanted to fundamentally transform America.

Many of those good people that naively voted for the man are now waking up to see exactly what President Obama meant by that. His idea of transformation was not to work in a bipartisan atmosphere and to salve the bitter wounds inflicted during the course of partisan law-making. He would only do that IF the conservative elements in congress would compromise by moving towards Obama's position on all things socialistic.

Obama did not lie when he said he wanted universal health care. This weekend's passage in the House of the illegal and liberty-usurping senate health care bill is the first step in that process. You see, this bill is not what Obama and the far left factions of the Democrat party truly wanted. This bill does not go far enough for many of them in achieving a completely government-run single payer universal health care system. Obama, as he candidly admitted years ago, would be patient though and work towards this end through incremental means.

Pelosi, Reid, and Obama know that this health care plan, if it miraculously passes Constitutional muster, (and there is NO legal way it can) will eventually bankrupt private insurance companies. In the end, the federal government will be the last insurer standing, since they do not have to make a profit, nor do they care about expenses. After all they can always raise taxes, borrow money from China, or simply just print more money. Being patient will pay off for these Marxists and the next step in their incremental takeover of our medical system will be at hand.

This bill was never about health care. It is about expanding government control over a huge part of the economy and the ability to dictate from a federal post how we are to run our lives. Make no mistake; as the rationing of services begins (as it inevitably must) the government will dictate to we the people which of our behaviours are unacceptable as being excessive burdens on the health care system.

Those that partake of tobacco, transfats, red meat, or any other politically incorrect item or behaviour will be taxed additionally or have their benefits further curtailed. Don't believe me?

It is already happening in some of the most liberal states in the union such as in New York City where transfats are now recently outlawed. Talks abound about a enacting a junk food or "Twinkie tax" in some jurisdictions back east.

It was only back in 1993 that we assumed federal health care would never be implemented as Hillary-care was sent packing. Fast forward 17 years and our worst Marxist nightmares are about to be possibly realized. Hopefully the Supreme Court of the United States and its lower courts will stick to the clear principles enumerated in the Constitution. The federal government nowhere within the Constitution is permitted to levy fines against people for failing to follow a law to purchase something against their will simply for the fact of being alive.

One of the other overlooked items to this monstrous health care bill is the fact that all student loans will be handled by the federal government only. Private loans for the purpose of college education are no more. This should scare the heck out of any freedom and truth loving person.

The federal government basically can now dictate to any university what and how it can teach history, science, sociology etc to fit with the government's agenda. If a university fails to do so, the government can restrict the amount of loans granted to students wishing to attend that university. What better way to indoctrinate our young so that the chances of throwing off this yoke on our freedoms is greatly reduced.

If you think this couldn't possibly come to fruition, just remember that many in this country as recently as a year ago couldn't fathom that they would be FORCED under the penalty of law to have to purchase health care insurance. Wake up my fellow citizens so that we can stop this evil transformation and begin to undo the excesses of our liberty-stealing socialistic friends.

A Letter to the Speaker

I lost a lot of sleep last night, having watched the outcome of the health care bill vote and seeing the triumph of socialism over liberty. With that being the case, I thought I would pen an email and send it to the second most vital person in passing this bill in order to voice my disdain for her. A copy of the letter follows verbatim, with the exception of having used my true name in signing it.

The first most vital party that was essential to having passed this bill was the American people when they voted in President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Reid. Even though the public woke up late in the battle and strongly denounced the direction in which this socialist cabal was leading us, it was already too late. This is why elections are so important and the consequences of such can be quite dire, as we have just seen. Regardless now, I share my letter:

Dear Madam Speaker,

I congratulate you on your victory in passing the health care bill last night. I hope it is one you will savor as the price of this victory will be very costly indeed, and not just for you and your out-of-touch party but for the American people most of all. Let me assure you that your complete lack of morals and your willingness to bribe, intimidate, and threaten members of your own party to vote according to your will shall not go unanswered. I would recommend you move with alacrity for the remainder of this legislative year, because come this November the stain you have placed upon the title of Speaker of the House of Representatives will be removed. You cannot thwart the will of the majority of the American populace and expect no repercussions, even if you mistakenly think you are doing this for “our own good”. Needless to say, your attempts to “drain the swamp of congress” have been a farce.

I note with great dismay your statement from your victory speech last night claiming that this is something that our founding fathers would have wanted and of which they would be proud. Nothing could be further from the truth and any objective reading of historical documentation and actual letters from the founders support my argument. But then, this is something of which I suspect you also are quite well aware.

The great Frenchman that commented so eloquently after traveling and observing the expanses of our early nation, Alexis de Tocqueville said, “Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.” You, Madam Speaker, have contributed to the expanse of the latter rather than the former with the passage of this bill.

I don’t for a minute believe that you are not intelligent enough to realize the ramifications of what you and your Democrat conspirators have accomplished here. You intentionally partook in accounting gimmicks and games, such as double-counting the half trillion dollar cut from Medicare to shore up spending elsewhere. Your provisions were so pernicious towards insurance companies competing in the free market system that eventually, they will go broke and become as insolvent as your own state of California. All the while, the costs to the middle class will absolutely be impacted quite negatively. The end game, of course, will be that the government will be the only remaining provider of health care insurance, as per your plan.

Having not ever been elected to congress myself, I am not a wealthy man, but this I promise you, ma’am. I will work via writing, supporting, and contributing to any candidate that has the integrity to run against you while actually promising to support the Constitution you so cavalierly dismissed with this heinous bill. Yours and your party’s desire to create entitlements with which to further enslave the citizens of this nation through dependency upon the federal government is egregious in the extreme. Such measures only serve to weaken our liberties and sap the very dignity of the human spirit as many Americans fall into this trap you have set to rob them of their own rugged individualism and self reliance.

The great economist F.A. Hayek said it far better than I could when he said, “Independence of mind or strength of character is rarely found among those who cannot be confident that they will make their way by their own effort.” You have essentially robbed many Americans for future generations of the honor and dignity that comes from being self-reliant. And all of this while exempting your own self from the very laws you have deemed vital to pass for us, not unlike a Soviet era politburo.

So again, in closing, I offer you my congratulations to you for your victory in this hard-fought battle. You have triumphed over the will of the American people in this first round clash. Let me assure you that the real battle is about to be enjoined and the outcome of the war of Marxism versus Liberty will be found in a victory for Americans and their liberties, while you and the remnants of your party will sit irrelevantly on the sidelines for the next generation due to your audacity in your complete disregard for the Constitution, States Rights, and the will of the American People!

Sincerely,

T. Paine

Obama-care Summary

Let me get this straight......

We're trying to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it;

passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it;

to be signed by a president that also is exempt from it and hasn't read it and who smokes;

with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes;

all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese;

and;

financed by a country that's broke!

What the hell could possibly go wrong?

The Final Push to Destroy Health Care Liberty

Well it seems that our liberties continue to be under siege from those theoretically representing us in Washington D.C. As I type this posting, Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic henchmen are in a closed door session trying to eek out the last few House votes needed to pass the un-Constitutional health care bill. (Thanks for draining the swamp and for giving the American people such transparency, Nancy!)

I find it absolutely amazing that the Democrats plan to vote, likely through pernicious means, to pass this illegal and liberty-stealing health care bill on a Sunday during lent before they adjourn congress and let the representatives return home. You see, Nancy is afraid that some of the Democrats that are uncertain about this bill will wobble and vote against this if they go back to their home districts and get an ear full from their constituents prior to the actual vote.

Heck, even President Obama cancelled his trip to Indonesia and Australia in order that he could be on hand to sign this bill, should Pelosi be able to bribe or intimidate two more members of the House on the Democratic side of the aisle to see the immense illogic of her side of the debate.
That's right. As of this morning, the Democrats are two votes away from fundamentally changing America for the worse, assuming everyone else stays the course with their stated voting intentions.

Should this bill become law, it will doom America from a fiscal standpoint within a decade. The accounting tricks within the bill that claim it will "save" us money is a lie. There are multiple incidents such as the 1/2 trillion dollar cut in Medicare payments being counted twice in the bill to try and make this thing show a positive net impact on the deficit when the Congressional Budget Office scored the bill.

This bill is monumental in its scope. It passing will be along the lines of other history changing events in this nation such as the firing on Fort Sumter, the passing of the New Deal, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, or the terrorist attacks of September 11th. This bill will fundamentally change our health care system in America for the worse. It will ultimately bankrupt private insurance companies, decrease the amount of doctors in America, and by default put our nation's health care (1/6 of our entire economy) under the eventual control of the federal government.

Think about that for a minute.

All of the points and counter-points have been argued ad nauseum. The truth is known by a majority of the American people, hence the public support for killing this bill. Pelosi, Reid, and Obama insist on ignoring the will of the people though.

This may be your last chance to tell your congressman and senators to NOT allow this bill to become law.

I strongly urge you to call the congressional switch board and ask to speak to your congressman today before it is too late. (202) 224-3121

You can find your congressman and senators information below:

United States House of Representatives

United States Senators

I fervently pray to God that two more votes are not to be had in support of this liberty stealing bill. We should know on the Sabbath.

Illegal Immigration and the Current Health Care System

Another reason why our current health care costs are so expensive...

The Final Case Against the Current Healthcare Plan

I have long been tired of the topic of health care, but unfortunately the Democrats' vision of the plan just won't die... yet. It is also an enormously important issue since, despite Democratic claims to the contrary, their current plan will end up seriously adding to a national debt that is approaching $75 TRILLION dollars in unfunded mandates, interest charges, and yet-to-be-paid-for government spending. With that being the case, here are just some of the facts of why health care reform as the Democrats envision it should NOT be allowed to pass out of congress.

1.) First and perhaps most importantly, their plan is UN-CONSTITUTIONAL! The federal government has no legal authority to require that citizens purchase health insurance or be faced with fines or possible prison. If this bill becomes law, I guarantee that this will be the first court challenge brought up against this travesty of a plan.

2.) Second, the plan WILL add to the debt. The "savings" the Democrats tout in their bill is nothing more than a dishonest accounting scheme. They show taxation for the first 14 years to pay for the first ten years of coverage. What about the other remaining four years of coverage that the people will not receive right away?

3.) With the government determining what doctors can charge etc. the net effect will be to add so many disincentives that fewer people will become doctors and existing doctors will retire from the profession. If they are unable to repay medical school bills and make a comfortable living that most doctors currently can, the net result will be less doctors.

4.) The supposed reasoning for this plan is to add the currently un-insured 31 million Americans to health care insurance. (That 31 million seems to be an ever-changing number, by the way). The problem is that many of those 31 million people don't have insurance because they choose not to have it. Young kids in college etc would rather spend their money on beer or ipod downloads then on health insurance. I know that was my mindset at that age.

5.) When taking the facts from items three and four above, simple supply and demand economics shows that this creates a huge problem. When you have 31 million more people added to the existing health care rolls and you have significantly less amount of doctors available to treat them, this would logically suggest the following: More patients to be seen by less doctors equals rationing of medical care.

6.) With the rationing of medical care now established as a future fact, who is likely to suffer the most from this rationing? In an attempt to maintain costs with finite resources available, it would seem reasonable that those that are least able to contribute to the tax base will receive less care. In other words, the elderly will suffer the most. President Obama, in a rare moment of candor, even intimated this himself awhile back. Recall when he said that if an elderly patient needed a surgery to alleviate pain or improve mobility, that perhaps pain medication to help deal with the problem would be a better and more cost-reasonable way to deal with the problem.

7.) This leads to the next problem. The federal government will thus have sway over who gets this rationed care. Those that smoke, partake of trans-fats in their food, or intentionally lead a sedentary lifestyle might receive less coverage so as to "incentivize" people to live a healthy lifestyle, thereby reducing costs. In effect the government will have a say in how you live on a day to day basis. You had better live a healthy lifestyle or your health care may be decreased accordingly.

8.) If this health care plan is so good, why is that congress continuously exempts themselves from the dictates of the plan? To date, multiple amendments have been offered by the GOP to ensure that any bill passed would also apply to all members of congress. Each time the amendment has been shot down in committee, typically by a party-line vote.

9.) This plan does nothing to reduce costs. It will add billions to trillions of dollars to the national debt. Even Democrat Senator Dick Durbin has had a momentary lapse and said recently that this is so. I am sure he has since been properly chastised for speaking the truth.

10.) This plan was supposed to be debated in public and on C-Span, as per Obama's statement on eight different occasions. It was supposed to be a transparent debate that the public could watch and thus have input. Instead, we have seen nothing but closed door committee meetings where the senate and house bribe waffling members with billions of dollars in earmarks for their affirmative vote for the plan, thereby further adding to the cost of our health care. Even Speaker of the House Pelosi had the audacity to say this week that "...[W]e have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." Why the secrecy, if this bill is so danged good?

The bottom line is that the American people are smart and recognize most of these fatal flaws with the Democrats' plan. It is for this reason that a significant majority of the American population does NOT want this bill to be passed. Congress and President Obama continue to move forward despite the people's will to the contrary.

Don't get me wrong. I do indeed see ample reason to improve health care in our country, but more spending, forced taxation and purchasing, less care available all wrapped up into one un-Constitutional plan is not the way to go.

Although I often despise the GOP too, they do have some excellent aspects to their plan that would actually help to achieve the stated goals of health care. Their suggestions of removing restrictions so that insurance companies can compete across state lines would help reduce costs immensely. Meaningful tort reform also would help to reduce costs so that insurance become more affordable and consequently more available to more people.

The people are right; we do need to scrap the current plan and start over. Our Democratic friends in congress seem to be deaf to this plea. I suspect that they will suffer grave consequences at the ballot box this November accordingly. The facts as they stand above are pretty much inarguable and all of them speak against this current Democrat health care plan. Hopefully enough members of congress will listen to we the people on this critical issue.

Pelosi's Continued Arrogance

On Tuesday of this week, Nancy Pelosi made an address to the National Association of Counties in an attempt to drum up public support for the latest iteration of nationalized health care which theoretically will be voted upon March 18th, as per President Obama's latest arbitrary dictate.

In her typical arrogant fashion, Speaker Pelosi told the people assembled there that "...[W]e have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."

In other words, congress needs to continue to work behind closed doors with no public transparency as they wheel and deal in an effort to bribe, beg, and browbeat any dissenting congressmen into supporting this bill. They will adjust whatever provisions are necessary in the bill until they get the most socialistic version that they think they can pass.

Never mind that a large majority of the American people have loudly and consistently stated that they do not WANT this monstrosity passed. They want the existing problems with health care fixed. They do NOT want a myriad of new problems created through government's interventionist attempts to pass an un-Constitutional law regarding health care.

Again, I ask, if this bill is going to be so darned good, why have the Democrats on pretty near party line votes thus far, shot down any GOP-offered amendment to the bill to ensure that congress must also be covered under this new law for their health care? Their silence is deafening on the subject.

Don't You Dare, Congressman Jim Matheson!

I heard reported on the news last night and then again this morning that my congressman, Jim Matheson (D) of Utah's second district has been invited by the president, along with some of his blue dog Democrat colleagues to the White House this evening. Purportedly this is so President Obama can use his charm and charisma to persuade these blue dogs into supporting the un-Constitutional radical health care bill.

Now this is fine, and well within the purview of the president to do so. The problem is that it was further announced that Scott Matheson, brother of my congressman Jim Matheson, was just chosen by the Obama administration to sit on the 10th circuit court of appeals in Denver. This, of course, is a lifetime appointment to the bench. The fact that Obama chose to announce this at exactly the same time that they have invited Congressman Matheson to the White House certainly provides the appearance of impropriety, whether there is any or not.

The radio commentator this morning made the comment that Blue Dog Democrats are supposedly the ones that proclaim to be conservative when back in their home districts and then they go to Washington D.C. and vote like the commie-libs that they truly are. In other words, they got the name Blue Dogs because they act like dogs that blew off their constituents' wishes.

Now as far as Democrats go, Matheson is far better than most and I do respect some of the stands he has taken in the past. My biggest problem is that the very first vote of each new congress being seated, he has voted for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. THAT is a huge problem considering she then sets the legislative agenda and wields incredible power in the government. That power is used in ways that are decidedly not even close to being in our nation's best interest.

I certainly hope that this latest "coincidence" of a seemingly quid pro quo is just that... a coincidence and nothing more. Congressman Matheson, you can continue to show your sense of integrity and independence by voting NO on the upcoming health care bill. A vote in the affirmative will likely confirm that you are indeed for sale, whether that was the case or not.

Utahans in your district will be watching closely, as will the rest of the nation, I suspect, sir.

Caught in a Full Nelson

It would appear that Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson’s latest vote for cloture of the health care debate in the senate has definitely not endeared him to his constituents in the cornhusker state.

You see, Senator Nelson is a blue dog Democrat, meaning that he is supposedly a conservative Democrat. Theoretically that is the only kind of Democrat that could be elected in the conservative heartland of the country, but he showed his true colors when he allowed Senate majority leader Harry Reid to in effect bribe him with payola for his state if he would agree to be the 60th and final vote needed to end debate on the un-Constitutional, and thereby illegal, health care legislation the Senate was proposing.

Perhaps he is hoping that the voters will forget his egregious vote when he comes up for re-election in 2012, but somehow I don’t think people are going to forget this vote. As President Obama’s spiritual advisor and friend of twenty years (Reverend Wright) said, “the chickens will be coming home to roost”!

Rasmussen just released results from a poll conducted on December 29th of Nebraska voters and they are decidedly very unhappy as a whole with Senator Nelson. While Senator Nelson won his seat in 2006 with an overwhelming 64% of the vote then, this recent poll pitting Senator Nelson against incumbent Republican governor, and potential opponent for this seat in 2012, Dave Heineman would win right now with a 61% to 30% voter margin.

Nebraskans’ approval rating of the recent senate health-care deal is at 17%. 64% of them oppose the health-care overhaul proposed, which includes 53% of them strongly opposing it.

Even if Senator Nelson were to try and redeem himself by ultimately voting against the final reconciled health care bill when it comes up for its final vote, 47% of Nebraskans say they would still vote for governor Heineman for the senate versus 37% for Senator Nelson.

Now I realize that a lot can happen in the next few years, but I suspect come November 2012, Nebraska will most likely have a new senator representing it in Washington D.C. Such is the price one pays when one goes against the overwhelming opinion of one’s constituents. Sounds like a well-needed house cleaning of an opportunistic power-grubbing senator to me, and good riddance to this first of many Democratic casualties to come in 2012!

Liberty Counsel Fights Health Care

The below letter comes from an email I received today from an organization that is attempting to thwart the evil of this health care bill. It states the issues better than I could, so I am reprinting it in its entirety. T. Paine

Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel

You and I have witnessed one of the most corrupt legislative schemes in American history! Now, Senate Democrats are rightfully getting called on the carpet for it.
Please read below- Mat

Mr. Paine,

For the past several weeks, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has systematically bought off every Democrat member of the Senate who could possibly derail his crucial cloture vote on ObamaCare. When all the "bribes" were handed out, Reid had the required 60 votes to choke off debate in the middle of the night!

Honest Americans have been nauseated as we have watched:

** Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) get $300 million in extra
federal spending for her state in what critics derisively
called "The Louisiana Purchase."

** Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) break the hearts of pro-life
Americans by accepting a deal exempting his state from
any new Medicaid costs and several other long-term perks.
Nelson's purchase has been dubbed the "Cornhusker Kick Back."

** Many other bribes and "special provisions" affecting the
states of Vermont, North and South Dakota, Wyoming,
Massachusetts, Hawaii, Michigan, Florida, and Connecticut -
you can easily associate each bought-and-paid-for senator's
name with their state by reviewing recent news feeds.

But perhaps most painful of all was watching a condescending, smug Harry Reid justifying his corrupt acts by suggesting it is every senator's DUTY to get pay-offs for their votes!

"If they don't have something in it important to them, then it doesn't speak well of them," Reid said in a post-cloture interview.

So much for the integrity of the United States Senate!

The liberal congressional leadership and the Obama White House arm twisters have drug our nation down to the level of a cheap banana republic!

++On top of the corruption, ObamaCare is unconstitutional

If you wondered why Harry Reid has been rushing his 2,074-page bill and its 383-page "Manager's Amendment" through in the middle of the night with just hours to read them, Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and his staff found at least one answer...

Right there on page 1,020, the tyrannical Senate majority
insists that no future Congress can repeal or otherwise
amend the section on "Independent Medical Advisory Boards."

You will probably remember that socialists mocked Governor Sarah Palin for calling such independent boards "death panels." Yet Governor Palin was absolutely correct in her assessment - what else would you call boards with the power to grant or deny life-saving care using some "cost-benefit" formula?

Carefully hidden away in Reid's version of ObamaCare is a section that gives these boards far more power and permanence than the Constitution allows to ANY government entity!

Thankfully, Senators Jim DeMint and John Ensign (R-NV) raised a "Constitutional Point of Order" on the Senate floor yesterday concerning these "Advisory Boards." The Senate cannot pass a law that can never be repealed by a future Senate. How ridiculous is the thought? Sen. Reid is acting like a dictator!

They also called Reid out on the ObamaCare "Personal Mandate" that every American must buy insurance or face criminal charges. Please pray that Senators DeMint and Ensign won't be slapped down by the newly purchased 60-vote super-majority!

++ If this bill becomes law, Liberty Counsel is prepared to
challenge its constitutionality in court!

Harry Reid's version of ObamaCare (H.R. 3590) and its "Manager's Amendment" are unconstitutional because:

1) Congress has NO authority to force every American to carry insurance coverage, and,
2) Congress has NO authority to fine employers whose policies do not have the mandated coverage.

Mr. Paine, if this monstrous healthcare bill passes, it must be strongly challenged in the federal judiciary from the moment of its birth. Liberty Counsel stands ready to do exactly that!

++For now, as difficult as it may be, we MUST continue to make Congress hear our voice!

Major pro-life and conservative organizations are going all out this week to BURY the Senate in protest over Harry Reid's and Barack Obama's dirty tricks.

After the Senate adjourns for the Christmas break (now planned for Thursday morning), we will have time to strategize the next phase of our resistance to ObamaCare. But we MUST send them home with their ears ringing with protests against this outrageous bill and the scandalous way it has been handled!

Americans nationwide are expressing OUTRAGE at this overt manipulation and total lack of integrity. Reid, Pelosi and Obama have proven they will do anything to get this government takeover of our medical industry.

Now more than ever, the socialists and abortion advocates need to understand that WE HAVE NOT GIVEN UP and will resist to the very end!

Here's what I'm asking you to do...

#1 -- Fax Your Senators TODAY!

Even if you have done so many times already, help us continue flooding Senate offices with protests right up until the Senate adjourns. Go here right now:

http://www.libertyaction.org/r.asp?U=23844&CID=297&RID=22615542

Of course, we always encourage you to send your own faxes if you prefer. We have provided all the information you need to reach the key senators here:

http://www.libertyaction.org/r.asp?U=23845&CID=297&RID=22615542

#2 - Call your Senators!

Please... take a moment to call your two Senators - even right up to Christmas Eve - and let them know you are OUTRAGED by the way this bill has been handled.

Sen. Hatch 202-224-5251

Sen. Bennett 202-224-5444

#3 - Pray that this bill will be miraculously derailed! Pray for God's deliverance from being forced to pay for abortions and from the overt deceit and trickery that has become the norm from the Obama/Pelosi/Reid power axis. PLEASE keep the heat on, especially now that we have been shoved aside! Go here to raise your voice in protest:

http://www.libertyaction.org/r.asp?U=23846&CID=297&RID=22615542

Now is NOT the time to be silent! Join like-minded Americans who will be making Harry Reid and the Senate majority realize that this power-play WILL be the undoing of everyone who votes for the ObamaCare Abortion Bill of 2009!

God bless you,

Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel

P.S. This battle is not over, no matter how much the Pelosi/Reid/Obama power axis wants us to think that it is. Now that there are serious challenges to ObamaCare's constitutionality, anything can happen!

Please pray! There is always hope in God! Continue taking action!
And let your Senators know that you WILL hold them accountable for their decisions on ObamaCare and its outrageous handling! Once again, thank you for praying and speaking out.

+ + Comments? Questions?

http://www.libertyaction.org/r.asp?U=23847&CID=297&RID=22615542

Liberty Counsel, with offices in Florida, Virginia and Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit litigation, education and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family. Liberty Counsel . PO Box 540774 . Orlando, FL 32854 .
800-671-1776

The Triumph of the Dark Side of Health Care

Well it seems like the evil Lord Obama and his apprentice sith Darth Reid got one critical step closer to realizing their complete control of America. In the wee hours of the morning the other night, the United States Senate found a way to bribe the 60th senator, Ben Nelson D - NE, so that a vote of cloture to end debate on the health care bill would be passed and the dark side of the force could triumph over liberty and freedom.

I am frustrated and saddened deeply with this whole exercise in hypocrisy and cynicism. Many of the so-called "moderate" senators were holding to their votes against this evil legislation on the grounds that the bill before them would raise the deficit and/or not protect unborn life. I guess these weren't really core principals for these senators as much as guidelines. I say this because in the case of Senator Landrieu from Louisiana, her opposition collapsed with tax-payer bribes to her state that dwarfed in cost what the real Louisiana purchase cost Thomas Jefferson when he bought the western half of the United States. Thereby her vote and transformation to the dark side were cast.

The latest and the most importantly-needed 60th vote came when Senator Nelson threw away his principals against abortion and against adding to the deficit when he agreed to vote for the legislation if Harry Reid would ensure that ALL of the future medicare expenses for new recipients in his state of Nebraska would be paid for by the federal government in perpetuity. That was the cost for his vote and soul.

Now there are many experts out there claiming that there is still hope of defeating this legislation through our citizen opposition, but Darth Reid has the senate vote scheduled for Christmas eve. I don't think these "moderates" and their progressive storm trooper senators are going to blink an eye as they vote for final passage of the senate's version of this bill.

It then goes to reconciliation with the House's version, but the Democrats are so longing for power that I am sure between Darth Reid and Darth Pelosi, that some freedom-stealing, free-market-destroying health care compromise bill will come forth from the muck. At this point there are definitely 51 senators and probably well over half of the Democratically controlled House that will vote for this, since it never really was about health care anyway. It is about expansion of government power, and that is what those controlled by the dark side really had in mind all along.

If this had been something of which the senate was proud, they would have done this in the morning with huge fan-fare and media present instead of at one in the morning under the veil of darkness. Instead they drafted a bill of which very few, if any, have read that contains all sorts of buy-offs and liberty-stealing provisions for a government take over of 1/6th of the greatest nation in the world's economy. Oh yeah, and they, of course, have exempted themselves from the health care dictates of the bill.

Just as Queen Amidala stated, after the chancellor had been given de facto dictatorship of the empire, "So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause" , it would seem that our own nation too is following this path. Frankly I wonder if our own rebel alliance can restore freedom to the galaxy starting in 2010 and then finally overthrowing the evil emperor in 2012.

The Bankruptcy Hypocrisy

It is really easy to pick out any number of incidents of left-wing Democrat hypocrisy on a daily basis, but the audacity of our president’s statements during his latest interview with ABC’s Charlie Gibson the other day is quite astounding. This president, who has proposed budgets and current spending that dwarfs that of all 43 previous presidents COMBINED, had the temerity to chasten us that if we do not pass this health care monstrosity, we will bankrupt the nation.

Now the first thing that comes to my mind is how in the heck does expanding government bureaucracy, rationing health care (thereby killing off citizens and decreasing the amount of people paying taxes), and spending trillions to insure those without insurance is going to save the country from going bankrupt? I fail to follow the logic.

Obama said, “If we don't pass it, here's the guarantee….your premiums will go up, your employers are going to load up more costs on you. Potentially they're going to drop your coverage, because they just can't afford an increase of 25 percent, 30 percent in terms of the costs of providing health care to employees each and every year. “ The president further said that the costs of Medicare and Medicaid are on an “unsustainable” trajectory and if there is no action taken to bring them down, “the federal government will go bankrupt.” Finally Obama stated, “This actually provides us the best chance of starting to bend the cost curve on the government expenditures in Medicare and Medicaid.”

Pardon me, Mr. President, but nowhere does this plan lessen the costs of health care, let alone improve the quality of its coverage for us Americans. I’ll say it again, if you add millions more uninsured at tax payer expense to the health care rolls while providing huge disincentives to doctors and medical providers in terms of what they can charge and how they can practice medicine, the end result will be many more patients being cared for by far fewer physicians. The result of having a greater demand vs. the available supply is higher costs and less product/service available per person “demanding” it. Simple economics, but evidently not so for President Obama, despite numerous think tanks and even the CBO stating that costs would be higher (much higher by the more realistic reviewers) than the rosy picture being placed on the price tag of just shy of one trillion dollars that our congress has said would be the case.

The bottom line is, President Obama, that if you want to save the country from bankruptcy, then quit ALL spending that is not specifically authorized under the United States Constitution. Quit bailing out those businesses and industries that failed to manage their affairs prudently because they counted on a government bailout should their risky ventures not pan out in their favor. Quit spending money on special interests and pork projects to buy off votes in congress. Quit borrowing trillions of dollars from countries that are NOT our friends (China) or from anywhere else for that matter.

If you want to save the country from bankruptcy, do not sign this bill into law and thereby take over 1/6th of our nation’s economy for the federal government to operate defacto. Despite your propaganda and blatant hypocrisy, Mr. President, it is the killing of this current health care bill that will keep us from going into bankruptcy for the moment. Passing it will push us over the edge.