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I like that bird.
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Archive for the 'Health Care' Category
Obama Will Say Anything to Pass Health Care Reform
September 19th, 2009, 10:34 pm by Thomas J. Lucente Jr.
President Barack Obama will say anything to get his health care plan passed, even if it means lying about the death of an Illinois man.
“More and more Americans pay their premiums, only to discover that their insurance company has dropped their coverage when they get sick, or won’t pay the full cost of care,” the president told a joint session of Congress on Sept. 9. “It happens every day. One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn’t reported gallstones that he didn’t even know about. They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it.”
Lie.
Obama was talking about Otto S. Raddatz. Mr. Raddatz’s treatment was indeed delayed by his insurance company. However, he eventually had the surgery and it extended his life by 3.5 years. Mr. Raddatz died earlier this year waiting for a second surgery that did not take place because the donor became sick at the last moment and his surgery was delayed.
Clearly, the insurance company had nothing to do with Mr. Raddatz’s death. But that didn’t stop Obama from telling the Congress and the world that it did.
Good thing for Obama that he didn’t take an oath before his speech or he would have perjured himself.
Obama lies and the Congress punishes U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson for pointing it out. Something just does not seem right.
More Nonsense From Liberals on Health Care
September 14th, 2009, 7:42 pm by Thomas J. Lucente Jr.
On Wednesday, Rocker Paul Hipp released this video advocating for health care reform.
There are two points that should be made.
First, the following lyrics show what is wrong with the left, and many on the right for that matter:
We’re No. 37
We’re the U.S.A.
We’re No. 37
And we’re so proud to say
We got old people crying at the pharmacy
Pay your deductible
This ain’t the land of the f-f-f-free Grandma
We’re No. 37
We’re the U.S.A.
What he is saying is that because Americans have to pay for their health care instead of having it given to them, then we can’t be the land of the free.
Really?
When did government entitlement become the defining factor of whether the nation is free? In reality, the opposite is true. We are free because the government, at least not yet, is not forcing us to buy a specific product, i.e., health insurance, or face some government-imposed sanction for refusing.
Under the so-called health care reform, Americans will, for the first time ever, be forced to buy a consumer product at the point of a government gun.
How is that freedom?
Too bad Mr. Hipp and his fellow liberals don’t understand that basic fact.
The second point is minor, but one that bothers me.
Obama Can’t Believe Others Oppose Him
September 13th, 2009, 6:43 pm by Thomas J. Lucente Jr.
Appearing on CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday night, President Barack Obama accused Republicans of wanting a “replay” of 1994, when a “young president” entered office and was defeated on health care, resulting in a shift in the control of Congress.
Is it really that hard for Democrats to believe that some people in this country, especially Republicans, might actually be opposed to the largest growth in government in U.S. history?
The president doth protest too much, methinks.
Perhaps, and this is a stretch, I know, some of us who oppose Obama do so because we think it is the right thing to do and not because we want some sort of political gain.
And it is certainly not personal against Obama, just his socialist views.
Silver Says Otherwise
September 11th, 2009, 10:53 am by sshackfordContra me, Nate Silver shows that Barack Obama’s speech did help bring more folks on board for health reform, but mostly Democrat moderates.
That is not surprising, as he struck a more moderate tone in his speech, which the Register took note of.
I find strange amusement at the idea of President Obama as some sort of calming influence on the more hysterical Baby Boomer elements of the Democratic Party — those aging remnants of ‘60s radicalism. It’s almost like he’s a father figure toward folks who are 10 to 15 years older than him.
Scott Shackford
The Day Liberals Lost the Health Care Battle
September 10th, 2009, 2:56 pm by sshackfordI’m going out on a limb and declaring this particular fight over. It’s done. Liberals lost. There’s not going to be any substantial health care reform, and definitely nothing that looks remotely like what liberals want.
How can I possibly be saying this? Go back to the election. It seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it? Pretty much everybody knew Barack Obama was going to win, like it or not. Even McCain seemed to know. Even without the polls, it was pretty clear.
But why was this? Because over the entire time from the primary season to the presidential election, both sides were talking about exact same thing: Barack Obama. McCain’s entire campaign was pretty much responding to Obama. That’s not a winning campaign. McCain’s team had no substantial message other than not being Obama. Does anybody even remember McCain’s platform anymore? Did his campaign consist of anything other than trying to prove Obama wrong? Obama’s campaign controlled the ebb and flow of the discussion masterfully. McCain was always on the defensive. They did the same thing to Hillary Clinton during the primaries. Clinton fell into the trap of comparing and contrasting herself to Obama rather than forging her own identity.
The situation has completely reversed. Conservatives are now controlling the health care debate. How did this happen? It’s like this: Obama developed a competent core group of people to manage his presidential campaign. It was extremely well done. However, once he became president, he was put in the tenuous position of titular leader of a party full of people with a thousand agendas, a million mouths, and unlimited avenues to whine about things.
Lieberman Watch
August 27th, 2009, 9:55 am by Brian CalleKeep an eye on the Independent Senator from Connecticut, Joe Lieberman. He may hold the cards to the future of healthcare in the United States. His recent comments strongly suggest that he does not see a need to force a healthcare bill at a time when the economy is suffering—especially when such a bill might have adverse effects on and already unstable economy.
It is not clear whether this is a new revelation for the Senator or if it is something that he has been struggling with for some time. Or it could just be that Alec Baldwin pushed him over the edge:
George McGovern Visits Nixon Library
August 27th, 2009, 9:33 am by Brian CalleFormer Senator George McGovern took part in a one-on-one interview with me before he addressed a packed house of about 700 attendees at the Nixon Library Wednesday night in Yorba Linda. McGovern is probably best remembered for his outspoken position against the Vietnam War and his failed run for President against Richard Nixon.
I must admit I found it a little strange that McGovern, a man with little love loss for Nixon, was the featured guest speaker at the former President’s library and birthplace. But that was nothing compared to the appearance of surprise guest, Gore Vidal, a man I can’t imagine President Nixon held in high esteem. But hey, that is what open forums like this are all about, I suppose.
McGovern mostly talked about his new book on Abraham Lincoln, drawing some interesting parallels to Lincoln and himself, and of course the political goings on of today. He made one interesting criticism about Lincoln’s desire to silence media outlets that were critical of him while President. I’ve yet to read the book, bur from what McGovern had to say, it sounds like it is worth a read.
In terms of a broader political discussion, McGovern was particularly concerned with President Obama’s move to increase troops in Afghanistan back in January. He has maintained his longstanding position on military intervention in other countries— which is that the US should mostly stay out of such conflicts.
He argued military spending in the US is out of control and those funds would be better redirected towards education, healthcare, and environment.
In talking with the Senator one-on-one he expanded on some of his ideas and the evolution of his overall political philosophy. Most notably he recognized errors made in Congress during his tenure in regulating business—supporting legislation that often had quite possibly done more harm than good.
His realization about overregulation of business is refreshing, but he posses a pronounced, problematic desire to spend government funds. His priorities for spending taxpayer dollars are healthcare, the environment, and education—pulling most of those funds from military budgets.
The problem that McGovern does not recognize is that the Fed is spending too much money as it is and any reductions in military spending ought not be spent on starting new programs and bolstering old ones, but instead be applied to paying off some of our national debt and unfunded liabilities.
The interview can be found on www.freedompolitics.com.
Jury Verdict an Indictment of Legal System
August 24th, 2009, 7:27 pm by Thomas J. Lucente Jr.
I miss the halcyon days when people were actually held accountable for their own actions. Alas, today, people can do whatever they want and when it comes time to pay the piper for their behavior, they can just sue someone else.
Take for example the case of Betty Bullock.
Betty died of lung cancer in 2003 at the age of 64. She had been a longtime smoker, starting at the age of 17, starting with Marlboros and later turning to Benson & Hedges, both Philip Morris products.
That means she did not start smoking until well after the health risks of smoking became widely known. Less than 10 years after she started smoking, warnings were required on every cigarette package. Still, Betty ignored the warnings and continued to smoke.
But no matter in today’s legal climate.
In April 2001, Betty sued Philip Morris. In 2002, a jury awarded $750,000 in damages, $100,000 for pain and suffering and an unbelievable $28 billion in punitive damages.
That’s right, $28 billion.
All because Betty chose to ignore the warnings about the dangers of cigarettes.
A judge reduced the amount to a meager $28 million.
Last year, the 2nd U.S. District Court of Appeal reversed the jury decision on punitive damages.
On Monday, a jury in Los Angeles Superior Court issued a new verdict and awarded Betty’s daughter, Jodie Bullock, $13.8 million.
While much better than the $28 billion initially award, this $13.8 million sum is still phenomenal. This money is not for damages to Betty. This is an amount of money meant to punish the cigarette maker because Betty chose to smoke.
Betty had every right to smoke but she had no right to blame the maker of the cigarettes for her decision. She could have stopped at anytime but chose not to.
Welcome to the new America. Do what you want and then sue someone when your behavior gets you in trouble.