Thursday, November 05, 2009

Health Care Rally Photos

Max Pappas of FreedomWorks sent over some pictures of today's rally at the Capitol in opposition to liberal efforts to have the federal government take over our health care system.

I'm posting the pictures because this is a tremendous turnout (especially in mid-week, with little notice, on a dank and intermittently-rainy day), and I have no faith whatsoever that the mainstream media will accurately report the full size of the crowd.

E-mail comments to info@nationalcenter.org. | Subscribe to feed. | Follow the National Center for Public Policy Research on Twitter. | Download Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Health Care.

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 5:11 PM

Monday, November 02, 2009

So Much for That

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

-Presidential oath of office

When asked if there "is any concern at all about whether it is constitutional for Congress to impose a mandate [that individual Americans must obtain health insurance]," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "no." He also said he had no reason to believe White House lawyers had ever considered the issue.

Labels: Constitutional Law, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 5:58 PM

Sunday, November 01, 2009

British Government Health Service Locks Man in Ambulance

The British government's National Health Service has apologized to a patient and his family after an NHS ambulance driver drove him to an ambulance station and, as the BBC put it "went home and forgot about him."

The man was found five hours later after a search commenced following his failure to return to his place of residence.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:15 AM

Saturday, October 31, 2009

It Came From Capitol Hill....

Image via Wikipedia

Just in time for Halloween, Nancy Pelosi unveils a terrifying, spine-tingling, stomach-turning behemoth...

H.R. 3962!!

Mammoth tax increases! (cue taxpayer scream)

Hundreds of billions in Medicare cuts! (cue grandma scream)

Massive expansion of Medicaid! (cue states scream)

Oppressive new government mandates! (cue Liberty scream)

1,990 pages of budget busting, mind numbing legalese! (cue my eyes scream)

Read, if you dare: H.R. 3962, the scariest thing to slither out of Capitol Hill... since the Baucus Proposal.

Written by Matt Patterson, policy analyst at the National Center for Public Policy Research. Write the author at info@nationalcenter.org. As we occasionally reprint letters on the blog, please note if you prefer that your correspondence be kept private, or only published anonymously.

Labels: Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Matt Patterson at 12:03 AM

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Radio Day

I'm having another of what I call "radio days," in which I do a lot of radio interviews -- in this instance, on the latest developments in the health care debate.

If you care to tune in, I will be on the following stations (please note, all times given are Eastern):

KURV McAllen, TX
7:11 AM ET

WFLA Tampa, FL
7:23 AM ET

KTRH Houston, TX
7:34 AM ET

WTVN Columbus, OH
7:45 AM ET

WSYR Syracuse, NY
8:06AM ET

KIDO Boise, ID
8:20 AM ET

KVI Seattle
8:35 AM ET

KCOL Fort Collins, CO
9:17 AM ET

WHLO Akron, OH
9:40 AM ET

Labels: Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Radio, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:56 AM

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Nero Profited While Rome Burned

Looks like the lobbying profession, taken as a group, couldn't be happier that the feds are messing up our health care system so badly.

Notice that the lobbyists quoted in the The Hill story by Jeffrey Young that I linked to above apparently did not want to be identified by name. I guess they still have enough pride to be ashamed of themselves.

E-mail comments to info@nationalcenter.org. | Subscribe to this blog's feed. | Follow the National Center for Public Policy Research on Twitter. | Download our book Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Health Care.

Labels: Business, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Regulation, Retirement, Scandals

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:29 PM

Monday, October 19, 2009

Medicare Confusion

I'm a little confused. Maybe you can help me out. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus wants to cut $500 billion from Medicare to cover about 30 million uninsured. That's over 10 years. Handing the entire amount out to the uninsured would work out to about $6,666 annually for each family of four.

That should be sufficient for a health care plan of some kind. Presumably the resultant reduction in cost shifting would lower costs, too. So why does he plan to spend an additional 330 billion?

Hmm... Couldn't be about control, could it?

Written by David A. Ridenour, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy Research. Write the author at info@nationalcenter.org. As we occasionally reprint letters on the blog, please note if you prefer that your correspondence be kept private, or only published anonymously.

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:10 PM

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Tort Reform Would Save $54 Billion in Health Care Expenses

So says the Congressional Budget Office.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Legal Reform, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:56 AM

Thursday, October 08, 2009

What's Happening Now

There is no Baucus bill.

Study: Generous unemployment benefits create moral hazard.

Tasteful chimp statuary?

Anne Bayefsky: "The Obama administration has marked its first foray into the UN human rights establishment by backing calls for limits on freedom of expression."

ObamaCare has been tried -- at the state level.

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:36 AM

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

What's Happening Now

If All Nippon airways really wanted to reduce carbon emissions, it wouldn't ask its customers to pee; it would ask them to stay home.

Here's hoping the idiotic sports reporters who attacked Rush Limbaugh over his perfectly-appropriate Donovan McNabb comment in '03 gag on this news.

Which health insurer denies the most claims? Find out here.

Tell me again why the USA gives one penny to the United Nations.

Labels: Business, Climate, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, United Nations

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:01 AM

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Radio Day!

I'm having another of what I call "radio days."

If you live in one of the following cities and are so inclined, you can hear me talking about health care reform and our new book Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Medicine on the following stations between now and 11 AM Eastern today:

WTAG Worcester, MA
0706 AM ET

KTRH Houston, TX
0733 AM ET

WOWO Fort Wayne, IN
0738 AM ET

WSYR Syracuse, NY
0820 AM ET

KVI Seattle, WA
0834AM ET

WOAI San Antonio, TX
0840 AM ET

KOGO San Diego, CA
0907AM ET

WHLO Akron, OH
0915 AM ET

WTAM Cleveland, OH
1030AM ET

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:00 AM

Friday, October 02, 2009

What's Happening Now

Senator Kerry blocks Senate fact-finding trip to Honduras.

Woman who "essentially starved" her toddler to death served a mere six months and is now accused of grotesquely abusing her son. Six months?

State of Michigan threatens woman for babysitting.

A population map.

In the none-of-its-business department: Major U.S. corporation spends $290,000 telling Irish voters to vote to join EU.

John Goodman asks: Why is AARP selling out seniors?

Labels: Congress, Courts, Crime, Europe, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, Regulation

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:11 AM

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Cut Off Health Care to ObamaCare Opponents, Says Bitter Old NPR Guy

Garrison Keiller fantasizes about cutting off ObamaCare opponents' access to the health care system.

Thanks, Keiller, for another reminder of why government-run health care really s---ks, because in those systems, bitter old fogeys like yourself really can cut off the health care access of people who disagree with them, shocking as it may seem.

Recall what Britain's National Health Service did to senior citizen Edward Atkinson, who had the temerity to mail pro-life literature to a government hospital that aborts young Britons.

If you want hospital administrators deciding they don't want to treat you based on your public policy or political views, then by all means, support government-run health care. Just be sure you really mean it, because once you get it, government-run health care is notoriously difficult to get rid of (you see, the employees unionize, and give campaign contributions, and before you can say 'why can't I have cancer drugs?,' you find the politicians are willing to let them let you die).

P.S. To Mr. Keiller: I don't recall you ever supplying any of my health care, so you have scant business talking about cutting it off. I, on the other hand, have been forced against my will to help pay for NPR...

P.P.S. If readers of this blog haven't yet read our new book, Shattered Lives; 100 Victims of Government Health Care, what on earth are you waiting for? If you are willing to read it on your computer you can downloaded a free PDF of the full book here. That's free, as in no money, no catch. But if you hate reading a computer screen, or want to give a copy of the book to someone who doesn't use computers, you are welcome to purchase a paper copy of Shattered Lives on Amazon.com for $14.95.

Written by Amy Ridenour. E-mail comments to info@nationalcenter.org. | Subscribe to this blog's feed. | Follow the National Center for Public Policy Research on Twitter. | Download our book Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Health Care.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Labor Unions, Liberals

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:33 AM

What's Happening Now

Tim Cavanaugh: Another fiscal year older, another $1.65 trillion in debt.

Michael van der Galien: Everybody loves clowns, right?

GE gets its payoff.

Jules Crittenden: Intelligence without experience is like knowing how roller skates work without ever having skated. (One guess who he's talking about.)

PhRMA spends $9.4 million more promoting left-wing health care "reform"; forgets left-wing health care means drugs gets rationed.

Patterico tries to get a Washington Post correction. Good luck with that.

British Christian hotel owners charged with criminal offense after discussing religion with Muslim guest.

E-mail any comments to the National Center for Public Policy Research at info@nationalcenter.org.
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Labels: Defense, Europe, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Media, Religion, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:34 AM

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Project 21's Bob Parks Discusses Health Care Policy on BET Special This Sunday

Project 21 member Bob Parks has taped a panel discussion on health care policy that is scheduled to air on Black Entertainment Television this Sunday, September 27, at 9:00 PM eastern.

Bob participated in BET's "Critical Condition: What's at Stake in Health Care Reform" with White House Domestic Policy Advisor Melody Barnes and Representatives James Clyburn (D-SC) and Maxine Waters (D-CA).

You can read Bob's comments about the taping of the show by clicking here.

Check your local listings for BET on cable. BET is available on channel 230 on Fios, channel 124 on Dish Network and channel 329 on DirecTV.

Editor's note: BlackNews.com has published a story about the broadcast, which can be accessed here.

Written by David Almasi, executive director of the National Center for Public Policy Research. Write the author at info@nationalcenter.org. As we occasionally reprint letters on the blog, please note if you prefer that your correspondence be kept private, or only published anonymously.

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Project 21, Race

Posted by David W. Almasi at 12:53 AM

Monday, September 21, 2009

A Vision of Health Care Reform that Works

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has a must-read op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today on health care, "A Growth Vision for Health Reform."

It begins:

A 3-year-old boy was recently diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, soft-tissue cancer in his bladder. Radiation treatment would have stunted the growth of his pelvic bones, hips and bladder and left him disabled. Radical surgery could remove his bladder, prostate and portions of his rectum. That would have left him impotent, using a colostomy bag, and urinating through another bag in his abdomen.

His parents chose a third option - a new "unproven" therapy where a proton beam precisely targeted the radiation dose so that it didn't cripple their son for life. The boy is now cancer-free and his body functions normally.

This story would seem to be an example of our health-care system at its best. But it is incompatible with the left's vision for overhauling the health-care industry...

Read the rest here.

Posted by Amy Ridenour. E-mail any comments to the National Center for Public Policy Research at info@nationalcenter.org.
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Labels: Congress, Conservatives, Government Health Care, Health Care

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:06 AM

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Daily Kos Wants Tea Party Participants to Forgo All Government Services, But Still Pay All Taxes

At times, activists of the superficial left write such stupid things, it is embarrassing to read them.

Such is the case with a Laura Clawson Daily Kos post Friday in which lefties are encouraged to send a faux "Socialist Free Purity Pledge" around the Internet. The gist of Clawson's message is that anyone who attended a Tea Party rally is a hypocrite if they from this point forward ever use a single thing funded by the federal government.

The post had at the time I read it 265 comments, most of which were favorable to the idea, which many of them actually thought was clever.

I ask myself, can the activist left be so uniformed as to believe that when it comes to government spending, there are only two positions possible, that of wanting the feds to spend more and grow larger, and that of wanting the feds to spend not one penny? That anyone who does not support President Obama's government-expansion plans is, ipso facto, the strictest of libertarians?

Seeing how badly the left governs when in office, I conclude "yes." Yes, they really can be this ignorant.

Which explains why the leftists in Congress and the White House think socialized medicine works and that the best way to deal with the Kremlin is from a position of slobbering, supplicating subservience.

The leftists think anyone who attended a Tea Party rally should sign a document pledging they will never use a government service again...

...but what the lefties don't put in their "Socialist Free Purity Pledge" is a pledge of their own to pass legislation offering to refund the tax dollars coercively paid by every person who might choose to sign their Purity Pledge and who sticks to it.

So selfish, these lefties. In their bitter little world, even the people who don't use any government will be forced to pay for it.

Labels: Conservatives, Defense, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Liberals, Protests, Socialism, Taxes

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:58 AM

Friday, September 18, 2009

Washington Times Talk Radio Debuts

This afternoon, I was the first guest of the first broadcast of the new Washington Times Association Talk Radio show with host Chris Murch.

We discussed health care reform and the National Center for Public Policy Research's new book, Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Health Care.

Based on what I heard today, it is a promising new show. You can listen live or to its archives via the Internet here.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Media

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:26 PM

What's Happening Now

No independent thought tolerated: A sample of the abuse black conservatives routinely receive.

Polish newspaper: "Betrayal! The U.S. sold us to Russia and stabbed us in the back."

Czech newspaper: "An ally we rely on has betrayed us, and exchanged us for its own, better relations with Russia, of which we are rightly afraid."

Lauri Regan/American Thinker: "Missile defense Obama will ditch, but General Electric he'll enrich?"

Timothy Carney/Washington Examiner: Obama helps strengthen General Electric-Putin ties.

ACORN to file criminal complaint. (H/T The Other McCain)

Speaking of ACORN, defend Glenn Beck.

The Max Baucus money trail. (Is it that expensive to run in Montana?)

John McCain IDs "certainly the worst President of the 20th Century."

Labels: Defense, Europe, Foreign Policy, FreeEnterpriseProject, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Project 21, Race, Scandals

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:41 PM

Thursday, September 17, 2009

What's Happening Now

Even the anecdotes are lies. (Does this White House vet anything?)

Would you support a sex tax to pay for Obama's health care reform?

When a health care system has other priorities: "We were told to wrap him in a blanket and let him die."

How the poor cheat the IRS.

Scott Johnson: Who is lower, ACORN or the New York Times?

538: Baucus compromise draws enthusiastic support of Senator Max Baucus.

Obama Treasury Department admits: Cap-and-trade a huge energy tax.

This time, it's caribou: The left is trying to regulate energy using the Endangered Species Act again.

David Harsanyi: Conservatives have never opposed a president before. (So it must be racism.)

Congratulations to Mark Levin. (I'm one of the million.)

Labels: Climate, Congress, Energy, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Project 21, Race, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:46 AM

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

On-Air Alert

I'm having what I call a "radio day" today, discussing President Obama's health care push, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus' health care proposal and our new book, Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Health Care.

If you'd like to tune in, I'll be on the following stations and possibly others: KTRH in Houston, WTVN in Columbus, KFAB in Omaha, WILM in Wilmington, KOGO in San Diego and WTAM in Cleveland at various times throughout the morning.

P.S. Add Louisville news/talk, KCOL in Fort Collins, KNST Tucson and the great Kirby Wilbur's show on KVI in Seattle.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:03 AM

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Reality Check

"Brevity is the soul of wit." It is also a purveyor of wisdom.

The original U.S. Constitution was 6 pages long, contained 4,400 words, and set the foundation for the freest, most prosperous nation in the world. Last week, Barack Obama spoke of his plans for a health care bill expected to exceed 1,000 pages.

Further compounding this departure from the beautiful simplicity of America's founding is the present day propensity to complicate legislative language. The Founders were careful to produce a document that all Americans could easily understand. The hotly debated health care legislation is too complicated apparently for even legislators to understand. As that staggering intellect, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), said, "I love these members, they get up and say, 'Read the bill,' What good is reading the bill if it's a thousand pages and you don't have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?"

My, how far we have come... but not for the better, I fear.

I comment on this abandonment of the ways of the past as it emphasizes a concern held by many: that this loss of legislative simplicity implies a complimentary loss of freedom. The eight year anniversary of the September 11 attacks is also a time to celebrate the liberty we, as Americans, have protected and maintained these many years. Though liberal activists have worked to marginalize the patriotic fervor of this most tragic anniversary, the majority of Americans not only remember those who were murdered, they also consider with reverence the strength and sustainability of America and her freedoms (so hated by our terrorist attackers). As we reflect on our liberty as Americans we should also remember the lurking legislative threats to our sacred freedoms, as signified by this rejection of simplicity.

This post was written by Caroline May, policy analyst the National Center for Public Policy Research. Write the author at info@nationalcenter.org. As we occasionally reprint letters on the blog, please note if you prefer that your correspondence be kept private, or only published anonymously.

Labels: Congress, Constitutional Law, Culture, Defense, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Caroline May at 11:15 PM

Quote of Note: In 2007-08, 16.5% of Deaths in Britain Came After Terminal Sedation

"Rarely has the Atlantic seemed as wide as when America's raw debate on the future of health care provoked a near unanimous response from Britain's politicians boasting of the superiority of socialized medicine delivered by the country's National Health Service. Prime Minister Gordon Brown used Twitter to tell the world that the NHS can mean the difference between life and death. His wife added, 'we love the NHS.' Opposition leader David Cameron tweeted back that his plans to outspend Labour showed the Conservatives were more committed to the NHS than Labour.

"This outbreak of NHS jingoism was brought to an abrupt halt by the Patients Association, an independent charity. In a report, the association presented a catalogue of end-of-life cases that demonstrated, in its words, 'a consistent pattern of shocking standards of care,' providing details of what it described as 'appalling treatment,' which could be found across the NHS. A few days later, a group of senior doctors and health-care experts wrote to a national newspaper expressing their concern about the Liverpool Care Pathway, a palliative program being rolled out across the NHS, involving the withdrawal of fluids and nourishment for patients thought to be dying. Noting that in 2007-08, 16.5% of deaths in the U.K. came after terminal sedation, their letter concluded with the chilling observation that experienced doctors know that sometimes 'when all but essential drugs are stopped, 'dying' patients get better' if they are allowed to -- words that put a different complexion on Gordon Brown's August tweet."

-Rupert Darwall, "Life, Death and the NHS," Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2009

For more on life and death on the NHS, download a free PDF copy of our new book, Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Health Care.

Labels: Europe, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:16 AM

Saturday, September 12, 2009

A Lot to Worry About in This Story

Doctors in Australia's government-run hospitals are killing patients because they're exhausted, says an Australian doctors' union.

The government's response? Doctors should drink more coffee, and a different branch of government should run the hospitals.

From Reuters:

Exhausted Australian doctors have been told to drink up to six cups of coffee a day to stay awake during extended shifts, building pressure on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to seize control of state-run hospitals.

A document on fatigue management released by health officials in Queensland state recommended doctors ingest 400 milligrams of caffeine to stay awake on the job, or the equivalent of six cups of coffee, after warnings that patients were dying.

"For management to just say go and have a cup of coffee and get over tiredness, it cheapens the whole issue," Australian Medical Association Vice President Steven Hambleton told Reuters.

"We are talking about serious issues here, and this is not just a serious suggestion at all. It can't be a weakness to say you're dog tired," he said.

The recommendation followed warnings from a union representing Queensland doctors this week that public hospital patients were dying because dangerously tired medics were being forced to work up to 80 hours without a break...

You can read the rest here, but before you do, contemplate the following two concepts: "doctors' union" and "strike." Yikes.

Labels: Government Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:26 AM

Friday, September 11, 2009

What's Happening Now

Final words from 9-11. Don't forget.

Iran, Libya and Obama's inexperience.

An American experiences the NHS.

Government Electric?

Death panels strike again.

ATR: Top five tax fibs in Obama speech.

Osteoporosis drug controversy in the UK.

Britain may not have enough hospital beds to handle swine flu.

Labels: Business, Defense, Europe, Foreign Policy, FreeEnterpriseProject, Government Health Care, Government Power, Health Care, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:40 AM

Thursday, September 10, 2009

British MP Charges Some Parents Have Been Threatened for Questioning Health System

A Liberal Democrat Member of the British Parliament is charging that some parents in Britain have been told they could lose legal custody of their children because they complained about the British government's National Health Service.

From the Times (UK):

Parents are being threatened with having their children taken into care after questioning doctors' diagnoses or objecting to their medical care.

John Hemming, a Liberal Democrat MP, who campaigns to stop injustices in the family court, said:
"Very often care proceedings are used as retaliation by local authorities against 'uppity' people who question the system."

Cases are emerging across the UK: The mother of a 13-year-old girl who became partly paralysed after being given a cervical cancer vaccination says social workers have told her the child may be removed if she (the mother) continues to link her condition with the vaccination.

A couple had all six of their children removed from their care after they disputed the necessity of an invasive medical test on their eldest daughter. Doctors, who suspected she might have had a blood disease, called for social services to obtain an emergency protection order, although it was subsequently confirmed that she was not suffering from the condition. The parents were still considered unstable, and all their children were taken from them.

A single mother whose teenage son is terminally ill and confined to a wheelchair has been told he is to become the subject of a care order after she complained that her local authority’s failure to provide bathroom facilities for him has left her struggling to maintain sanitary standards...

Read the entire story here.

Labels: Europe, Government Health Care, Government Power, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:19 PM

Project 21's Kevin Martin Rebuts Obama Health Care Address

Project 21 member Kevin Martin watched President Obama's address to Congress last night and didn't see much difference in what the White House and liberals on the Hill proposed before their summer vacation when it comes to reforming health care and what they are peddling now:

After losing control of their message on health care reform and having heard the criticism of their proposal at town hall meetings throughout the recent recess, one would expect the President and his liberal allies to return to Washington with new and innovative ideas about such reform. Instead, what the President said last night was a mish-mash of the same talking points, half-truths and misleading statements.

President Obama and his allies are ignoring the real reform Americans want in our health care system - namely reining in high costs and lessening the burden of lawsuit abuse on caregivers. Dealing with waste, fraud and abuse is something Americans have long wanted and this can be a point of agreement with the President - but it is odd that this is a cause the President's team is late in joining. What took them so long?

When supporters of a government option preach that their plan will be cost-effective and deficit-neutral as Obama did last night, it rings hollow. One has to look no further than the pork projects in this year's partisan "stimulus" package and the resulting explosion of the deficit to realize that being cost-effective and deficit-neutral are not the President's forte.

This post was written by David Almasi, executive director of the National Center for Public Policy Research. Write the author at info@nationalcenter.org. As we occasionally reprint letters on the blog, please note if you prefer that your correspondence be kept private, or only published anonymously.

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by David W. Almasi at 4:47 PM

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

My Take On the President's Speech

In his speech tonight, the President told the stories of several Americans who have had struggles with the American health care system, and unflatteringly compared the U.S. health care system to systems in other 'advanced democracies.' But people who live in those other advanced democracies would love to have the quality and quantity of care Americans routinely take for granted. And the stories the President shared in his speech, touching as they are, are not by any means worse than the stories Ryan Balis and I collected about the trials faced by people in Canada, Britain, Australia, Japan, Sweden and other nations with public systems.

The White House released a guest list of people who were to sit with the First Lady during the speech that included a gentleman whose insurance company delayed a colonoscopy for several months. A few months' delay is commonplace in countries with government medicine. In our collection, we tell the story of a man on Australia's public system who was told he had to wait TWO YEARS for a colonoscopy.

In the section of his speech about Senator Kennedy, the President evoked the sad hypothetical case of an American having to tell a loved one, 'there is something that could make you better, but I just can't afford it.' In Britain, it is estimated that 25,000 people die prematurely every year because the British government-run health care system 'can't afford' cancer drugs Americans take for granted. Surely the President knows this.

A few weeks ago, the President famously claimed that a noteworthy expense of the U.S. health system occurs when doctors unethically try to make money by performing tonsillectomies unnecessarily. Although the President's allegation was preposterous, this wouldn't even be a credible lie in many countries with government-run systems, where it can be difficult to even get a tonsillectomy. In one of the stories we've collected and made available for download, a small child in a public health system abroad waited TWO YEARS for a tonsillectomy.

The President complained in his speech that people oppose his public option because of 'politics.' He's just wrong. People oppose his public option, including triggers and government-backed co-ops and any other back door route to government-run health care, because they fear what government-run health care always brings: pain, misery and death. Anyone who doubts this should download a free PDF of our new book and read for themselves what President Obama's co-called 'public option' would really be like.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:13 PM

100 Stories of Personal Struggles with the Health Care System You Won't Hear from President Obama

As the White House has announced that the First Lady will watch the President's health care speech tonight with two people who have had what the White House terms as "struggles" with the U.S. health care system, I remind everyone about our new book, "Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Health Care."

Shattered Lives tells of the struggles 100 people in countries that previously adopted the so-called "public option" (read: government option) on health care have had getting health care services. These are the kind of stories I think we can be confident the President won't reference during his speech tonight.

We are not charging for PDF copies of the book, which readers can download from http://www.nationalcenter.org/
ShatteredLives.html.

Why not download a copy now, and email it to any of your friends or family or are on the fence about the impact of increasing government control over our health system? Or post a link to the book's free downloads page on your Facebook page or blog?

Remember, folks: Government-run health care guarantees you health insurance -- it doesn't guarantee health care.

Labels: Congress, Europe, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, ShatteredLives, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:55 PM

Possibly It Can Be Found in the Kiddie Sex Section of the Constitution?

Where do you suppose the federal government found the authority for it to do this in the Constitution?

Labels: Constitutional Law, Government Health Care, Government Power, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:11 PM

What's Happening Now

Penny Starr: Obama pitched health care to young people in audience before his national speech to students.

Rich Noyes: How media covered HillaryCare. Look familiar?

Michael Barone: The convenient fantasies of President Obama.

Prohibition coming back -- but in Britain? (H/T JunkScience.com)

When do the hearings begin? (H/T Devon Carlin)

We were wrong, says Commonwealth Foundation.

Labels: Education, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, History, Media, Retirement, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:08 PM

The New Obama is A Deficit Hawk (Or So He Claims)

President Obama is saying he won't sign a health care bill that adds "one dime to the deficit":

"There are some principles that, if they are not embodied in the bill, I will not sign it," Obama said in an interview with ABC News' Robin Roberts aired on "Good Morning America" today.

Yet the president declined in the interview to draw a line in the sand on a so-called "public option," offering government-run health insurance to those who cannot find coverage privately.

Asked if the must-sign elements include that option, the president said: "I will give you an example -- if it's adding one dime to the deficit, if it's not fully paid for," then he will not sign the legislation...

Nice words, but if he means them, why has he been working for months for the trillion+ dollar House health care bill?

Surely even a man who spends tax dollars as easily as does our president considers a trillion dollars to be real money.

Or perhaps he's signaling an intention to cut even more from Medicare?

Labels: Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Retirement, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:10 PM

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Project 21's Bob Parks to Critique Obama Health Care Speech on BET

Update on post below: BET has decided to schedule Bob for a different panel discussion to be recorded at another time, so he will not be appearing on BET this evening.

Project 21 member Bob Parks is scheduled to appear as a commentator during Black Entertainment Television's coverage of President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, September 9.

President Obama is going to Capitol Hill to push for his foundering socialized health care agenda.

BET's coverage of Obama's speech is scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM and continue until 9:00 PM or 9:30 PM, depending on the length of the speech. Its coverage will be broadcast from the Newseum.

BET is available as a basic service on most cable TV systems. Check your local listings for the channel. On national services, it is channel 329 on Direct TV, channel 124 on Dish Network and channel 270 on FiOS.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Project 21, Race, Retirement, White House

Posted by David W. Almasi at 6:29 PM

Outrage of the Day: ObamaCare Would Tax Some Workers So Others Could Retire Early

James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation highlights once again a genuine travesty included in the President's health care reform proposal, a $10 billion bailout of labor unions.

Sherk writes, in part:

...The most obvious benefit President Obama's health care plan provides to organized labor is a $10 billion taxpayer bailout for underfunded retiree health benefit plans. Many unions negotiate benefit packages that allow workers to retire early and collect health benefits until they qualify for Medicare. Many of these plans they are underfunded because unions mismanaged them.

The healthcare legislation transfers $10 billion to these accounts, in the form of a reinsurance program that pays most of the cost of claims for workers in these plans. Like the GM and Chrysler bailouts, the health care legislation requires all taxpayers -- including low income workers without retirement plans--to pay for benefits for already well-compensated union workers...

To recap:

1) The bailout is intended not for poor or disabled people, but people with jobs who would like to retire before reaching age 65;

2) The bailout would be paid for by taxpayers, most of whom will not enjoy the leisure and other benefits of retiring before 65. Many will not be able to retire even at 65;

3) The unions had funds available to pay for these benefits, but they mismanaged them.

Pathetic.

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Labor Unions, Retirement, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:49 PM

Senate Finance Crazy Talk

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, has developed a health care proposal that would cost taxpayers at least $900 billion while making health insurance less affordable.

The plan includes new taxes on health insurance companies. These would, of course, be paid by customers.

Our federal government taxes gasoline heavily as a conservation measure, that is, to reduce the amount of it we choose to buy.

Taxing health insurance makes sense only if you want to deter the purchase of it. It makes no sense whatsoever as a cure to the problem of too many uninsured Americans.

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, Social Security, Taxes

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:05 AM

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Dr. Bernadine Healy on Health Care Reform

Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of the Red Cross, has some interesting insights in this quick (3:35) Q&A on the President's health care proposal in this interview provided by her current employer, U.S. News and World Report.

E-mail any comments to the National Center for Public Policy Research at info@nationalcenter.org. | Subscribe to this blog's feed. | Follow on Twitter.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Media

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:26 AM

Saturday, September 05, 2009

What's Happening Now

Government health care strikes again: 30 a day died in South Africa.

High taxes hurt soccer.

Scotland isn't the only nation releasing terrorists.

If government health care doesn't cure you, Joe Biden will claim it did.

Will Charlie Rangel face criminal charges?

Tom Blumer: "How crazy is it that Ford has to 'negotiate' a new contract with the United Auto Workers union, even though the union has ownership interests in two of its principal competitors...?

A competency question.

Jane Chastain: Cash for Clunkers not good for the environment.

Should government be able to harvest your organs without obtaining consent?

Labels: Congress, Environment, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Labor Unions, Retirement, Scandals, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 9:12 AM

Friday, September 04, 2009

ABC Won't Air Anti-ObamaCare Ad, But a Double-Standard is in Play

ABC and NBC are refusing to air a commercial critical of Obama's vision to remake health care as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Uncle Sam, but ABC's reasons for doing so don't stand up to scrutiny.

The ad, created by the League of American Voters, features neurosurgeon Dr. Mark J. Cuffe warning about threats posed by government-run health care such as rationing and limits on medical innovation. The commercial can be viewed above or by clicking here.

For reasons of full disclosure, be advised that League executive director Bob Adams is a former National Center for Public Policy Research employee. He did not, however, solicit this posting and my discovery of his link to the organization came after I was already appalled by ABC's duplicity.

According to a report posted on FoxNews.com, both ABC and NBC are refusing to run the ad nationally in its present form. In particular, ABC spokeswoman Susan Sewell said in a statement: "The ABC Television Network has a long-standing policy that we do not sell time for advertising that presents a partisan position on a controversial public issue... Just to be clear, this is a policy for the entire network, not just ABC News." NBC might accept a revised version of the ad.

The ad is running on local affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.

Former Clinton Administration political advisor Dick Morris, who is now helping out the League of American Voters, disputed ABC's assertion of impartiality. He said: "It's the ultimate act of chutzpah because ABC is the network that turned itself over completely to Obama for a daylong propaganda fest about health care reform... For them to be pious and say they will not accept advertising on health care shuts their viewers out from any possible understanding of both sides of this issue."

In fact, during ABC's June 24 White House event in which Obama was able to lay out his health care agenda with virtually no opposition from a small and select audience, the network did air an ad from PhRMA - the pharmaceutical lobby group that is a strong proponent of ObamaCare. It also ran an ad from Health Economy Now, a coalition made up of PhRMA, labor unions and special interest groups that is also backing ObamaCare.

It seems there is a double-standard at ABC as to what constituted partisan activity. And yet they insist they are being objective.

The National Center has been tracking national advertisers of ABC's daily "World News" program all summer as well as its specials on health care and oil. You can find a list of these sponsors and their contact information here. Write or call those sponsors. Tell them what you think of a network that restricts the ability of both sides of an issue to make their case.

In the commercial, Dr. Cuffe warned that what he feared might happen here under Obamacare is already happening in places such as Canada and England. The National Center recently published a compilation of stories of people denied proper and efficient care under government-run health care schemes abroad that can be downloaded for free by going here.

Labels: Business, Conservatives, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Retirement

Posted by David W. Almasi at 10:24 PM

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Don't Give the Speech, Mr. President

I issued a call to the President to drop his planned address on health care to a joint session of Congress earlier today. I suggested that the President instead meet with Congress in a Q&A session similar to Britain's "Prime Minister's Questions" in the House of Commons.

I did this because I believe another lecture by the President will get us (as a nation) no where. We've heard all his pretty words. Now we need to hear words that have specific, tightly-definable meaning. I doubt the President's teleprompter will provide him with that, but I think there's some chance that Members of Congress (assuming they don't get all tongue-tied because they are in the presence of the President, that is), given the chance to ask questions with followups, could get some specifics out of him.

I make no bones about the fact that I don't want an expansion of government-run health care in the United States. I'll be straightforward: I'm betting the President would muck up a genuine Q&A (especially if followups were permitted) and help defeat his own plan. but if I'm wrong about his abilities, I also think such a Q&A is his best chance to move his ball forward.

The President has gone as far as he can with charm, and charm is all he's going to be able to give us from the podium in front of Congress. A tour de force while engaging Congress in a specific, detailed way, however, would win him some support -- maybe enough to win the day for his side.

But, as I say, I'm betting he doesn't have it in him. Another show in front of the podium is his safe choice, and it is overwhelmingly likely that that's the one he's going to take.

For those interested, the full text of my statement earlier today can be found here.

Labels: Congress, Conservatives, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:12 PM

A National Health Service: Costly, Yes, and Powerful, Too

Professor Jacobson over at the Legal Insurrection blog has a good post up on the cost of the British National Health Service, based on a recent article from the London Times.

Something the good professor does not address, at least in that post, are the political repercussions of creating such a large government workforce. By the time a public health system has 1.5 million employees, as Britain's NHS does, the politicians become afraid to enact reforms that affect even some of these workers adversely -- even desperately-needed reforms with plenty of support from the general public.

The U.S. has five times the population of the United Kingdom. Had we made the same decision Britain made 50 years ago and created a National Health Service of our own, all other things equal, it would have 7,500,000 employees today.

Anyone imagine that, had we done so, that either the Republicans or the Democrats would be willing to speak truth to a power block that large?

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:06 AM

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Don't Let Health Care 'Reform' Rain on Your Picnic

The National Association of Manufacturers has a released a new video using a picnic analogy to succinctly illustrate ways we can improve our health care system -- and warning us of the dangers of the so-called "public option."

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Labels: Business, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:37 AM

The Ad ABC Won't Run

Here's the health care ad ABC refuses to run.

Wondering who ABC News does accept commercials from? Go to our ABC World News Sponsors page to find out.

Hat tip: Bridgett Wagner

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:14 AM

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Postage Stamp Rationing Followup

If you followed with interest our articles from August (here and here) about how the U.S. Postal Service has been rationing stamps, you may want to check out Meredith Jessup's followup to it on the TownHall.com blog, and the comments to her post there.

I find amusing the people who -- on the TownHall.com blog and elsewhere -- complained that the real problem is that we wanted to buy 3,000 stamps in the first place.

C'mon, people! The post office makes its money by selling stamps. Plus, 3,000 letters is a miniscule amount of mail to the postal service.

As noted earlier, at least no one relies on the post office for health care.

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Labels: Government Agencies, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:43 PM

Thursday, August 27, 2009

What's Happening Now

Here are one million British National Health Service patients who don't use the Twitter hashtag #welovethenhs.

Fire extinguishers are dangerous -- people might use them.

Public health care is SO reliable. </sarcasm>

Making Dan Rather look good: Swedish newspaper admits it had no evidence when it claimed Jews steal organs from Palestinian children, then defends article making the claim.

Cap-and-trade a ball-and-chain.

Unions get a handout in the health care bill. Cheer up: Only $10 billion. (H/T @BridgettWagner)

Betsy McCaughey on Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, friend of 15-to 40-year-olds everywhere.

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Labels: Climate, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Regulation, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:02 AM

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Unlike Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, I Would Save the Babies and Children First

Betsy McCaughey has an op-ed on Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel in Thursday's Wall Street Journal.

I left the following comment on the Journal website:

I found it impossible to read Dr. Emanuel's Lancet article (Jan 2009) without getting a chill. He asserts that we have a social consensus that the lives of 15- to 40-year-olds should be saved ahead of the lives of children 14 and younger. When was this consensus developed? He doesn't say; he doesn't point to focus groups or polling or wherever one goes to gauge public opinion (assuming the public is to be consulted) on such horrible things; he just says it and we are apparently to believe it (The Lancet apparently didn't require him to provide support for his assertion). Yet, if this is so, why do societies not limited to our own parcel out flu vaccines to the most vulnerable first, with scant complaint? And why do so many (based on my admittedly small survey sample) seem to think saving children should be the priority, youngest first?

A century ago the notion "save the women and children first" was so accepted in western culture that one of the richest men in the world put his pregnant wife into a lifeboat on the Titanic and stepped back to be lost. We can accept that Betty Freidan has since killed the women but must the babies and children under 15 be lost as well?

As far as I am concerned, the further this man is away from government, the better. I don't care if some conservatives say he's a nice guy personally. I'm perfectly willing to stand back and drown, but no 40-year-old is getting on the proverbial lifeboat ahead of my elementary school-age kids.

Do any moms in America disagree?

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Social Welfare

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:43 PM

Monday, August 24, 2009

Outrage of the Day: Krugman Again

The perpetually non-serious (despite his grim look) New York Times columnist Paul Krugman claimed on ABC's This Week that "the argument against the public option is sheer nonsense, we know that, it's nothing except the insurance lobby." (See the last few seconds of video, above.)

So the tens of millions of Americans who ardently oppose a public option (takeover) are insurance companies?

Gee, with millions of insurance companies out there, infesting Congressional town hall meetings, tea parties and whatnot, you'd think we wouldn't need the so-called "enhanced competition" of Krugman and Obama's public "option."

Earlier this month, ObamaCare opponents were racists. Now we're insurance companies. What will we be in September -- potted plants?

Hat tip: Firedoglake.

Download a pre-production PDF of The National Center for Public Policy Research's upcoming new book, Shattered Lives: 100 Stories of Government Health Care, for more on the way waiting lists affect the lives of people living in countries with government-run medicine. Feel free to email a free copy to Krugman.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, Outrage, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:39 AM

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Dear President Obama: Please Read This

Join me in urging our President and every Member of Congress to read the article "How American Health Care Killed My Father" by David Goldhill in the September issue of the Atlantic.

Sample paragraph:

I'm a Democrat, and have long been concerned about America's lack of a health safety net. But based on my own work experience, I also believe that unless we fix the problems at the foundation of our health system - largely problems of incentives - our reforms won't do much good, and may do harm. To achieve maximum coverage at acceptable cost with acceptable quality, health care will need to become subject to the same forces that have boosted efficiency and value throughout the economy. We will need to reduce, rather than expand, the role of insurance; focus the government's role exclusively on things that only government can do (protect the poor, cover us against true catastrophe, enforce safety standards, and ensure provider competition); overcome our addiction to Ponzi-scheme financing, hidden subsidies, manipulated prices, and undisclosed results; and rely more on ourselves, the consumers, as the ultimate guarantors of good service, reasonable prices, and sensible trade-offs between health-care spending and spending on all the other good things money can buy.

Read it all here, pass the link (or this post) on to your Congressman, the White House and to others you know.

Hat tip: Greg Mankiw's Blog.

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Labels: Business, Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 9:18 AM

Outrage of the Day: A Rockefeller Questioning Profits

Senator John D. Rockfeller IV (D-WV) has sent a letter to the top 15 health insurance companies asking them to report how profitable they are. In part because Rockefeller is a Senate Committee chairman, the letters carry with them the threat of an implied subpoena if the companies don't respond.

The day he had the letters sent, Rockefeller said in a statement, "Too often consumers are not getting a fair deal for what they pay, they are not getting the protections they deserve, and the insurance companies are awash in profit."

How does he know? He can't have received any replies yet.

As the Senator's condemnation of the replies before he received them implies, this is grandstanding, not research. Health insurance companies report their profits to various regulators.

Why, if the Senator honestly wanted to know, he could have Googled it. I did.

From the August 5, 2009 Wall Street Journal:

'For every premium dollar that they take in, about 83 cents goes out in medical costs -- doctors, hospitals, and drugs,' says Carl McDonald, health insurance analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. The rest is spent on overhead. Net income comes to just a few cents per dollar of premiums.

More Google results here, here, and here, among many others.

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Labels: Business, Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Outrage, Regulation, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:38 AM

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Quote of Note: Median Wait Between Referral to a Specialist and Treatment in Canada is 17.3 Weeks

"In 2008, the median wait time from general practitioner referral to treatment by a specialist was 17.3 weeks in Canada. Despite substantial increases in both health spending and federal cash transfers to the provinces for health care over the last decade or so, that wait time was 45 per cent longer than the overall median wait time of 11.9 weeks back in 1997. It was 86 per cent longer than the overall median wait time of 9.3 weeks in 1993.

"Canada's waiting lists are also, according to the available evidence, among the longest in the developed world. For example, a 2007 survey of individuals published in the journal Health Affairs found that Canadians, as compared to patients in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K. and the U.S., were most likely to wait more than one month for elective surgery, six days or longer to see a doctor when ill, and two hours or more for access to the ER."

-Nadeem Esmail, "Medicare Deserves its 'Whipping Boy' Status," The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, Nova Scotia, August 14, 2009

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Quotes, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:54 PM

Friday, August 21, 2009

What's Happening Now

Is national health insurance Constitutional? No. Not convinced yet? Go here then.

"It's almost as if the president has no experience..." Ya think?

What planet is this guy on?

Independence Institute: Medical coverage is like a game show. (90 sec. video)

Write about the Fifth Amendment, get sued.

Death panels are real.

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Labels: Conservatives, Constitutional Law, Government Health Care, Health Care, Legal Reform, Liberals, Property Rights, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 3:46 PM

How Rationing Begins

"Whenever anything has a zero explicit price associated with it, consumer demand will increase substantially, and healthcare is no exception. At the same time, bureaucratic bungling will guarantee gross inefficiencies that will get worse and worse each year. As costs get out of control and begin to embarrass those who have promised all Americans a free healthcare lunch, the politicians will do what all governments do and impose price controls, probably under some euphemism such as 'global budget controls.'

"Price controls, or laws that force prices down below market-clearing levels (where supply and demand are coordinated), artificially stimulate the amount demanded by consumers while reducing supply by making it unprofitable to supply as much as previously. The result of increased demand and reduced supply is shortages. Non-price rationing becomes necessary. This means that government bureaucrats, not individuals and their doctors, inevitably determine who will get medical treatment and who will not, what kind of medical technology will be available, how many doctors there will be, and so forth."

-Thomas DiLorenzo, "Socialized Healthcare vs. The Laws of Economics," Whiskey and Gunpowder blog, August 20, 2009

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Quotes, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:33 AM

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Quote of Note: Under Socialized Medicine, Rationing is Inevitable

"As FA Hayek pointed out many years ago in his masterpiece, The Constitution of Liberty, if healthcare is paid for out of general taxation and delivered free at the point of delivery, then in a world of scarce resources - and healthcare is always constrained at any time by the supply of doctors, drugs, etc - then such care must be rationed by some form of bureaucratic/political rule...

...Now a socialist might respond that it is still better for health care to be rationed by some rule they consider to be 'fair' than by the supposed lottery of the market, although in fact, as I would respond, there is, due to the benefits of competition and entrepreneurship, far greater chance that all but the poorest will get better healthcare under a genuine free market in health than under the system of centralised, state-provided healthcare."

-Johnathan Pearce, "Under Socialised Medicine, Tough Rationing Choices are Inevitable," Samizdata.net, August 19, 2009

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Quotes, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:03 PM

What's Happening Now

The British government health care waiting list problem has been solved.

"Racial overtones," says MSNBC, capping its entry into the Stupidest News Clip of the Decade Contest.

British tax dollars at work: National Health Service gives Viagra to man with 30-year history of child sex crimes.

Sweden's largest newspaper claims Israel is kidnapping Palestinians and harvesting their organs. On MSNBC next?

White House deal with PhRMA undermines democracy.

Another polar expedition trapped in ice. Bonus picture of Al Gore's houseboat. Or go here.

Obama has lowest Gallup approval rating at this stage since Truman, except for one President. Find out which.

Ukraine's Got Talent.

Thomas Sowell on death guidance.

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Labels: Culture, Europe, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Project 21, Race, Retirement, Scandals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:46 AM

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

D.C. Post Office Rationing Stamps (Still Excited About Government-Run Health Care?)

One of my co-workers, who is managing a particularly large mailing, has just returned empty-handed from a quest to obtain 3,000 stamps from nearby post offices.

Not even the official stamp store attached to the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum - which celebrates the ability of mailmen to deliver to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and to the front lines during wartime, and which has a vault system to handle the valuable bulk quantities of stamps - could spare 3,000 44-cent stamps.

Not a square to spare.

Why? According to some of the counter staff, there is a new district manager overseeing post offices in our area. This manager is setting a limit on how many stamps any one post office can have at any one time. Therefore, area post offices are being forced to ration their stamps. If we bought 3,000 at this point, there might not be enough left later for other customers.

So the U.S. Postal Service turned away our business for lack of resources.

It reminds me of a comment President Obama made earlier this month when asked about private insurers possibly being better than a government-run "public option":

"My answer is that if the private insurance companies are providing a good bargain, and if the public option has to be self-sustaining - meaning taxpayers aren't subsidizing it, but it has to run on charging premiums and providing good services and a good network of doctors, just like any other private insurer would do - then I think private insurers should be able to compete. They do it all the time. I mean, if you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? No, they are. It's the post office that's always having problems."

Still interested in a "public option"?

Labels: Government Health Care, Government Power, Health Care

Posted by David W. Almasi at 4:51 PM

What's Happening Now

6,000 surgical operations may be cut to make up for budgetary shortfall in Vancouver. Would 6,000 Canadians trade health insurance for health care? (Let's ask when some of them visit.)

Via Twitter, @ruffedge asks: USA or USSR?

How much would you spend to apply a solution that doesn't work to a problem that doesn't exist? Me: Not so much. Congress: $8 billion. (H/T Celebrity Paycut)

Media Matters lied? Say it ain't so!

The Cash for Clunkers program's rules say dealers will be reimbursed within ten days, but dealers have found themselves on waiting lists. Reminds me of this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this. You can't make government efficient by passing a law saying it has to be.

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Labels: Business, Climate, Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, Media

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:39 AM

Girl, 17, Faces Paralysis Thanks to Gov't Health Care Waiting List

A young lady in Ireland fears she may be paralyzed for life because Ireland's government-run health care service hasn't gotten around to putting her on the waiting list for the operation she needs -- and the waiting list is a year long.

From the Dublin Herald:

A teenage girl will be left paralysed if she does not get urgent surgery on her spine.

Lauren Browne (17) told the Herald that, despite the seriousness of her situation, she is not even on the year-long waiting list for an operation.

Lauren suffers from idiopathic scoliosis and is struggling to get on the list for the life-changing procedure at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, due to severe budget cuts imposed by the HSE.

The operation would drastically improve Lauren's quality of life and the teen runs the risk of becoming paralysed without it.

"I'm not even on the waiting list. I'm on the waiting list for the waiting list. My surgeon told me that I cannot wait a year. My vertebrae is rotating so rapidly that I have the risk of being paralysed if I wait for the surgery that long."

Lauren's quality of life has deteriorated since the diagnosis and she hit out at the HSE for what she feels is its lack of concern.

Lauren said: "The HSE just don't seem to care. Our cases are not qualified as life threatening, but I have no idea how they don't consider this to be life threatening. They have no idea what it's like for me.

"When I was told I would have to wait at least a year, I nearly started crying. It was horrible to hear," she said...

Ah, well, she's 17. Her best years are already behind her, right?

Read the rest here.

Watch for The National Center for Public Policy Research's upcoming new book, Shattered Lives: 100 Stories of Government Health Care, for more on the way waiting lists affect the lives of people living in countries with government-run medicine.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, ShatteredLives

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:46 AM

What's Happening Now

Why hasn't David Axelrod recused himself from ObamaCare lobbying?

No sunlight in Sunny California: Touchy agency trying to force someone to surrender video he shot of it.

The left told a lie? Say it ain't so!

Who said it? Climate bill out of control.

U.S. vs. Europe: Life Expectancy and Cancer Survival. (H/T Coyote Blog)

From Newt to Barack: Some good advice the President won't take.

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Labels: Climate, Congress, Europe, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:06 AM

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Thin Skins Across the Pond

There's been a bit of a fuss in Britain the last few days. It's keyed to Americans taking a look at the performance of their government-run health care system, the National Health Service, or NHS, and finding it wanting.

It seems that more than a few Britons are taking this personally, as if our horror at seeing, for example, Britons routinely denied potentially-lifesaving cancer drugs because of their cost is a hostile, anti-Britain sentiment.

Quite the contrary: If we did not like you, we wouldn't be so horrified.

This debate is more than of passing interest to me because this week the National Center for Public Policy Research will release its newest book, "Shattered Lives: 100 Stories of Government Health Care."

The chapter on Britain is the longest.

Beginning soon, we'll be running a story a day from the book in this blog. As we do, I expect I'll also be editorializing a good bit more about what our friends in Britain have said in defense of their own health system, and their attacks on our own.

In the meantime, I recommend this excellent post on the Classically Liberal blog, which contains several stories from Britain.

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Labels: Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, ShatteredLives

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:11 AM

Monday, August 17, 2009

Is Obama Really Dropping the So-Called Public Option? Not a Chance

The media is making much of the Obama Administration's hints that the President will no longer insist on a so-called "public option" in a health care bill he signs, but the idea of a government-started "co-op" alternative to private health insurance has not been abandoned.

What we have here is the left, finding a block on a road heading left, choosing another read, also heading left.

And heading to government-run health care.

Michael D. Tanner of the Cato Institute wrote instructively about the co-op "alternative" in June:

A closer look suggests that the only thing intriguing about the co-op alternative is whether it is a completely meaningless construct or simply camouflage for the "Public Plan" option...

...The new co-ops would presumably have to advertise like other insurance companies, build physician networks, pay competitive reimbursement rates, and in general act like, well, every other insurance company. It is suggested that the new federal co-ops would be nonprofits, and therefore would offer better service and lower costs. But many insurance companies, including "mutual" insurers and many "Blues," are already nonprofit companies. If the new co-ops operate under the same rules as other nonprofit insurers, why bother?

And there's the rub. Supporters of government-run health care have no intention of letting the co-ops be independent enterprises that operate by the same rules as other insurers. This is not really about creating more choices and competition. In fact, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) makes it clear, for example, that the co-op's officers and directors would be appointed by the president and Congress. He insists that there be a single national co-op. And Congress would set the rules under which it operates. As Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) says, "It's got to be written in a way that accomplishes the objectives of a public option."

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks likes a duck, it's probably a duck.

Moreover, several previous attempts by governments to set up co-ops have, in fact, failed. Perhaps the largest such failure was the Florida Community Health Purchasing Alliance, which was set up by the State of Florida in 1993, and at one time covered 98,000 people. It was unable to attract small business customers and ultimately went out of business in 2000. Does anyone really believe that a Congress that is busy bailing out banks and automobile companies because they are 'too big to fail" is going to sit idly by while one of these new co-ops suffers a similar fate?

If a "co-op" is run by the federal government under rules imposed by the federal government with funding provided by the federal government, it's simply government-run health insurance by another name. Opponents of a government takeover of the health care system should not be fooled.

A single national co-op with officers and director appointed by the President and Congress and set up to accomplish the objectives of a public option.

Sounds exactly like government-run health care to me.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:14 AM

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Want a Baby? Thanks to Government Health Care, In Britain Becoming a Parent May Depend on Where You Live

Everyone over a certain age knows what you have to do if you want to have a baby -- that is, except in Britain, where for some couples, the route to parenthood lies in changing their home address.

That's because Britain's government-run health care system, the National Health Service, or NHS, decides whether to provide in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures to couples based in part on their home address.

It's a situation known as the "postcode lottery" to ordinary Britons, who have long known that their ability to get knee replacement operations, cancer-curing drugs and other medical services and procedures may be granted -- or withheld -- from them simply because of where they live.

Now, thanks to a survey by a Member of Parliament, it's become clear that its not just quality-of-life and death that may be determined in the postcode lottery, but the opportunity to be born itself.

MP Grant Shapps found that the regional primary care trusts under which the NHS operates have widely divergent rules covering when couples are eligible to receive IVF services, despite the existence of uniform national recommendations set out by the British government's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, or NICE.

Under NICE recommendations, women under 40 should be eligible for up to three cycles of IVF on the NHS. Nonetheless, in some areas it was unavailable to women aged 23-39. In others it was available only to women aged 37-39.

In about half of Britain, the NHS declines IVF services to couples in which one partner already has a child. Likewise, in half the country couples are required to have been in a relationship with one another for at least three years before seeking treatment, while in other areas there is a shorter time requirement, or none.

In many parts of Britain couples who smoke are ineligible for IVF, although some regional trusts relent if only the man smokes.

Despite NICE guidelines calling for access to three cycles of IVF on the public NHS system for all women under 40, Britain's Department of Health said only 30 percent of regional primary care trusts provided three cycles, 23 percent provided two cycles and 47 percent one cycle.

Watch for The National Center for Public Policy Research's upcoming new book, Shattered Lives: 100 Stories of Government Health Care, for more on "postcode lotteries" and rationing in countries with government-run medicine.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Retirement, ShatteredLives, Social Welfare, Socialism

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:21 AM

Friday, August 14, 2009

Quote of Note: On Hospitals Overseas

"Because I have traveled a great deal in my life, often recklessly so, alone, and to weird places in search of answers to topographical questions of the ancient Mediterranean world, and first-hand observations about battles and campaigns in out of the way places for several books— I have ended up over the last 36 years in a number of socialist hospitals: E-coli poisoning in Athens from tainted strawberries; a cut tendon on my index finger from a barbed wire fence in Sparta (with reaction to live tetanus vaccination); a severed ureter due to an impacted staghorn calculus kidney stone from dehydration of excavating at Corinth; a light case of malaria at Karnak, Egypt; an out of control, strep throat that turned into something more in Izmir, Turkey; a ruptured appendix, surgery, and peritonitis in Tripolis, Libya, and so on.

In each case, the care was terrible. A sole lonely doctor or maverick nurse in two cases saved my life, but on the average the facilities were filthy, and the employees akin to those in the government-run post office or bank. And a strange thing occurred as well: often the staff became mad at the patient: 'Why did you come here with an appendix problem?'; You should have not let your strep get out of control!'; 'If you don't drink water, what do you expect!'; 'See what happens when you don't take all your quinine pills!'."

-Victor Davis Hanson, "On Becoming Europe," Pajamas Media, August 12, 2009

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:47 AM

What's Happening Now

U.S. carbon dioxide emissions way down in '08.

If PhRMA doesn't want America to think it was bribed by the White House not to oppose government-run health care, it could oppose government-run health care.

Still deadly after all these years.

"Evil mongers"? But this is worse.

Father of cap-and-trade says there's a better way to regulate carbon (if you must). We agree.

Another one bites the dust.

ACLU movie: Big brother looking out for you.

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Labels: Business, Climate, Economics, Government Health Care, Health Care, History, Liberals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:31 AM

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

What's Happening Now

Tonsils redux: President Obama says greedy doctors are coming for your feet... but LA Times says prevention in these cases is expensive. Why don't the greedy doctors do prevention, Mr. Prez?

Funeral Director Full-Employment Bill: President Obama sees post office as model for health care system.

Obama: "Technically, I'm not for a single-payer system." Technically?

Murder a child; go free. Worse than appalling.

Wrong again, Mr. President.

Why are people upset about ObamaCare? Because certain politicians lie and lie and lie and lie and lie.

Government health care would cost more than the politicians claim.

CNN says talk radio hosts are too predictable.

Astroturf for hire. By the left.

No plants at Obama "town meeting." Uh huh.

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Labels: Congress, Courts, Crime, Economics, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Media, Protests, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:06 PM

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

FreedomWorks is Apologizing to the Left

Warning: You won't want to read this apology if you want to keep offensive words out of your life.

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Labels: Conservatives, Government Health Care, Health Care, Labor Unions, Liberals

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:32 PM

Pelosi and Hoyer Declare War... On Themselves

"Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American."

I've always felt this is true. I just never thought Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer believed it, too.

So when might we expect Pelosi and Hoyer to hand over their passports?

In yesterday's USA Today, Pelosi and Hoyer wrote: "Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American... Health care is complex. It touches every American life. It drives our economy. People must be allowed to learn the facts."

Aren't these the same two congressional leaders who have demanded swift passage of their health care legislation? Aren't they the same folks who insist that congressmen needn't read bills before they vote? Aren't they the same two people who have sharply limited debate and prevented opponents from offering amendments?

So my question to Pelosi and Hoyer: Does this mean you'll allow extended debate and amendments to the health care bill when it comes up in September, or will you simply learn to live with the self-loathing?

This post was written by National Center for Public Policy Research Vice President David Ridenour. E-mail comments to info@nationalcenter.org. | Subscribe to this blog's feed. | Follow on Twitter.

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care

Posted by David A. Ridenour at 2:11 PM

What's Happening Now

Triumph of hope over experience: Pro-Georgian blogger asks Russian government to defend his free speech rights.

Got the flu in Britain? Need medical help? No problem! The government health service will put a 16-year-old on the phone with you.

President Obama claims U.S. private-care doctors remove tonsils too often. That's a problem the family of this 16-year-old in Britain wishes their government health service had.

A picture editorial: ObamaCare is "shovel ready."

A blogger's letter to flag@whitehouse.gov.

The BBC wonders: Why do Hollywood movies about autistic people focus on the very few who have savant abilities? I wonder: Why is BBC surprised to find Hollywood being unrealistic?

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Labels: Autism, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:22 AM

Monday, August 10, 2009

Egg on Face of Left, But It's Probably the Right's Fault Anyway

The left-wing Think Progress website reports that the situation of Kenneth Gladney, the "Don't Tread on Me" t-shirt salesman who reportedly was assaulted at a town meeting last week, "underscores the vital need for health care reform" because Gladney "has no affordable health care option available."

Another website the group quotes, the Moderate Voice, says, "If anything was more calculated to make the Right look foolish than this St. Louis incident then I'd love to see it."

Hmmm.... turns out Mr. Gladney has insurance after all. The erroneous report that he didn't appeared in the mainstream media.

But of course the Right is always defending the accuracy of the mainstream media, so the whole muck-up is probably still our fault.

To Think Progress' credit, it updated its blog post with the information that Mr. Gladney does have health insurance.

Nevertheless, something more needs to be said: this debate is not only, or even primarily, about access to health insurance. It is about access to health care. No one argues that Mr. Gladney got that, and promptly, too.

As a new book the National Center for Public Policy Research will soon release, "Shattered Lives: 100 Stories of Government Health Care" aptly demonstrates, prompt (or even any) access to health care is not something people in Britain, Canada, Australia or other nations with government-run health care systems can take for granted.

Insurance they got.

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Labels: Conservatives, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, Media, Retirement, ShatteredLives

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 5:48 PM

Pelosi and Hoyer: "'Un-American' Attacks Can't Derail Health Care Debate"

Here's a link to the op-ed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).

It's not very good, and not at all factual (haven't they read the bill?), but as its headline, helped along by Drudge, has made it notorious, I thought folks might like a link.

By the way, who agrees with me that "the promise of affordable health care for all" -- as the Representatives put it -- has not been the most debate domestic issue since the Lyndon Johnson Administration, as Pelosi and Hoyer claim? Just a guess, but I think the honor for that title would go to the abortion debate.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:28 AM

Obama/DNC Health Care Operation Urges Congressional Visits

Someone who lives in Virginia but who did not mention that his name could be used sent me and others the attached two-page flyer from President Obama's health care operation.

(Open each photo in a new tab or window to enlarge it, or download a PDF of the entire document here.)

The person had signed up to be on the Obama email list when Obama was a presidential candidate and received this by email.

In this case, the operation was encouraging this person to visit the office of Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia to lobby Senator Warner in favor of what the flyer calls "the President's health care guarantees."

Notice the flyer bypasses the issue of which, if any, legislation the recipient -- or the Senator -- is encouraged to favor. Recipients are just supposed to ask the Senator for the vaguely good-sounding items listed on the flyer, and leave the details to their supposed betters in Washington.

(For myself, I would never lobby anyone for "no gender discrimination" in health care, as I never used health services more than when I was carrying twins, and I have never once had even a bit of prostate trouble.)

Notice also that Obama's operation wants people to report to them how office visits go (see the section entitled "After Your Visit" on the flyer) and how the staff responds.

I post these pages for informational purposes only. Do with them what you will.

Note: This post was edited after publishing to add the option of downloading a PDF of the flyer.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:00 AM

Saturday, August 08, 2009

What's Happening Now

Who says the Fifth Amendment is dead? A woman set fire to a man's genitals and is charged with endangering private property.

Your Grandpa is the mob. Funny pics. (H/T The American Catholic)

How Cash for Clunkers hurts charities.

More scurrilous allegations that if you disagree with big spending, racism may be the reason. Cynthia Tucker this time.

It can hurt to be a redhead -- literally.

More global warming hypocrites. Again.

Other than the ones in Congress, what is a pantywaist, anyway?

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Labels: Climate, Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Race, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:45 PM

Attention Paul Krugman: This Isn't About Obama Being Black

The New York Times' Paul Krugman suggests that the protesters against ObamaCare at townhall meetings are "reacting less to what Mr. Obama is doing... than to who he is" -- a black man.

Really? If that's true where were all these protesters during the campaign last year? Has the president changed his ethnicity since then?

This isn't about Obama being black... it's about him being pink.

This post was written by National Center for Public Policy Research Vice President David Ridenour. E-mail comments to info@nationalcenter.org. | Subscribe to this blog's feed. | Follow on Twitter.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Retirement, White House

Posted by David A. Ridenour at 8:53 AM

Friday, August 07, 2009

More Beer at White House? Not Likely

A black conservative activist reportedly was attacked outside a Town Hall meeting in Missouri yesterday by a man who called him a racial slur.

From a report this morning by ABC's Jake Tapper:

Outside [a town hall meeting held by Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-MO], conservative activist Kenneth Gladney handed out yellow flags with "Don't tread on me" printed on them and was, he said, attacked. "He spoke to the Post-Dispatch from the emergency room at St. John's Mercy Medical Center, where he said he was awaiting treatment for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face. Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man, used a racial slur against him before the attack.

"'It just seems there's no freedom of speech without being attacked,' he said."

Don't look for the White House to intervene in this case.

Addendum: Video and more information at Gateway Pundit and numerous posts at Missourah blog.

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Labels: Congress, Conservatives, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:44 AM

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

What's Happening Now

It's Obama v. Obama, as Obama White House unleashes ex-ABCer Linda Douglas to rebut a video of Barack Obama.

The British government spends $12 million a year lobbying itself on global warming, but it won't buy Mrs. Fletcher Lucentis.

The White House is looking for some snitches. Michelle Malkin asks: How much is the snitch effort costing us?

The Obama administration is refusing to release government records on Cash for Clunkers, even as it asks the Senate to renew it.

Russian subs have begun patrolling our east coast. Resetting our foreign policy indeed.

John Stossel blogs about Cash for Clunkers. Not a fan.

10 reasons the government should take over health care (NOT).

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Labels: Business, Climate, Environment, Government Health Care, Government Power, Government Spending, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:11 AM

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

What's Happening Now

Democrat leaders are exploring using a loophole to get health care reform passed. Others -- like me -- call it cheating.

A picture is worth a thousand words: A metaphor for ObamaCare.

Benjamin Franklin would not have supported government health care.

Will a health care bill pass? Charles Krauthammer's prediction.

Consumer Reports magazine is lobbying for government health care. So much for objectivity!

Government health care may mean waiting in line. You think?

Does a "DUI on a horse" charge mean the rider is drunk - or the horse?

Not all the ignorant kids are American. One in 20 British children believe singer Bob Geldof discovered gravity and that the classic book "Pride and Prejudice" was written by JK Rowling. (H/T Adam Smith blog)

A website now tracks the wit and wisdom of Vice President Joe Biden. (H/T Danny_Glover on Twitter)

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Labels: Congress, Crime, Education, Government Health Care, Health Care, History, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:48 AM

Monday, August 03, 2009

"I Happen to be a Proponent... Of Single-Payer"

Barack Obama, in his own words.

Addendum, 8/5/09: The White House does not like this video one bit.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 9:27 AM

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Washington Post: Obama Has a "Ready Command of Facts"

In "Polling Helps Obama Frame Message in Health-Care Debate" in Friday's Washington Post, reporter Michael D. Shear writes, "Obama is known for his soaring speeches and his ready command of facts..."

Ready command of facts?

Is he talking about the same President who admitted he was unfamiliar with a critical provision in his own trillion+ dollar health care plan?

Who thinks one of the functions of a living will is to stop extraordinary measures if "brain waves are no longer functioning"?

Who believes carbon dioxide emissions "contaminate the water we drink"?

Who says 14,000 people "every single day" will lose their health insurance unless we follow his advice on health care policy?

Who believes pediatricians remove tonsils?

Who says the health care plan he is backing will "keep government out of health care decisions"?

Who was under the impression that Austrians speak "Austrian"?

Who says with a straight face that his health care plan "will be paid for"?

Who keeps saying the U.S. is importing more oil today than ever before?

Who thought Emperor Hirohito personally surrendered to General MacArthur?

Who says the $1 trillion price tag on his health care bill is less than what we have spent on the war in Iraq?

Who repeatedly asserts that if his health care plan passes, "if you like your health plan, you can keep it, the only thing that will change is that you'll pay less."

The article in which this appeared, by the way, is about how the White House staff uses polls to determine what to put in the President's teleprompter. As one "top advisor" (evidently, his name is top secret), told the Post: "I mean, I'm looking at polling, like, all the time."

Right, dude.

Cross-posted at Newsbusters.

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Labels: Climate, Culture, Energy, Government Health Care, Health Care, History, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:22 PM

Friday, July 31, 2009

A Video Parody (For Now): Health Rations and You

A glimpse of the future, circa 2015?

This video brought to you by the Health Administration Division of the U.S. Federal Government.

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Labels: Conservatives, Government Health Care, Health Care

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:55 PM

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Congressman Barney Frank: Public Option is Route to Single Payer

One thing I have always appreciated about Rep. Barney Frank is that he is a very effective communicator.

In this video, he can't be more plain: The Obama/Democrat leadership health care "public option" is intended to lead the U.S. to single-payer health care.

The left will keep denying it, but there's no doubt its Barney Frank in this video, and he's in a position to know.

If you have a blog, I hope you will consider re-posting this video. It's YouTube page is here.

Hat tip: Conservatives for Patients' Rights.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 3:10 PM

"Mouthing Disingenuous Assurances Isn't Leadership or Change"

Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie, writing in his personal column on WorldNetDaily, asks: "Why the rush on Obamacare?"?

Mychal (as usual!) doesn't mince any words in his conclusion:

Parading in front of teleprompters and mouthing disingenuous assurances isn't leadership or change. It is simply more of the same from another smarmy politician who will say and do anything to advance a diabolical agenda – no matter how bad it is for the nation.

You can see what Mychal has to say by reading his column here.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Government Power, Government Spending, Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:27 AM

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

What's Happening Now

If you like Fanny Mae, you'll love Fanny Med.

What is "de-developing" and why does President Obama's science advisor want to do it to the United States?

Vote for the most ridiculous lawsuit of the month. (I voted for the Katy Perry lawsuit; but was tempted by the Jose Canseco lawsuit.)

California's yearly pension fund contribution rose from $321 million to $7.3 billion in 8 years. The state pays over 5,000 people more than $100,000 annually in pensions.

Parody: "Nothing irritates me more than the pitter-patter of little carbon footprints."

Obama, Democrat leadership blame the GOP for good done by Dem Blue Dogs in stopping health care bill. Accidental compliment?

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Labels: Business, Climate, Government Health Care, Health Care, Labor Unions, Legal Reform, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:06 PM

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Why a Public Health Care System Does Not Work (in Only 62 Words)

Why a public health care system does not work:

To meet budget targets, governments reduce payments to providers and to buy equipment. This reduces the supply of people willing to provide health care services (doctors, nurses, medical staff and support) and the supply of equipment (hospital beds, diagnostic tools, etc.). Shortages develop, and those who are sick or injured, suffer.

They find themselves with health care coverage, but without health care.

Read this story about Medicaid coverage not leading to health care for an example of this in real life, and be aware as you do that the same dynamic is an increasing problem for American seniors enrolled in Medicare.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:42 PM

Monday, July 27, 2009

What's Happening Now

Is Obama a brat?

The last Toyota you bought might be the last Toyota you ever buy.

How many 800-pound gorillas fit in the U.S. Senate? (Does it matter if they're very ugly?)

Steve Milloy has some questions about Goldman Sachs.

Spooky.

Obama missed his moment.

U.S. government to study dangerous pathogens in Tornado Alley. Yucca Mountain remains unused. Obama is tightening CAFE standards, which make cars less safe. The way we're going, the euthanasia provisions in the health care bill will be superfluous.

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Labels: Business, Energy, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:17 PM

What's Happening Now

House leadership tells Republican Congressman he's not allowed to use the phrase "government-run health care."

Patriotic Americans know when to die.

Racism makes Harvey sad.

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) says there is no point in Members of Congress reading the health care bill: It's incomprehensible.

Fundamental facts about Honduras.

1932 Hupmobile drivers be advised: Discretion is the better part of valor.

Federal spending by the numbers.

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Labels: Energy, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Health Care, Race, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:12 PM

Quote of Note: Bipartisan Approach to Health Care

"The only thing bipartisan about the [health care reform legislation] so far is the opposition to it."

-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on CNN's "State of the Union," July 26, 2009, as quoted by the Associated Press

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:37 AM

What Talking Points Memo Doesn't Tell You

The liberal Talking Points Memo blog's Brian Beutler is touting some memos the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's staff created -- with tax dollars -- to pressure their fellow members of Congress (TPM wrongly reports they were created only for Committee members) into going along with the the Democrat health care bill.

The memos purport to show the benefits that will head toward constituents of the individual Members if only they would sell their souls to obtain the benefits.

Talking Points Memo helpfully displayed the one created for the district of Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR). Like others I reviewed, this document is just one page -- a curiously short summary for an over 1,000 page bill with literally life-and-death implications.

Such things as the following also were missing from the summaries:

references to the counseling sessions Medicare will start paying for so seniors know how to minimize the expenses of their last year of life (e.g., potentially by forgoing that last year of life);

revealing that people who pursue healthy lifestyles and are rewarded by lower premiums will lose this benefit ("hardly a formula for lower costs," says CNN Money) if the House bill becomes law;

the $500 billion in Medicare cuts, including the $156 billion in cuts to the popular Medicare Advantage option;

a minimum benefits package that includes abortion;

the Congressional Budget Office estimate that the bill "would result in a net increase to the federal budget deficit of $239 billion over the 2010-2019 period." (The one-pager falsely claims the bill is "fully paid for.");

the Lewin Group estimate that 88.1 million Americans could lose their present health care coverage, even if they don't want to;

the fact that an estimated 1.2 million small businesses would be hit by a 5.4 percent surtax, and many Americans would face a higher income tax rate than do taxpayers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan;

the letter the Mayo Clinic sent to Congress, warning the House bill could put it out of business;

and a good bit more.

It appears that Talking Points Memo and the Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee want the public to be educated on what is in the House bill -- but not too educated.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, Media

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:14 AM

Sunday, July 26, 2009

The Conflicted Priorities of Britain's Government-Run Health System

Britain's public health system has said that heroin addicts may be given access to swine flu vaccine earlier than Britain's general population, as they are unusually vulnerable.

Last week, a 22-year-old man from Essex, England with liver disease died after he was denied a liver transplant by the same health system. Active alcoholics aren't allowed transplants, even if they commit to stop drinking, as Gary Reinbach did. His brother, Luke, told the press, "They never gave him the chance to show he could change."

Whether you agree or disagree with these decisions, are they the national government's to make?

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Labels: Government Health Care, Government Power, Health Care

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:03 PM

What's Happening Now

If the Congressional Budget Office keeps delivering news like this, will Pelosi and Reid try to shut it down?

Poor Bigfoot.

Is this a lie, or does President Obama just not know any better?

If we create more public health care, we will get more stories like this.

In the housing crisis, who does Thomas Sowell feel most sorry for?

Why do politicians with no business experience think they can run 15 percent of the economy? John Stossel doesn't know.

Just for fun: Nicholas Wade is a "denier."

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Labels: Climate, Conservatives, Economics, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:09 AM

Saturday, July 25, 2009

What's Happening Now

Under the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade climate bill, the taxpayers have to give General Electric $200 every time it sells a refrigerator.

Government medicine won't work for little Gunner.

Can you picture in your mind's eye the scene on the Battleship Missouri as Imperial Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers? Apparently, President Obama can't.

Who's uninsured -- in pictures.

India questions the science behind the global warming theory. Would James Hansen try the Indian government "for high crimes against humanity and nature"?

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Labels: Climate, Congress, Energy, Environment, FreeEnterpriseProject, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, History, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:30 AM

Friday, July 24, 2009

What's Happening Now

RedState reports: A top Democratic Congressional staffer says hospice is how the Democrats' health care bill controls health care costs.

MoveOn.org organized a rally in favor of Obama's health care reform legislation outside GOP Senator John Cornyn's Dallas office, but found itself outnumbered by Tea Party patriots as much as 20-1.

Midwives to be paid the same as doctors under the House Democrats' health care bill. America to follow Britain in giving up having a doctor present at births?

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus agree with President Obama about the Cambridge Police Department.

Put some tobacco in a pipe and smoke it, and your government health premiums go up. Put some crack in and smoke it and, hey, no problem!

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:44 PM

What's Happening Now

Animals can sue? Can we sue back?

FactCheck.org gave President Obama's press conference statements poor marks for accuracy.

The Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby observes Obama opposing integration.

Barbara Boxer says she's glad she was rude to an army general and the head of the Black Chamber of Commerce: "That only revs up my people. I use that to send them letters and say, 'Help me.' So I get millions of dollars..."

Robert Gates says President Obama "was not calling the officer stupid." No, he was calling him "stupidly."

Remember, it's all about him.

A case of it being better to have an enemy in the tent pissing out? Nah!

Attention Mr. President: Here's a way to lower health costs. Doesn't expand government, though.

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Labels: Defense, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:26 AM

Annoy a Liberal Congressman Today

Apparently fearful the American people will see the chart Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) and GOP members of Congress' Joint Economic Committee released about the House Democrats' health care bill, House Democrats are reportedly blocking GOP attempts to mail it to their constituents.

The Democrats say (as far as I know, with a straight face) that they are blocking distribution not because they are censoring criticism, but because the chart is not precisely accurate.

For the record, the Republicans who created the chart say it is accurate. Meanwhile, we can expect the born-again accuracy czars of the House Democrat caucus to start admitting their health plan will lead to rationing, their cap-and-trade bill will kill jobs and that their stimulus bill was about pork and political payoffs.

Click on the chart to enlarge it

There's no copyright on this chart, so why not annoy a liberal Congressman today by emailing it to all your friends? Click the little envelope or one of the "share" options below to do so easily.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:36 AM

Thursday, July 23, 2009

What's Happening Now

A secret meeting. Others are not-so-secret anymore.

Opposed to government-run health care? Join the bus tour.

We need a special prosecutor.

Surprise! A letter to the Senate (pdf) on Sotomayor.

The House Democrats' health care bill and illegal aliens.

Bill Cosby is shocked at Barack Obama.

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Labels: Business, Congress, Constitutional Law, Corruption, Courts, Crime, Culture, Government Health Care, Health Care, Immigration, Race, Scandals

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:32 PM

Race Preferences in Health Care Bill

Project 21 issued this press release this morning:

Obama Health Care Bill Contains Race Preferences

Black Activist Speaks Out Against Proposed Unequal Allocation of Health Resources

For Release: July 23, 2009
Contact: David Almasi at 202/543-4110x11

An examination of the 1018-page "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009" (H.R. 3200) - the official Obama health care bill - finds several cases in which grant money for medical training can be awarded solely on factors of race and class.

Project 21 member Bishop Council Nedd II, an Anglican bishop and director of the Ecumenical Institute for Health Policy Research based at Valley Forge Christian College, is condemning the addition of racial preferences to the President's legislation.

"The U.S. Supreme Court just struck down racial preferences. So why does a newly-introduced bill want to perpetuate something that has just been declared unconstitutional?" asked Project 21's Nedd. "Racial preferences will not improve health care. They will increase tensions when some people are being unfairly put at the front of the line."

Between pages 878 and 909 of H.R. 3200, in an area related to grants for medical training, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is empowered to grant preference in awarding training grants. For the specialties of "family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, geriatrics and physician assistantship" (pages 878-882); "medical residents on community-based settings" (pages 883-886) and "general, pediatric and public health dentists and dental hygienists" (pages 887-891), it is written that "the Secretary shall give preference to... entities that have a demonstrated record of... training individuals who are from underrepresented minority groups or disadvantaged backgrounds."

Further, the bill amends the Public Health Service Act to give preferences in "advanced education nursing grants" to programs that "increase diversity among advanced education nurses" (pages 892-895). Grants for "enhancing the public health workforce" similarly give preference to "entities that have a demonstrated record of... training individuals who are from underrepresented minority groups or disadvantaged backgrounds" (pages 907-909).

A PDF version of H.R. 3200 can be found at http://tw8.us/qW.

Nedd added: "By making racial preferences a shortcut to federal funding, schools will reduce their quest for the best and turn it into a hunt for the right racial numbers. This, in the long run, will hurt the quality of our nation's health care. We need to stop the social experimentation and focus on cost and performance."

Project 21, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research, has been a leading voice of the African-American community since 1992. For more information, contact David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or Project21@nationalcenter.org, or visit Project 21's website at http://www.nationalcenter.org/P21Index.html.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Project 21, Race, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 9:03 AM

A Travesty, In My Opinion

It seems the White House plans to re-write the health care bill after some version of it passes the House and Senate, then jam the re-written version through Congress before anyone in Congress -- or the public -- has a chance to see what's in it.

Is this the transparency candidate Obama promised?

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Human Rights, Liberals, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:19 AM

Miscellaneous

The New York Times isn't buying everything Obama claimed at his press conference Wednesday.

Another hypocrite politician? Why, he's just like Al Gore.

Pay to play?

Paul Mirengoff says Walter Cronkite "didn't represent the victory of substance over style, but rather the victory of a style that implied substance over substance itself." I agree.

Hey Mr. President: Why no open meetings?

The CBO's integrity at risk?

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Labels: Environment, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, Media, Retirement, Scandals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:53 AM

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

"It Will Destroy Health Care in This Nation"

Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), a doctor in the real world, gives a good description of the majority's health care destruction bill in these comments delivered to his fellow members of the House Education and Labor Committee. Following Price's sharp exchange with Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) over something Price says Speaker Pelosi said and Miller says she didn't, my favorite part is Price saying this: "You know what [the American people] will have access to? They have access to an opportunity to get in line. They'll be able to get in line."

Price also said, flatly, that the House Democrats' bill "will destroy health care in this nation."

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Labels: Congress, Conservatives, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:38 PM

Thursday, July 16, 2009

CBO: No Savings in Democrats' Health Care Bills

The Congressional Budget Office said today taxpayers should expect no net savings if one of the health care plans being developed by House and Senate Democrats is adopted.

In a nutshell, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf says any savings the plans might deliver are offset by additional costs they impose.

President Obama, has, of course, been insistent that health care reform is necessary so cost savings can be achieved.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Liberals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:16 PM

Speaking of the Government Letting People Die...

Speaking of the government letting people die, here's a story from Fox News last year about a 53-year-old cancer patient in Lane County, Oregon who wanted Oregon's public health plan to help him pay for chemotherapy.

Nothing doing, said Oregon, as the man's cancer was such that chemotherapy stood less than a 95 percent chance of guaranteeing the man would live an additional five years.

Two years or 4 years 11 months of life was not worth the cost of chemo to Oregon.

But don't think Oregon's government-run health plan lacked sympathy. It sent the man a letter offering to foot the bill for physician-assisted suicide.

And no, the letter was not a mistake. It was official policy.

Read "Oregon Offers Terminal Patients Doctor-Assisted Suicide Instead of Medical Care" by Dan Springer for the rest of the story.

Hat tip: Foster Friess.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Human Rights, Retirement, Scandals

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:46 AM

House Health Care "Reform" Bill Bans Sale of Private Health Insurance Policies

Investor's Business Daily is reporting that page 16 of the House Majority's health care bill bans new health insurance policies from being sold after the bill becomes law.

The editorial says, in part:

It didn't take long to run into an "uh-oh" moment when reading the House's "health care for all Americans" bill. Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal.

When we first saw the paragraph Tuesday, just after the 1,018-page document was released, we thought we surely must be misreading it. So we sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee.

It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states:

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.

So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised - with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers...

...It took just 16 pages of reading to find this naked attempt by the political powers to increase their reach. It's scary to think how many more breaches of liberty we'll come across in the final 1,002.

There's more in the editorial; for copyright reasons I could only excerpt it. Please go to Investor's Business Daily and read "It's Not An Option" immediately. Then ask your friends to do so.

This isn't merely a smoking gun showing the liberals are making a hard push now for socialized medicine, folks. This is a forest fire.

Addendum, 9:30 AM: A private source is telling me that, under the legislation, individual private insurance policies would still be permitted for sale through the government's insurance exchange, but the current system for the purchase and sale of health insurance would be shut down. So, as Matt Drudge would say, developing...

Addendum, 11:57 PM: More explanation here.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Government Power, Government Spending, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:50 AM

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The House Majority's Health Plan, Pictured

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) and GOP members of Congress' Joint Economic Committee have released the following chart explaining how the House Majority's health care plan is structured.

Click on the chart to enlarge it

There's no copyright on this chart. Why not email it (or this post -- see options below) to a friend?

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:58 PM

Important Links

About Amy Ridenour

About the National Center

Featured from our Blogroll

Historic Documents

Archives

Highlighted Project

Fine print

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Health Care Rally Photos

Monday, November 02, 2009

So Much for That

Sunday, November 01, 2009

British Government Health Service Locks Man in Ambulance

Saturday, October 31, 2009

It Came From Capitol Hill....

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Radio Day

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Nero Profited While Rome Burned

Monday, October 19, 2009

Medicare Confusion

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Tort Reform Would Save $54 Billion in Health Care Expenses

Thursday, October 08, 2009

What's Happening Now

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

What's Happening Now

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Radio Day!

Friday, October 02, 2009

What's Happening Now

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Cut Off Health Care to ObamaCare Opponents, Says Bitter Old NPR Guy

What's Happening Now

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Project 21's Bob Parks Discusses Health Care Policy on BET Special This Sunday

Monday, September 21, 2009

A Vision of Health Care Reform that Works

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Daily Kos Wants Tea Party Participants to Forgo All Government Services, But Still Pay All Taxes

Friday, September 18, 2009

Washington Times Talk Radio Debuts

What's Happening Now

Thursday, September 17, 2009

What's Happening Now

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

On-Air Alert

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Reality Check

Quote of Note: In 2007-08, 16.5% of Deaths in Britain Came After Terminal Sedation

For more on life and death on the NHS, download a free PDF copy of our new book, Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Health Care.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

A Lot to Worry About in This Story

Friday, September 11, 2009

What's Happening Now

Thursday, September 10, 2009

British MP Charges Some Parents Have Been Threatened for Questioning Health System

Project 21's Kevin Martin Rebuts Obama Health Care Address

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

My Take On the President's Speech

100 Stories of Personal Struggles with the Health Care System You Won't Hear from President Obama

Possibly It Can Be Found in the Kiddie Sex Section of the Constitution?

What's Happening Now

The New Obama is A Deficit Hawk (Or So He Claims)

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Project 21's Bob Parks to Critique Obama Health Care Speech on BET

Outrage of the Day: ObamaCare Would Tax Some Workers So Others Could Retire Early

Senate Finance Crazy Talk

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Dr. Bernadine Healy on Health Care Reform

Saturday, September 05, 2009

What's Happening Now

Friday, September 04, 2009

ABC Won't Air Anti-ObamaCare Ad, But a Double-Standard is in Play

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Don't Give the Speech, Mr. President

A National Health Service: Costly, Yes, and Powerful, Too

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Don't Let Health Care 'Reform' Rain on Your Picnic