image toon - 1st hcare = hcar plan won't have problems of past plans

The Worst Bill Ever

Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reportedly told fellow Democrats that she's prepared to lose seats in 2010 if that's what it takes to pass ObamaCare, and little wonder. The health bill she unwrapped last Thursday, which President Obama hailed as a "critical milestone," may well be the worst piece of post-New Deal legislation ever introduced.

In a rational political world, this 1,990-page runaway train would have been derailed months ago. With spending and debt already at record peacetime levels, the bill creates a new and probably unrepealable middle-class entitlement that is designed to expand over time. Taxes will need to rise precipitously, even as ObamaCare so dramatically expands government control of health care that eventually all medicine will be rationed via politics.

Yet at this point, Democrats have dumped any pretense of genuine bipartisan "reform" and moved into the realm of pure power politics as they race against the unpopularity of their own agenda. The goal is to ram through whatever income-redistribution scheme they can claim to be "universal coverage." The result will be destructive on every level—for the health-care system, for the country's fiscal condition, and ultimately for American freedom and prosperity...

[MUST READ > ]

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111 New 'Bureaucracies' in Health Care Bill

Subject: txt 1st hcare -
In its latest attempt to portray Democrats' reform package as an unwieldy expansion of federal government in the health care sector, the House Republican Conference circulated what it called a list of ''new boards, bureaucracies, commissions and programs' created in the House health care bill. House Republicans claimed Monday that the health care reform bill pushed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi would create a whopping 111 new ''ederal bureaucracies...


The House Republican Conference, meanwhile, has gone to the Herculean effort of tabulating the new federal boards, bureaucracies, commissions, and programs that would be established by the House bill--all in the name of cutting costs, of course! They add up to 111:
1. Retiree Reserve Trust Fund (Section 111(d), p. 61)
2. Grant program for wellness programs to small employers (Section 112, p. 62)
3. Grant program for State health access programs (Section 114, p. 72)
4. Program of administrative simplification (Section 115, p. 76)
5. Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Section 223, p. 111)
6. Health Choices Administration (Section 241, p. 131)
7. Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman (Section 244, p. 138)
8. Health Insurance Exchange (Section 201, p. 155)
9. Program for technical assistance to employees of small businesses buying Exchange coverage (Section 305(h), p. 191)
10. Mechanism for insurance risk pooling to be established by Health Choices Commissioner (Section 306(b), p. 194)
11. Health Insurance Exchange Trust Fund (Section 307, p. 195)
12. State-based Health Insurance Exchanges (Section 308, p. 197)
13. Grant program for health insurance cooperatives (Section 310, p. 206)
14. "Public Health Insurance Option" (Section 321, p. 211)
15. Ombudsman for "Public Health Insurance Option" (Section 321(d), p. 213)
16. Account for receipts and disbursements for "Public Health Insurance Option" (Section 322(b), p. 215)
17. Telehealth Advisory Committee (Section 1191 (b), p. 589)
18. Demonstration program providing reimbursement for "culturally and linguistically appropriate services" (Section 1222, p. 617)
19. Demonstration program for shared decision making using patient decision aids (Section 1236, p. 648)
20. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicare (Section 1301, p. 653)
21. Independent patient-centered medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302, p. 672)
22. Community-based medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302(d), p. 681)
23. Independence at home demonstration program (Section 1312, p. 718)
24. Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research (Section 1401(a), p. 734)
25. Comparative Effectiveness Research Commission (Section 1401(a), p. 738)
26. Patient ombudsman for comparative effectiveness research (Section 1401(a), p. 753)
27. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1412(b)(1), p. 784)
28. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for nursing facilities (Section 1412 (b)(2), p. 786)
29. Special focus facility program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1413(a)(3), p. 796)
30. Special focus facility program for nursing facilities (Section 1413(b)(3), p. 804)
31. National independent monitor pilot program for skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities (Section 1422, p. 859)
32. Demonstration program for approved teaching health centers with respect to Medicare GME (Section 1502(d), p. 933)
33. Pilot program to develop anti-fraud compliance systems for Medicare providers (Section 1635, p. 978)
34. Special Inspector General for the Health Insurance Exchange (Section 1647, p. 1000)
35. Medical home pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1722, p. 1058)
36. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1730A, p. 1073)
37. Nursing facility supplemental payment program (Section 1745, p. 1106)
38. Demonstration program for Medicaid coverage to stabilize emergency medical conditions in institutions for mental diseases (Section 1787, p. 1149)
39. Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund (Section 1802, p. 1162)
40. "Identifiable office or program" within CMS to "provide for improved coordination between Medicare and Medicaid in the case of dual eligibles" (Section 1905, p. 1191)
41. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Section 1907, p. 1198)
42. Public Health Investment Fund (Section 2002, p. 1214)
43. Scholarships for service in health professional needs areas (Section 2211, p. 1224)
44. Program for training medical residents in community-based settings (Section 2214, p. 1236)
45. Grant program for training in dentistry programs (Section 2215, p. 1240)
46. Public Health Workforce Corps (Section 2231, p. 1253)
47. Public health workforce scholarship program (Section 2231, p. 1254)
48. Public health workforce loan forgiveness program (Section 2231, p. 1258)
49. Grant program for innovations in interdisciplinary care (Section 2252, p. 1272)
50. Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment (Section 2261, p. 1275)
51. Prevention and Wellness Trust (Section 2301, p. 1286)
52. Clinical Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1295)
53. Community Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1301)
54. Grant program for community prevention and wellness research (Section 2301, p. 1305)
55. Grant program for research and demonstration projects related to wellness incentives (Section 2301, p. 1305)
56. Grant program for community prevention and wellness services (Section 2301, p. 1308)
57. Grant program for public health infrastructure (Section 2301, p. 1313)
58. Center for Quality Improvement (Section 2401, p. 1322)
59. Assistant Secretary for Health Information (Section 2402, p. 1330)
60. Grant program to support the operation of school-based health clinics (Section 2511, p. 1352)
61. Grant program for nurse-managed health centers (Section 2512, p. 1361)
62. Grants for labor-management programs for nursing training (Section 2521, p. 1372)
63. Grant program for interdisciplinary mental and behavioral health training (Section 2522, p. 1382)
64. "No Child Left Unimmunized Against Influenza" demonstration grant program (Section 2524, p. 1391)
65. Healthy Teen Initiative grant program regarding teen pregnancy (Section 2526, p. 1398)
66. Grant program for interdisciplinary training, education, and services for individuals with autism (Section 2527(a), p. 1402)
67. University centers for excellence in developmental disabilities education (Section 2527(b), p. 1410)
68. Grant program to implement medication therapy management services (Section 2528, p. 1412)
69. Grant program to promote positive health behaviors in underserved communities (Section 2530, p. 1422)
70. Grant program for State alternative medical liability laws (Section 2531, p. 1431)
71. Grant program to develop infant mortality programs (Section 2532, p. 1433)
72. Grant program to prepare secondary school students for careers in health professions (Section 2533, p. 1437)
73. Grant program for community-based collaborative care (Section 2534, p. 1440)
74. Grant program for community-based overweight and obesity prevention (Section 2535, p. 1457)
75. Grant program for reducing the student-to-school nurse ratio in primary and secondary schools (Section 2536, p. 1462)
76. Demonstration project of grants to medical-legal partnerships (Section 2537, p. 1464)
77. Center for Emergency Care under the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (Section 2552, p. 1478)
78. Council for Emergency Care (Section 2552, p 1479)
79. Grant program to support demonstration programs that design and implement regionalized emergency care systems (Section 2553, p. 1480)
80. Grant program to assist veterans who wish to become emergency medical technicians upon discharge (Section 2554, p. 1487)
81. Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (Section 2562, p. 1494)
82. National Medical Device Registry (Section 2571, p. 1501)
83. CLASS Independence Fund (Section 2581, p. 1597)
84. CLASS Independence Fund Board of Trustees (Section 2581, p. 1598)
85. CLASS Independence Advisory Council (Section 2581, p. 1602)
86. Health and Human Services Coordinating Committee on Women's Health (Section 2588, p. 1610)
87. National Women's Health Information Center (Section 2588, p. 1611)
88. Centers for Disease Control Office of Women's Health (Section 2588, p. 1614)
89. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Office of Women's Health and Gender-Based Research (Section 2588, p. 1617)
90. Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Women's Health (Section 2588, p. 1618)
91. Food and Drug Administration Office of Women's Health (Section 2588, p. 1621)
92. Personal Care Attendant Workforce Advisory Panel (Section 2589(a)(2), p. 1624)
93. Grant program for national health workforce online training (Section 2591, p. 1629)
94. Grant program to disseminate best practices on implementing health workforce investment programs (Section 2591, p. 1632)
95. Demonstration program for chronic shortages of health professionals (Section 3101, p. 1717)
96. Demonstration program for substance abuse counselor educational curricula (Section 3101, p. 1719)49. Grant program for innovations in interdisciplinary care (Section 2252, p. 1272)
97. Program of Indian community education on mental illness (Section 3101, p. 1722)
98. Intergovernmental Task Force on Indian environmental and nuclear hazards (Section 3101, p. 1754)
99. Office of Indian Men's Health (Section 3101, p. 1765)
100. Indian Health facilities appropriation advisory board (Section 3101, p. 1774)
101. Indian Health facilities needs assessment workgroup (Section 3101, p. 1775)
102. Indian Health Service tribal facilities joint venture demonstration projects (Section 3101, p. 1809)
103. Urban youth treatment center demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1873)
104. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for diabetes prevention (Section 3101, p. 1874)
105. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for health IT adoption (Section 3101, p. 1877)
106. Mental health technician training program (Section 3101, p. 1898)
107. Indian youth telemental health demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1909)
108. Program for treatment of child sexual abuse victims and perpetrators (Section 3101, p. 1925)
109. Program for treatment of domestic violence and sexual abuse (Section 3101, p. 1927)
110. Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1966)
111. Committee for the Establishment of the Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1968)

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Goodies for trial lawyers in House 'reform' bill

Subject: txt 1st hcare crpt reps libs bbro -
Considering how much cash trial lawyers pour into Democratic party coffers every year, it seems only fitting that they would receive some golden nuggets that benefit them at the expense of everyone else.

Jennifer Rubin writing at Commentary Contentions:

A friend points out a little nugget of absurdity and political mendacity in the Pelosi health-care bill. Remember Obama's effort to try a "test" for tort reform? (We don't actually need a test, since it has worked to lower medical malpractice coverage and help increase access to doctors in every state that has tried it.)

Well, Pelosi's bill has an anti-tort-reform measure. On pages 1431-1433 of the 1990 page spellbinder, there is a financial incentive for states to try "alternative medical liability laws."

But look - you don't get the incentive if you have a law that would "limit attorneys' fees or impose caps on damages."

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image toon - 1st hcare bbro legal = Dems too late to save swimer re tort reform

When Disrespecting the People is Worth it

Subject: txt reps 1st hcare libs crpt msm bias -
Galling disrespect for the electorate is the only explanation for the absurd twists of facts and phrases coming from the Democrats

With countless examples of the media ignoring news that might damage Democrats, it seems this practice has bred a sense of security among the party's leaders. They even appear emboldened by their media allies as they get closer than ever to something they've craved for decades: complete control of the health care industry.

To wit, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her band of Pelosheviks are compelled to tell us that things are not what we know they are.

Last week, Pelosi said with a straight face (I've been waiting to use that line) that the expiration of the Bush tax cuts next year will not be a tax increase, but rather the "eliminating a tax decrease that was there." This would be funny stuff if she were not in charge of our nation's fiscal health... [snip]

For example, we are treated to a budget-busting "stimulus" that the White House admitted has stimulated just about all it can. Likewise, we get a defense funding bill that includes anti-gay hate crimes legislation buried deep within it. With Republicans in Washington now irrelevant even to their constituents, cries of GOP obstructionism sound cynical even to the politically clueless.

Lacking a credible bogeyman to blame for the ugly legislative process and its unpopular consequences, however, the Democrats do not even pretend to talk frankly about their plans to control one sixth of our economy. With unquenchable avarice for control over every health care decision in America, Democrats have ramped up their assault on transparency by writing the health care bill in total secrecy... [snip]

Has America grown tired of the Democrats' utter disrespect for the electorate? Democrats in Congress might think they will not suffer dire consequences for their recent shenanigans. Or maybe they know they will, and that is the cause of their desperate rush to pass healthcare reform regardless of how bad it makes them look...

[Because they know that once they've that lever over the American people, their permanent majority is inevitable over time. Its never had anything to do with health care - or congress, which controls the eligibility criteria for Medicare, would make everyone eligible overnight.

But Medicare participation is voluntary, so that just won't do.]

[More, Recommended > ]

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Congressman Becomes Angry at Helath Care Plans Being Questioned

Subject: txt 1st hcare crpt reps -
Congressman Earl Pomeroy (photo) of North Dakota, a supposed Blue Dog Democrat fiscal hawk, demonstrated his peculiar brand of "hawkishness" this week when he quickly announced his support of Nancy Pelosi's health care bill via a press conference call for media... [snip]

You can hear the audio on Rob's blog. And now the angry reaction from the Duke of Earl over being questioned by a non-approved blogger peon:

"... my question was a fair one about how exactly forcing Americans to buy their health care through a government health care exchange was going to promote competition. Pomeroy didn’t have a good answer, and chose to attack the questioner instead..."

Finally a pertinent observation from Port:

"What surprised me about the call almost as much as Pomeroys aggressive, agitated reaction to my question was how few questions the other reporters on the call asked. Aside from my question, there were only two other questions asked.

Apparently the reporters on the call were satisfied with just taking down what Pomeroy told them."

It looks like Pomeroy doesn't like taking incisive questions from an independent media source. Only affirmative rubberstamping from the approved media list of his decision to burden the taxpayers with budget busting ObamaCare will do.

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CBO: ObamaCare will Cover Only 2% of US Citizens

Subject: txt 1st hcare -
You may have missed it, as the Obama State-run media sycophants have worked feverishly to suppress it. One of a handful of media outlets that did publish anything on it (AP) devoted only one paragraph to this extremely important piece of news. Said paragraph reads:

"A Congressional Budget Office estimate suggests very few Americans under the age of 65 would sign up for health insurance under the much-debated public option. The CBO found that the scaled back government plan in the House version of health care legislation couldn’t overtake private insurance, with only about 2 percent of Americans under the age of 65 opting in..."

This is important because it completely contradicts what Obama and the White House have been saying for months…and months...

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40 Senators Sign Letter to Reid Demanding Internet Posting of Healthcare Bill

Subject: txt 1st hcare crpt -
Candidate Barack Obama made a big deal about government transparency and giving citizens ample opportunity to read pieces of legislation before they're voted on.

With this in mind, 40 Senators signed a letter sent to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Thursday demanding the new healthcare reform proposal be published on the Internet so that ALL Americans can "learn how the federal government is spending their money."

The full text with signatories was posted on Sen. Jeff Sessions' (R-Ala.) Facebook page moments ago:

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image toon - 1st hcare = Reid skewers taxpays with costs

Let Your Voice Be Heard

Subject: txt 1s hcare action -
With the House of Representatives scheduled to vote on Nancy Pelosi's health care takeover bill, a watershed moment in American history is fast approaching. In this video, Congressman Mike Pence puts the battle over health care in the context of freedom and of the relationship between the individual and the state:(Snip)

Only massive public opposition has a chance to stop the federal usurpation that the Democrats are planning...

[So watch...

...and...

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then...]


"DEFEAT HOUSE HEALTH 'CARE' BILL "


House-Pelosi: http://speaker.house.gov/contact/
YOUR Congressman: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

or: Speed Message them with your personal distribution list...

and as always, pass it on...

contact-template

Democrats' Quiet Changes Pile Up

.

Last week, Mr. Obama signed defense-policy legislation that included an unrelated measure widening federal hate-crimes laws to cover sexual orientation and gender identification -- 12 years after it was first introduced. The same legislation also tightened the rules of admissible evidence for military commissions, an issue that consumed Congress in debate in 2007 but received almost no attention this go-round.

Other new measures signed into law since the administration took office, all of which kicked up controversy in past congresses, make it easier for women to sue for equal pay, exclude land in the West from any form of energy development, give the government the power to regulate tobacco and raise tobacco taxes to expand health insurance for children. Congress and the White House, in the new defense-policy bill, also killed weapons programs that have survived earlier attempts at termination, among them, the F-22 fighter jet and the Army's Future Combat System.

Rob Nabors, the White House's deputy budget director, called the series of new laws

"a very, very quiet but important victory."

[snip]

Other issues that once consumed Congress are now sailing into law, often without much public notice.

Senior White House political adviser David Axelrod said his opponents in Congress are absorbed with defeating Mr. Obama's health-care overhaul, what he calls "the shiny object that they've chased." As a result, he contends, other measures have been left to pass into law.

"The administration is pushing so many things so rapidly it's difficult to concentrate on all of them"

Rep. Tom Price (R., Ga.), a conservative leader in the House, concedes that, in some cases, Republicans are being overwhelmed;While President Barack Obama still faces stiff headwinds on a range of major legislation on his agenda, he has been signing into law a slew of smaller initiatives that had gathered dust on the Democratic wish list for years...

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3 Million Registered Voters

Subject: txt crpt libs - bdd -
Regardless of how lively an election season might be, a new study shows that more 3.3 million voters on current registration rolls across the country are dead. Another 12.9 million remain on voter registration lists in an area where they no longer live.

Nationally, 1.87 percent of registered voters are dead, while 7.2 percent of voters do not live where they are registered...

[Again and again: every serious study comparing our manual system to electronic options shows that, while none are perfect, electronic systems are an dramatically less inaccurate.

Which is why they're so consistently opposed by the Left.]

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The Totalitarians Among Us

Subject: txt owg lbrty -

This is a month in which the president of the United States has co-sponsored a UN resolution with the police state of Egypt to ban speech that defames religion; a month in which the Democratic Party has placed an amendment on a defense appropriations bill to make anti-gay speech a thought crime, and in which the White House has launched an all-out attack on the Fox News Channel because it didn’t like what Fox commentators were saying.

And instead of reacting with appropriate horror at an assault on the free press not seen since the days of Joseph McCarthy, a TIME columnist has called Fox’s behavior “seditious” and thus helped to set the stage for making criticism of government a “hate crime”... [snip]

How quickly hate speech is redefined as standing up for the freedoms your country has, which Islamic totalitarianism denies (and which thus makes your country better.) And this in the city of Philadelphia, the birthplace of American liberty.

America’s first and most fundamental freedom is under concerted attack.

The attack originates with Islamic jihadists and their liberal collaborators, but it is being supported by useful fools and the seriously confused. This series of events should be a wake-up call to all Americans. The hour is already late.

[Recommended > ]

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Most Disagree with Obama on issues

Subject: txt reps libs gdd -
For the first time since he took over in the White House, Americans don't see eye to eye with President Barack Obama on the important issues, according to a new national CNN poll.

According to the poll, which was released Tuesday, 48 percent of people questioned say that they agree with Obama on the issues that matter most to them, with 51 percent saying no...

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Crushing the media

Subject: txt msm bias bdd lbrty gdd -
The Obama administration's un-American attempt to vilify Fox News only increased the network's popularity. But this White House debacle can't be judged in isolation: There's a global leftwing assault on the freedom of information. Intense leftist sentiment in most of the international media isn't enough. Extremists seek total control. The one thing leftists just can't bear is criticism...

[I disagree. They dislike criticism, but it's competition in a free market place of ideas they can't stand...

Highly Recommended > ]

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Palin Around

From ABC's John Berman, who's up in NY-23 covering the Hoffman-Owens showdown:

@abcdude: Covering NY-23 race. This is the bumper-sticker on the car that candidate Doug Hoffman just arrived in

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