With each article you will like the plan even less, Americans -- and you already didn't like it.
"Health care costs to grow under overhaul; Analysis also sees dangers to Medicare" by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press | December 12, 2009
And they have been telling you all this time it will lower costs!!!
WASHINGTON - Democrats trying to push President Obama’s health care overhaul plan through the Senate got a sober warning yesterday that costs will keep going up and proposed Medicare savings may harm the program.
A new report from government economic analysts at the Health and Human Services Department found that the nation’s $2.5 trillion annual health care tab won’t shrink under the Democratic blueprint that senators are debating. Instead, it would grow somewhat more rapidly than if Congress does nothing.
And here we are already bankrupt! Then DO NOTHING!!!
More troubling was the report’s assessment that the Democrats’ plan to squeeze Medicare for $493 billion over 10 years in savings relies on specific policy changes that “may be unrealistic’’ and could lead to cuts in services....
Yeah, NO KIDDING!!
And why did the word RATIONING just cross my mind (and keep that word in mind for later, readers)?
In still more bad news, the report starkly warned that a new long-term care insurance plan included in the legislation could “face a significant risk of failure’’ because it would attract people in poor health, leading to higher and higher premiums, and eventually triggering an “insurance death spiral.’’
Related: Dr. Obama's Anal Probe
Senator Christopher Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, brushed that aside, pointing to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that found the program would be solvent for 75 years.
Yeah, he is not the one getting the probe; he's doing it to us with his AIG bonus insertions and Countrywide loan deals!
The one bright note: The bill would provide coverage to 93 percent of US residents, reducing the number of uninsured people by about 33 million, the report said.
Yes, by MANDATING they BUY UNAFFORDABLE CRAP COVERAGE from an INSURANCE COMPANY!
That's the "bright" spot?
The analysis from the Office of the Actuary, which does long-range cost estimates for Medicare, was prefaced by a disclaimer saying it does not represent the official position of the Obama administration. Unlike estimates from the budget office, which have mainly focused on the legislation’s impact on the federal deficit, the actuaries looked at total public and private costs over the next 10 years. The analysts also used their years of experience with Medicare’s finances to make a judgment call on whether the cuts proposed in the Democratic bills are politically sustainable. When previous Congresses have cut Medicare too deeply, providers have usually convinced lawmakers in subsequent years to restore at least some of the money. That same scenario is playing out this year as doctors try to persuade Congress to permanently repeal automatic spending cuts that would reduce their Medicare fees 21 percent next year....
--more--"
If you are not liking the lies about the costs, you are going to like the why even less:
"the political realities of health care reform, which depends in large part on tacit support from drug makers and other industry groups"
Yeah, that is why you must be GOUGED for DRUGS, American!
But this is SUCH a WIN for YOU!!!!!
"Lobbyists push against imported drugs plan; Would allow US citizens to purchase abroad" by Dan Eggen, Washington Post | December 15, 2009
WASHINGTON - Drugmakers mounted a last-minute lobbying push against a proposal allowing US citizens to buy cheaper drugs from foreign countries, providing another example of the heated disputes that have bogged down health care discussions that resumed yesterday in the Senate.
The proposal was one of several issues that prompted a surge in lobbying by hospitals, insurers and other major industries attempting to coax the legislation in their favor as lawmakers work through a handful of complex issues.
Then WE DON'T WANT THEIR PLAN no matter what it is!
Medical providers, for example, are battling hard against a proposed Democratic compromise that would jettison a public insurance option in favor of a limited expansion of Medicare, while the US Chamber of Commerce flew dozens of corporate executives to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers.
Yeah, WHO CARES about GLOBAL WARMING when their is TAX LOOT at stake!!?
The fight over the imported drugs proposal poses a particularly difficult political challenge for President Obama, who cosponsored a similar bill when he was in Congress and who included funding for the idea in his first budget.
What, Obama breaking another campaign pffft?
The amendment, sponsored by Senator Byron Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, would allow pharmacies and wholesalers to import US-approved medications from Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, where drug costs are much lower because of price controls. The measure has attracted bipartisan support from lawmakers including Senator Olympia Snowe, Republican Maine, and former presidential candidate John McCain, Republican of Arizona.
I believe it failed.
But the pharmaceutical industry - which has been a key supporter of health care reform after reaching an agreement with the White House earlier this year - has responded with a fierce lobbying campaign aimed at killing the proposal, focusing on Democratic senators from states with large drug and research sectors. In addition, Margaret Hamburg, director of the Food and Drug Administration, raised safety concerns about the Dorgan amendment in a letter to the Senate, warning that the FDA does not have the ability to ensure that such drug imports would not be counterfeit or contaminated.
Talk about PROTECTING CORPORATE PROFITS!
Then again, that is why the FDA is there!
The dispute traps Obama between his campaign rhetoric and the political realities of health care reform, which depends in large part on tacit support from drug makers and other industry groups....
I'm not only disappointed in him, I want nothing to do with any bill they come up with.
“It’s about being a candidate as opposed to being president,’’ said Ken Johnson, senior vice president at PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. “When you become president, you realize that the sound bites don’t always work in reality.’’
Translation: He works for THEM!!!!
An anticipated vote on Dorgan’s amendment was initially blocked on Thursday by Democratic Senator Thomas Carper of Delaware, home to the US headquarters of
What a stinking liar!
--more--"
Okay, so what else is OUT, America?
"Public option out, Democrats press on; Pledge to advance weaker health bill" by Lisa Wangsness and Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | December 16, 2009
WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leaders abandoned the last vestige of a government health plan yesterday but pledged to move ahead on a sweeping health care overhaul, infuriating many liberals but pleasing President Obama, who said victory on his highest domestic priority was within sight.
So HE NEVER GAVE a DAMN ABOUT US -- or you, liberals?
Related: Public Option Aborted
But YOU GUYS will VOTE FOR this MONSTROSITY anyway!
When you check a liberal's back you will find no bone; that's why leadership takes them for granted.
Lawmakers, after getting another pep talk from Obama at the White House, said they would rather pass a weaker measure than go home empty-handed and miss a rare opportunity for a historic expansion of health care. The bill would require that nearly all Americans buy health insurance and would provide government subsidies to those who can’t afford it on their own.
And THAT is ABOUT IT!!
And if you think this busted flush of a government is going to subsidize you, you are dumber than I thought, liberals.
The Senate is aiming to vote before Christmas, which would set up a round of conference meetings in January to forge a compromise bill with leaders in the House, which has already passed a measure.
Yeah, CRAM IT THROUGH no matter how s***ty a bill.
The president, after meeting with Democratic senators, declared that America is on the “the precipice of an achievement that’s eluded Congresses and presidents for generations.’’
Senate leaders said they were giving up for now on the government-run insurance plan, the so-called public option, which many Democrats have sought as a means to pressure private health insurance companies into offering lower health care premiums. Several moderates had objected to the public option, including Senator Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who over the weekend also told Senate leaders he also opposed a Medicare buy-in for those 55 to 64, Democratic leaders’ last-ditch attempt to get something resembling the public plan. Lieberman said he opposed the public option and the Medicare buy-in because he believes they could create a new burden for taxpayers. Without Lieberman’s support, the Democratic majority could not muster the 60 votes required to break a Republican filibuster.
Also see: The Toast of the Town
How come your leaders suck his ass cheek, liberals, while s***ting in your face?
“They’re not happy,’’ Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, said of liberals in the Senate Democratic caucus. “I’m not happy.’’ But, he said: “What remains is dramatic. We just don’t want to lose the opportunity, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’’
Meaning they would vote for a steaming stink pile of s*** if it were offered.
Democratic leaders focused on keeping progressives’ disappointment and anger in check so the Senate could quickly pass a bill before Christmas deadline.
But if you were a conservative DemocraP or an Independent Zionist they would want to negotiate, placate, and appease!
They said that though they have not locked in the 60 votes needed, they are convinced they will within the next week or so.
Oh, I never doubted it for a minute! Higher powers than they want this to be law. The politicians are simply paid tools.
Advocates for a public option said they planned to continue to pressure for a government plan that would be designed to offer lower premiums to the newly insured. While the public option was slowly whittled away in the Senate to nothing, the House did adopt one in its version of the bill.
Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, insisted that liberals “are not giving up’’ but that he will vote for the Senate package without a public option to move along in the process. “There’s too much at stake’’ to hold up the measure any longer, he said.
Why not START OVER?
Why NO SINGLE-PAYER, hanh?
Former Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said the bill was worthless without a public option and said if it passes it will represent “a shocking collapse of leadership within the Democratic Party.’’
I agree!!!
Representative Anthony Weiner, Democrat of Brooklyn, fumed in a statement that it was time for Obama to “get his hands dirty’’ and fight for “the values our party shares.’’
He's not one of you, haven't you noticed?
But House majority leader Steny Hoyer said a bill without a public option could pass the House, signaling that representatives also are prepared to take a more pragmatic course.
(Blog editor just tosses his hands in the air)
Still, Hoyer did not miss the opportunity to slam Lieberman, who was angrily denounced by members of his former party throughout the day.
SO WHAT?
All HOT FART MIST!!!!
Richard Kirsch, director of Health Care for America Now, a large coalition of organizations supporting the public option, said Lieberman’s stance would do tremendous damage to the Democratic Party, whose progressive activist base has adopted the public option as “the symbol for real health care reform.’’
Yeah, it is going to LOSE THEM the CONGRESS in 2010!!!
“Lieberman has basically got a contract with the private insurance industry to kill the public option, and he’s delivering,’’ he said.
That is why JOE is the GATEKEEPER of the SENATE and the TOAST of the TOWN!
Lieberman has denied that home-state concerns about the insurance industry or insurance industry campaign contributions have colored his position....
I expect him to lie, so....
Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus said Obama, in a closed-door meeting that lasted more than an hour, urged all 60 members to recall why they had been elected in the first place. Amid polls showing diminished support for health care overhaul, Obama argued that political benefits eventually flow from good policy - though Baucus acknowledged with a laugh that it might take a while....
Yeah, WHO CARES what WE, the VOTERS, want!!!!!
Several health care and consumer advocacy groups appeared to agree with that view and signed on to the less-ambitious bill yesterday. The AARP, the largest lobby for retirees, endorsed the Senate bill, and planned a press conference for today with the Service Employees International Union, Families USA, the Consumers Union and the American Cancer Society to urge the Senate to pass the bill. Senate negotiators are eager to get something approved before the holiday recess to keep momentum going.
Also see: Only 19 More Shopping Days Until Health Tax
Yeah, no matter how crappy a bill.
Leaders believe that once a compromise bill is written by a House-Senate conference committee, lawmakers will be more reluctant to vote against it because of the historic nature of the bill.
I'll bet they name it the Ted Kennedy Memorial Health Act. Who could vote against that (besides me)?
“If Congress passes a health care bill, those who voted for it are going to be part of history,’’ said Senator Paul Kirk, Democrat of Massachusetts. “If they decide they’re going to bail on the bill, they’re going to be part of history as well.’’
See, even dead Ted's replacement says so!
Kirk plans to make a major speech on the Senate floor today - the anniversary of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s landmark 1969 speech on the need for health care overhaul - underscoring what Kirk believes Kennedy would say if he were alive: The bill isn’t perfect, but if you don’t pass it, you won’t have the chance again for a very long time.
Kirk, who was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to temporarily fill Kennedy’s seat, said of Kennedy in an interview:
“If we don’t pass it now, now that we’ve come this far, you won’t see health care reform for 20 years. He had a sense of history. We’ve never been this close.’’
And our masters demand it.
--more--"
"US-run health option dies in Senate
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Your friends at Boston.comWTF???
"Single-payer health care plan dies in Senate" by David Espo, AP Special Correspondent | December 16, 2009
WASHINGTON --The liberals' longtime dream of a government-run health care system for all died Wednesday in the Senate, but Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont vowed it will return when the realization dawns that private insurance companies "are no longer needed."
Sanders, an independent and socialist, said his approach is the only one "which eliminates the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste, administrative costs, bureaucracy and profiteering that is engendered by the private insurance companies." His remarks drew handshakes and even a hug or two from Democrats who had filed into the Senate to hear him. Sanders acknowledged the proposal lacked the votes to pass, and he chose to withdraw it....
Like I said, no backbone.
Nelson emerged as the lone known holdout among 60 Democrats and independents earlier in the week after Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., forced supporters of the bill to remove a proposed Medicare expansion. The overall legislation is designed to spread coverage to millions who lack it, ban insurance industry practices such as denying coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions and slow the rate of growth for medical spending nationally....
And FORCE YOU to BUY an UNAFFORDABLE PLAN or PAY a TAX PENALTY!!!!
That is ALL YOU ARE GETTING, America!!!
After that it is a CUT and REWRITTEN EDIT JOB, folks -- and I even forgot to link the story!!!
Ooooops!!!!
And remember what I said about rationing?
"Greenspan, 83, raised concern about the impact of health care costs driven by the Medicare and Medicaid entitlement programs.... and raised the question of rationing medical care.... "
Straight from the *ew's mouth, 'murka!
WASHINGTON -Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan warned yesterday that US federal budget deficits projected during the coming years will test the country’s ability to sell its debt.
This criminal s*** bag should be in jail.
“For the next decade or two, on some reasonable sets of assumptions, our borrowing cushion shrinks significantly, threatening to test our capacity to raise funds to finance unprecedented deficits,’’ Greenspan said in testimony to the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.
In his testimony, Greenspan endorsed as an “excellent idea’’ legislation to establish a bipartisan commission on the budget deficit proposed by Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, and Senator Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican.
“Our nation has never before had to confront so formidable a fiscal crisis as is now visible just over the horizon,’’ Greenspan said.
Yeah, thanks for helping to set it up, scum.
And which nation are you refring to, America or Israel?
The federal government ran a $1.4 trillion budget deficit for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
Related: The Trillion-Dollar Interest Payment
The US government’s total debt is now roughly $12.1 trillion, with $7.8 trillion held by the public and the rest held in government trust funds such as Social Security.
That's all right; they removed it as an election issue and jacked the ceiling up to $14 trillion.
Greenspan warned that the rising public debt leaves the government’s fiscal position vulnerable to a rise in interest rates. In answer to a question about why rising debt is a concern, Greenspan said: “The critical issue that economists worry about’’ is the spiral that occurs with ever-rising debt and debt service, often followed by higher interest rate. As a consequence of that, “the debt service becomes explosive and that moves directly into the budget deficit,’’ he added....
Then SHUT DOWN the WARS!!!
Of course, $24 TRILLION in BANK BAILOUTS is fine with this f***!
Homeland Security Committee chairman Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, and the panel’s ranking Republican, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, ended the hearing by endorsing Greenspan as a potential member of a deficit commission.
Why is Homeland Security holding a meeting about the deficit? WTF?!!!
Greenspan, 83, raised concern about the impact of health care costs driven by the Medicare and Medicaid entitlement programs on both the federal deficit and the broader economy. He said medical spending may begin to crowd out investment in other areas of the economy, and raised the question of rationing medical care....
You SEE WHERE this is ALL GOING, right, American?!
It's going to be a BAD, BAD, BAD BILL!!!!
Greenspan said the commitment of resources to medicine may begin to usurp investments in others areas that improve the productivity and strength of the economy. “Importantly, a dollar of the nation’s scarce saving employed to finance a new medical technology investment is a dollar not available to fund other critical nonmedical cutting-edge technologies that enhance our material well-being,’’ Greenspan said.
Or to FUND BANK BONUSES and WAR PROFITEERS, right, s***ter?!!
--more--"
And it all ends with the BRIBERY of BEN NELSON!
WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leaders appeared on the verge of an agreement late last night that would secure the critical 60th vote for their sweeping health care bill and seemed poised to try to push through the package before their self-imposed deadline of Christmas.
The last remaining Democratic holdout was Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat who had been particularly concerned that federal subsidies to help low-income people pay for private insurance coverage could indirectly be used to pay for abortion procedures, a huge concern for abortion opponents.
Nelson met for hours yesterday with Senate majority leader Harry Reid, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, and Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California and a strong proponent of abortion rights. Key White House aides were also present through the day....
Heightening the drama, more than a foot of snow was expected to drop today on Washington, D.C., which typically grinds to a halt after a few inches have fallen. Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska, mused that perhaps the Senate was getting what it deserved....
Yeah, for all the GLOBAL WARMING FART MIST coming from the place!
Already Democratic leaders have made major changes to bring in moderates, most notably giving up on any form of government-run insurance plan and, at the insistence of Senator Joe Lieberman, Independent of Connecticut, abandoning an alternative to let Americans not quite old enough for Medicare to buy into the program.
--more--"
WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats clinched the final 60th vote required to push a major health care bill through the Senate by Christmas, announcing a compromise yesterday with Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska that includes restrictions on abortion coverage and millions in additional Medicaid funding for his state.
Nelson warned he would oppose the bill if those concessions are eliminated during negotiations with the House....
That sounds like EXTORTION and BLACKMAIL!!!!!
Nelson secured several other concessions from Reid, including a guarantee that the federal government will fully cover the cost of expanding Nebraska’s Medicaid program. All other states have to partially pay for a Medicaid expansion....
Is it WORTH IT, liberals?
Where is your payoff, huh?
At a time when most state budgets are deep in the red, it’s a huge political coup for Nelson.
Oh, it is a COUP of the CONGRESS, 'eh?
The deal was announced yesterday just after the Senate gathered for an unusual 7:20 a.m. vote on defense spending in the midst of a blinding snowstorm. The timing was the result of Democrats’ determination to hustle the health care bill through by Christmas....
Washington, D.C., infamous for not handling snow well, virtually shut down in yesterday’s whiteout; in a muffled city, the Capitol seemed like the only hive of activity. Before dawn, senators began arriving at the Capitol clad in earmuffs and boots....
And would I ever be blowing their global-warming back in their faces if I were there!!!!!
Activists on both sides reacted with disgust to the Senate compromise....
As well as the rest of the American people. That's why it was done in the early morning on a weekend.
--more--"
Oh, I'm sorry, liberals, you DID GET SOMETHING!
WASHINGTON -- New insurance exchanges would have the option of signing up for national plans overseen by the same office that manages health coverage for federal employees and members of Congress. Those plans would be privately owned, but operated on a nonprofit basis, as many Blue Cross Blue Shield plans are now. The option amounts to a consolation prize for liberals....
Are you CONSOLED, liberals?
Gone from the bill is a tax on cosmetic surgical procedures, including Botox injections.
That's because the vain vandals slinking through Congress are dependent on that s***!
Related: Health Tax Gets a Face Lift
Instead, Senate Democrats are proposing a 10 percent sales tax on tanning salons, to be paid by the person soaking up the rays....
Un-flipping-real!!!!!!
So STAY OUT of the TANNING SALONS at ALL COSTS, America!!!!!
You DON'T NEED SKIN CANCER on top of a TAX!!!
Then you will need crap care no matter how much it costs!
