healthcare

Months after the worst piece of legislation in American history -- and the most costly piece of legislation estimated to cost upwards of $2.5 trillion -- was passed, the massive effort to repeal Obamacare is growing. Polls show that this highly unpopular piece of socialism is still opposed by the American people as much as it was during the year-long debate and votes in the Democrat-controlled Congress.

A solid majority of Americans want Obamacare repealed. Even the selfish corporations, which gave the final impetus to passing Obamacare by supporting it, are now realizing what a terrible pact with the devil they made to cut out special exemptions for themselves. They are dropping health care plans, increasing health care costs to their employees, and writing off huge expenses due to the imposition of Obamacare on their companies, etc.  read more »

I am a 25 year old married man and I live in
Salt Lake City. I also have been diagnosed with Lupus and been disabled since 2004. I am one medicare. But now with all this reform I am terrified because it hasn't been good so far and now that they have made itbigger. I just hope that my benefits don't become even harder to get accepted.

As we get down to the wire, the list of swing votes in the upcoming House vote on the ObamaCare legislation is coming more into focus. The list below identifies the potential "swing vote" Democrats, their most recent public position, as well as how they voted on the first "House" version of the bill last November.

All Republican members have stated that they will vote against the bill. If you are represented by them, contact them and thank them.

If you are represented by one that is listed as a "no", call and thank them and offer them encouragement to stand strong - as they are having their arms twisted relentlessly by Obama, Pelosi and Democrat leadership.

If you are represented by a someone listed as a "yes" or "undecided", call and let them know that you are opposed to the bill. Let them know that you are a registered voter in their district and that you demand that they vote "NO" on ObamaCare.

If your representative is not on this list, click here to send them a message, (you can even use this link to contact all members of Congress at once).  read more »

The biggest (political) problem with ObamaCare is that the public doesn't want it, as poll after poll after poll has demonstrated.  The latest comes from Rasmussen, which shows (ominously for Obama) that the more Congress and the public focuses on the issue, the more opposed they become to it. 

Currently, 53% of Americans are opposed to the pending Senate version of the bill, and only 42% support it.  Keep in mind that these numbers come AFTER Congress spent over a year working on the issue, Obama made dozens of speeches and town hall appearances, and after the highly covered health care "summit" meeting with Congress that Obama sponsored.  55% think Congress should scrap the whole thing and start from scratch.  read more »

Does anybody really believe that a system ran by the Government would be free of suffering. That a nurse provided by the Government is going to be kinder and provide better comfort than a nurse selected by the one in need of a nurse.

I pray for those in need; My heart also goes out to those who have care provided by the Government and remain tragically more in need. I know that God is aware of every tear. My chest grows tight as I put this post together because I know these people matter to God and to somebody else.

I've been to both DMV and when possible alternative private businesses for services of registering a car. Although not broken by the my experiences with the DMV I can image those people running a hospital but in some cases I don't need to imagine.

An independent inquiry found that managers at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust stopped providing safe care because they were preoccupied with government targets and cutting costs. Patients were routinely neglected or left “sobbing and humiliated” by staff.

Should I go on?

The report, which follows reviews by the Care Quality Commission and the Department of Health, said that “unimaginable” suffering had been caused. Regulators said last year that between 400 and 1,200 more patients than expected may have died at the hospital from 2005 to 2008.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article7039285.ec...  read more »

Congressional Democrats have not given up on the idea of passing government run health care - despite the overwhelming opposition of the American public.

Senate and House liberals are co-signing a letter urging Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to use the budget reconciliation process to push the so-called "public option" through the Senate.  Now that Republicans have the 41 votes necessary to sustain a filibuster, the Democrats want to get around the filibuster all together by using the budget process to pass legislation that would alter 1/6th of the American economy.  Which the majority of the American public do NOT want.

Via CNN:

The fight over health care reform burst back into public view Tuesday as four Democratic senators asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to hold a vote on a government-run public insurance option.  read more »

Despite numerous polls that clearly demonstrate that the American people don't want the type of health care "reform" that the Democrats have proposed, Obama has indicated (yet again) that he's undeterred and will push forward to try and get it passed.

As for that pesky public opinion, Obama continues to attribute it to a "lack of understanding" on the part of the public.  They just need to do a better job of communicating he says.  Of course, this is the President who has "communicated" with the American people more than any other President in history at this point in an administration, (with at least 29 high profile speeches dedicated to his health care plans).

At a New Hampshire town hall meeting (yet another in the record number of communication attempts), Obama stated:

“We just have to make sure that we move methodically and that the American
people understand what’s in the bill,” Obama said.

“What I will not do is to stop working on this issue because it is the right
thing to do for America,” Obama said. “You got to let your
members of Congress know they shouldn't give up.”  read more »

This story serves as a wonderful example of what conservatives have said about the Democrats favorite notions of how to "fix" health care in America.  That being to have the government just take the whole thing over in what is known as a "single payer system"...which means the government pays all the bills.

As conservatives have pointed out, when the government pays all the bills, it eventually moves to control the costs by rationing care.  And, with the profit motive gone, advances in medicine and the overall quality of care soon suffer.

During the course of the debate, both sides have held out countries such as Canada and England as representing what was "right" or "wrong" with this approach.

Well now comes this story from CBC News:

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is set to undergo heart surgery this week in the United States.

CBC News confirmed Monday that Williams, 60, left the province earlier in the day and will have surgery later in the week.

The premier's office provided few details, beyond confirming that he
would have heart surgery and saying that it was not necessarily a
routine procedure. ...  read more »

One of the byproducts of the intense debate over ObamaCare and the proposed entre' to a government takeover of about 1/6th of our economy is a renewed interest on the part of state legislators in the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.  The amendment states:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people.

In other words, the scope and power of the federal government is (supposed to be) limited, therefore it can't be construed to extend to allowing Washington DC to mandate that private citizens purchase a specific consumer product.  In this case, a health insurance policy.  (via the AP)

Although President Barack Obama's push for a health care overhaul has stalled, conservative lawmakers in more than two-thirds of the states are forging ahead with constitutional amendments to ban government health insurance mandates.  read more »

As everyone knows by now, Republicans now have 41 seats in the US Senate, which means that they can sustain a filibuster on issues such as ObamaCare, if they stick together.  And it's this change in Capitol dynamics that has led Democrats to entertain thoughts of trying to pass ObamaCare by getting around the filibuster rule and use what are known as "reconciliation" rules...which would only require a simple majority for passage.

In order for that to happen however, the Democrat leadership would have to get  at least 51 of 59 Democrats go along with the extraordinary measure and, as you can imagine, some of the more "moderate" Democrats are a little skittish about doing anything that blatant - especially since the election results in Massachusetts.

But now comes word that Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson may be thinking about going along with the scheme...

Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson has flip-flopped again -- this time saying that he can back the controversial reconciliation process that the Senate may use to railroad the pro-abortion health care bill through the chamber. Nelson first flip-flopped on abortion funding.

Nelson drew the ire of the pro-life movement when he changed his mind on supporting a firm ban on all abortion funding under the bill and compromised with Harry Reid to force some taxpayers to fund abortions. ...  read more »