Democrats Fleeing Obama Healthcare Plan

Sunday, June 21, 2009 1:55 PM

WASHINGTON — A Republican senator seeking a bipartisan health deal spoke Sunday of "dialing down" expectations while one of President Barack Obama's Democratic allies questioned whether the White House had the votes necessary for such a costly and comprehensive plan during a recession.


Obama's proposal to provide health insurance for 50 million Americans who lack it has become a contentious point for a Democratic-controlled House and Senate struggling to reach a consensus Obama desperately wants.


Much of the concern came after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the plan would cost $1 trillion over 10 years but cover only about one-third of those now lacking health insurance.


Democrats protested that the estimate overlooked important money-savers to be added later. But Republicans seized on the costly projection and the bill's half-finished nature, throwing Democratic leaders on the defensive.


Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said officials would have to rethink their best-case scenario for providing a sweeping overhaul of the healthcare system at a relatively low price.


"So we're in the position of dialing down some of our expectations to get the costs down so that it's affordable and, most importantly, so that it's paid for because we can't go to the point where we are now of not paying for something when we have trillions of dollars of debt," said Grassley, R-Iowa.


"And we anticipate paying for it through some savings and Medicare, and from some increases in revenue," he said.


Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she wasn't certain there are enough votes in the president's own party to support the proposal.


"I think there's a lot of concern in the Democratic caucus," she said.


The overhaul's chief proponent in the Senate, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, urged patience as lawmakers continued working on the bill. However, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the bill's cost is problematic.


"You do the math," McCain said. "It comes up to $3 trillion. And so far, we have no proposal for having to pay for it."


The Congressional Budget Office estimates "were a death blow to a government-run healthcare plan," Graham said. "The Finance Committee has abandoned that. We do need to deal with inflation in healthcare, private and public inflation, but we're not going to go down to the government-owning-health-care road in America and I think that's the story of this week. There's been a bipartisan rejection of that."


Competing plans abound in Congress, complicating Obama's task.


"As a matter of fact, I don't have the slightest idea what is in either of the two bills in the committees," said Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. "None of us do because much of it hasn't been written, still being drafted. People are scoring something that doesn't exist. What I would suggest is we hang on now for a period of study so that we find literally what the alternatives are."


As for his favored outcome, "I think it should be incremental steps," Lugar said.


Healthcare changes have widespread public support, according to a CBS-New York Times poll released Saturday. Almost two-thirds say the government should guarantee health insurance for all Americans while half that many think it's not the government's responsibility.


People are more divided when it comes to such a program's impact on the economy and whether they are willing to pay higher taxes so that all Americans have healthcare.


Feinstein, Lugar. and Grassley spoke to CNN's "State of the Union." McCain appears on CBS' "Face the Nation" and Graham appeared on ABC's "This Week."

2009 Associated Press.

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Liberals may be dumb, but they ain't stupid .... well that's not exactly accurate but you know what I mean.

They are "Job Savvy" on this one and they know the Crapulus Bill is going to kick a hole in the economy the Moon could fly thru over the next year and a half and 2010 is a comin' maw !!!

The TOTU's approval ratings are on the Drop and the way he is sitting on his hands with the Iran Deal and Korea threatening war, well I don't think Old Apologizing Appeaser Obamagog has too many more legs to stand on in the "Popularity Area" and I don't believe too many Dems are going to ride his coat tails down the road to Unemployment in 2010.

This crap is just too much too fast and as stupid as these guys love to act, they are crafty as Foxes in the Egg Hooch.

I don't think we will see Bro. Obama's Health Care come popping up to awful quick ... too many Dem's are facing Prison for another batch to be ran off in the 2010 Elections because of our Grand Pubaaa of a Spending TOTUS.

Ahh, so we will all get sick and die with no Health Care .... less people for the North Koreans and Iran to Nuke huh Robs ??

.

http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hidd...index.html

It's a problem that's not going to go away. They can postpone taking action now, but it will continue to get worse. More medical bankruptcies means more creditors (your company) won't get paid, fewer consumers able to buy homes, cars and other products and services (from your company). People aren't counting the hidden costs of doing nothing. Reform will be cheaper in the long run.

(06-23-2009 03:36 PM)Zipfanatik Wrote:  http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hidd...index.html

It's a problem that's not going to go away. They can postpone taking action now, but it will continue to get worse. More medical bankruptcies means more creditors (your company) won't get paid, fewer consumers able to buy homes, cars and other products and services (from your company). People aren't counting the hidden costs of doing nothing. Reform will be cheaper in the long run.

Only the right kind of reform. Obamacare is not the right kind of reform.

Doing something for the sake of saying you did something is never the right course of action.

Tort reform could lower Medical costs for Dr.s. Why are we not considering Tort Reform, Because the all the democrats in politics are ..................................[drum roll]..................................................................Scum-sucking, scumbag lawyers.

ObamaCare is going to crash and burn.

It will take a Free-market, Free enterprise president to attempt to fix healthcare.

------------------------------------------

Dick Morris: Obama's Healthcare Plan Will Lead America To 'Catastrophe'

Quote:Tuesday, June 23, 2009 7:11 PM

By: Jim Meyers

Political analyst and best-selling author Dick Morris tells Newsmax it's vital that Americans stop President Barack Obama's programs from "destroying our country."

He also says Obama has "dismantled" the war on terror — and warns that he's taking the U.S. toward a healthcare system where "healthcare is not delivered to anybody."

Former White House adviser Morris is one of America's most astute political observers, the person Time magazine called the most influential man in America.

His latest book is "Catastrophe: How Obama, Congress, and the Special Interests Are Transforming a Slump into a Crash, Freedom Into Socialism, and a Disaster into a Catastrophe . . . and How to Fight Back."

Morris and co-author Eileen McGann reveal that Obama's policies and clear shift toward socialism will actually lead the country toward a 1930s-style Great Depression.

Newsmax.TV's Ashley Martella cited a chapter in the book titled "Obama's Healthcare Catastrophe," and asked Morris for the worst parts of the package the Democrats are proposing.

Morris pointed out that the U.S. healthcare system now offers adequate care to 252 million Americans and the Democrats want to "expand it to 300 million Americans without expanding the number of doctors and nurses.

"The problem is, by covering everybody Obama is really going to end up covering nobody. It's going to cause rationing of healthcare, because you simply don't have enough doctors to go around. You can't just write a check and expand healthcare. You have to have people actually delivering the service.

"One of the big things we talk about in 'Catastrophe' is the experience of the Canadian system. Candidates [there] did the same thing — they said we'll cover everybody. Then they said, wow these costs are getting crazy. We have to cut the costs. So they cut the income for doctors

"More doctors retired. Fewer people went into the profession. Fewer and fewer doctors. More and more patients. Longer and longer waits, and worse and worse outcome.

"The cancer death rate in Canada is 16 percent higher than in the United States . . . If you get colon cancer in Canada you have a 42 percent chance of dying. If you get it in the U.S., you have a 31 percent chance. Why? Because the top two medicines that we use in chemotherapy to treat colon cancer are not available in Canada — not because of any health restriction, but because they're too expensive.

"And the incidence of colon cancer in Canada is 25 percent higher. Why? Because there's a 4-month wait for a colonoscopy. And when you get the colonoscopy, it's not read by a [gastrointestinal specialist] but by an internist or sometimes by a nurse practitioner, and they miss about a fifth of the polyps that ultimately become cancer.

"So you get a system where really healthcare is not delivered to anybody. And that's what we're headed for in the United States."

Martella cited another chapter in "Catastrophe" titled "The War on Terror Is Over," and asked Morris if he thinks Obama is waving a "white flag."

"It's worse than a white flag," Morris declared.

"A white flag would just mean surrender. What he's in fact doing is aggressively and vigorously investigating, interrogating, and prosecuting not the terrorists but the investigators who have kept us safe since 9/11.

"And the people he's hired at the Justice Department are experts at controlling the investigation rather than controlling the terrorists.

"We have a whole long list of all the ways he has dismantled the war on terror, and it's absolutely shocking."

Martella said: "Your book notes that Obama could not have accomplished his liberal socialist agenda without complicity of key members of Congress. Who are they and what are they doing?"

Morris said Congress is filled with Democrats who got elected with conservative values and then voted as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told them to.

"And it's those votes that are giving Obama the votes that he needs to impose his program," he observed.

"In 'Catastrophe' we outline very specific measures that we think we should take to defeat very specific congressmen to stop that process from going on, because it's absolutely vital that we stop his programs from really destroying our country.

"One of the most important and immediate things is the federal deficit. Obama knew when he passed that program of stimulus spending that people wouldn't spend that money. He wasn't an idiot. If you're worried about losing your job and your house, you're not going to run out and buy a new car or a flat-screen television set. You're going to take whatever money you get and pay down your debt and save for a rainy day.

"And sure enough, in the month of April Americans' household income rose by $121 billion but our savings rose by $131 billion. We saved all of the extra money we got, including the $45 billion that we got as a government stimulus check. So it didn't stimulate anything because there's been no spending.

"On the other hand Obama has to then go out and borrow the money to pay for the extra spending, and to do that he has to pay higher interest rates. That forces up rates for everybody. And the higher rates [negate] any stimulus effect of the spending.

"Then on top of it he's got a huge deficit and he wants to pass his healthcare program, so he's going to raise taxes. He's going to take money with taxes to offset the money he's giving in stimulus spending."

Morris concluded: "The question is, is he stupid? Doesn’t he understand what he's doing? The answer we come to in 'Catastrophe' is that Obama is not stupid — that the spending was not a means to end a recession, the recession was an excuse for the government spending."

------------------------

Insurance Industry Condemns Obama Healthcare Plans

Quote:Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:04 PM

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that failure to fix the nation's health care system will put coverage for all Americans in jeopardy, a fresh argument to lawmakers struggling to come up with a comprehensive, cost-effective overhaul.


"Reform is not a luxury, it is a necessity," Obama told reporters at the start of a White House news conference.


Obama commented in the wake of several days of work — and political wrangling — in Congress over the transformation he seeks in the way people get medical care in the country. Obama's top domestic priority is to reduce costs and provide coverage to nearly 50 million uninsured Americans.


Eye-popping estimates of $1 trillion-plus over a decade for current proposals in Congress and Republican opposition to several proposals, including creation of a government option to compete with private insurance, have sent lawmakers back to the drawing board in writing legislation.


Another obstacle was evident Tuesday — the insurance industry.


In a joint letter to senators, the two largest industry groups warned in stark terms that a proposed government insurance plan would dismantle the employer coverage Americans have relied on for a half century and overtake the system.


America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association also said they don't believe it's possible to design a government plan that can compete fairly with private companies in a revamped health care market. That particular statement seemed to be aimed at lawmakers of both parties who are seeking a compromise on the contentious issue.


Obama dismissed such suggestions.


"Why would it drive private insurance out of business?" he asked rhetorically, pointing out that the industry repeatedly argues that private insurance is the best and the government can't run anything.


He said the administration's position is a "public plan makes sense."


On Capitol Hill, House Democrats pushed forward with a partisan health care bill. Meanwhile, key Senate Democrats were still laboring to achieve an elusive bipartisan compromise on Obama's top legislative priority.


Recent media polls have found strong public support for the idea of a government plan. It would compete with private companies to offer coverage to individuals and small businesses, but eventually might be opened to large employers as well. The positive public reaction to the idea has emboldened liberals, who are arguing that Democrats shouldn't compromise.


The insurers suggested a government plan would run counter to Obama's promise that Americans can keep the coverage they have.


"A government-run plan no matter how it is initially structured would dismantle employer-based coverage, significantly increase costs for those who remain in private coverage, and add additional liabilities to the federal budget," said the letter from AHIP chief Karen Ignagni and Scott Serota, the head of Blue Cross.


Instead, the industry says it is ready to accept close government regulation to protect consumers. Dated June 19, the letter was addressed to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.


Kennedy's committee, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions panel, has not yet finished its design for a government plan. Bogged down in delays and partisan strife, the panel jettisoned an end-of-week deadline for passing its bill.


Deliberations on both sides of the Capitol are continuing with lawmakers mindful of next week's July 4 congressional recess. Most will return home to face constituents with plenty of questions about their plans to overhaul the nation's costly health care system.


A sweeping bill unveiled in the Democratic-controlled House last week is being weighed in hearings that got under way Tuesday. The draft legislation, written without Republican help, would require all Americans to purchase health insurance and would put new requirements on employers, too.


Obama's goal for signing a bill in October appears in doubt.


But Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is doggedly pursuing a compromise. "We will get a bipartisan agreement," he insisted Monday.


Of the five House and Senate committees working on health care, Finance is the only one that appears to have a chance at a bipartisan agreement. Baucus planned to huddle behind closed doors Tuesday with a group of senators he's dubbed the "coalition of the willing." Others involved are top committee Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa; Republicans Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Orrin Hatch of Utah and Olympia Snowe of Maine; and Democrats Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico.


Looming large is the question of cost. Initial estimates had Senate plans topping $1.6 trillion over 10 years, and senators are working to scale back. Curbs on Medicare and Medicaid spending are assured, and a range of taxes are under consideration, along with the possibility of fees on employers who don't cover their employees.

2009 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

(06-23-2009 10:25 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote:  Tort reform could lower Medical costs for Dr.s. Why are we not considering Tort Reform, Because the all the democrats in politics are ..................................[drum roll]..................................................................Scum-sucking, scumbag lawyers.

ObamaCare is going to crash and burn.

It will take a Free-market, Free enterprise president to attempt to fix healthcare.

------------------------------------------

Dick Morris: Obama's Healthcare Plan Will Lead America To 'Catastrophe'

Quote:Tuesday, June 23, 2009 7:11 PM

By: Jim Meyers

Political analyst and best-selling author Dick Morris tells Newsmax it's vital that Americans stop President Barack Obama's programs from "destroying our country."

He also says Obama has "dismantled" the war on terror — and warns that he's taking the U.S. toward a healthcare system where "healthcare is not delivered to anybody."

Former White House adviser Morris is one of America's most astute political observers, the person Time magazine called the most influential man in America.

His latest book is "Catastrophe: How Obama, Congress, and the Special Interests Are Transforming a Slump into a Crash, Freedom Into Socialism, and a Disaster into a Catastrophe . . . and How to Fight Back."

Morris and co-author Eileen McGann reveal that Obama's policies and clear shift toward socialism will actually lead the country toward a 1930s-style Great Depression.

Newsmax.TV's Ashley Martella cited a chapter in the book titled "Obama's Healthcare Catastrophe," and asked Morris for the worst parts of the package the Democrats are proposing.

Morris pointed out that the U.S. healthcare system now offers adequate care to 252 million Americans and the Democrats want to "expand it to 300 million Americans without expanding the number of doctors and nurses.

"The problem is, by covering everybody Obama is really going to end up covering nobody. It's going to cause rationing of healthcare, because you simply don't have enough doctors to go around. You can't just write a check and expand healthcare. You have to have people actually delivering the service.

"One of the big things we talk about in 'Catastrophe' is the experience of the Canadian system. Candidates [there] did the same thing — they said we'll cover everybody. Then they said, wow these costs are getting crazy. We have to cut the costs. So they cut the income for doctors

"More doctors retired. Fewer people went into the profession. Fewer and fewer doctors. More and more patients. Longer and longer waits, and worse and worse outcome.

"The cancer death rate in Canada is 16 percent higher than in the United States . . . If you get colon cancer in Canada you have a 42 percent chance of dying. If you get it in the U.S., you have a 31 percent chance. Why? Because the top two medicines that we use in chemotherapy to treat colon cancer are not available in Canada — not because of any health restriction, but because they're too expensive.

"And the incidence of colon cancer in Canada is 25 percent higher. Why? Because there's a 4-month wait for a colonoscopy. And when you get the colonoscopy, it's not read by a [gastrointestinal specialist] but by an internist or sometimes by a nurse practitioner, and they miss about a fifth of the polyps that ultimately become cancer.

"So you get a system where really healthcare is not delivered to anybody. And that's what we're headed for in the United States."

Martella cited another chapter in "Catastrophe" titled "The War on Terror Is Over," and asked Morris if he thinks Obama is waving a "white flag."

"It's worse than a white flag," Morris declared.

"A white flag would just mean surrender. What he's in fact doing is aggressively and vigorously investigating, interrogating, and prosecuting not the terrorists but the investigators who have kept us safe since 9/11.

"And the people he's hired at the Justice Department are experts at controlling the investigation rather than controlling the terrorists.

"We have a whole long list of all the ways he has dismantled the war on terror, and it's absolutely shocking."

Martella said: "Your book notes that Obama could not have accomplished his liberal socialist agenda without complicity of key members of Congress. Who are they and what are they doing?"

Morris said Congress is filled with Democrats who got elected with conservative values and then voted as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told them to.

"And it's those votes that are giving Obama the votes that he needs to impose his program," he observed.

"In 'Catastrophe' we outline very specific measures that we think we should take to defeat very specific congressmen to stop that process from going on, because it's absolutely vital that we stop his programs from really destroying our country.

"One of the most important and immediate things is the federal deficit. Obama knew when he passed that program of stimulus spending that people wouldn't spend that money. He wasn't an idiot. If you're worried about losing your job and your house, you're not going to run out and buy a new car or a flat-screen television set. You're going to take whatever money you get and pay down your debt and save for a rainy day.

"And sure enough, in the month of April Americans' household income rose by $121 billion but our savings rose by $131 billion. We saved all of the extra money we got, including the $45 billion that we got as a government stimulus check. So it didn't stimulate anything because there's been no spending.

"On the other hand Obama has to then go out and borrow the money to pay for the extra spending, and to do that he has to pay higher interest rates. That forces up rates for everybody. And the higher rates [negate] any stimulus effect of the spending.

"Then on top of it he's got a huge deficit and he wants to pass his healthcare program, so he's going to raise taxes. He's going to take money with taxes to offset the money he's giving in stimulus spending."

Morris concluded: "The question is, is he stupid? Doesn’t he understand what he's doing? The answer we come to in 'Catastrophe' is that Obama is not stupid — that the spending was not a means to end a recession, the recession was an excuse for the government spending."

------------------------

Insurance Industry Condemns Obama Healthcare Plans

Quote:Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:04 PM

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that failure to fix the nation's health care system will put coverage for all Americans in jeopardy, a fresh argument to lawmakers struggling to come up with a comprehensive, cost-effective overhaul.


"Reform is not a luxury, it is a necessity," Obama told reporters at the start of a White House news conference.


Obama commented in the wake of several days of work — and political wrangling — in Congress over the transformation he seeks in the way people get medical care in the country. Obama's top domestic priority is to reduce costs and provide coverage to nearly 50 million uninsured Americans.


Eye-popping estimates of $1 trillion-plus over a decade for current proposals in Congress and Republican opposition to several proposals, including creation of a government option to compete with private insurance, have sent lawmakers back to the drawing board in writing legislation.


Another obstacle was evident Tuesday — the insurance industry.


In a joint letter to senators, the two largest industry groups warned in stark terms that a proposed government insurance plan would dismantle the employer coverage Americans have relied on for a half century and overtake the system.


America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association also said they don't believe it's possible to design a government plan that can compete fairly with private companies in a revamped health care market. That particular statement seemed to be aimed at lawmakers of both parties who are seeking a compromise on the contentious issue.


Obama dismissed such suggestions.


"Why would it drive private insurance out of business?" he asked rhetorically, pointing out that the industry repeatedly argues that private insurance is the best and the government can't run anything.


He said the administration's position is a "public plan makes sense."


On Capitol Hill, House Democrats pushed forward with a partisan health care bill. Meanwhile, key Senate Democrats were still laboring to achieve an elusive bipartisan compromise on Obama's top legislative priority.


Recent media polls have found strong public support for the idea of a government plan. It would compete with private companies to offer coverage to individuals and small businesses, but eventually might be opened to large employers as well. The positive public reaction to the idea has emboldened liberals, who are arguing that Democrats shouldn't compromise.


The insurers suggested a government plan would run counter to Obama's promise that Americans can keep the coverage they have.


"A government-run plan no matter how it is initially structured would dismantle employer-based coverage, significantly increase costs for those who remain in private coverage, and add additional liabilities to the federal budget," said the letter from AHIP chief Karen Ignagni and Scott Serota, the head of Blue Cross.


Instead, the industry says it is ready to accept close government regulation to protect consumers. Dated June 19, the letter was addressed to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.


Kennedy's committee, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions panel, has not yet finished its design for a government plan. Bogged down in delays and partisan strife, the panel jettisoned an end-of-week deadline for passing its bill.


Deliberations on both sides of the Capitol are continuing with lawmakers mindful of next week's July 4 congressional recess. Most will return home to face constituents with plenty of questions about their plans to overhaul the nation's costly health care system.


A sweeping bill unveiled in the Democratic-controlled House last week is being weighed in hearings that got under way Tuesday. The draft legislation, written without Republican help, would require all Americans to purchase health insurance and would put new requirements on employers, too.


Obama's goal for signing a bill in October appears in doubt.


But Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is doggedly pursuing a compromise. "We will get a bipartisan agreement," he insisted Monday.


Of the five House and Senate committees working on health care, Finance is the only one that appears to have a chance at a bipartisan agreement. Baucus planned to huddle behind closed doors Tuesday with a group of senators he's dubbed the "coalition of the willing." Others involved are top committee Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa; Republicans Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Orrin Hatch of Utah and Olympia Snowe of Maine; and Democrats Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico.


Looming large is the question of cost. Initial estimates had Senate plans topping $1.6 trillion over 10 years, and senators are working to scale back. Curbs on Medicare and Medicaid spending are assured, and a range of taxes are under consideration, along with the possibility of fees on employers who don't cover their employees.

2009 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Wow. There sure are a lot of conservative Dicks.

Make you horny?