Monday, November 23, 2009

Health Tax Gets a Face Lift

Well, let's see what they did to you:

FORESEEING PROBLEMS 'I don’t want to fix the problems in a way that creates more of an economic crisis,' Senator Joe Lieberman said yesterday.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!

You got butchered, America!


If that's the face of national health care, I don't want it.

They couldn't have done a worse job.


"Plastic surgeons fight proposed excise tax; Strategy to pay for health care headed for vote" by Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Associated Press | November 20, 2009

WASHINGTON - Phil Haeck president-elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, said, the tax would be especially hurtful in tough economic times that have prompted many newly jobless women to look for ways to make themselves more marketable to prospective employers.

“They’re competing with people 10 to 15 years younger than them, and they want to look better,’’ Haeck said. The emergence of the tax in the latest Senate health legislation shows what can happen when an industry or company that is in Congress’s crosshairs is not vigilant enough.

Daniel Russo, a plastic surgeon who heads the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, said his group first heard of the idea for a cosmetic procedure tax over the summer. But after being assured by several lawmakers and senior congressional aides that it was not being seriously considered, the group opted not to engage in a major lobbying battle against it, he said....

OOOOOOOPS! Feeling LIED TO, do you?

I'd be CAREFUL with the BOTOX TREATMENTS from now on, congresscreeps!

You might end up looking like the guy above!

His group is not registered to lobby, although the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported spending nearly $400,000 this year trying to influence Congress.

So they are sort of like a mini-AIPAC?!!!

The society, which has two in-house lobbyists, did not list a plastic surgery tax among its legislative priorities in disclosures filed on Capitol Hill....

But they are NOT a LOBBY!

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And the politicians wouldn't lie about the cost like they lied to the doctors, would they?


"House votes to ease Medicare cuts to doctors; Move would add $200b to the deficit" by Erica Werner, Associated Press | November 20, 2009

WASHINGTON - The Democratic-controlled House voted yesterday to add more than $200 billion to the deficit to prevent steep Medicare payment cuts to doctors, a move Republicans denounced as a political payoff to physicians for backing President Obama’s health care overhaul.

And then they stuck it off-budget from their bill.

The measure, approved on a near party-line vote of 243 to 183, is a top priority for the American Medical Association....

That's why YOU didn't get what YOU wanted, America!

YOU did not LOBBY YOUR PUBLIC SERVANTS!

You only "elect" them!

Despite intense lobbying by the AMA, the doctor payment legislation failed in the Senate last month in an embarrassing defeat, with moderate Democrats concerned about the deficit joining Republicans to bring it down. That leaves its future uncertain even though the rate cuts loom in less than two months....

“The reason it was separated, I would have to admit, was purely political,’’ Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California....

Yeah, SEPARATED so it would NOT COUNT against official $$$ figure they are going to give you on cost, folks. Some would think it a lie.

Although House Democrats have vowed not to pass legislation that’s not paid for, the doctor payment bill is one of several items they have exempted from that rule....

Translation: ADDING to the DEFICIT, but OFF-BUDGET for the HEALTH TAX COSTS!!!

Democrats said it was Republicans’ fault....

HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!! That's a LAUGHER!!!!!!

What, YOU GUYS DON'T RUN the PLACE with MAJORITIES for three years now?

HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!!

Yeah, the REPUGLICAN MADE ME DO IT!!!!

He can even fart a filibuster, folks!!!!

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Actually, maybe it was a REPUG!


"Health overhaul narrowly advances; Democrats secure shaky support for debate in Senate" by Lisa Wangsness and Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | November 22, 2009

WASHINGTON - The Senate narrowly overcame the first of two critical hurdles to passing sweeping health care legislation last night, mustering the minimum of 60 votes required to begin debate on the bill and opening a volatile floor fight likely to last weeks....

Related: Breaking News: Agenda-Pushing Prophets

final passage remains far from certain.....

Grain of salt, please.

Speed is of the essence for Democrats....

Yeah, because when you are SHOVING SOMETHING DOWN SOMEONE'S THROAT speed is of the essence!

Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent who sat on the GOP side on the Senate chamber before walking quietly to his seat on the Democratic side to deliver a grim “yes’’ vote, wants further cost controls in the bill and opposes the public option....

You GET the MESSAGE, DemocraPs!!!!

WASHINGTON - Buoyed by their weekend victory on a vote beginning the health care debate, several Senate Democrats expressed optimism yesterday they could find a way to keep a government-run insurance plan in the sweeping bill.

The public insurance option in the Senate’s health care overhaul is so modest....

Yeah, it is actually going to COST YOU MORE than the crap care insurance plans -- and you will be FORCED to BUY IT or PAY a TAX, 'er, PENALTY!

And Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who, as a former Democrat, usually aligns himself with his old party on procedural votes, could be an even greater obstacle.

Yeah, KOWTOW to ZIONIST JOE the GATEKEEPER!!!

And WHAT ARE THE ODDS that JOE would get the CATBIRD SEAT in the two subsequent Congresses? He is the 51st Democrap to maintain control of the chamber, and then the 60th vote to end filibusters? A Zionist, Israeli-first gatekeeper deciding what legislation goes forward in the Senate?

Or that his opponent would receive the EXACT SAME VOTE TOTALS SIX YEARS APART!

I will never believe in an AmeriKan election ever again.

He said yesterday he remains philosophically opposed to the idea of a public health insurance option and concerned that it could be a drain on the already fragile economy. He predicted it would eventually fall into debt, leaving taxpayers to bail it out....

Like HE EVER CARED about the TAXPAYERS!!!

Then QUIT FUNDING that WAR-CRIMINAL STAIN in the Middle East, Joe, among other things!!!!

Didn't he vote FOR the BANK BAILOUTS?

He repeated his threat to vote against final passage if the public option is not removed, but Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, speaking on the same program, said he believed Senate leaders would be flexible and he hoped they could reach the point where they could satisfy Lieberman’s concerns. “There are may variations on the theme,’’ he said. “We are open because we want to pass this bill.’’

Yeah, CHEW on THAT, liberals!!!!!

YOUR LEADERSHIP needs to SATISFY JOE'S CONCERNS!!!!!!

You know, the GUY SITTING ON the REPUGLICAN SIDE of the aisle!!!!!!!

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Here is what you have to look forward to, America:

"Doctors prepare for fee change; Efforts to cut costs would overhaul payment system" by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | November 21, 2009

That proposal, which would have to be approved by lawmakers, is being called a “global payment’’ system.

I'm sorry, but ANYTHING with the word GLOBAL in it is VERBOTEN here!

Related: The Massachusetts Model: Doctors' Diet

Looking a little thin there, doc.

Yet Secretary of Health and Human Services JudyAnn Bigby, acknowledged that “we could reform the payment system and still not get the results we’d like to see.’’ Bigby said the danger is if the state’s biggest hospitals and doctors groups, which would team up as “accountable care organizations,’’ used their clout to command higher reimbursements.

Related: Partners in Looting

We used to call that price-fixing.

Paul F. Levy, chief executive of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said another potential problem with a “per body, per year’’ approach is that it could shift the risk of calculating health costs to providers from insurers, which keep larger cash reserves on hand than hospitals....

Yeah, so INSURERS can make EVEN LARGER PROFITS -- then GAMBLE them away!!

The new system could also make it more difficult for employers....

And THAT is the LAST THING WE NEED in this state!

Philip J. Edmundson, chief executive of William Gallagher Associations, an insurance brokerage company based in Boston, warned: “One concern of businesses [that] are paying for most of the insurance is that the ability to control costs, manage costs, and get information about costs will no longer be available.’’

And if THEY WON'T TELL BUSINESS, what hope do you have?

Richard Pops, chief executive of Cambridge biotechnology company Alkermes Inc., which makes drugs to treat alcoholism, depression, and other diseases, said a new payment system should be flexible enough to allow insurance coverage of new treatments that drive down medical costs in the long run.

Related: Welcome to the Wonderful World of Biologics

So of course he is going to say that, cha-ching.

Potential pitfalls notwithstanding....

Another one of THOSE WORDS!!!!

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Also see: America Opposes Obamacare