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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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POPS Universal Health Care Mecca In the past, I paid attention to the health care debate as a speechwriter who prepared speeches, talking points, op-eds, and debate prep material on the topic at different times for John Edwards, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and others. Now, I'm paying attention because I'm a citizen up the creek without a paddle. Since I care more about my country than my personal pride, here's how I lost my insurance: I moved. That's right, I moved from Washington, D.C., back to Massachusetts, a state with universal health care. In D.C., I had a policy with a national company, an HMO, and surprisingly I was very happy with it. I had a fantastic primary care doctor at Georgetown University Hospital. As a self-employed writer, my premium was $225 a month, plus $10 for a dental discount. In Massachusetts, the cost for a similar plan is around $550, give or take a few dollars. My risk factors haven't changed. I didn't stop writing and become a stunt double. I don't smoke.
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POPSYou Go Without "Health care has often been debated as a technical or economic issue. That has been a mistake, I believe. At root, universal health care is not an economic or technical question but a moral one."
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POPSOnce Again The Animals Were Conscious of A Vague Uneasiness
It came then to pass that we received those tools. The Democratic president and Congress, and after some finagling even the sixty-seat majority in the Senate. I was advised to watch for the great change to come rolling over us like a flood; we would soon be awash in progressivism. Our boys would come home from foreign wars, we would close our illegal prison camps, abandon torture and rendition. The rich would again be taxed, environmental abuses rolled back, people put ahead of corporations. We would get universal health care. Some of this would happen immediately upon Barack Obama taking office. Much would be in place in a magical, marvelous "first hundred days." What great changes a year would bring. I don't have to tell you there is great and crushing disappointment among those who most fervently supported candidate Obama and his campaign for Change We Can Believe In. We are still wasting money and lives in Iraq. We are wasting money and lives in Afghanistan at the highest rate si
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POPSG-20 Summit Begins The speakers at the rally were diverse internationally, if not philosophically. They included Walden Bello, an antiglobalist professor at the University of the Philippines and representative in that country's Congress; James Quilligan, economic adviser to former President Jimmy Carter, former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and former French President Francois Mitterand; and Anna Pinto, program director of the Center for Organization, Research and Education in northeast India. Generally, the speakers believe the G-20 controls the global economy on behalf of banks and transnational corporations, at the expense of most citizens. "The G-20 as a mechanism to save globalization is doomed to fail," Bello said. Quilligan mocked security preparations, including plans for more than 3,000 police officers downtown, as the "biggest mobilization of security in Pittsburgh history since the French and Indian War."
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POPSA Preventable Cause of Death: Lack of Health Insurance Dear friends, What would your reaction be if you knew that our nation's priorities directly led to the preventable deaths of nearly 45,000 Americans? I am outraged, and invite you to log onto www.peoplesvisionusa.com to find out why. Peace, Bill J.
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POPSStudies Show Employers to Raise Health Care Costs, Cut Coverage As the Washington Post reported Tuesday, the grim outlook for employer-provided health insurance is growing more dismal still: Forty percent of employers surveyed said they are likely to increase the amount their workers pay out of pocket for doctor visits. Almost as many said they are likely to raise annual deductibles and the amount workers pay for prescription drugs. Nine percent said they plan to tighten eligibility for health benefits; 8 percent said they plan to drop coverage entirely. Forty-one percent of employers said they were "somewhat" or "very" likely to increase the amount employees pay in premiums -- though that would not necessarily mean employees are paying a higher percentage of the premiums. Employers could simply be passing along the same proportional share of the overall increase that they did in 2009.
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POPSReading List: The Healing of America; World's Health Care Systems When Mr. Reid presents his shoulder to his own orthopedist in Colorado, the doctor is quick to recommend a shoulder replacement. It will cost his insurer tens of thousands of dollars (assuming it agrees to pay), with unknown co-payments for him. In Japan, the foremost orthopedist in the country (waiting time for an appointment, less than a day) offers a range of possible treatments, from steroid injections to surgery, all covered by insurance. (“Think about it, and call me.”) In an Ayurvedic hospital in India, a regimen of meditation, rice, lentils and massage paid for entirely out of pocket, $42.85 per night, led to “obvious improvement in my frozen joint,” Mr. Reid writes, adding, “To this day, I don’t know why it happened.”
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POPSSan Francisco test drives Universal Health Care: Result - Good More: The program, now in its third year, is proving popular. More than 43,000 people were enrolled as of June, up from 24,000 a year before. One reason for the jump: the income test for eligibility was relaxed in February to include people whose income was 500 percent of the poverty level--about $54,000 for a single person and $110,000 for a family of four. The program costs San Francisco about $280 per person per month. How are the results? Hospital admissions of plan members have dropped, and the average stay for those who wind up in the hospital has been cut almost in half, Varney reports. Those changes suggest chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, asthma and hypertension, are being managed better, reducing the need for crisis care.
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POPS Is Obamacare Constitutional? “The Tenthers.” I recently started seeing a few references to this term in the standard places, Alternet, ThinkProgress, and elsewhere. But now it seems to have come from on high like the NeoCons did with every new buzzword during the Bush years. In fact, its usage has come on so fast and so regularly that someone over at the Washington Times picked up on the newly-approved jargon: Health care reform supporters at the Center for American Progress, the American Prospect, MSNBC and other outlets have deployed the term against Republicans who cite the 10th Amendment as reason not to create new programs. Some of the leading Republican proponents of the allegedly “dangerous” and “conspiratorial” theory include Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. “As the nation emerges from the worst economic downturn in three generations, the tenthers would strip away the very reforms and economic
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POPSFor Obama, It's 'My Way or the Highway' he complains: "We are the only advanced democracy on earth ... that allows such hardships for millions of its people. There are now more than 30 million American citizens who cannot get coverage. ... We spend 1 1/2 times more per person on health care than any other country, but we aren't any healthier for it." As to his claimed number of uninsured, e's temporarily removed the illegal aliens to lower the number from 47 million to 30 million. But he's still lying to say 30 million "cannot get coverage." Again, 18 million of these make more than $50,000 a year and can afford health care but choose not to purchase it. And millions more have access to government programs and don't access them, which, incidentally, doesn't bode well for Obama's mandated universal coverage plan. And if he has such bipartisan intentions, why did he spend a significant part of his speech demonizing his opponents and misrepresenting their motives?
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POPSThe Real Issue: Who Should Control HealthCare? You Or Washington
These areas are primarily marginal fixes to the current health care system and do not entail a major restructuring. Reforms where there may be common ground include: subsidizing low income American citizens and legal residents; requiring all Americans to have health care insurance; reform of medical malpractice tort system; permitting inter-state competition among health insurers; portability of insurance; and promoting healthy lifestyles. Obviously, the devil will be in the details of crafting these reforms. If the real issue of reform was to reduce the overall cost of medical care in America, the health care reform debate would center on medical malpractice tort law, promoting healthy lifestyles and dealing with the high end of life costs. Medical malpractice insurance and defensive medicine account for approximately 18 percent of health care costs. Obesity accounts for approximately 9 percent. Alcoholism and smoking account for another large percent.
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POPS20/20 Investigates Health Care Costs Free is never free, and as long as someone else is paying the bill people have a tendency to overuse and abuse the program. Image if you will even more people getting someone else to pay their bills. Think about it the next time someone wants you to pay for someone else's EXPENSES.
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POPSThe Bad Medicine of the Republican Doctors Then there's Oklahoma Senator and unexpected Obama confidante Tom Coburn. As a Senate candidate in 2004, Dr. Coburn famously warned that "lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they'll only let one girl go to the bathroom." Upon his arrival in the Senate, the former obstetrician was elevated to the Judiciary Committee despite having advocated the death penalty for doctors who perform abortions. More recently, Coburn the C Street marriage counselor to John Ensign and Mark Sanford turned Deather:
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POPSDoctors for Patient Freedom: "No Government Run Health Care" Rationing is the only way to control costs if third parties control all of health care financing . Universal Coverage by health insurance is neither achievable nor necessary while Universal Access to medical care is. An Individual mandate to buy health insurance is a slippery slope to socialized medicine and leads to many unintended consequences. Doctors will be forced to comply with government rationing protocols through use of cookbook medicine and electronic medical record systems. Medical Care will only get better under a free market system. Government and private charities have the capacity to take care of the poor. The tax code needs to be changed to grant Medical financial power to Americans, not to force Americans to act against their interests or grow the size of government.
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