From my DH: More on Health Care

With Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security facing certain bankruptcy, the Federal government has shown itself quite inept at managing an insurance business. Despite that, Speaker Pelosi is insistent that any health care reform include a Public Option paid at Medicare rates. Such a plan would be disastrous for hospitals, physicians, and patients.

An analysis by the Lewin Group made the following observations:
1. Premiums for the public plan would be 20 percent to 25 percent less than for comparable private coverage--resulting in a shift of the majority of those currently in a private plan into the public plan. (That was certainly the experience with the Keiki plan in Hawaii which was essentially bankrupt within 7 months, because 85% of those enrolled in the Keiki plan had previously had private insurance.)
2. Medicare payments to hospitals are equal to only about 91% of the actual costs of services provided. For physician services, Medicare pays only about 81% of what is paid by private health plans for the same services.
3. Payments for Medicare (to physicians and hospitals) are usually less than the cost of the services provided, resulting in payment shortfalls. (This has been the experience of every physician I know). Hospitals and physicians cover the cost of payment shortfalls under public programs by increasing charges for private health plans.

It has been the testimony of substantially every economist who has appeared before Congress that the Public Option will enjoy cost and regulatory advantages that will result in the effective elimination of private health insurance within four years of the beginning of the Public Option program. There is no reason to doubt the accuracy of that analysis. That will eliminate any options for cost shifting and will force most hospitals and physicians into bankruptcy, leaving patients nowhere to turn for care. No hospital can survive with the vast majority of patient’s bills being reimbursed at Medicare rates. Indeed, I know of no physicians whose practice could survive that. My practice would most certainly have to close.

Instead of a Public Option how about a Private Option along the lines of the Patient Choice Act,

S 1099. The Patient Choice Act takes the power out of the hands of the government and employers and puts it back where it belongs, in the hands of those in the best position to make informed decisions and who will be most affected by them – the patients. That ultimately is the choice we face; emulate a system that has failed the world over, or take the best of a system that provides the best health care on the planet and fix the problems that have made it one of the most costly on the planet.

There is nothing as permanent as a government program--and passage of the Pelosi/ Obama plan will permanently and irreversibly end the free market system for health care in the US.

And more free speech!

As in the internet.

A great source of free speech! See, we're engaging in it right now! I say what I think, and you can talk (well, email or whatever) back.

Senate Bill 773, also known as the Cyberspace Security Act of 2009, was drafted by Senator Rockerfeller (D-WV) and is currently in committee. It proposes to protect our national security interests in the internet field.

Sounds okay so far.

But what else does this Bill propose? The President will designate those "state, local, and nongovernmental systems and networks" that are crucial to national security, and can shut them down on his own say-so.

Perhaps the boundaries of our free speech rights and the President's say-so should be a teensy bit more delineated. As well as the President's say-so over private industry.

Something to read: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/What-Will-the-Cybersecurity-Act-of-2009-Do-To-Your-Job-and-Business-768836/

Let's get back to basic Bill of Rights type stuff

Like free speech, which we, the American citizens, are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights:
The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Patrick Henry giving his speech, "Give me liberty, or give me death."
Have you heard of the Fairness Doctrine? Well, it is a law, supported by some Democrats, that would ensure, through federal regulators, that radio stations presented both sides of any issue "fairly"-- as in equal time for both sides of the argument.
This, of course, did (in the past) and would, if re-enacted, present grave problems with our freedom of speech. Free speech means you can put on your radio station whatever you wish to put on your radio station. It's a free country, after all.
Well, the Fairness Doctrine is a legislative effort. A very unpopular one.
So President Obama has turned to "executive action" by appointing a chief diversity officer at the Federal Communications Commission. This brand new post is occupied by Mr. Mark Lloyd, who previously was a Fellow in the left-leaning Center for American Progress. He co-authored, in 2007, a paper entitled "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio". In this, Mr. Lloyd decried the overwhelming popularity of conservative radio programs. Mr. Lloyd and fellow authors proposed several remedies in order to have more "progressive" talk radio, including fines that would go to Public Broadcasting.
This was of such concern that Senator Grassley of Iowa wrote to the Chairman of the FCC. Senator Grassley writes that "I do not believe that more regulation, more taxes or fines, or increased government intervention in the commercial radio market will serve the public interest or further the goals of diversifying the marketplace. I am concerned that...Mr. Lloyd supports a backdoor method of furthering the goals of the Fairness Doctrine by other means."
Please read this letter at http://grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=22511

An Analogy concerning Obamacare

This is from my DH:

An interesting explanation of the Public Option from Brad Kuhnhausen in the Salt Lake Tribune:
Nancy Pelosi's House bill would set up the public option to compete with private insurance kind of like how an alligator competes with a duck. Let's use an analogy: Let's say that progressives are tired of grocery stores making profits off the bellies of hungry people. (Let's face facts; food is even more of a basic, necessary "right" than health care.) How would the public store work, based on the public option health care model?
Well, farmers would be required to sell produce to the public store at 20 percent below the price they sell to private grocery stores. So would paper and cleaning supply manufacturers. There would be no state sales taxes collected in the public store, unlike the private grocery store. A presidential-appointed "Grocery Choices Administration" agency would determine what products could be stocked in all private and public stores. (After all. we don't want people to make bad nutritional choices caused by those greedy for-profits.) Even better, your friendly public store will give you a sliding scale discount at the register (up to $88,000 income per year). Finally, the public store is prepared to stay open no matter how much money it loses. How long would your neighborhood grocery store stay open to compete against that?
It is the same with the Pelosi version of the public option. The private insurance companies just cannot compete over time. They will take their investments, and good-paying jobs, and go home.

Town Hall Meetings

DH, DS and I went to two town hall meetings this past week.

Here's a few of the "angry mob".

And some more "right-wing extremists".

First, we attended Mr. Pete Sessions' get-together (our DS's representative),

then Mr. Joe Barton's (our representative).

Yours truly as as mobster
It was very interesting!

Most folks had good questions. Only a very few just stood up to "speak their piece" or were otherwise rude.

What I noticed is that most folks were requesting help for their specific situation. And they wanted government-issued (and controlled) insurance to fix their problems.

Both Mr. Sessions and Mr. Barton responded that their difficulties needed to be addressed, but not by forcing a government system of health care on everyone.

Amen.

PS I will be editing some entries by my beloved DH and get them up soon!

News to Tickle your Toes!

President Obama has just released the gladsome tidings that projections for the 10 year deficit have increased 2 trillion dollars, from $7.1 trillion to $9 trillion.

Aren't big numbers exciting?

{Whoops, sorry, sarcasm isn't very becoming, is it?}

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57K4XE20090821

You are invited to a party

Today we are going to a tea party.

No, not that kind--the kind that is becoming so popular these days!

We, DH and myself, plus several of the DS, will be attending Representative Pete Sessions' town hall meeting.

Apparently, the MoveOn folks (yes, it would be nice if they'd just move on) have targeted this town hall, so we plan to be very early to show our support of Mr. Sessions, who is the Representative for DS #1 and #2.

Now, what do you wear to such a tea party? Maybe I need a tea party hat!

No more tattling!

The White House has removed the Flag link, where citizens were invited to tattle on their fellows who might be spreading "fishy" stories about President Obama's health care plans.

I for one am pleased with this.

It is not nice to gossip.

Besides, it's just a bit creepy, don't you think, to be turning each in to the White House? Shades of nefariousness!

Excuse me, but it's a red herring

It seems that the Obama Administration is, perhaps (there seems to be some mixed messages from the White House) retreating from the issue of government-issued insurance.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius stated yesterday that it "was not the essential element" of health care reform.

Please, it is also not the essential element of my objections to Obama's health care proposals.

The biggest problem is that all health care, whether you have government or private health insurance, will be controlled by the government.

And health care will ONLY be controlled by the executive branch of our government.

Neither the Congress nor the courts will have any influence over our health care; the health care commissioner will be "free from judicial review".

Which means we, the people, will have absolutely no control over our health care. We will not be able to change health care through the legislative process nor through appeals through the court system.

I say no, thank you.

PS Do you know what a "red herring" is? It is an idiom expressing something that is trying to divert you from the true issue in an argument.

It comes from the practice of trying to confuse a hound trying to follow the scent of its prey by dragging a dead (red) herring along the trail. Interesting, isn't it?

Freedom of speech?

The ACLU has accused Pace High School officials in Florida of violating the First Amendment of the Constitution by allowing prayer at high school events, speaking about their Christian faith, and allowing separate religious events for students.

The ACLU has successfully barred prayers from all school events, disallowed any school events from being held in churches (if other facilities are available), and blocked school employees from talking about their faith.

The ACLU has also barred the senior class president from speaking at graduation on the suspicion that Mary Allen, a Christian, might say something of a religious nature.

Oh, my. What happened to freedom of speech? Or being "not guilty" until proven otherwise? Wait a moment--she didn't even have the chance to "perhaps" say something!

How to Draw a Dinosaur

Something diff for Sunday Fun!

Protesters for Sale?

You, too, can make money being a pro-Obama-health-care protester.

Apparently, it's true. Look it up on Craiglist.

Maybe they wear astroturf?

Can we trust President Obama on health care?

Trust is a delicate issue. No, we cannot completely trust people. People will fail us. But, the critical issue NOW is--can we trust President Obama on health care reform?

I would have to say NO. This, of course, is a judgement, but just think about what the President said during his Town Hall Meeting the other day.
1. "I have not said that I was a single-payer supporter." This is not true. He has stated his endorsement of a single-payer system previously. See http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/01/21/fact_check_obama_consistent_in.php
2. "You can keep your doctor." Well, until you are forced out of your private insurance. http://blog.heritage.org/2009/07/20/obamacare-you-will-lose-your-current-insurance-period-end-of-story/
3. "You--just like a member of Congress--can choose your plan." Misleading, at best. Congresspeople can choose their own insurance. But a government mandated plan, competing with private insurance, and complete with many different deterrent to private insurance, is not part of Congress's policy.
4. "The AARP [is] on board because they know this is a good deal for seniors." False. http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/president-obamas-senior-moment.html
5. "Seniors...this does not affect your benefits." False. Obama plans to cut more than $300 billion dollars from Medicare. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124485885782111927.html
6. "I won't sign a bill that adds to the deficit or to the national debt." Hmm, how has that worked out so far? Concerning health care proposals: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31949211/ns/politics-cq_politics/
7. Obama's health care proposals "should not burden people who make $250,000 or less." However, both House and Senate schemes have "employer mandates" that tax businesses who do not offer government health care, or have employees on both private and government health care. http://keithhennessey.com/2009/08/07/lower-wages/

In sum, I agree with President Obama on one thing he said. He compared the federally run Post Office with privately run UPS and Fedex. The President stated, "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."
He is right. The government Post Office is "always having problems." It's losing billions of dollars and shutting down hundreds of post offices. Is this what our health care will look like? http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/11/obamacare-the-post-office-of-health-care-plans/

The Heritage Foundation.org

More on Health Care

Here's another great review of the health care plans, by a person-on-the-street. Actually, he is a contributor to The Objective Standard, and is a visiting professor of politics at Duke University, having a PhD from Cambridge University. Please read it: http://theobjectivestandard.com/blog/2009/08/health-care-bill-what-hr-3200-americas.asp

Health Care

Okay, I'll dive into the health care issue.

And here's the website to report me, since I disagree with President Obama on his health care proposal: flag@whitehouse.gov

First of all, it's very difficult to know where to start--there are five different proposals for health care reform, all hundreds of pages long. When President Obama states that there are misconceptions about his health care ideas, which bill is he referring to?

Next, please go to http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/24/news/economy/health_care_reform_obama.fortune/

for a summary of problems with the health care proposals. Also, take a look at this article by Senator Coburn from Oklahoma on 10 Questions for your elected representative: http://article.nationalreview.com/q=ZDM5NDJkMDA2ODJlNmMxY2VhYmI2NGJhZGEwZGFlNjU=

My take on health care?

1. There are problems with the current health care system.
2. There are several ways to improve health care in America. But government take-over of our health care system IS NOT THE ANSWER! See Number 5.

3. The current health care proposals are abominable:

~~The government will mandate what all, even private, health care plans will cover. This can include everything from ear piercing to the kitchen sink, if that is what the government decides (and whoever lobbies the hardest). States that have legislated this kind of coverage have seen medical insurance skyrocket. (DUH!)

And PS, abortion IS covered by the plans proposed thus far.

~~You will be forced out your private insurance plan, within 5 years

~~You will not be able to choose your doctor. See above.

~~Illegal aliens will effectively have access to medical insurance, paid for by American citizens. Democrats in the House Way & Means Committee voted down an amendment proposed by Rep. Heller R-Nevada to prevent illegal aliens from participating in the government proposed health care plan. What's more, there is no method eludidated in the House or Senate health care plans to prevent illegal aliens from obtaining government health care.

~~There will be rationing of health care. The stimulus package (possibly the part of the bill that the Congress folks didn't read) has already established a cost-effectiveness board. And proposals to reduce Medicare spending include paying for fewer services to patients--that's less care, my fellow citizens. And one way Congress is proposing to reduce the cost of health care is to expand Medicaid. Why is Medicaid cheaper? There's less access to services, as well as reduced reimbursements to provideers. Face it, the only way to reduce health care costs is, basically, to reduce health care.

~~And there is a lot of stuff about end-of-life issues in these bills. The bill mandates discussion of these issues at the first Medicare exam--and pays the doctor to do so--and supplies the script (about end of life directives, living wills, and hospice, etc). Democrats insist this little talk will be purely voluntary. My goodness, it doesn't sound so voluntary.

4. The figures of 47 million people who are without health care coverage are skewed (I hate to say "lying"). If you take out illegal aliens (who are not citizens) and those who do not want health insurance (for whatever reason), you get about 10 million people, give or take a bit.

The federal government could subsidize private health coverage for those folks for a pittance compared to the proposed health care plans.

5. Medicare and Social Security, run by our federal government, will be bankrupt in a few short years.

I submit that our elected representatives have done a lousy job thus far; do you trust them with more programs?

What can you do?

1. Read the above articles to have some basis for discussion.

2. Write your Representative and Senators!

3. Go to any town hall meetings.

4. If your congresspeople do NOT support government-mandated healthcare, write them of your support. Go to their town hall meeting and support them. Consider putting together a petition of like-minded people and sending it to show your support of their position in opposing the proposed health care reforms.

The jets are going down...

Figuratively speaking, of course.

But apparently the request for eight more jets for Congress may not fly...

Mrs. Pelosi may have to take Southwest Airlines.

http://politicopolitico.blogspot.com/2009/08/not-to-mention-jets-for-congress.html

And what about former President Clinton's visit to North Korea?

What is your opinion on President Clinton's private endeavor to free the two American journalists?
Personally, I am thrilled that these two young women are free from jail in North Korea.
But, I wonder, at what price?
While some analysts see this as a coup for the Obama Administration (though the White House denied any contact between President Obama and President Clinton prior to Clinton's visit to North Korea), others feel this was one-upmanship by Kim Jong-Il.
The Secretary of State was in Africa during this time.
She didn't seem to understand that, of course, people wanted to know her husband'a thoughts, since he seemingly was busy doing her work in North Korea--when asked what President Clinton thought about an issue, she replied--
''My husband is not secretary of state, I am,'' said Clinton. ''If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channeling my husband.''

The War on Terrorism is Over

I surely hope that the Administration told the terrorists.

(PS My DH is asking "Who won?")

On a more serious note, the White House has stated that "war on terror", "jihadist", and "global war" will no longer be used. Seriously.

We are now at war with al-Qaeda. The policies of the former Administration are no longer being used (except, of course, for certain espionage programs, attacks against Pakistan, the war in Afghanistan, increasing troops in the Middle East, etc, etc--but seriously, of course, perhaps these aren't exactly like Bush's policies). There's also some vague mutterings about aid to foreign powers to help with their democratic institutions (nothing, surely, similar to previous programs). I mean, seriously!

Health care--I know, I know

Yes, the big skeleton in the closet (no pun intended) is health care.

I'm researching this (there's lots to read) and will let you know what I've found--soon.
Maybe I'm worried about ending up on the White House's bad list (Hah!)

Cash-for-What?

The Senate has just approved 2 billion more dollars (our dollars, don't forget) for the Cash-for-Clunkers program.

Without any evidence of the program's effectiveness.

The Obama Administration has refused to release information about this program thus far.

Transportation Secretary LaHood has touted the program as good for the environment and good for the economy. He has stated the Fords have led the pack in the new cars being purchased. However, preliminary figures show that Hondas, Toyotas, and Hyandais are the preferred cars in this new program, while Ford, GM and Chrysler are not.

Environmentally, scientists are not ecstatic about the program. "As a carbon dioxide policy, this is a terribly wasteful thing to do," said Henry Jacoby, a professor of management and co-director of the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change at MIT. "The amount of carbon you are saving per federal expenditure is very, very small."

There are also fears that this program will hurt those who cannot afford new or nearly-new cars, as the market of older cars will dry up, and that auto mechanics are now feeling the pinch of not having older cars in need of repairs.

The Associated Press

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090805/ap_on_sc/us_cash_for_clunkers_pollution

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090804/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_cash_for_clunkers_transparency

Sunday Fun

A picture to color!
This was the first battle of the American Revolution; it was called "The Shot Heard 'Round the World".

Not to mention jets for Congress...

The House has decided to spend 550 million dollars to buy eight new jets for Congress.

The Administration had requested only four new jets.

This money will come out of the Defense budget, something the Pentagon wasn't pleased about. "It forces us to take money from things we do need to fund and redirect it for things we don't need," Geoff Morrell, a spokesman for Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said.

The purpose of the jet fleet is to fly Pentagon, White House and State Department officials around. However, Congressional members can use these jet also, and apparently Congress prefers to use the fleet because spouses can travel free (spouses aren't reimbursed for travel on commercial airlines).

An email earlier in the year from Speaker Pelosi's office stated "...there are no G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable. ... The speaker will want to know where the planes are." Mrs. Pelosi has the use of a 12 passenger, high speed jet to travel back and forth to San Francisco; these trips have cost taxpayers more than $2 million in 2007 and 2008.

Where else are our tax dollars going? The Senate needs to nix this.

PostandCourier.com

Speaking of the Stimulus...

The 2.4 billion dollars announced by President Obama on Tuesday is meant to stimulate the American economy and increase the production of "green" cars.

Unfortunately, about half of the money went to foreign firms, and much of that to foreign workers.

GM received 105.9 million dollars for battery packs for the GM Volt. But the cells for the batteries will be built in South Korea.

A French battery producer was the recipient of a $95.5 million grant.

A123 Systems Inc. got $249.1 million for batteries it will be producing in China. It hopes to build factories in Michigan.

Three other companies, based in South Korea and Russia, will receive a total of 420.9 million dollars for cathodes and batteries to be produced in US plants.

The Washington Times opines that "The president made no mention of the fact that only EnerDel has facilities up and running in the United States to produce the batteries, and that the other firms build their products overseas."

Getting Nasty

The HCAN (Health Care for America Now) group appears alarmed at the resistance to President Obama's health care proposals. This group--composed of ACORN (who received 4 billion dollars under the stimulus package), AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union (SEIU, who contributed 61 million dollars to Obama and got a cabinet position), National Education Association, and National Council of La Raza--has sent an email with instructions on how to contact public officials and develop tactics to pre-empt opposition to health care reforms.
For the first time, a town hall meeting, by Representative Kathy Castor D-Florida, became fractious. Apparently, 1000 people showed up at a facility that only held 250. There are accusations that SEIU members barred people from the room, as well as that scuffles occurred between SEIU members and people trying to get into the meeting. Apparently, Rep. Castor didn't stay too long.
From The Washington Times

Supreme Court Nomination Confirmed

We now have a new Supreme Court Justice.
All Democrats voted "AYE" plus the following Republicans Voted 'Aye' (just for your info)
Sen. Lamar Alexander [R, TN]
Sen. Christopher Bond [R, MO]
Sen. Susan Collins [R, ME]
Sen. Lindsey Graham [R, SC]
Sen. Judd Gregg [R, NH]
Sen. Richard Lugar [R, IN]
Sen. Mel Martinez [R, FL]
Sen. Olympia Snowe [R, ME]
Sen. George Voinovich [R, OH]

I'm not the only one who thinks that President Obama's entreaty http://politicopolitico.blogspot.com/2009/08/what.html
is "fishy"---
"In a letter to President Obama, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, expressed serious concern about the White House's new program requesting Americans to forward email chains and other communications opposing the President's health care policies. Sen. Cornyn is seeking assurances that the program is being carried out in a manner consistent with the First Amendment and America's tradition of free speech and public discourse. Sen. Cornyn's letter also inquires about the collection of names, email addresses, IP addresses, and private speech of U.S. citizens that will be reported, which raises the specter of a data collection program. "

Too well-dressed?

From the Democratic National Committee: Republicans are “inciting angry mobs of a small number of rabid right-wing extremists.”
From Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Ca), a statement that the folks against government controlled health care are fakes, because they are "too well dressed."
(Huh? Is that sartorial comment a put-down?)
From President Obama: "There are those who profit from the status quo, or see this debate as a political game, and they will stop at nothing to block reform. They are filling the airwaves and the internet with outrageous falsehoods to scare people into opposing change."
From an ad put out by the Democratic National Committe: "Desperate Republicans are organizing angry mobs" to "destroy President Obama."
Why are American citizens who oppose the proposed health care reforms "angry mobs", "rabid", or "extremists"?
If Democrats wish to have town hall meetings, what is wrong in voicing your views? Either pro or con?
Protest is an American right.
Just in: Pelosi says those who oppose health care changes are "carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on healthcare."

What?!?

Creepy!
From the White House website

"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there...These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

This on top of the allegations from many Democrats and from the White House that opposition to the health care plans (as shown in the town hall meetings) is merely angry mobs stirred up by nefarious, criminal groups (see the White House briefing of August 4 www.whitehouse.gov).

The Politico seems to think that the Administration's health care plans are not well liked, and that is the source of the discontent.

I say we, as Americans, have a right to express our views to our elected representatives.

The First Amendment:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Getting over the Jet Lag

Well, I actually slept all night long (instead of waking up at 2 AM, which, on India time, is in the middle of the day!) and feel a bit more awake today.
It's been interesting to return to the US after 5 weeks away. In a sort of Alice-in-Wonderland-y kind of way.
Congress still wonking each other over the head with Supreme Court nominees, health care, and, unbelievably, trading in their used cars via our government's largesse. Wow, what a waste of money!
Most interesting has been the scratching of heads by Indians and Europeans over exactly what the Obama administration is trying to do. Why all the backpedaling on free market economy? Why is Obama, who promised to get troops out of the Middle East, ramping up armed forces there? What is his foreign policy? Why is he trying to ruin the best health care in the world? BTW, no one was interested in Clinton's visit to India.
Mostly, it appeared that people are glad to leave the US to do its own thing. There seemed to be a feeling that the US, instead of bullying the world, was now just floundering about.

Home again, home again...

Jiggety-jig!
Back from India, still extremely jet-lagged, and will get back to this blog after a bit of sleep and catching up! I have been sooooo cut off from all semblance of news!Folks would ask me about the USA and I had to admit total ignorance--