RomneyCare

I have fairly strong thoughts about "RomneyCare" and ObamaCare...but my views on this particular issue stems solely from the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution: 

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

I firmly believe that the basis of ObamaCare or America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009 as it is officialy titled is that national health care isn't found within the constitution.  Thus..it's unlawful without specifically amending the Constitution.

However, I believe that the various states have constitutional authority to enact their own versions, as Massachusetts has.  RomneyCare has been a disaster for Massachusetts...as it's driven costs up until they are the highest in the nation. 

The report by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit health care foundation, showed that the average family premium for plans offered by employers in Massachusetts was $13,788 in 2008, 40 percent higher than in 2003. Over the same period, premiums nationwide rose an average of 33 percent.

This will happen all across the country...on January 1 of this year, the costs of my company's health insurance doubled...from $250 per month to over $500 per month...but I digress.

I don't oppose the concept of a state being able to enact "state" health insurance/care rules, though philosophically, I oppose it as a free market has much better controls on costs than any state mandate ever could.  Basically, I believe that the Federal government has no role in individual health care...none, that power is reserved to the states, or the people.

Saving Medicare: Free Market Reforms Are Better

Here's a great video, via Instapundit, on who is right on Medicare reform.



It's narrated by Dan Mitchell.  the video has two sections.

The first part reviews Congressman Ryan’s proposal and notes that it is based on a plan put together with Alice Rivlin, who served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Bill Clinton. Among serious budget people (as opposed to the hacks on Capitol Hill), this is an important sign of bipartisan support.
The video also notes that the “voucher” proposal is actually very similar to the plan that is used by Members of Congress and their staff. This is a selling point that proponents should emphasize since most Americans realize that lawmakers would never subject themselves to something that didn’t work.

ObamaCare: 733 Exemptions So Far...

To date, the Dept of Health and Human Services has granted a whopping 733 exemptions.  The Washington Examiner is reporting that,

 ...the Department of Health and Human Services has issued hundreds of waivers to companies so they could be saved from the Obamacare legislative "fix." Now, we're told that an astonishing 733 companies and politically connected unions at last count threatened to drop their health care coverage for employees altogether if they did not receive a reprieve from the law.

The fact that any exemptions have been granted to date is a sure sign of corrupt process.  Most of those exemptions were granted to unions, or large contributors to the 2008 Obama campaign.  That's the problem.  If you aren't politically connected, you get screwed by the system...fortunately, for the rest of us, this law has been ruled as being unconstitutional.

ObamaCare Unconstitutional

Federal District Court Judge Roger Vinson: 

“It is difficult to imagine that a nation which began, at least in part, as the result of opposition to a British mandate giving the East India Company a monopoly and imposing a nominal tax on all tea sold in America would have set out to create a government with the power to force people to buy tea in the first place.”

Ilya Somin has an analysis: 

Today’s Florida district court ruling that the individual mandate is unconstitutional is by far the best court opinion on this issue so far. Judge Roger Vinson provides a thorough and impressive analysis of the federal government’s arguments claiming that the mandate is authorized by the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause, and explains the flaws in each. He had already rejected the government’s claim that the mandate is constitutional because it is a tax in a previous ruling. So far, all three federal courts that have considered the tax argument have rejected it, instead ruling (in my view correctly) that the mandate is a penalty.

From the ruling:

The problem with this legal rationale, however, is it would essentially have unlimited application. There is quite literally no decision that, in the natural course of events, does not have an economic impact of some sort. The decisions of whether and when (or not) to buy a house, a car, a television, a dinner, or even a morning cup of coffee also have a financial impact that — when aggregated with similar economic decisions — affect the price of that particular product or service and have a substantial effect on interstate commerce. To be sure, it is not difficult to identify an economic decision that has a cumulatively substantial effect on interstate commerce; rather, the difficult task is to find a decision that does not....

The important distinction is that “economic decisions” are a much broader and far-reaching category than are “activities that substantially affect interstate commerce” [which Supreme Court precedent allows Congress to regulate]. While the latter necessarily encompasses the first, the reverse is not true. “Economic” cannot be equated to “commerce.” And “decisions” cannot be equated to “activities.” Every person throughout the course of his or her life makes hundreds or even thousands of life decisions that involve the same general sort of thought process that the defendants maintain is “economic activity.” There will be no stopping point if that should be deemed the equivalent of activity for Commerce Clause purposes...

[T]here are lots of markets — especially if defined broadly enough — that people cannot “opt out” of. For example, everyone must participate in the food market. Instead of attempting to control wheat supply by regulating the acreage and amount of wheat a farmer could grow as in Wickard, under this logic, Congress could more directly raise too low wheat prices merely by increasing demand through mandating that every adult purchase and consume wheat bread daily, rationalized on the grounds that because everyone must participate in the market for food, non-consumers of wheat bread adversely affect prices in the wheat market. Or, as was discussed during oral argument, Congress could require that people buy and consume broccoli at regular intervals, not only because the required purchases will positively impact interstate commerce, but also because people who eat healthier tend to be healthier, and are thus more productive and put less of a strain on the health care system. Similarly, because virtually no one can be divorced from the transportation market, Congress could require that everyone above a certain income threshold buy a General Motors automobile — now partially government-owned — because those who do not buy GM cars (or those who buy foreign cars) are adversely impacting commerce and a taxpayer-subsidized business...

Read the whole thing!



HT Don Surber & Instapundit

An Open Letter to Kathleen Sebelius: You Lied About ObamaCare

In an AOL opinion piece, Kathleen Sebelius is shilling yet again for ObamaCare.  Her column is filled with the lies and distortions that the Democratic Party, Barack Obama and Mrs. Sebelius have used since the introduction of this twisted piece of legislation.

Mrs. Sebelius, you lied to America during the legislative process that foisted this horrendous piece of legislation upon this country. You said repeatedly that this would save the country billions...you lied. Your own Medicare actuary has said that the "cost curve" will bend...upwards, not down. You lied when you said that Americans would be able to keep their health insurance, to quote Mr. Obama, "if they liked it." By the White House's own admission, 53% of all health insurance plans DONT MEET THE PROVISIONS OF THIS LAW! You lied again when you said that millions of people would sign up for the subsidized plans...as yet, fewer than 250,000 people have..

Your own department is reporting that,

...The Department of Health and Human Services estimated in July that it would now be insuring 375,000 people who had been previously shut out of the insurance market due to pre-existing conditions. But the administration recently admitted that only about 8,000 people with preexisting conditions had actually signed up. That's about 2 percent of the projected enrollment. {emphasis is mine, ed.}


A July report from the nonpartisan agency predicted that by 2016, four million people would defy the mandate and pay the fine for remaining uninsured. All told, according to CBO, about 21 million people will be uninsured in 2016 -- most of whom will be exempt from the fines altogether.

This week you granted more than 500 more waivers to companies and organizations that will exempt those groups to the provisions of this law...a law that you, yourself are exempt from having to participate in.  Since passage of this bill last March, you have granted waivers to more than 180 organized labour unions...Here's the list and here are some the largest exmptions:  

The Teamsters Union, which hailed Obama last March for "enacting historic health care reform, providing health insurance to millions of Americans who don't have it and controlling costs for millions more who do," obtained waivers for 17 different locals.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which celebrated the passage of Obamacare as "an achievement that will rank among the highest in our national experience," secured waivers for 28 different affiliates.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers -- which exulted after the health care law's passage that "finally, affordable and comprehensive health care coverage will be available for millions of working Americans" -- saw eight of its affiliates win shelter from the Obamacare wrecking ball.

The Communications Workers of America, which sent its workers to lobby for Obamacare on Capitol Hill as part of the left-wing billionaire George Soros-funded Health Care for America Now front group, snagged a waiver that will spare a hefty 19,000 of its members from the onerous federal mandate.

And the Service Employees International Union, which poured $60 million into Democratic/Obama coffers in 2008 and millions more into the campaign for the federal health care takeover, added four new affiliates to the waiver list: SEIU Local 2000 Health and Welfare Fund, representing 161 enrollees; SEIU 32BJ North Health Benefit Fund, representing 7,020 enrollees; SEIU Local 300, Civil Service Forum Employees Welfare Fund, representing 2,000 enrollees; and SEIU Health & Welfare Fund, representing 1,620 enrollees.

That's in addition to three other previous SEIU waiver winners: Local 25 SEIU in Chicago with 31,000 enrollees; Local 1199 SEIU Greater New York Benefit Fund with 4,544 enrollees; and SEIU Local 1 Cleveland Welfare Fund with 520 enrollees. This brings the total number of Obamacare-promoting SEIU Obamacare refugees to an estimated 45,000 workers represented by seven SEIU locals.

When will you stop lying, Mrs. Sebelius? When? The House of Representatives voted by a bipartisan, and substantial majority to repeal this horrible law. Remember, this law is why your party suffered record losses in the House of Rep's...and this law will see you lose even more seats in 2012...when 23 Senators are up for reelection...

Stop lying and stop shilling for this bad piece of legislation. Stop Lying.

ObamaCare: Obama Lied!

ObamaCare won't allow you to keep your insurance "if you like it," nor will it keep costs down.  Video:



H/T Don Surber

ObamaCare: What Else It Does...

Here is some more info on ObamaCare:

THE CARE BILL HB3200

• Page 50/section 152: The bill will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally.
• Page 58 and 59: The government will have real-time access to an individual's bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts.
• Page 65/section 164: The plan will be subsidized (by the government) for all union members, union retirees and for community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN).
• Page 203/line 14-15: The tax imposed under this section will not be treated as a tax. (How could anybody in their right mind come up with that?)
• Page 241 and 253: Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors' fees.
• Page 272. section 1145: Cancer hospital will ration care according to the patient's age.
• Page 317 and 321: The government will impose a prohibition on hospital expansion; however, communities may petition for an exception.
• Page 425, line 4-12: The government mandates advance-care planning consultations. Those on Social Security will be required to attend an "end-of-life planning" seminar every five years. (Death counseling..)
• Page 429, line 13-25: The government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.

"Finally, it is specifically stated that this bill will not apply to members of Congress. Members of Congress are already exempt from the Social Security system, and have a well-funded private plan that covers their retirement needs. If they were on our Social Security plan, I believe they would find a very quick 'fix' to make the plan financially sound for their future."   Honorable David Kithil Marble Falls, Texas

 They had to pass it before we could find out what was in it, said Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House.  We keep finding loathsome provisions in this bill.  I suspect that repeal will easily pass through the House, as it did a week or so ago...and may very well pass through the Senate.  After all, there are 23 Democratic Senators who are up for re-election next year.  ALL of those Senators voted to pass  this bill.  Many are up for a very tough reelection fight.  After all, if Russ Feingold, a Senator from Wisconsin, one of the most liberal states of the union can be defeated over his vote on this...pretty much all of them can be. 

Obama, will veto it...but it may very well be passed over his veto...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ObamaCare Is A Failure

Evan Thomas, former editor of Newsweek has stated on 'Inside Washington', a news show that reviews the previous week's political maneuverings that ObamaCare is a disaster. 



Nancy Pelosi, with a huge veto proof majority in Congress passed this bill 10 months ago with only 7 votes to spare.  This week, the new GOP led US House of Representatives passed repeal by 55 votes...now it's up to the Senate where 23 Democratic Senators are up for reelection in 2012 to act.  I'm betting Harry Reid won't bring it to a vote, especially has a number of Democratic Senators have begun voicing their ambivalence to the monstrosity that was rammed through Congress on a straight party vote.

If you look at the polls, the public likes it even less as time goes on.  We were told repeatedly that this abortion of a bill would reduce the costs of health care...that was a lie.  We were told that once it was passed and we could see what was in it, we'd like it...that was a lie.  We were told that it would be good for the country...that was a lie.  I hope that Congress will repeal this thing and start over, though I doubt that will happen.

via Instapundit

The Future of Health Care In America: Thank You Mr. Obama

With the passage of ObamaCare earlier this year, and the appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick, who adores the British National Health Service, we can expect to see a great deal more of what happened to 37-year-old Jamie Merrett.  Mr. Merrett, a quadraplegic, was concerned about the poor level of care he was receiving under nurses supplied by NHS.  So, he installed a camera to record what his nurses were doing.  Watch this:



What you see is his unqualified nurse, turn off his ventilator. 

Just a few days after the webcam was set up early last year, it filmed nurse Violetta Aylward accidentally switching off the ventilator. In the video, the life-support system can be heard emitting a long, loud beep, causing Aylward to shout for help. A care assistant rushes into the room and asks the nurse: "What have you done?" Aylward replies, "Switched this off."
Conscious of what's happening, but powerless to move, Merrett can only smack his lips together as a warning. The care worker then tells Aylward to use a resuscitation bag to keep the patient breathing. However, instead of connecting it to the hole in his neck, she places it over his mouth. She can be heard urging, "Jamie, breathe please."

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we can expect under government directed health care.  Ms. Aylward, turned Mr. Merrett into a vegitable...due to the 21 minutes his ventilator was turned off.  Instead of turning it back on...they waited 21 minutes for paramedics to arrive...

This is the future of health care in America...Thank You Mr. Obama!

ObamaCare: It's Real Effects...

A very good friend of mine who is now in his early 70's sent me this note a bit ago: 

I was notified on September 29, 2010 by AmericaGroup - my Medicare Advantage Program, that they will not be offering any more Medicare Advantage Programs. So they sent me the notice along with a 6 page list of companies who will offer Medicare insurance.


You got to love Obamacare ... you know and remember his 'promise' that you will be able to keep your doctor and insurance company.

The open enrollment period is from Nov 15 - through Dec 31 - ONLY.

Nobody on the list knows if Medicare will accept them as an insurance agent and nobody will know until November 15 - at the earliest.

Obama has stuck his thumb in the plumb pudding and he had his dumbocrats pass a bill, that nobody read or understood, but then lied when he said you would keep your doctor and insurance plan.

This guy is the biggest bull shit artist ever to serve as President. Hell - Nixon was a saint next to Obama.

I will lose my insurance on December 31st and be forced to accept straight Medicare - with all of its deductibles.

Like Don King is famous of saying - "Ain't it great to be in America."

Vote all the jerks out in November.

So much  for "If you like your insurance, you can keep it."  I figured that was a lie, as was all the rest, "This will keep costs down," etc.  Rasmussen Reports finds that: 

Nearly three-out-of-four voters (73%) believe it is at least somewhat likely that the new health care law will cause some companies to drop health insurance coverage for their employees, including 47% who say it is Very Likely. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds that just 19% think that's unlikely.

 As my friend relates, there is truth that many health care companies will be dropping insurance.  Thanks Mr. President, Madame Speaker, Mr. Reid, you have just ruined the best health care system in the world.

REMEMBER NOVEMBER

VOTE ALL THE BASTARDS OUT!

Obama Care's New Plan

ObamaCare plans to reintroduce an old remedy as a way of improving America's health care system and nationalized health care plan....

This is also known as blowing...smoke up our collective asses...

Yet Another Little Noticed Provision Of Health Care Reform

In yet another little noticed provision of the recently passed health care law that will have the effect of stiffling job growth, small businesses , which have historically been the source of most jobs in this country, will now have little incentive to grow. The provisions found within the new law provides a 50% tax credit to those small companies offering health insurance coverage that employ less than 10 workers, and who on the average, earn less than $25,000 a year. This new tax credit is reduced on a sliding scale as more employees are hired.

“If a business can make a decision to substitute capital for labor – say, contract the procedure out or automate it – I believe [losing the tax credit] will play an important part in the reluctance to hire,” Villarreal said, adding, “It’s puzzling that we have this perverse incentive not to have businesses grow by not encouraging them to hire additional workers.”

This will have a very chilling effect upon small businesses that have been the engine for economic growth in America. That chilling effect will mean far fewer new hiring and far fewer jobs. Thanks Mr. Obama, thanks for killing off our chances of getting the economy back on track...or was that his objective after all?

REMEMBER NOVEMBER, VOTE OUT ALL INCUMBENTS!

After all, both parties are why we're in this mess now.

Little Noticed

Over on Legal Insurrection Blog, Professor Jacobsen has some very interesting "little noticed" facts about the America's Healthy Future Act:

• "Tucked inside the huge health reform bill signed into law last week were many surprising and little-noticed provisions that will affect consumers in ways large and small."
• "Deep within the massive health-care overhaul legislation, a few little-noticed provisions have quietly reignited one of the bitterest debates in medicine: how to balance the right of doctors, nurses and other workers to refuse to provide services on moral or religious grounds with the right of patients to get care."
• "A little-noticed provision of the health legislation has rescued federal support for a controversial form of sex education: teaching youths to remain virgins until marriage."
• "A little-noticed provision in the health reform bill will shed significant light on the payments drug and device companies make to doctors and teaching hospitals in California and the rest of the nation."
• "A little-noticed provision in the new health care law may not only dramatically increase paperwork for small businesses, but also put them at a disadvantage against their larger competitors."
• "In the manager's amendment Senate Leader Harry Reid added to the Senate health care bill, HR 3590, a little noticed provision allowed $7 billion in funding for Community Health Centers buried deep in Section 10503 of the 383-page amendment."
• "Effective for plan years beginning after Sept. 23, 2010, health plans that cover dependent children must continue to cover adult kids until they turn age 26. This little-noticed new requirement is a sure way to increase health insurance costs, which is exactly what Obama-care was supposed to prevent."
• "The Obama administration is trying to encourage people to buy annuities to ensure that they don't outlive their savings. But a little-noticed provision of the new health care reform law will slap a 3.8% tax on payouts from annuities purchased by high-income earners outside their workplace."
• "A little noticed provision added over the weekend to the Senate health bill earmarked $500 million this year for a "cures acceleration program."
• "Little-noticed (well, except by me) is the fact that Congress has repealed the anti-trust exemption for health insurance and that the reform plan sets up the basics of a federal infrastructure for insurance regulation. The federal government doesn’t just drop by and visit, they move in. Memo to state insurance regulators: the feds are outside, and they have a HUGE moving van.
• "[Jeff] Masters, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, is part of a growing number of Americans who are members of faith-based ``health sharing ministries'' where members directly pay for each others' medical bills. Members also pray for each other, and a ``get well'' card from a stranger isn't uncommon. National healthcare reform will force millions of Americans to buy insurance or face fines, but a little-noticed provision excludes people like Masters who belong to such groups."
  "As well as these and other major job-killing provisions, two little-noticed tax changes would also affect employment."
• "Drug and device companies will soon have to report payments to physicians in a national database, thanks to a little noted section of the health care reform bill called the Physician Payments Sunshine Act."
• "The new law also takes steps to keep doctors' doors open for Medicare patients. Physicians will get bonus payments for primary care, a little-noticed strategy to promote access for seniors."
• "A little-noticed provision of the new health care reform law requires employers to provide new mothers with “reasonable break time” to express breast milk for nursing children who are up to 12 months old. "
• "A little noticed national calorie labeling rule tucked into the legislation assures that within a couple of years, everyone who walks into a chain restaurant will see calories counts displayed alongside the price of a meal."
• All U.S. Hospitals Must Publicize “Standard Charges” - Hidden among the amendments to a section of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (the “Health Reform Legislation”), is the following little-noticed provision ...."
• "UV or not UV? A little-noticed provision in the new healthcare package adds a 10% levy to the cost of tanning sessions."
• "A little-noticed provision in the House-passed health-care plan would strip billions of dollars out of privately run Medicare plans that emphasize wellness and are increasingly popular among retirees in Ohio and nationally."
• "The health care reform legislation President Obama signed into law last week takes a little-noticed but precedent-setting swipe at executive pay excess."

So why weren't these noticed before? Because if the people of this country had been able to read this bill in it 3,000+ page entirety, there would have been an upsurge of anger that's not been seen before. That's why we get "little noticed" provisions and laws...then again, Major Media has begun to ban the word ObamaCare from usage. Jake Tapper of ABC has banned the use of the phrase from his blog.

Some liberal tweeps objecting to use of term “Obamacare” by contributor to my
blog. No offense was intended by her, but we will change.less than a minute
ago via UberTwitterJake
Tapperjaketapper

Others, including Allahpundit and the Daily Caller’s Jim Treacher,
questioned the change, earning this response:

@allahpundit @jtlol I try to be respectful to
both sides. Some find that term pejorative. End of story. Take it up with the WH
+ Dems.less than a minute
ago via UberTwitterJake Tapper

.

It just goes to show you, as the popularity of this horrendous legislation continues to plummit, Democrats and Liberals alike will begin to strenuously object to the label ObamaCare...because they don't want The One to be linked so closely to this invasion of American rights.

63% Support Repealing ObamaCare

Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama told us that we'd learn to appreciate ObamaCare after it passed and was signed into law.  So far, that hasn't worked out too well.  A week or two ago, the Congressional Budget Office reported that it would cost an additional $115,000,000,000.00, above the roughly $850,000,000,000.00 the Democratically led Congress said it would.  Now, in a new poll, Rasmussen Reports finds that,

63% of U.S. voters now favor repeal of the plan passed by congressional Democrats and signed into law by President Obama in March.  Prior to today, weekly polling had shown support for repeal ranging from 54% to 58%.   Currently, just 32% oppose repeal.

That's the public at large.  On the other hand, our political masters are still insisting that its a good plan for the country,  despite all the conniving deals struck in those back rooms with unions giving them all sorts of tax exemptions on their plans, while the rest of us foot the bill.  So, the political class,

continues to be a strong supporter of the plan, however. While 67% of Mainstream voters believe the plan will be bad for America, 77% of the Political Class disagree and think it be good for the country.

Which I think contributes to the roughly 20% approval rating for Congress as a whole.  I think that they collectively are out of touch with American and it's time to vote all of them out of office.  The harm they're doing to the country is incalculable and will  take decades for us to recover.

REMEMBER NOVEMBER, RE-ELECT NO-ONE!!!

Obama Care Failing Already...

Actuaries of the federal government are already stating that Obama Care will fail in what the Democrats have promised for that past year to deliver.  Here are the major issues that they have found wrong with the America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009. 

1. People losing coverage: About 14 million people will lose their employer coverage by 2019, as smaller employers terminate their plans and workers who currently have employer coverage enroll in Medicaid. Half of all seniors on Medicare Advantage could lose their coverage and the extra benefits the plans offer.


2. Huge fines for companies: Businesses will pay $87 billion in penalties in the first five years after the fines trigger in 2014, partly because they can’t afford to offer expensive, government-mandated coverage and partly because some of their employees will apply for taxpayer-subsidized insurance.

3. Higher costs for consumers: Tens of billions of dollars in new fees and excise taxes will be “passed through to health consumers in the form of higher drug and devices prices and higher premiums,” according to Foster. A separate report shows small businesses will be hit hardest.

4. A program created to fail: The new “CLASS Act” long-term-care insurance program will face “a significant risk of failure,” according to Foster. Indeed, he finds, “there is a very serious risk that the problem of adverse selection will make the CLASS program unsustainable.”

5. Spending increases: Under the new law, national health spending will increase by $311 billion over the coming decade. And instead of bending the federal spending curve down, it will move it upward “by a net total of $251 billion” over the next decade.

6. “Free-riders”: An estimated 23 million people will remain uninsured in 2019, roughly 5 million of whom would be undocumented aliens; the remainder would be the 18 million who decline to get coverage and who will pay the penalty.

7. Spending reductions are fiction: Estimated reductions in the growth rate of health spending “may not be fully achievable” because “Medicare productivity adjustments could become unsustainable even within the next ten years, and over time the reductions in the scope of employer-sponsored health insurance could also become an issue.”

8. You can’t keep your doctor: Fifteen percent of all hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers treating Medicare patients could be operating at a loss by 2019, which will “possibly jeopardize access to care for beneficiaries.” Doctors are threatening to drop out of Medicare because cuts in Medicare reimbursement rates mean they can’t even cover their costs.

9. Coverage but no care: A significant portion of those newly eligible for Medicaid will have trouble finding physicians who will see them, and the increased demand for Medicaid services could be difficult to meet.

It's so bad that a vast majority of the states have introduced legislation that nullifies the basic tenets of the federal law.  For once, Florida is leading the charge,

The Florida legislature voted Thursday to place a state constitutional amendment on the ballot that would ban any laws that compel someone to “participate in any health care system.” It requires a 60 percent vote to succeed. The legislation is modeled after the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act, which has been introduced or announced in 42 states.

Give Tiger A Break

The problem is should we give Mr. Obama a break?  After all the policies that he is enacting...are being done literally because the far left of the Democratic party has desired them for 100 years.  I don't think that the country can afford Obama Care, especially after the numbers that Congress used to show that it is "budget neutral" are a fraud.   Via the AP

President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law will increase the nation's health care tab instead of bringing costs down, government economic forecasters concluded Thursday in a sobering assessment of the sweeping legislation.

A report by economic experts at the Health and Human Services Department said the health care remake will achieve Obama's aim of expanding health insurance — adding 34 million Americans to the coverage rolls.

But the analysis also found that the law falls short of the president's twin goal of controlling runaway costs, raising projected spending by about 1 percent over 10 years. That increase could get bigger, however, since the report also warned that Medicare cuts in the law may be unrealistic and unsustainable, forcing lawmakers to roll them back.

That was via Legal Insurection.  William Jacobson's take is,  

The CBO numbers were rigged, because the CBO was forced to follow unrealistic assumptions in its forecasts.
We said it, the American people understood it, but the Democrats forced the bill through anyway. They must pay the price in November.

Now it makes sense. The Democrats refused to delay the vote on Obamacare even though the Medicare Actuary was not able to complete his analysis and cost estimates in time for the vote. In light of this report, it is clear why the Democrats didn't want to wait. They could game the CBO, but not the Medicaire Actuary.

That goes a long way to explain WHY the Democratic Leadership wanted this legislation passed quickly.

UPDATE:  From Pete Suderman, of Reason Magazine, we have this report: 

Just look at the New York Times. Since the law's passage, the Grey Lady has reported that New York state's efforts to regulate insurance companies drove premiums through the roof and destroyed the market—and an individual mandate, which the state lacked, is a theoretical fix at best. The paper of record also reported that the law may not actually bring down costs for the sick, that the law was hastily and confusingly written (enough that it may deprive Congressional representatives and their staffs of health care coverage), that it may not help all the tough-luck cases it was supposed to resolve, and that health insurers may soon be turned into de facto public utilities.


The details vary somewhat, but cumulative picture is one that's broadly in line with what critics have been arguing since the first legislative drafts became available (at least). Rather than offer true reform for our country's health care system, ObamaCare takes a dysfunctional mess and makes it even more dysfunctional, and at greater cost.

Even Kathrine Sibelius has admitted that the Obama Administration has no  clue as to just how much this fiasco will cost the people of this country.



Now...tell me, do you really think that Congress has a clue on just what this 2500 page bill  really means to this country?  I don't think so...

Wasserman Schulz Lies About Health Care Mandate

Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schulz is caught lying about the mandate within the health care seizure bill:



Here is the pertinent section mandating that everyone purchase health insurance: 

Rep. Wasserman Schultz’s announcement came as a surprise to those of us familiar with the bill, which added to Subtitle D of the Internal Revenue Code a new Chapter 48, whose first section (Section 5000A) is titled, “REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COVERAGE” (see p. 126; all-caps in original). Subparagraph (b)(3) even provides for “PAYMENT OF PENALTY” if you don’t comply with the “REQUIREMENT.”

Repeal the bill NOW!  Vote against your incumbent Congressmen and Senators.

An Analysis on Repealing the Health Care Bill

Heres a link to an excellent analysis of how and why the government's seizure of the health care industry will likely be repealed next year.  It's by Sean Trende and posted  in Real Clear Politics.  I agree, because of the broad opposition to this bill, I believe that it will be repealed next year after the Democratic party loses control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

New Medical Symbol

To prepare for the new healthcare reform package, the White House felt it necessary to develop a new medical symbol that truly depicts the Health Care Plan you will be getting

55% Support Repealing Obamacare

Here's the latest Rasmussen poll...

Just before the House of Representatives passed sweeping health care legislation last Sunday, 41% of voters nationwide favored the legislation while 54% were opposed. Now that President Obama has signed the legislation into law, most voters want to see it repealed.

 

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the first two nights after the president signed the bill, shows that 55% favor repealing the legislation. Forty-two percent (42%) oppose repeal. Those figures include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal and 35% who Strongly Oppose it.

 

In terms of Election 2010, 52% say they’d vote for a candidate who favors repeal over one who does not. Forty-one percent (41%) would cast their vote for someone who opposes repeal.

With Mr. Obama's poll numbers already falling after the 2% upward "bounce" after passage...this is a rather telling figure.  I expect to see this number climb steadily over the next few months to peak in the 65% range by November.  Call your Congressman and register your complaint over his vote.  Call his opponents and offer to volunteer on their campaign...get off your ass and WORK!  That's the only way we're going to be able to do anything about this.  Repeal it and pass a real reform.  

• Break the monopoly. Allow competing health care organizations. If doctors can't lose their licenses, they are free to provide solutions they know work, but that the AMA won't allow.  For example, in California just 6 health insurance providers are permitted to provide health insurance within that state. This barrier exists in my own state of Maryland as well. Additionally, by permitting small businesses, as well as individuals to band together and pool their seperate and thus limited resources, so that more companies can provide affordable insurance. Better yet, sever the link between employment and health insurance. Allow individuals to purchase their own insurance directly from health insurance companies.
• Tort reform. Most of the tort lawyers are parasites, and oddly enough, like John Edwards many are Democrats. They add no value, except to keep some doctors honest, but their role should be far more limited. Limit damages to actual loss, and only with gross negligence. Loser pays the winner's legal bills.
• Make health costs 100% tax-free. Better, eliminate the 16th amendment (the income tax system). Then establish a national sales tax system. Additionally, allow portability between states and permit ALL of the health insurance organizations to provide insurance regardless of state lines. The moment you do this, people go out and join co-ops and get great rates.
• Pharmaceutical Costs. Force the Pharmaceutical companies to sell to other countries at the same rate as they charge their biggest customers here. They will then pay more, and we'll pay less, as we will no longer subsidizing them.
• Fix SS/Medicare. Decree that those now under the age of 50 will no longer be eligible for benefits upon early retirement. Move the retirement age back a couple years, since people are living far longer (I would move the age to 65 as a minimum for eligibility for Medicare). Prosecute all the fraudulent disability claims vigorously.