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POPSAfter The Massachusetts Massacre
Decent and thoughtful article. More below: " If the tea party right and populist left agree on anything, it’s that big bailed-out banks have and will get away with murder..... Politically, no other issue counts. In last weekend’s Washington Post/ABC News poll, 42 percent of Americans chose the economy as the country’s most pressing concern. Only 5 percent picked terrorism, and 2 percent Afghanistan. Obama’s highest approval ratings are now on foreign policy and national security issues — despite the relentless hammering from the Cheney right — but voters don’t care. The smartest thing said as the Massachusetts returns came in......: “Obama took all his winnings and turned them over to Max Baucus.” When it comes to economic substance, small symbolic gestures (the proposed new bank “fee”) won’t cut it. bankers ... have castrated regulatory reform by buying off congressmen of both parties. ...pressing for all constitutional remedies that counter last week’s Supreme Court decision.
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POPSEconomy, Jobs And Spending As Important As Health Care
Scott Brown pledged to stop President Obama’s health-care bill, and that’s why he looks poised to win a stunning victory in the Massachusetts special election Tuesday. If he wins, though, it will not be simply because Massachusetts hates the Obama health-care reforms. First, most independents are concerned about spending at the state and federal level, and its effect on the economy and jobs. They view health care through that prism. “When 90 percent of people are saying the recession is not over, you know that’s one of the subtexts,” said David Paleologos, director of the political research center at Suffolk University in Boston. Second, Brown gained ground by arguing that because the state already has near-universal coverage, Massachusetts taxpayers don’t need to pay more for the rest of the country to get it too. “Scott Brown has repeatedly been saying, ‘Why do we need to pay for this? We already have our plan and now we’re going to pay for everyone else .....
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POPSUNIVERSAL VOTER-REGISTRATION The idea, embraced by Barack Obama when he was a presidential candidate, is to shift responsibility for registering to vote from the individual to the federal government," Fund writes in his book. "All eligible citizens would automatically be registered to vote, which existing lists such as DMV records, income-tax returns, welfare rolls and unemployment lists being used to enroll everyone. Once registered, individuals would stay on the federal rolls, even if they move to another state or district." Illegal immigrant registration Fund warns that the government databases contain names of non-citizens, mentally incompetent individuals and felons – factors that would usually disqualify a person from voting in most states.
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POPSHealth bills could expand IRS role What a mess this should be. They are spending billions on this. Wouldn't it be more sensible to put the money directly into universal health care rather than spending it to "police" citizens? But I guess that would not be beneficial to the insurance providers
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POPSHarvard: Swine Flu Pandemic Oversold; Fear Mongering Gov't To Blame? A little speculation here as to motives. Mine leans more to promoting the need for the universal health care system that was/is being forced upon us. As the article says, this is not to minimize the deaths of those who died from this strand of flu. All of us need to be vigilant and careful; but not for one minute did I believe this was going to be a global disaster. I'm not the brightest bulb in the box but discernment and common sense need to abound.
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POPSWill The Recession Scar You For Life? Economists Say Yes Unfortunately, a side-effect of recession experiences is that people stop believing in the very public institutions that might - if reformed - be able to help with this redistribution. I don't think distrust of institutions is a bad thing. That distrust makes sure people don't become sheeple and makes them constantly scrutinize, criticize and exert pressure on their governments, instead of just having blind faith that they will "do the right thing".
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POPSWe need Welfare Reform! Welfare for the wealthy, that is! This is horribly wrong! Once again, Republicans should be ashamed of themselves.
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POPS0bama's Strategy Written in Federal Penitentiary by Robert Creamer This is about money and this is about power. If the health insurance industry in America is forced to collapse (the way advocates of the President’s scheme have publicly said they hope will happen) then organized labor, specifically the SEIU, will be the largest beneficiary of such a collapse. And people like Creamer, who counts amongst his largest clients ALL of these organizations, will also benefit. (Here is a little secret of capitalism: If your clients get a huge windfall and it is directly attributed to your efforts, it will be very, very good for you.) These two passages from Creamer’s battle plan to manufacture a crisis, foment outrage and revulsion at those opposed to the progressives’ solution to that crisis and then the mobilization of organized labor to bully those opposed to that solution are the essence of the political atmosphere we are living in at this very moment.
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POPSWhat's the Difference Between a "Welfare State" and a "Welfare Society? The social market economy seeks a market economic system, rejecting both socialism and laissez-faire capitalism. The system is universal, covering everyone. In Denmark the government even has a constitutional duty to ensure all citizens can have a home and enough to eat. Health care and social security ensure a high minimum living standard for all citizens regardless of their economic situation. The free education maximizes the social mobility, and strives to make it possible for everyone to better themselves. he Nordic model represents a ladder out of dependence (as evidenced by extremely low unemployment). he Nordic countries have strong economies, a high standard of living, low crime rates and are democracies. he Nordic welfare model is a concept that is embraced by all mainstream parties on both the right and left of the political spectrum in the Nordic countries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_model
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POPSSick Around the World One secret to Japan's success? By law, everyone must buy health insurance -- either through an employer or a community plan -- and, unlike in the U.S., insurers cannot turn down a patient for a pre-existing illness, nor are they allowed to make a profit. Reid's journey then takes him to Germany, the country that invented the concept of a national health care system. For its 80 million people, Germany offers universal health care, including medical, dental, mental health, homeopathy and spa treatment. Professor Karl Lauterbach, a member of the German parliament, describes it as "a system where the rich pay for the poor and where the ill are covered by the healthy." As they do in Japan, medical providers must charge standard prices. This keeps costs down, but it also means physicians in Germany earn between half and two-thirds as much as their U.S. counterparts.
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POPSABC's Johnson Recites Canard Lack of Health Insurance Kills 45,000 Annually Trying to boost the rationale for ObamaCare, Thursday's CBS Evening News ran two stories from far-left sources, but the network disguised the agenda behind both. Katie Couric announced that "while the debate goes on over the cost of insuring everyone, a new study reveals the cost of not doing it. The Harvard study says nearly 45,000 American deaths every year are linked to a lack of insurance. "Neither she, nor reporter Jim Axelrod, noted that the report was really produced by Physicians for a National Health Program, "the only national physician organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to implementing a single-payer national health program." ....with the numbers on screen credited to "Harvard Medical School" and Dr. Steffie Woolhandler identified on screen as with "Harvard Medical School," Axelrod reported Woolhandler "was part of a team that tracked more than 9,000 people for up to 13 years, comparing the health of those with insurance to those without ...
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POPSParallels to Obamamania in ABC's "V" Sci-Fi Mini-Series An excerpt from Garvin's Sunday, November 1 Miami Herald review (“'V': The saucer-shaped bandwagon”), which the Chicago Tribune headlined “'V' aims at Obamamania.” Imagine this. At a time of political turmoil, a charismatic, telegenic new leader arrives virtually out of nowhere. He offers a message of hope and reconciliation based on compromise and promises to marshal technology for a better future that will include universal health care. The news media swoons in admiration -- one simpering anchorman even shouts at a reporter who asks a tough question: “Why don't you show some respect?!!” The public is likewise smitten, except for a few nut cases who circulate batty rumors on the Internet about the leader's origins and intentions. The leader, undismayed, offers assurances that are soothing, if also just a tiny bit condescending: “Embracing change is never easy.”
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POPSThe Lords of Entitlement They WILL subjugate us. They do not represent us; they have, indeed, become our "lords". We work for Washington. The American people have entered a new era of serfdom and slavery. The action in the Senate on this bill and the 2010 elections are our last hopes.
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POPSHope, Change, Peace, Universal Health Care…Oh…and Alien Invasion ABC "V" TV SERIES PILOT PROMO TRAILER http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQoSCEMzJYE Kenneth Johnson, who wrote and directed the 1983 miniseries (it spawned a sequel and then a regular network series over the next two years), took his inspiration from a 1935 Sinclair Lewis novel called It Can’t Happen Here that depicted an imaginary fascist takeover of the United States. The aliens in the original V were patterned after Nazis, and, just in case anyone missed the point, an elderly Jewish character who was a Holocaust survivor periodically hammered on the similarities. But ABC’s series takes aim not at a German dictator from the misty past but a sitting " and popular " U.S. president.
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POPSTV Series "V" -- Allegory or Propaganda? Tyranny comes with a smiling face and a promise of "hope" and "change". It means to "help" but it intends to dominate. Don't miss this "negative light" clip -- so well portrayed how the media is subdued. Of course the crafty deceiver is played so perfectly and politically-correct, by a woman. It does seem to have an apt moral to the story, a warning of universal global domination under the pretense of kindness, hope, love with a lot of change--an potent warning against Global Governance that we are moving toward. Be sure, however, that it is propaganda of some kind that only Hollywood would front, and Hollywood is not to be trusted either. After all, Star Trek's "Federation" represents precisely the same thing of utopian world or universal governance, or World Federal Union , versus the "Cling-Ons" that resist it which are painted as evil.
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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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POPS Examples Of What Not To Do at The Heartland Institute. "Not only has it failed to cover many people, but all the false promises surrounding it have distracted Maine from doing anything that would actually help improve the situation." 'Costly, Ineffective Failure' "Maine has one of the highest state and local tax burdens. We should not be adding more taxes for this boondoggle, particularly at a time when Maine families are struggling with record high gas and heating oil prices and an uncertain economy." Past a 'Train Wreck' John Garven, president-elect of the Illinois State Association of Health Underwriters, concurs. "Dirigo is the more 'mature' of the * two programs, and it is already past the train wreck stage ." * Massachusetts 'universal health care' schemes Maine Residents Angered by Expansion of Dirigo Program Subsidy
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POPS Obama's Senior Moment voluntary private contracts and rationing via government. An Atlantic Ocean, in fact. Virtually every European government with "universal" health care restricts access in one way or another to control costs, and it isn't pretty. The British system is most restrictive, using a black-box actuarial formula known as "quality-adjusted life years," or QALYs, that determines who can receive what care . If a treatment isn't deemed to be cost-effective for specific populations, particularly the elderly, the National Health Service simply doesn't pay for it. Even France"which has a mix of public and private medicine "has fixed reimbursement rates since the 1970s and strictly controls the use of specialists and the introduction of new medical technologies such as CT scans and MRIs. Yes, the U.S. "rations" by ability to pay (though in the end no one is denied actual care). This is true of every good or service in a free economy and a world of finite resources . . .
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POPSAn Obama speechwriter moves to Massachusetts...she can't afford health insurance An Obama speechwriter moves to Massachusetts, a state with "universal health care," and finds out she can't afford insurance. Turns out that individual mandates and the requirement that insurance cover everything for everybody make insurance super-expensive (exactly what some are warning will happen with ObamaCare.) It's like the saying goes, "If you think health care is expensive now, wait until it's free."
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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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POPSCanadian Doctor Shares True Pros & Cons of Canadian Health Care
Canadian doctor Michael M. Rachlis shares the truth about the Canadian Health Care system in hopes of dissolving propaganda and confusion. The Los Angeles Times posted and Op-Ed article by Canadian doctor Michael M. Rachlis. The whole thing is well worth a read and will provide a much better understanding of not only the Canadian health care system, but that of the U.S. as well. There's been a vast debate regarding a public option in the U.S. and most of it seems to be based on misinformation and fear tactics. Unfortunately, there's been a shortage of informed opinions and solid facts. I think it would be a good idea of many people who enjoy the benefit of universal health care in other countries would come forth and share their experiences. With the vast number of uninsured Americans, and the fact that insurance companies can and do deny coverage on a very arbitrary basis, there seems to be a need of some kind of major overhaul to the American health care system.
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