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POPSThe US House of Presumptive Meddlers Advocates of government control want you to believe that the serious shortcomings of our medical and insurance system are failures of the free market. But that's impossible because our market is not free. Each state operates a cozy medical and insurance cartel that restricts competition through licensing and keeps prices higher than they would be in a genuine free market. But the planners won't talk about that. After all, if government is the problem in the first place, how can they justify a government takeover?
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POPSBush or Obama: The Quiz 5. While Obama criticized Bush for "a doubling of the national debt," the federal debt held by the public went from 35.1% of GDP in 2000 to 40.8% of GDP in 2008 -- an increase of 16% as of fraction of GDP. What is it expected to be in 2016 under Obama's budget plan? 6. Obama criticized Bush for Guantanamo, military tribunals, wiretaps, troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and "signing statements." Which one of these Bush practices has Obama ended?
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POPSPages, Costs, and Agencies Added To The Obama/Pelosi Health Care Behemoth
“Additionally, this bill cuts critical Medicare and Medicaid funding by $628 billion, accounts for nearly $1.2 trillion in tax and fee increases and will explode the scope of government by putting the nation’s health care system in the hands of Washington bureaucrats. The $3 trillion price tag defies common sense " we simply cannot add all this new spending to the government rolls and claim to control the deficit. “If we continue to pile more and more debt on the next generation, they will never be able to get out from under it. The health care system needs reform, but this massive expansion of government, financed by our children and grandchildren, is the wrong way to proceed.” And listen…this is what our government believes will be the cost. But look at programs our government has run historically and you find decades of added costs and overruns that our forced onto the taxpayer. Insanity http://www.bizzyblog.com/2009/11/07/how-to-go-from-1200-to-2000-pages/
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POPS GOP Trifecta? But it can be difficult to draw broader conclusions from off-year contests, which often turn on local issues. ************************************************** Revolt in New York Beltway bigs misjudged public dismay against the Democratic agenda in Washington. Picked by GOP elites without a primary and with a voting record to the left of many Albany Democrats, Ms. Scozzafava faced a revolt by local and national conservatives in favor of businessman Doug Hoffman, who was nominated on the Conservative Party line. The longtime GOP assemblywoman saw herself falling in the polls and yesterday endorsed Democratic lawyer Bill Owens, who could still win the GOP-leaning seat with a plurality. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703932904574509633956777194.html?mod=loomia&loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r4:c0.0565713:b28671837
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POPSSeeing Through The Lies: The Worst Bill Ever It "pays for" about six years of program with a decade of revenue, with the heaviest costs concentrated in the second five years. The House also pretends Medicare payments to doctors will be cut by 21.5% next year and deeper after that, "saving" about $250 billion. ObamaCare will be lucky to cost under $2 trillion over 10 years; it will grow more after that. • Expanding Medicaid, gutting private Medicare. All this is particularly reckless given the unfunded liabilities of Medicare"now north of $37 trillion over 75 years. Mrs. Pelosi wants to steal $426 billion from future Medicare spending to "pay for" universal coverage. While Medicare's price controls on doctors and hospitals are certain to be tightened, the only cut that is a sure thing in practice is gutting Medicare Advantage to the tune of $170 billion. Democrats loathe this program because it gives one of out five seniors private insurance options.
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POPSPelosi Health Care Bill Blows a Kiss to Trial Lawyers While there is debate over the details, it is clear that medical malpractive lawsuits have some impact on driving health care costs higher. There are likely a number of procedures that are done simply as a defense against future possible litigation. Recall this from the Washington Post: “Lawmakers could save as much as $54 billion over the next decade by imposing an array of new limits on medical malpractice lawsuits, congressional budget analysts said today " a substantial sum that could help cover the cost of President Obama’s overhaul of the nation’s health system. New research shows that legal reforms would not only lower malpractice insurance premiums for medical providers, but would also spur providers to save money by ordering fewer tests and procedures aimed primarily at defending their decisions in court, Douglas Elmendorf, director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, wrote in a letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).”
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POPSThe US is a Failed State In any failed state, the greatest threat to the population comes from the government and the police. That is certainly the situation today in the USA. Americans have no greater enemy than their own government. Washington is controlled by interest groups that enrich themselves at the expense of the American people.
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POPSPublic Health Plan Covers FEW
"The public option is a significant issue, but its place in the debate is completely out of proportion to its actual importance to consumers," said Drew Altman, president of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "It has sucked all the oxygen out of the room and diverted attention from bread-and-butter consumer issues, such as affordable coverage and comprehensive benefits." The Democratic health care bills would extend coverage to the uninsured by providing government help with premiums and prohibiting insurers from excluding people in poor health or charging them more. But to keep from piling more on the federal deficit, most of the uninsured will have to wait until 2013 for help. Even then, many will have to pay a significant share of their own health care costs. The latest look at the public option comes from the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan economic analysts for lawmakers. It found that the scaled back government plan in the House bill wouldn't overtake
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POPSWill Congress' defunding of ACORN expire Saturday? All it would take for ACORN funding to resume is the absence of any specific defunding language. If that language is not there, then federal agencies would again have the discretion of sending taxpayer dollars to ACORN. What happens in December could be the key to ACORN's future.
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POPSThe internal contradictions of ObamaCare Another major difference is that medical school is free in places like France. Here, doctors go to work with truly crushing med school debt that take years to pay down. Its hardly fair that they invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in their education and could now be told they can’t expect the ‘doctor’ type compensation we’re used to seeing.
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POPS ResponsibleHealthReform.org The red balloon expands and eventually explodes. Washington's health reform? $1 Trillion Health Plan Government-run "public option" Tax increases Even on Health Benefits Congressional Budget Office: $239 Billion in Deficits Inflated Taxes Swelling Deficits Government Control Tell Congress slow down. Reform health care the right way.
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POPSThe Forgotten Depression of 1920 The experience of 1920–21 reinforces the contention of genuine free-market economists that government intervention is a hindrance to economic recovery. It is not in spite of the absence of fiscal and monetary stimulus that the economy recovered from the 1920–21 depression. It is because those things were avoided that recovery came. The next time we are solemnly warned to recall the lessons of history lest our economy deteriorate still further, we ought to refer to this episode – and observe how hastily our interrogators try to change the subject.
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POPSThe Government Loves Spending Your Money Health care is turning into a big game of hot potato between the states and the federal government. At least between those who acknowledge somebody actually has to pay for it. Carl Oberg contributed to this article Write to tdoheny@afphq.org
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POPSProfessors want UCB to stop subsidizing sports programs at expense of academics More: "The data is eye-opening and quite troubling - athletic expenditures are rising three or four times faster than academic budgets," said William "Brit" Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland. He's co-chairman of the Knight Commission, which on Monday released a survey of university presidents' views on the cost of programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the nation's 120 top college football teams. "We're painfully aware of the global fiscal implosion and the impact it's having on academic institutions," Kirwan said. "As a result, 75 percent of presidents say we can't continue on this path."… The last time the athletes ran up a multiyear debt - owing the university $31.4 million by 2007 - the bill was forgiven, according to a written explanation of Cal's athletics budget and policies prepared in response to questions from the faculty.
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