Democrat Ben Nelson Draws a Line in the Sand on Health Care

In a warning sign for the White House, Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska tells ABC News that he'll vote to block any health care bill that looks like the bill passed by the House.

"Well, first of all, it has more than a robust public option, it's got a totally government-run plan, the costs are extraordinary associated with it, it increases taxes in a way that will not pass in the Senate and I could go on and on and on," Nelson said in an interview that is part of ABC News' Subway Series with Jonathan Karl.

"Faced with a decision about whether or not to move a bill that is bad, I won't vote to move it," he added. "For sure."

Reid puts House healthcare bill on Senate calendar

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) late Tuesday laid the groundwork for the Senate's healthcare reform debate to start next Tuesday, November 17.

Interview with the President: Jail Time for Those without Health Care Insurance?

Under the House bill those who can afford to buy insurance and don’t’ pay a fine. If the refuse to pay that fine there’s a threat – as with a lot of tax fines – of jail time.

Mr. Obama said, “penalties are appropriate for people who try to free ride the system and force others to pay for their health insurance.”

Health bill's bitter pill for small business

It just doesn't make any business sense.

The owner of New York's famed independent bookstore, The Strand -- which spends more than $1 million a year on health care for its 225 workers -- yesterday joined a growing chorus of businesses objecting to the House-backed health-care overhaul.

Bait and Switch. Democrat who voted for House bill says "restrictive" and "troubling" pro life language will be stripped

A House Democratic leader said Monday she's “confident” controversial language on abortion will be stripped from a final healthcare bill.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the Democrats’ chief deputy whip in the House, said that she and other pro-abortion rights lawmakers would work to strip the amendment included in the House health bill that bars federal funding from subsidizing abortions.

House Democrat from CA: Investigate Catholic Tax exemption

Ad to protect American healthcare paid for by The League of American Voters

Health bill faces roadblocks in Senate

Hours after House Democrats narrowly advanced legislation to reshape the country's health care system, Republicans and a key independent in the Senate on Sunday vowed to kill the measure unless it is radically altered.

GOP officials say Dems put agenda ahead of country

Voters are "tired of the borrowing, the spending, the bailouts, the takeovers," said Rep. Mike PenceNew Jersey last week. of Indiana, the No. 3 House GOP leader, pointing to GOP victories in gubernatorial races in Virginia and

House health care overhaul faces Senate stone wall

The glow from a health care triumph faded quickly for President Barack Obama on Sunday as Democrats realized the bill they fought so hard to pass in the House has nowhere to go in the Senate. Speaking from the Rose Garden about 14 hours after the late Saturday vote, Obama urged senators to be like runners on a relay team and "take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people." The problem is that the Senate won't run with it. The government health insurance plan included in the House bill is unacceptable to a few Democratic moderates who hold the balance of power in the Senate.

The 39 Democrats who said No to "Pelosi" care

Bribe for Vote: Obama promise to forgive federal Katrina recovery loans garners GOP vote from LA

Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao was the only Republican to vote in favor of the Democratic health care bill that passed the House late Saturday, a vote that came after President Obama called to personally to ask for his support, Cao told CNN.

220-215: House OKs health reform bill

The Democrat-led House late Saturday passed landmark legislation that would fulfill President Obama's call to dramatically reshape the country's health care system, passing it with just one Republican vote and establishing a new abortion ban that promises to further complicate the reform debate.

FULL TEXT OF BILL HERE

What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says

Here are some important passages in the 2,000 page legislation.

• "Qualified plans" designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services are the rule and will determine how much you'll be legally required to pay for it.
• You will have to enroll in the same plan, whether the government is paying for it or you and your employer are footing the bill.
  
• When you file your taxes, you must include proof that you are in a qualified plan. If not, you will be fined thousands of dollars. Illegal immigrants are exempt from this requirement.
• The bill fundamentally changes how Medicare pays doctors and hospitals, permitting the government to dictate treatment decisions.

FULL TEXT OF BILL HERE

Top Dems: Obama Won't Get Health Care Bill in 2009

Senior Congressional Democrats told ABC News today it is highly unlikely that a health care reform bill will be completed this year, just a week after President Barack Obama declared he was "absolutely confident" he'll be able to sign one by then.

Democrats' concerns over abortion may imperil health bill

While House leaders are moving toward a vote on health-care legislation by the end of the week, enough Democrats are threatening to oppose the measure over the issue of abortion to create a question about its passage.

Red Tape: 110 New Federal Agencies Created in House Legislation

The following is a list of the 110 new boards, bureaucracies, commissions, and programs created in H.R. 3962, House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s legislation for a government takeover of health care. Here are a few of them:

1. Retiree Reserve Trust Fund (Section 111(d), p. 61)

2. Grant program for wellness programs to small employers (Section 112, p. 62)

3. Grant program for State health access programs (Section 114, p. 72)

4. Program of administrative simplification (Section 115, p. 76)

5. Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Section 223, p. 111)

6. Health Choices Administration (Section 241, p. 131)

FULL TEXT OF BILL HERE

New business coalition opposes House health bill

Calling themselves Employers for a Healthy Economy, the coalition of sponsoring groups ranges from the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents small businesses, to organizations representing large corporations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

GOP Set to Propose Its Own Health Bill

It would, among other things, propose new limits on medical malpractice lawsuits and make it easier for individuals and small businesses to pool resources to purchase insurance.

It would also propose grants for states that use "innovative" solutions to expand coverage.

The bill wouldn't raise taxes, nor mandate that individuals and businesses purchase insurance, as the Democratic legislation does.

The 13 new taxes Nancy Pelosi wants to steal from our pay checks:

Just in time for your Halloween weekend reading, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Democrats just shat out their 1,990-page health care/budget busting “reform” bill.

Thankfully, the fine folks over at Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) have gone through it (so you don’t have to) and have pointed out the 13 new taxes that will be foisted upon American tax payers .

1. Employer Mandate Excise Tax
2. Individual Mandate Surtax
   
3. Medicine Cabinet Tax
   
4. Cap on FSAs
   
5. Increased Additional Tax on Non-Qualified HSA Distributions
6. Denial of Tax Deduction for Employer Health Plans Coordinating with Medicare Part D
7. Surtax on Individuals and Small Businesses
8. Excise Tax on Medical Devices
   
9. Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting
10. Delay in Worldwide Allocation of Interest
    
11. Limitation on Tax Treaty Benefits for Certain Payments
12. Codification of the “Economic Substance Doctrine”
13. Application of “More Likely Than Not” Rule

Catholic Bishops Urge Members to Oppose Abortion Funding in Health Care Plan

Roman Catholic bishops are launching a massive e-mail campaign opposing the sweeping health care reform plan being proposed by President Obama and Democrats in Congress, because they say it will allow federal funds to pay for abortions.

The Locator: ID Your US House and Senate Reps

You have three individuals representing you in the US Congress. Get to Know Them. Get to know their office staff. Drive to their offices and pop in to say "hello." Two of your representatives are state senators and one Representative works on your behalf in the US House of Representatives. Tell them what you think about this legislation NOW. Use sample letters and talking points further down in the blog.

Click below and enter your zip code. It's that easy. Please note, you may need the Plus 4 numbers on your Zip Code as well, since US Congressman may split zip codes. District maps are also available via the link below.

Find my representatives in the US Congress Now.

Contact your Congressional Rep Now

If you have yet to contact your congressional representative with your concerns related to pending health care legislation, now is the time to do so.

House Leader Calls Health Bill "1,990 Pages Of Bureaucracy"

The House health care bill unveiled Thursday clocks in at 1,990 pages and about 400,000 words. With an estimated 10-year cost of $894 billion, that comes out to about $2.24 million per word.

CBO Puts House Health Bill Total Cost At $1.055 Trillion

The Congressional Budget Office said Thursday a U.S. House health-care system re-write would extend health insurance to 96% of the nonelderly U.S. population by 2019, and spend $1.055 trillion to do so.

Nineteen states move to defend individual health care choice

Kansas now joins legislators in seven states (Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Utah) that have publicly announced their intention to file legislation to protect their citizens from any government health-care mandates.

Another 11 states have already filed or pre-filed similar legislation (Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Mexico, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wyoming). Arizona's measure, which passed the legislature in June, will be put before voters on the 2010 ballot.

Majority of Americans oppose healthcare reform

• 57% Say Health Care Plan Will Increase Costs
• 53% Say It Will Reduce Quality of Care
• 45% Favor Passage

House Democrats prepare to unveil health bill

House Democrats reached agreement Wednesday on key elements of a health care bill that would vastly alter America's medical landscape, requiring virtually universal sign-ups and establishing a new government-run insurance option for millions.

Constitutionality of health overhaul questioned

Legal scholars divided over Congress' authority

Does the U.S. Constitution allow the government to require uninsured Americans to buy medical insurance or impose a tax penalty if they refuse?

GOP lawmakers introduce 'tea party' resolution

Three Republican lawmakers on Monday introduced a resolution honoring participants in the Sept. 12 "tea party" protests in Washington D.C.

House Republican Conference chairman Mike Pence (Ind.), Republican Study Committee chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.), and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sponsored the measure, which has attracted 75 co-sponsors, whom are all Republican.

Mich. Democrat: Pelosi 'not happy with me'

Rep. Bart Stupak said Speaker Pelosi is not pleased with his effort to change abortion-related provisions in the healthcare bill being crafted by the House.

Bart Stupak wants a vote on the House floor to strike the [abortion] language, and predicts he would have the votes to pass such an amendment.

"This has been federal law since 1976," he said, noting that President Barack Obama has vowed not to allow healthcare reform to pay for abortions.

"We have to have a vote," he said.

If he doesn't get one, Stupak said he and as many as 39 other Democrats will vote no on a procedural motion to bring the health bill to the floor. A House vote on healthcare reform could be taken next week.

Joe Lieberman: I'll block vote on Harry Reid's plan

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday that he’d back a GOP filibuster of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s health care reform bill.

Dem moderates challenge Reid on health care plan

Democratic moderates who control the balance of power on health care legislation balked Tuesday at a government-run insurance option for millions of Americans, underscoring the enormity of the challenge confronting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid one day after he unveiled the plan as a consensus product.

Pelosi: Health care 'public option' needs new name

A government-sponsored "public option" for health care lives, though it may be more attractive to skeptics if it goes by a different moniker, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday.

Clock ticking on Democrats' health care reform

Time growing short, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate still face key decisions if they are to achieve President Barack Obama's goal of passing legislation to remake the nation's health care system by year's end.

FACT CHECK: Health insurer profits not so fat

Quick quiz: What do these enterprises have in common? Farm and construction machinery, Tupperware, the railroads, Hershey sweets, Yum food brands and Yahoo? Answer: They're all more profitable than the health insurance industry. In the health care debate, Democrats and their allies have gone after insurance companies as rapacious profiteers making "immoral" and "obscene" returns while "the bodies pile up."

House health care bill over $1 trillion for decade

Health care legislation taking shape in the House carries a price tag of at least $1 trillion over a decade, significantly higher than the target President Barack Obama has set, congressional officials said Friday as they struggled to finish work on the measure for a vote early next month.

Pelosi calls an emergency meeting on push for ‘robust’ public option

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is scrambling to push back the notion she lacks the votes for a “robust” public option.

Pelosi (D-Calif.) called an emergency meeting of her caucus Friday morning to declare that she has not abandoned the push for including that provision in a healthcare bill.

The Speaker met late Thursday night with the Progressive Caucus, the bloc of Democrats most supportive of a robust public option, and assured them that it was still on the table, according to a member in attendance.

Abortion Showstopper

Congressman Says He Now Has ‘About 40 Likeminded Democrats’ Who Will Vote to Kill Health Bill if He Doesn’t Get Floor Vote on Pro-Life Amendment

Senators turn back ID requirement for immigrant healthcare

Senate Finance Committee Democrats rejected a proposed a requirement that immigrants prove their identity with photo identification when signing up for federal healthcare programs.

Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said that current law and the healthcare bill under consideration are too lax and leave the door open to illegal immigrants defrauding the government using false or stolen identities to obtain benefits.

Grassley's amendment was beaten back 10-13 on a party-line vote.

Abortion Fight Complicates Debate on Health Care

Lawmakers pushing the abortion restrictions say they feel the momentum is on their side, especially because the restlessness of other Democratic moderates is making every vote count.

At least 31 House Democrats have signed various recent letters to the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, urging her to allow a vote on a measure to restrict use of the subsidies to pay for abortion, including 25 who joined more than 100 Republicans on a letter delivered Monday.

Representative Bart Stupak of Michigan, a leading Democratic abortion opponent, said he had commitments from 40 Democrats to block the health care bill unless they have a chance to include the restrictions.

The question looms as a test of President Obama’s campaign pledge to support abortion rights but seek middle ground with those who do not. Mr. Obama has promised for months that the health care overhaul would not provide federal money to pay for elective abortions, but White House officials have declined to spell out what he means.

Support for Health Care Plan Hits New Low

Just 41% of voters nationwide now favor the health care reform proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s down two points from a week ago and the lowest level of support yet measured.

Kennedy warns of potential violence

U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy fears that supercharged passions fueling the national health-care debate may lead to violence.

Liberals seek health-care access for illegals

Fearful that they're losing ground on immigration and health care, a group of House Democrats is pushing back and arguing that any health care bill should extend to all legal immigrants and allow illegal immigrants some access.

Senate Democrats kill Bunning amendment to view healthcare bill before voting

In a move consistent with their utter contempt for the opinions of the general public Senate Democrats on the Finance Committee killed an amendment to Sen. Baucus's (D-MT) healthcare bill that would require the bill to be "scored" and posted on the internet for a minimum of 72 hours prior to being voted on.

Budget chief contradicts Obama on Medicare costs

Congress' chief budget officer is contradicting President Barack Obama's oft-stated claim that seniors wouldn't see their Medicare benefits cut under a health care overhaul.

Health Reformers Targeting 'Enemies'

Health Care for America Now (HCAN), which is backed by a coalition of labor unions and liberal groups including ACORN and MoveOn.org, organized the protests to target insurance companies and drafted the plan, which describes the demonstrations as part of its "insurance enemies project."

House Minority Leader Says Democrat Health Care Plan is Dead

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R.-Ohio) said today that the health-care plan that President Barack Obama is pushing in Congress is now dead and will not pass.

Boehner made the observation in an interview this morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he appeared after President Obama.

U.S. Employers will Defray Health Reform Costs: study

If U.S. health reform efforts lead to higher costs for employers, employees may end up bearing the brunt, according to a new survey.

Employers will not absorb higher costs, choosing instead either to reduce benefits, lower salaries or cut jobs, the survey from professional services firm Towers Perrin said.

Opposition to Health Care Reform Plan Hits 56%

56% of voters nationwide now oppose the health care reform proposed by Obama and his Democrats. That’s the highest level of opposition yet measured

Rasmussen

Left Leaning National Organization for Women (NOW) Doesn't Like Senate Bill

Oppose Senate Finance Committee Health Care Bill

Baucus Bill is Profit-Driven Insurance Industry Dream

Your voice is urgently required!

The long-awaited Senate Finance Committee health care reform bill unveiled this week has many deficient and undesirable provisions and it must be opposed. First and most important, the legislation does NOT contain a public option -- and, as a result, there is no effective mechanism to stimulate competition and control escalating health care costs. There is no mandate for employers to provide health insurance. Everyone will be required to get their own costly insurance and, failing that, they will be assessed a stiff penalty. Essentially, the same factors that have caused health care costs to rise at four times the rate of wages are left in place. This is not reform!

Action Needed:

For those reasons and many other burdensome and costly features, as well as ideology-driven restrictions on women's reproductive health care, the Senate Finance Committee bill must be stopped. Send a message to your senators right away to oppose this legislation.

From NOW National Action Center's "Action Alert", September 18, 2009

Obama: Legalize Illegals to Get them Health Care

President Obama said this week that his health care plan won't cover illegal immigrants, but argued that's all the more reason to legalize them and ensure they eventually do get coverage.

He also staked out a position that anyone in the country legally should be covered - a major break with the 1996 welfare reform bill, which limited most federal public assistance programs only to citizens and longtime immigrants.

45% Of Doctors Would Consider Quitting If Congress Passes Health Care Overhaul

Two of every three practicing physicians oppose the medical overhaul plan under consideration in Washington, and hundreds of thousands would think about shutting down their practices or retiring early if it were adopted, a new Investors Business Daily /TIPP Poll has found.

The IBD/TIPP Poll was conducted by mail the past two weeks, with 1,376 practicing physicians chosen randomly throughout the country taking part.

55% " No to healthcare reform" in latest poll

One week after President Obama’s speech to Congress, opposition to his health care reform plan has reached a new high of 55%. The latest Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll shows that just 42% now support the plan, matching the low first reached in August.

Senator Snowe Says "No". Here Comes Reconciliation.

Democrats control 59 seats in the Senate. Without a single Republican vote, they would be forced to advance healthcare using a budgetary maneuver that requires only a simple majority.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday that Democrats are prepared to use budget reconciliation as a last resort.

“We’ve always had a place at the table for Republicans. There’s one there today. We hope it bears fruit,” he said. “If we can’t get the 60 votes we need, then we’ll have no alternative but to use reconciliation.”

Trickle-Down Tax Increase on Middle Class in Senate Bill

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., ripped into the health-care bill developed by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mt., the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Referring to Baucus, Rockefeller said, "He should understand that (his proposal) means that virtually every single coal miner is going to have a big, big tax put on them because the tax will be put on the [insurance] company and the [insurance] company will immediately pass it down and lower benefits because they are self insured, most of them, because they are larger. They will pass it down, lower benefits, and probably this will mean higher premiums for coal miners who are getting very good health care benefits for a very good reason."

Senate unveils health bill without GOP support

Sen. Max Baucus' decision to release his long-awaited health care overhaul bill with no Republicans on board dims the chances for a bipartisan compromise on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

Baucus has fallen short in his quest to assemble a coalition of senators from both parties behind his proposal. Obama also hoped for bipartisan support behind plans for reshaping the nation's $2.5 trillion health care system to hold down costs and cover the uninsured.

Health care reform faces inconvenient questions

1. Who would foot the bill for extending health insurance to 30 million more Americans?

2. Would doctors and hospitals be able to cope with the expected influx of millions of new patients?

3. Wouldn't illegal immigrants still get care, often for free, in hospitals?

4. Who would enforce the requirement that individuals have coverage?

5. Will employers stop providing health care coverage if a public plan is available?

6. How can spending less on Medicare produce better care for participants?

7. What other programs would need to be cut if Obama's promised savings don't materialize?

8. Similar plans have failed in several states. How would a federal plan avoid the same fate?

9. Can the president make good on his promise not to "add one dime" to the national debt?

10. The president says that he can save $500 billion in waste and fraud in Medicare. Has the government ever succeeded in such an ambitious cutting effort?

11. Is it true, as the president and Democratic leaders have argued, that "special interests" are trying to block reform?

12. Do we need "demonstration projects" on medical malpractice reforms to find effective ways to control lawsuit costs?

Obama Won't Meet With Pro-Life Democrat to Discuss Abortion, Health Care

The pro-life Democrat who says he had 40 Democrats who will vote against the health care bill in the House because it funds abortions can't get a meeting with President Barack Obama. Rep. Bart Stupak,(Michigan) in a new interview, talks more about how the pro-life Democrats can hold up the pro-abortion bill, HR 3200.

Responding to the speech President Obama gave last week promoting the bills, Stupak told the Weekly Standard that "there certainly is public funding for abortion" in the House measure.

Senator says Public Option DOA

Republican Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine said there is “no way” a health-care overhaul that includes a public option can pass the Senate.

The March on Washington That Never Happened -- as Measured by Attention it Received From Broadcast Networks

The Tea Party Express -- a gathering of activists protesting what they view as out-of-control spending by an expanding federal government -- has arrived in the nation's capital today.

Crowd stretches for blocks. Tens of thousands.

The magnitude of the rally took the authorities by surprise, with throngs of people streaming from the White House to Capitol Hill for more than three hours.


The White House on Friday claimed it was unaware of the planned rally. "I don't know who the group is," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters with a shrug.




“I want Congress to be afraid,” said Keldon Clapp, 45, an unemployed marketing representative who recently moved to Tennessee from Connecticut after losing his job. “Like everyone else here, I want them to know that we’re watching what they’re doing. And they do work for us.”

"Nobody's standing up for us, so we have to stand up for ourselves," said Phil Chancey, 66, who drove to Washington from Clinton, Tenn.

Legislative Work Around: Dems to Cut Corners. Citizenry Should be Very Concerned

RECONCILIATION --- a rarely used procedure deployed in the US Senate to get legislation passed with only 50 votes of 100, as opposed to the traditional 2/3 majority.

So, as the climate turns against health care legislation and the votes in the Senate are eroding, the current administration to preparing to use "reconciliation" to get healthcare legislation passed.

Why? They will balme the Republicans for not helping, so they are simply going to do it themselves becasue "this is what America wants and this is what is good for our country."

If they deploy this tactic, than what legislation maneuvers to limit our freedoms will follow?

"You Lie" Congresman Tells Obama During Speech

Thanks .

The most memorable thing about Obama's speech to Congress on September 9, was the response Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina gave to Obama when the President used his national address to state that illegal aliens wouldn't receive medial benefits under his proposed health care changes.

Representative Wilson should be thanked for raising this issue, and having the guts to stand up to what is being sold to us, because, indeed, the President isn't being truthful to the American people about this legislation as it relates to this and many other issues.

This article linked breaks down the issue of whether illegal aliens will receive government benefits.

$700k donated in public vote of support to Wilson in 48 hours

Democrats to Deliver on Fat Taxes and Fines

In an effort to raise funds for some aspects of the current health care overhaul, President Obama supports imposing a "fat tax" on food and beverages that are made with sugar and a democratic leader in the US Senate wants to issue fines and penalties to individuals and families who do not have medical insurance .

Back from summer recess ... and legislative acitivity heats back up ....

The caucus remains deeply divided over the details of the more than 1,000-page measure and now faces a public that is more skeptical than when House committees began drafting the plan two months ago.

• "Health-care reform without a good public option is not health-care reform at all," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (Calif.), a leader among House liberals. "We have to do this. That's why we're in the majority. That's why we have the White House."
• "President Obama needs to start talking about what's in the bill, not what's not in the bill, said Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), who supports the legislation. "Whenever I see him on TV, he's talking about what's not in the bill."
• "I think, if anything, the mood has changed to be more favorable to health-care reform," said Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio)
• "Personally, I'm probably more confident than when recess began," added Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Pa.)

23 House Dems to Vote "No" on Current Bill

• Key Democrat says "no" to public plan
  

Keep Rationing in the Family. Nepotism Pays. Two Degrees from Obama.

Obama's White House Chief of Staff = Rahm Emanuel

Rahm Emanuel's Brother = Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel

Dr. Emanuel has said: "Covering services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic, and should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia."

Dr. Emanuel is serving as a special advisor to the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget for health policy who has said he is "working on (the) health care reform effort" at the highest level

Among other Dr. Emanuel Quote-ables are ....

• "Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination. . . . Treating 65 year olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not"
• To reduce health-insurance costs, Dr. Emanuel argues that insurance companies should pay for new treatments only when the evidence demonstrates that the drug will work for most patients.
• "In the next decade every country will face very hard choices about how to allocate scarce medical resources. There is no consensus about what substantive principles should be used to establish priorities for allocations."
  

Is this really who you want shaping how the government will takeover our health care decisions?

Bullhorn: Points to Convey to your US Representatives

Don't like the current health care legislation? Contact your US House and Senate reps, and feel free to use these talking points to tell them where you stand.

President Obama's health plan would put government bureaucrats in charge of my health care.

I reject his plan.

I want to make my own choice of medical professionals.

I want my doctor to decide when and what care I need, not a government bureaucrat.

Government run health care may well lead to rationing of care for senior citizens and long waits for treatment for everyone, just as it has in Canada.

It is time for Washington politicians to listen to the people and refuse to pass government run health care.

One size does not fit all when it comes to health care for Americans.

As my elected representative, I demand that you protect my right to choose my doctors and care by refusing to expand government run health care.

I am tracking your votes and I promise I will vote against you at the next opportunity if you support the Washington bureaucracy by passing President Obama's health care bill.

More details here

Read The Bill for Yourself

Full text of House Bill HR 3200 (what they have titled America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009) is here.

A summary of some of the most attention-getting sections of the bill are summarized here.Cross reference these items for yourself. You'll be shocked and suprised to see what's inside.

Senator says Democratic proposals restrict choices and make the country's "finances sicker."

In a weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday, Senator Michael Enzi (R-WY) said any health care legislation must lower medical costs for Americans without increasing deficits and the national debt.

"The bills introduced by congressional Democrats fail to meet these standards," he said.

Enzi's judgment was especially noteworthy because he is one of only three Republicans who have been willing to consider a bipartisan bill in the Senate.

Catholic Archbishop Chaput on reaching "Common Ground"

"No system that allows or helps fund—no matter how subtly or indirectly—the killing of unborn children, or discrimination against the elderly and persons with special needs, can bill itself as “common ground.”

Congressional Rep from CA praises Communinst Dictator Castro ...

.. and Cuban national health care while demonizing anyone who disagrees with Obama as racist.

"They are spreading fear and they're trying to see that the first president who looks like me -- fails."



Dianne Watson

House HealthCare Bill Violates Personal Privacy

Section 431(a) of the HR bill 3200 says that the IRS must divulge to Federal insurance regulators -- a government appointed "Health Choices Commissioner" -- taxpayer identity information, including the filing status, the modified adjusted gross income, the number of dependents, and "other information as is prescribed by" regulation.

More examples detailed in above story .....

ABC and NBC will not air paid ads Critical of ObamaCare

The refusal by ABC and NBC to run a national ad critical of President Obama's health care reform plan is raising questions from the group behind the spot -- particularly in light of ABC's health care special aired in prime time last June and hosted at the White House.

"Quality?" Healthcare with Socialized Medicine

45,000 government (NHS) health care workers in UK call in "sick" each day limiting the delivery of care

One million Brits receive "cruel and neglectful" care

4k mothers in UK give birth w/o hospital beds

Vancouver (Canada) Coastal Health Authority document shows it is considering chopping more than 6,000 surgeries in an effort to make up for a dramatic budgetary shortfall that could reach $200 million.

Canadians Travel to US for Care

Canadians say "its free" but pay 48% of their earnings in taxes while waiting for care

• Breast cancer mortality rate is 52% higher in Germany than in the United States.
• Prostate cancer mortality is 604% higher in the United Kingdom than in the United States.
• Canadian patients wait twice as long to see a specialist for hip surgery or cancer than those patients in the United States.

"Vive le Tax" in France with unemployment consistently at 10%

Government's "End of Life" Direction to our Veterans

"If President Obama wants to better understand why America's discomfort with end-of-life discussions threatens to derail his health-care reform, he might begin with his own Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Under President Obama, the VA has now resuscitated "Your Life, Your Choices, " first introduced in 1997 under Clinton and out on ice under the Bush Administration.

Primary author of this workbook is Dr. Robert Pearlman, a man who in 1996 advocated for physician-assisted suicide in Vacco v. Quill before the U.S. Supreme Court and is known for his support of health-care rationing.

When the government can steer vulnerable individuals to conclude for themselves that life is not worth living, who needs a death panel?"

Mr. Jim Towey, president of Saint Vincent College, Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2009

Obama's "Organizing for America" Plans 500 Rallies

The Democratic National Committee and its grassroots arm, Organizing for America, are helping to organize the effort.

College kids recruited for "Obama's Army" with Craigslist ads and promises of college credit in return for protesting .

White House's organization provides "ready to print" flyers

Doesn't it bother you that the organization that Obama created after he became president is being funded and organized by his team in the White House to hold these rallies?

The President Understands That He Loses When He Talks About Substantive Issues

• Mr. Obama's handling of the health-care debate—making villains out of cable television and insurance companies, questioning the motives of those who disagree, imposing artificial deadlines—suggests a rigidity typically associated with a lack of executive experience and responsibility.
• For months polls have shown a huge gap between the popularity of the president and the unpopularity of his policies. Sooner or later, one of these had to give
• Mr. Obama's bet was that his personal popularity would be enough to push his agenda through. Perhaps that would have been possible before the $787 billion economic stimulus package, the $410 billion omnibus bill that funds the government, the House-approved cap-and-trade bill, and so forth

William McGurn, Wall Street Journal

Wisconsin Senator Feingold (D): "No health care bill before Christmas"

"Nobody is going to bring a bill before Christmas, and maybe not even then, if this ever happens," Feingold said. "The divisions are so deep. I never seen anything like that."

In 2007, Feingold and Graham, a South Carolina Republican, introduced the State-Based Health Care Reform Act, which would have allowed states to decide how to achieve insurance coverage.

The senator said again last week he did not think a "one-size-fits-all" approach would work as well as giving states program flexibility.

A Better Approach

• You could fix 90 percent of the problems with health insurance by ending the federal law allowing states to ban health insurance sales across state lines.
• Government-provided health care isn't a competitor; it's a monopoly product paid for by the taxpayer.
• in a free market, such an [poor performing] insurance company couldn't stay in business. Other insurance companies would scream from the rooftops about their competitor's shoddy business practices, and customers would leave in droves.
• You want to protect consumers? Do it the same way we protect consumers of dry cleaning, hamburgers and electricians: Give them the power to tell their insurance companies, "I'm taking my business elsewhere."
• The vast majority of "pre-existing" conditions that currently exist in a cramped, limited, heavily regulated insurance market would be "covered" conditions under a free market in health insurance.

Unions to get $10 Billion in Earmarks to Support ObamaCare

After a July 13th meeting with Obama in White House ....

-14. Lowest to Date.

Senator: Healthcare Changes Can Wait .

"I think it's a real mistake to try to jam through the total health insurance reform, health care reform plan that the public is either opposed to or of very, very passionate mixed minds about."

Senator Joe Lieberman.