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POPSAnother Republican says health care reform will destroy America. Rep. Broun, that is. Right -- if a liberal like Grayson calls out Republicans (who have no health care plan), they get their freak on. But I guess they have already been immunized to conservative insanity. Oh, and we have Rep. Gohmert saying this: Dems Would Allow Seniors To "Die Off More Quickly" This is standard conservative behavior that never gets mentioned by the media. It only comes up when a liberal is attacked and then they spend 24-48 hours to defend themselves and are forced to use these outrageous statement made by Republicans. And of course they have no traction, because of the defensive position the media puts liberals in.
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POPSNew Taxes on Universal Health Care "According to the JCT, this $180 billion in new taxes would include: A new tax on prescription drug makers that would account for $22.2 billion over 10 years; a new tax on medical device manufacturers that would bring in $38.6 billion; and a new annual tax on insurance companies would net the government $60.4 billion."
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POPSOPHARMA - Politics Over The Greater Good That these people are still credited with the "best of intentions" proves that people either are not trying to REALLY pay attention, or their overall hope for human nature is very low - that this is really the most honest, open, well-intentioned that we should expect. WE SHOULD EXPECT AND DEMAND BETTER! These are dishonest, pompous, self-serving people and there ARE good people if only we could find them. CRAP! And after all the "hope", "change", and the chin-out, noble profile b**ls**t! F*****g SELLOUTS!!!
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POPSAn Interesting Take On Healthcare What do I have to fear from a public health plan? That they might charge me less or, heavens, that I might pay the same amount, and actually get coverage? Some might say the Corporate Government is more American, because I have the freedom to not buy it. Freedom to go bankrupt if my child gets sick in this bloated, parasitic health care system. Freedom, once I’m bankrupt, to go to the emergency room and foist the costs off on everyone else. Freedom, if I ever get out of bankruptcy again, to pay whatever skyrocketing price my insurance company might happen to be charging five years down the road. That’s the Corporate Government’s idea of freedom. In this modern age, where power abhors a vacuum, you’re always going to have one Government or the other. As your doctor might say, choose your poison.
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POPSThe 1,400 legal benefits of marriage in the US
More: spousal exemptions to property tax increases upon the death of one partner who is a co-owner of the home; veterans' discounts on medical care, education, and home loans; joint filing of tax returns; joint filing of customs claims when traveling; wrongful death benefits for a surviving partner and children; bereavement or sick leave to care for a partner or child; decision-making power with respect to whether a deceased partner will be cremated or not and where to bury him or her; crime victims' recovery benefits; loss of consortium tort benefits; domestic violence protection orders; judicial protections and evidentiary immunity; and more.... Most of these legal and economic benefits cannot be privately arranged or contracted for. For example, absent a legal (or civil) marriage, there is no guaranteed joint responsibility to the partner and to third parties (including children) in such areas as child support, debts to creditors, taxes, etc.
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POPSMedicare and Gag Orders "Meanwhile, we have the case of the Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons (AARP), and its fanciful Medicare claims. The self-styled seniors lobby is using all its money and influence to cheer on ObamaCare, even though polls show that most retired persons oppose it. AARP has spent millions of dollars on its TV ad campaign and bulletins and newsletters to its members, including eight million direct-mail letters over Labor Day. The AARP Web site claims that it is a "myth" that "health care reform will hurt Medicare," while it is a "fact" that "none of the health care reform proposals being considered by Congress will cut Medicare benefits or increase your out-of-pocket costs."
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POPSGOP Lawmakers Protest Gag Orders on Cuts To Medicare Advantage
Medicare Advantage plans, the private insurance plans offered under Medicare, the government program for the elderly and disabled, are targets for cuts in heath care overhaul legislation because they cost more, per beneficiary, than traditional Medicare. On Friday, CMS said it was examining whether Humana violated Medicare marketing rules or other federal laws, and asked the company to shut down a Web site that helped beneficiaries generate letters to lawmakers opposing the cuts, and to stop sending letters to beneficiaries enlisting their support in the fight. The agency sent a letter on Monday to all plans, warning them not to send letters about the proposed cuts and called the effort misleading to beneficiaries. The action came at the urging of Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee , who has proposed Medicare Advantage cuts that are estimated at $123 billion over 10 years as part of his health overhaul legislation.
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POPSMoney for Health Care Bill Note the excise tax on private insurance plans. That should kill private health insurance. Also note the "cuts" to Medicare. This is where the largest amount of money will be gathered. Anyone on Medicare or Medicaid will be forced to accept the government health care program.
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POPSAetna Aetna is a national leader of health and related benefits offering health, pharmacy, dental, life, products for individuals, medicare, disability and long-term care plans.
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POPSFear and Loathing ... your health is at stake. Americans have not been governed by the Repbulicans or the Democrats since 9/11. We have been governed by irrational fear. And it is paralyzing us. We have GOT to realize that crippling health care costs are going to continue to escalate. We won't be able to pay China back and more jobs will be lost. Healthcare costs are related to the economy. Stop letting the politicians frighten us into throwing away our country.
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POPSUnfunded Mandates This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are $50 TRILLION UNFUNDED MANDATES RIGHT NOW! If you count up the numbers from pension plans, which are unfunded, the FDIC, Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund (PBGF) , and Social Security, we are in dip S***
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POPSSensible and free health care reform that the left can't stand John Mackey is the CEO of Whole Foods. After this article Obamacare supporters started a boycott of Whole Foods. Many on the left like to say the right is opposed to health care reform and would rather do nothing, but it seems to me more like those on the left want a government run system or nothing. They say the right is stonewalling reform, but they seem to be the one's unwilling to give any ground.
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POPSCEO John Mackey's Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare & The Lefty Bloggers' Backlash Brian Beutler of TPM noted the inclusion of a diet endorsement in the op-ed, and offered a translation of Mackey's manifesto: ""Whole Foods is the solution to all of America's health care woes." Other attackers had less time for mockery, and demanded a boycott: I Will Never, Ever Shop at Your Stores Again Users at the Daily Kos screamed their outrage, other bloggers linking to their hot-blooded denunciations. "Mr. Mackey," wrote one user named DarkSyde, "your extremist views on employee benefits and unionization have Mackey's Response: The WSJ Put Words in My Mouth Three days after the initial op-ed, John Mackey stated on the Whole Foods CEO's Blog that "Whole Foods Market as a company has no official position on the issue." Saying that he had written the editorial under the simple title of "Health Care Reform," Not Off the Hook , declared The Reality-Based Community's Mark Kleiman, referring to Mackey's response: "The title is the least . . .
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POPSTop Five Health Care Reform Lies—and How to Fight Back
Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America!!! The truth: We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy—to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy. Right now, we spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care.9 The average family premium is projected to rise to over $22,000 in the next decade10—and each year, nearly a million people face bankruptcy because of medical expenses.11 Reform, with an affordable, high-quality public option that can spur competition, is necessary to bring down skyrocketing costs. Also, President Obama's reform plans would be fully paid for over 10 years and not add a penny to the deficit.12 P.S. Want more? Check out this great new White House "Reality Check" website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/ or this excellent piece from Health Care for America Now on some of the most outrageous lies: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51729
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POPSWhy Not "Universal Food Coverage, Too"? who only want to insure against the possibility that they'll be hit by a truck. So politicians at both the state and federal level keep passing boatloads of insurance mandates requiring that all insurance plans cover a raft of non-emergency conditions that are expensive to treat -- but whose practitioners have high-priced lobbyists. Insurance plans that force everyone in the plan to pay for everyone else's Viagra and anti-anxiety pills are already completely unfair to people who rarely go to the doctor. It's like being forced to share gas bills with a long-haul trucker or a restaurant bill with Michael Moore. On the other hand, it's a great deal for any lonely hypochondriacs in the plan. Now the Democrats want to force us all into one gigantic national health insurance plan that will cover every real and mythical ailment that has a powerful lobby.
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POPSObamaCare is a Trojan Horse for Socialized Medicine Why Medicare-style insurance will kill our health care system The only reason providers haven't been bled out of existence is because they have offset these cuts by raising prices charged to private insurance plans. In effect, then, the good performance of Medicare that Obama and Co. tout has been purchased by beggaring the private plans that they deride. A study last December by Milliman Inc., an independent consulting firm, commissioned by America's Health Insurance Plans, found that underpayment by Medicare and Medicaid accounted for nearly an 11% increase in the health care costs of private plans. This means that on average a privately insured family is forced to pick up about $1,800 extra every year of the government's slack. Private plans, all in all, are subsidizing government programs to the tune of $90 billion annually. "Policymakers, in considering the implications of decreasing Medicare and Medicaid payment rates to health care providers,
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POPSEmployer Health Care Mandate ‘Tax on Jobs’ National Retail Federation~Steve Pfister is NRF's Senior Vice President for Government Relations, ... We need to add new jobs, not exacerbate the near double-digit unemployment numbers. We cannot afford to have new and existing jobs priced out of our collective reach because of mandated health coverage.” Pfister’s comments came in a letter to members of the House Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means Committees. The three panels have drafted a joint “Tri-Committee Bill” on health care reform that the full House could vote on by the end of the month. Pfister said NRF opposes a number of provisions in the Tri-Committee Bill, including a publicly sponsored insurance plan that would compete with private insurance plans and lead to cost shifting similar to that already seen with Medicare and Medicaid. NRF also opposes a limited five-year grandfathering of existing group health plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act because . . .
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POPSAttention 95% of Americans: Here Are Some More Taxes From Which You Should Probably Avert Your Eyes " Capping the tax break on itemized deductions at 28 percent, as President Barack Obama had proposed, or freezing the top deduction rate at 35 percent when the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010. The first scenario would raise $168 billion, while the second would collect $90 billion. " Issue tax credit bonds to pay for the proposed Medicaid expansion, raising $75 billion. " Charge fees to pharmaceutical manufacturers, bringing in as much as $20 billion, and insurance providers, raising $75 billion. " Raise taxes on sodas and sugary drinks. A 3-cent hike could pick up $30 billion, and a 10-cent hike could make $100 billion. This one already appears out of favor: Many senators have specifically ruled out the sugar tax, and a Senate Democratic source said it was the one option that was clearly not gaining traction with committee members.
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POPSHealth Care Tax-Apalooza: It’s Here! The first scenario would raise $168 billion, while the second would collect $90 billion. " Issue tax credit bonds to pay for the proposed Medicaid expansion, raising $75 billion. " Charge fees to pharmaceutical manufacturers, bringing in as much as $20 billion, and insurance providers, raising $75 billion. " Raise taxes on sodas and sugary drinks. A 3-cent hike could pick up $30 billion, and a 10-cent hike could make $100 billion. This one already appears out of favor: Many senators have specifically ruled out the sugar tax, and a Senate Democratic source said it was the one option that was clearly not gaining traction with committee members. As always, more “options” are on the table. Plus: You Want Tax Hikes? Max Baucus Has All Sorts of Tax Hikes. http://www.reason.com/blog/show/134710.html Peter Suderman points out that Sen. Max Baucus is desperately trying to persuade the CBO to cook the books . . . . .
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POPSSnake Oil For Our Health Care Ills Despite Medicare's dismal record, Obama and his comrades hold Medicare up as an example for the private sector. Why? Because between 1997 and 2006, Medicare's health spending per enrollee grew 4.6% annually while that of private plans grew 7.3%. By tapping this 2.7% difference, they argue that they can perform the triple miracle of reining in escalating health care costs, and at the same time extending health insurance to the 46 million uninsured without imposing any extra cost on the economy. But this is 21st century snake oil.
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POPSDiscord Grows Over Public HealthCare Plan An analysis by the Lewin Group, a health care consulting firm, found that a public plan such as Medicare would draw 119 million people away from private insurers. That's because a plan patterned after Medicare could pay doctors and hospitals 20% to 30% less than its private competitors.
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POPSHealth-Care Plan Adds $600 Billion in Taxes, $400 Billion in Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid Obama said this week he plans in the coming days to disclose more proposals for raising “additional sources of revenue.” In a letter last week to Senate Democrats drafting legislation he said he will be proposing between $200 billion and $300 billion in further Medicare and Medicaid cuts. Obama plans to give a speech Monday in Chicago to the American Medical Association as part of his campaign to build up support for what could be the biggest changes to healthcare policy since Medicare was established in 1965. Rangel said that while House Democrats will likely release more details about health policy changes in their legislation next week, the package of offsetting tax increases and spending cuts likely will come later. Democrats, he said, want to put forth the more-positive aspects of an overhaul first. Rangel also wants to let lawmakers have time to study and weigh in on proposed offsets. This is the solution to our healthcare "crisis"?
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