Obama Blinks; Health Care Reform “Just A Suggestion”

I don’t really care so much about the acupuncture and lobotomy stuff; leave that for the more exotic insurance policies.

Almost too funny. Pardon me while I pick myself up off from the floor.

Great piece and just the right snark. Loved it.

I’ve been thinking about this federal approach myself and have concluded that the only thing the fed should be doing is cutting inefficiencies and fraud (starting in their own houses) and then actually working with the states to create meaningful reform. The state of Florida, for example, has managed to offer it’s citizens accessible, affordable health insurance without spending dime of taxpayer money. While not perfect, it is a step in the right direction.

Now THIS is Health Care Reform

Everything Obama has done is scary and what he does do, its like ,whatever way the wind blows the hardest is the way he decides important issues. yesterday public option wasn’t important ,today it is on again, are other nations laughing at us?

the people that put him in office saying he was going to be a different kind of leader and they told the truth about that only we didn’t know what kind of different.

By the way, even if you don’t believe the thing about death panels, tell me how you can drop something from the plan if it wasn’t there?

Maybe part of the problem is that many folks who should be supporting the President in defeating the health insurance companies are instead siding with fools like this woman: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/18/hitler-israel/

The President can only do as much as we help him to do. If you guys want to be on the side that stops reform for some childish reason… I just can’t understand that.

It’s just so sad how much ignorance is out there… 26% of Republicans don’t even know that Medicare is a Government program. Think about that. This is what the President is up against. Ignorant mobs who want nothing to do with real facts.

And as Congressman Anthony Weiner asked Joe S: “What value do the private health insurance companies bring?” They do nothing but skim 30% of profits off the top while standing in the way between patients and their doctors. They are a national disgrace. A scam.

Loved the snark, even the part about the non-citizens sneaking across the border, having their baby on US soil and then the child grows up to be president of the US. Couldn’t happen because the kid wouldn’t be a natural born citizen, not that anybody’s checking!

I like the idea of insurance co-ops…if Congress can come up with a good law…which is something you never want to bet on. Maybe hippie-types are into co-ops, but I think the concept originated as a populist measure to provide needed services for rural areas, farms, and others who don’t find themselves in the bullseye of the greedy capitalist money grubbers.

Maybe he was pushing it a bit. Maybe he should just settle for coming up with a plan for creating jobs. Then maybe we could afford to go to the doctor again!

Obama and Congress really should be devoting their energies to determing incentives and opportunities to create jobs. Your point is right on and funny!

As a taxpayer I have never gotten to choose how my considerable contribution would/will be spent. If I were able to choose I would much prefer my taxes go to affordable, universal health care for all, as Hillary Clinton described in the primaries, and I would prefer that not one of my dollars would be spent on bailouts of banks, insurance companies and corporations that have shown such incompetence, in their criminal and unethical business practices, yet taxpayers dollars are thrown over with no accountability whatsoever. Corporate welfare is not the way I want my taxes spent. Those bailout beneficiaries are the reason for the bad economy, for the credit crunch and for the job losses. It’s just crazy to reward bad behavior with taxpayer monies. If I were able to choose how my tax payments were spent I would not throw those dollars at war in Afghanistan and Iraq and again at the corporations in the military industrial complex or the no-bid contractors. If I were king, ha, ha…

I like the idea of insurance co-ops
*********
That has been tried and doesn’t work, especially when Congress has the deck stacked in favor of the Insurance Companies. The co-ops end up being the “dumping” ground for high risk people. The high premium costs are subsidized with tax dollars and the programs eventually go broke.

No matter what scheme is dreamed up, the bottom line is that affordable health care is impossible when $600 billion a year is being sucked out of the system by the insurance companies and when we are paying twice the cost that Canada and Europeans pay for the same medicines.

Can’t be done!!!

When our government decided that there were families with children who were suffering because hardships meant that they would not have enough money to eat, the government set up a program that kept those families fed using food stamps. The government did not take over all of stores and supermarkets in the country and convert the entire country to a socialistic government-run nationwide food distribution bureaucracy. Can you image if it had? We would be getting only the amount of food-stuffs that the government thought or decided we should have? The elderly would be cut back severely because, since they no longer work, perhaps a can of non-gourmet cat food per day would do.

What then gives bureaucrats the idea that if a few million individuals, or families, need to (or should) have insurance and/or healthcare, the government needs to take over the entire health care system in order for those few to have a health care plan?

Could it be that the solution to the problem is simpler than meets the eye? Like the food stamp programs, perhaps the government should just allow for applications from those who feel they need health care assistance and take their application. After verifying their income resources, the government could just give those few individuals and/or families a subsidy. So they can afford health care, buy down the policy.

Then, the government should do what a government should do — that is, do whatever it takes to promote and motivate the economy — encourage enhance trade incentives — so that those same people, the poverty-line folks, can earn decent wages and have jobs that allow them to work for a living instead of idling by on welfare.

I guess this idea is too simple. But how about this: The poor don’t have decent clothing; perhaps the government should take over Macy, Wal-Mart, J.C. Penny’s, and all clothing retailers so that EVERYONE can have clothing allotted to them controlled though a socialist government run clothing care program with an emphasis on clothing those working and under 65 years of age.

The new bumper sticker against Obama.

http://bumperstickers.cafepress.ca/item/lol-obama-sticker-bumper/392049541

I know they thought they’d show the Clintons how to get health care done and I just have to laugh that the silver-tongued devil and all his advisors were tone deaf as to how the public was responding.

He was never for universal health care (he spent more than $6 million attacking Hillary’s plan) and he made a back room deal with Big Pharma. So who is really surprised?

And the American people want something for free–it’s just ridiculous. We should all pay, like we do for social security, and we should all get health care. It was a stupid plan to have the “rich” pay for the health care of the uninsured or to raise taxes only on the middle class who are getting health care now in order to pay for the uninsured.

Read about Germany’s plan here from a piece on NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91971406

It’s not govt run but everyone pays and everyone gets great benefits.

There are a myriad of good solutions to make health care available to every American but the arrogant team in the White House couldn’t figure this out because Obama has no leadership skills.

Axelrod was president and sole shareholder of AKPD from 1985 until he sold his interest after Obama’s victory, government records show. The firm owes Axelrod $2 million, which it’s due to pay in installments beginning Dec. 31. Axelrod’s son, Michael, still works there. He didn’t return a phone call. The firm’s Web site continues to feature David Axelrod’s work on the Obama campaign.

…At the White House, Axelrod’s role in the health-care debate ranges from Sunday talk show appearances to meetings with House and Senate lawmakers…

Van Ess said HEN is now dormant. PhRMA and three other members of HEN, plus the Washington-based Federation of American Hospitals, have created another coalition, Americans for Stable Quality Care, which last week announced a new $12 million ad campaign to promote health-care overhaul. GMMB and AKPD are also working on the new coalition’s ads.

http://michellemalkin.com/

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY would anyone want this nimrod to run ANYTHING to do with your health?
CBO predicts it’s absolutely unsustainable and will therefore have to go into crisis mode which means that people will be rationed healthcare and they will DIE.

Why do you want Obama the usurper to take control of 50% of the US economy? Wha? 30% isn’t enough?

He’s a liar, a patho liar, all he’s done is bankrupt the nation, loot us blind, disarm us, unemploy us, lie constantly about transparency, overspending, earmarks, pork, taxes, and HE’S NOT A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN he admits he was born British!

Wow, what a mess.

Steve, you’ve inspired me. Reading your piece gave me the possible solution to ALL of our problems.

What if we were to purchase from China all of the organs that we need at higher than the usual price for such things? They have millions of political prisoners that could certainly do without one of their lungs or kidneys, and of course the many executions, if performed with clinically controlled procedures, could flood our market with hearts, livers, eyes, etc. What a Corpse-ucopia of bounty and good will. And stateside, just imagine how the recipients of Chinese organs will heat up the market for suppliers of won-tons and Peking duck. This is a win win possibility!

We could simultaneously solve a large part of our health care concerns AND our fiscal obligations to the ChiComs. I’m surprised Obama hasn’t proposed this, after all, he’s an expert at panda-ring.

“I know they thought they’d show the Clintons how to get health care done … ”

Yeah, this is what galls me. Obama said Hillary’s long history battling the VRWC made her too polarizing. He claimed he could work with the Radical Right and move past the ‘old conflicts.’

But when he ran into the same firestorm Hillary did, he sent out his press flunkies crying ‘those racist redneck right wing Nazis don’t like my healthcare bill just because I’m black.’ Polarize much?

There are plenty of provision already for poor people to get health care. It’s called the “sliding scale” and goes through the local health departments. My sister had brain trauma injury with no income or insurance. I took her to the health dept clinic and only paid $12.00 for her to be seen. Why don’t more folks hear about/do that?

Reform yes….revamp without the money to pay for it is just ridiculous. Especially since the government run Medicare program is proved to be a mess with fraud and abuse. That needs cleaned up first.

Priorities are the answer here….not a massive push without knowing what is actually in the bill and how the nuances can be interpreted later on.

Medicare for anybody who wants to BUY IN

Dear President Obama,

I understand you’re thinking of dumping your “public option” because of all the demagoguery by Sarah Palin and Dick Armey and Newt Gingrich and their crowd on right-wing radio and Fox. Fine. Good idea, in fact.

Instead, let’s make it simple. Please let us buy into Medicare.

It would be so easy. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with this so-called “public option” that’s a whole new program from the ground up. Medicare already exists. It works. Some people will like it, others won’t – just like the Post Office versus FedEx analogy you’re so comfortable with.

Just pass a simple bill – it could probably be just a few lines, like when Medicare was expanded to include disabled people – that says that any American citizen can buy into the program at a rate to be set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which reflects the actual cost for us to buy into it.

So it’s revenue neutral!

To make it available to people of low income, raise the rates slightly for all currently non-eligible people (like me – under 65) to cover the cost of below-200%-of-poverty people. Revenue neutral again.

Most of us will do damn near anything to get out from under the thumbs of the multi-millionaire CEOs who are running our current insurance programs. Sign me up!

This lets you blow up all the rumors about death panels and grandma and everything else: everybody knows what Medicare is. Those who scorn it can go with Blue Cross. Those who like it can buy into it. Simplicity itself.

Of course, we’d like a few fixes, like letting Medicare negotiate drug prices and filling some of the holes Republicans and AARP and the big insurance lobbyists have drilled into Medicare so people have to buy “supplemental” insurance, but that can wait for the second round. Let’s get this done first.

Simple stuff. Medicare for anybody who wants it. Private health insurance for those who don’t. Easy message. Even Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley can understand it. Sarah Palin can buy into it, or ignore it. No death panels, no granny plugs, nothing. Just a few sentences.

Replace the “you must be disabled or 65″ with “here’s what it’ll cost if you want to buy in, and here’s the sliding scale of subsidies we’ll give you if you’re poor, paid for by everybody else who’s buying in.” (You could roll back the Reagan tax cuts and make it all free, but that’s another rant.)

We elected you because we expected you to have the courage of your convictions. Here’s how. Not the “single payer Medicare for all” that many of us would prefer, but a simple, “Medicare for anybody who wants to buy in.”

Respectfully,
Thom Hartmann

For anyone interested, David Axelrod might have a pretty big problem. A story is breaking this morning. According to a Bloomberg story, Axelrod’s former firm is currently receiving huge fees “from Healthy Economy Now, a coalition that includes the Washington-based Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA,” as well as AARP, the SEIU and other big players in the health care debate.

Looks like the GOP is going to push this, but I’ll be curious to see what, if any, attention it gets from the MSM (Pravda).

http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/7649acb6-4b41-478a-848d-a55aa566ca6f

Also in the works is a reaching out to faith based groups to support O’s health care plan; I guess we are going to be hit with the “morality” of the situation. Perhaps there should be a long look in the mirror before any further action is pushed on this plan, trying to guilt people into it will not work. This upset is I believe directly mostly at health care, but also a large amount of piss off at the politician’s and media for being so incredibly disrespectful to the American people, over the past few years. Interesting note this morning on the news, the largest block of voters that have stopped supporting O, suburban women…hmm imagine! can’t he just wipe that off his shoulder’s, or scratch his nose and it will all go away? Maybe just add a little lipstick to the situation? Looks like not only is the Emperor naked, he is wearing a court jesters hat!

What part of more doctors, more hospital beds, and a longer life expectancy for way less money with single payer don’t you get?
That’s single payer not free.
That you get treatment for your ailments based on your medical needs not some company’s profit sheet?
That instead of a 30% overhead it’s would be like Medicare’s 2-3%, big savings right there.
That emergency rooms won’t be crowded with those who put off going to a GP for a minor problem because they didn’t have the money.
By all means, if the above doesn’t appeal to you then don’t support single payer.
I find it amusing that those against single payer because somebody might lose their job never gave those of us in the manufacturing sector who are out of work a second thought. Or if they did it was,”We deserved it for beloning to a greedy union”

Congress is going to fall on their swords for dear leader and pass Death Care, with all its worst proposals. He will try and help boost his falling ratings by pretending he is against it. Congress are aware that their replacements, the czars are moving in. What their worry? They have their HC in place and their pensions, and they know in an honest election they are gone. Watch and see. It is all smoke and mirrors and the man behind the curtain reigns as king.

Bachus discusses Social Security, health care

TUSCALOOSA | “Social Security could face default within two years,” U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus predicted here Tuesday. “The situation is much worse than people realize, especially because of the problems brought on by the recession, near depression.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20090818/NEWS/908189977/1007?Title=Bachus-discusses-Social-Security-health-care

“his flaccid attempts to re-invent the American health care nightmare, he seems to have lost his will to bleed for it.:

aha…..I see the problem. He has been taking the red pill, the blue pill works much better.

He never had a plan, that’s why he’s incoherent in trying to explain. I go back to the debates where he was always agreeing with “what Hillary said”. Hillary had the DETAILS because it was something she actually worked on and truly believed. Obama has no core believes…it was always about saying what people wanted to hear in order to win.

It’s amazing that the Dem leadership can’t understand why people of all stripes are upset. Healthcare is an important issue that deserves detailed attention. Obama’s “throw it against the wall and see what sticks” approach is not cutting it. We got a glimpse of what REAL committment to the healthcare issue involves and Obama with his double talk ain’t it!!!!

“concealing a Rush Limbaugh doll” Are we siding with Rush Limbaugh now? Isn’t that overreacting just a bit? I don’t like Obama, but I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon of some extremist propagandist because I don’t like the current occupant. Never forget that Rush Lilmbaugh and Fox News brought us Dubya.

I kinda giggled when I read the paragraph that states….

“Anyway, so Bobama now seems to realize that maybe he was shooting a little high for his first six months in office. ……..After all, they already gave him most of their money to assure his election, gave him the power to command our armed forces, and even shrugged off his secret past as a Muslim terrorist.”

Very entertaining piece.

We will have healthcare reform with a public option. To the idiot who claims he has a secret past as a Muslim terrorist, here’s a little bit of information for your sorry ass. Obama’s only secret past is working as a “researcher” for Business International Corporation. That is why you will NEVER see his college or travel records. BIC conducted international research on a variety of sensitive topics for the CIA. That’s right — your accusations that he is some type of terrorist is hilarious. He was working for you, fool — as an undercover agent while in college. The CIA paid his travel and tuition and it’s all classified. Grow a brain.

Hey guys! I havent been on in a while, I got a little burn’t out after the elections! I have a question for you that is off topic.

Durling the election there was someone on here who would comment frequently and her name was simply “Orly”. was that THE Orly Taitz?

Health CARE in the UK coming soon to the US
A young mother gave birth on a pavement outside a hospital after she was told to make her own way there. Mother-of-three Carmen Blake called her midwife to ask for an ambulance when she went into labour unexpectedly with her fourth child. But the 27-year-old was refused an ambulance and told to walk the 100m from her house in Leicester to the city’s nearby Royal Infirmary. ‘They said they were not sending an ambulance and told me I had had nine months to sort out a lift.’

This article articulates what single payer health care is and some of the problems with a “co-op”. Obamacare is not single payer health care.

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_5032.shtml

Unconfirmed reports by undead sources indicate he was seen trying to conceal a live chicken and a crude doll resembling Rush Limbaugh under his jacket as he slipped into a candle-lit room reeking of burning goat hair and sulfur.

Okay Steve–you’ve done it now. You’ve messed with Chango and his worshippers, and this is definitely more dangerous than the sort of Islamic blasphemy that lands you on the Salman Rushdie honor roll. I suggest that you keep close track of your fingernail clippings, and only go to barbers that you trust. Make sure you put ALL of the sweepings in a plastic bag and take them home for secure disposal.

IRS to be ObamaCare enforcer

What do you get when you cross health care with the IRS? Something very scary. William Jacobson of Legal Insurrection explains that the IRS will getting reports of who has health care coverage, and enforcing taxes as part of the deal in both House and Senate versions.

The Senate bill imposes a new requirement that all persons who provide health care coverage to others must file a return with the IRS listing the names, addresses, social security numbers, and the coverage period for each person, and “such other information as the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] may prescribe.” (Section 161(b) starting at page 107). The bill does not limit what information the Secretary may request, so it is conceivable and likely that information as to the nature of the coverage, the family members included, and other details will be reported to the IRS.

The House bill contains similar provisions in section 401(b) (at pp. 175-176).
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/08/irs_to_be_obamacare_enforcer.html

“Remember that legislation itself is only half the problem with Obamacare. Whatever bill passes, hundreds of bureaucrats in the federal agencies will have years to promulgate scores of regulations to govern the details of the law.

Wesley J. Smith http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff081909.php3

Democrat: Grassley’s fear of euthanasia in ObamaCare is an “act of treason”

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/08/19/democrat-grassleys-fear-of-euthanasia-in-obamacare-is-an-act-of-treason/

‘Public Option’ Was Created to Lead to Single Payer

http://www.redstate.com/

Video: Single payer is the goal

Verum Serum has another of its video series on ObamaCare and the Trojan horse of the public option. Think of this as Trojan Horse’s Greatest Hits — a couple of big hits, plus a couple of tracks you may not have seen before now. For instance, I don’t believe I’ve seen Barney quite as Frank as he is in two clips from the last few weeks on his goals for the public plan:

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/08/19/video-single-payer-is-the-goal/

Cash for clunkers is a SIMPLE program. Buy a car, get your discount, drive off right? Well dealerships are now learning the lesson of trusting this administration. They are going broke and fast! They have millions fronted in discounts, and the government is not paying up! Only 2% of the money has been paid to dealers who have sold cars. Some have millions fronted already. Some are stopping the program because they dont want to front any more. 4 in 5 applications are being TURNED DOWN by the government for silly things having nothing to do with the actual deal.
SO WHERE THE HELL IS OUR 3 BILLION DOLLARS? They sure as hell have not given it to the dealers? Going to Brazil maybe for the oil deal?
This stinks of Rahm. They knew they could not get their hands on Toyota, they also knew that the lowest milage cars are Toyotas, they know their biggest competition comes from Ford and Toyota, so hey lets bankrupt a bunch of their dealerships! No one will buy Chrysler or GM so we wont hurt them.

AND YOU WANT THESE INEPT GOONS RUNNING YOUR HEALTH CARE?

I’m pretty sure everyone has heard by now that Obama is trying to drag Hillary into his healthcare mess.

RUN HILLARY, RUN AWAY FROM THIS!!!

And then run in 2012, lol

Is it me or have the first months of the 0bama administration been like the Democratic primary caucuses of 2008? What he|| this has been!

“Co-op” sounds a lot like “HMO”. We already got those. Mandated back in ‘93 by Clinton.

We all just love ‘em here. They work so great.

the bottom line is republican want the poor disabled and poor people to die.i havent been to the medicade doctors since 2003, when i injured my leg and the doctor told me [we are all geting old arnt we] and refused to give me a xray or any medical treatment.in my town they let us poor white men die.so iv been waiting for the [public option] since way befor 1993.so i guess the tax payers are going to keep paying me disibility since 1994 for preventable problems.

This lady is bring denied and bet your bottom dollar Obama has his lying hands and pockets in with them.

And oh here is something watch and listen

VIDEO~~~THE DEATH PANELS ARE REAL!

The State of Oregon refused to pay for a woman’s cancer treatment, instead telling her they’d pay for assisted suicide. The head of the death panel admitted they have to consider the costs involved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70KcaXbkJw4&feature=player_embedded

also on ( MOB’R US SITE )http://mobsrus.ning.com

A nosy Mouse must be the one who sits al day long living off the government by the way is us the working people they tax to give the ones who can not get off their tails and they deny the older people who worked all their lives when they ask for a little help in food stamp.Here you go here is 10.oo worth that’s all you get while they said here you go you wonderful lazy person who don’t want to work.Here you go here is 500,00 dollars go have a great time with it.and eben now they give a vard different form a food card to go to a ATM and get money out ot pay their bills.

I work my tail off. I support my family- I give to churches- and I also help people. And I sure do not want to support anyone who will take more money from me my family and the americans that can go out an work. Obama just wants Illegals to give this to so they can vote? O wait Obama is Illigal vote him out

I will keep my money-my home-my insurance-my doctor -my food-my car- my electric-gas- all that good stuff that I and I alone pay for.

NOOBAMACARE !!!!

We’ve got to have universal health.
Doctor’s want it and say it will improve healthcare.
If you only watch Fox news you will remain ignorant.
Listen to Bill Moyers, Robert Reich, and yes our president. BTW he cannot help his messianic/rockstar appeal, given how low the last occupant of the White House set the bar, anyone with the ability to walk upright would seem like the second coming.
We’re America and should have the best healthcare system in the world. Not 38th. Yes, 38th.