Obama pushes forward with Health Care

Obama pushes forward with Health Care

President Barack Obama is making a fresh attempt to rescue his health care overhaul by proposing a measure that would allow the government to deny or roll back egregious insurance premium increases that infuriate consumers.

Coming just days before a White House health care summit with congressional leaders of both parties, Obama's legislative proposal, which will be unveiled later Monday, likely represents the president's last chance to salvage his signature issue.

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity because details have not yet been officially released, said the insurance rate proposal would give the federal Health and Human Services Department - in conjunction with state authorities - the power to deny substantial premium increases, limit them, or demand rebates for consumers.

"The fundamental point I want to make is the arrogance of all of this. You know, they are saying: 'Ignore the wishes of the American people. We know more about this than you do. And we're going to jam it down your throats no matter what.' That is why the public is so angry at this Congress and this administration over this issue," said McConnell, R-Ky, speaking on "Fox News Sunday."

Oversight of insurance companies has traditionally been a state responsibility. The proposal for a new federal role calls for setting up a new seven-member Health Insurance Rate Authority that would monitor insurance industry behavior and issue an annual report. States that beef up their consumer protection programs would be eligible for a share of $250 million in federal grants.

CBSNEWS: Obama Reneges on Transparency...

CBSNEWS: Obama Reneges on Transparency...

So that's C-SPAN, CNN and CBS that are now calling Obama to task, are they real news sources??

Sad day... "Obama, Dems to sidestep GOP on health care"

CNN: Sources: Obama, Dems to sidestep GOP

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama gave his blessing Tuesday for congressional Democratic leaders to bypass formal House and Senate talks to meld their health care bills, according to two congressional Democratic leadership sources.

The two sources told CNN that Obama and Democratic congressional leaders will instead hold informal negotiations to sidestep possible Republican delays of the process, likely shutting out Republicans from talks on the final health care bill.

Its funny how Hope and Change was so hopeful ...

Listen to Barack promise openness and C-SPAN coverage of Health Care.

C-SPAN DARE TO DEMS: OPEN HEALTH TALKS!

Obama, Dems Agree to Closed-Door Health Negotiations

Fear monger

Fear monger

BIG SCARE: OBAMA WARNS USA 'WILL GO BANKRUPT' WITHOUT HEALTH BILL...

But....

National debt now above official debt limit...
Obama signs $1.1 trillion spending bill...
House approves $155 billion for 'jobs'...

New Lows

Obama: Health Care is like Auto Insurance

ABC News: Obama: “What I think is appropriate is that in the same way that everybody has to get auto insurance and if you don't, you're subject to some penalty, that in this situation, if you have the ability to buy insurance, it's affordable and you choose not to do so, forcing you and me and everybody else to subsidize you, you know, there's a thousand dollar hidden tax that families all across America are -- are burdened by because of the fact that people don't have health insurance, you know, there's nothing wrong with a penalty.”

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Well there is one important flaw in your all too common analogy... PEOPLE AREN'T REQUIRED TO BUY CARS, BUT THEY ARE REQUIRED TO BE ALIVE.

Buying a car is choice. Taking the bus is a choice. Car pooling is a choice. Have one car in your family rather than 3 cars is a choice.

BEING ALIVE IS NOT A CHOICE!

And requiring people to have health insurance is an infringement on the basic freedoms of the Constitution. The federal government does not get to control your heath! Where are the pro-choice people on this? Are you telling me that the government doesn't get a say when it comes to killing unborn babies, but when it comes to your entire physical health they are supposed to dictate it all??

Obama strategy: Marginalize most powerful critics

President Obama is working systematically to marginalize the most powerful forces behind theRepublican Party, setting loose top White Houseofficials to undermine conservatives in the media, business and lobbying worlds.

With a series of private meetings and public taunts, the White House has targeted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the biggest-spending pro-business lobbying group in the country; Rush Limbaugh, the country’s most-listened-to conservative commentator; and now, with a new volley of combative rhetoric in recent days, the insurance industry, Wall Street executives and Fox News.

...

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This article was highlighted on Meet the Press today.

NBC uber-libs including Joe Scarborough and Tavis Smiley all agreed that:

1. Great presidents aren't born, they are made. They are made by being held accountable. And that is what Fox is doing and that is why other outlets are following their lead.
2. The strategy of marginalization is not working. FoxNews ratings are through the roof.
3. Taking on your critics is nothing new. All Presidents do it. But Obama is doing it very publicly and too directly. Also, Obama promised to be above this and to change the politics of Washington.

The panel continued by saying that he has been wishy washy.

A fascinating final point... Obama's brought on his current health care problems when he bullied through the Stimulus. By passing a $1 trillion stimulus with no bi-partisan support he put his Administrations credibility on the line and there is no results that back up his promises.

Some points on Afghanistan:

1. Obama is "dithering" on troop increases
2. Obama called this war a "war of necessity"
3. Obama removed the commander in Afghanistan and replaced him with McChrystal
4. Obama is publicly not supporting McChrystal (who he appointed as part of his new strategy)
5. Our allies are supporting the McChrystal plan

I have to say Meet the Press was very balanced and the liberals we actually holding him accountable.

WTH? School Kids Sing Praises of Health Care Reform on CNN

Speechless...

At least that kid actually made sense. I think Obama should listen that kid.

Throw your hands up for health care reform!

Commentary: Obama's mistakes are a warning sign

From the front page of CNN:

During the past few months, two events have revealed a side of President Obama that we knew little about. First came his remark in July when he said at a press conference that the police who arrested Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates had acted "stupidly."

The unrehearsed remark triggered controversy right at a time when Democrats needed to focus public attention on health care.

And last week, at a climactic moment for the health care debate in the Senate, Obama suddenly went to make a personal pitch for holding the 2016 Summer Olympics in Chicago, Illinois.

...

While the comment about the Cambridge police was more understandable as a slip-up that will happen in the lifecycle of a presidency, the Olympics decision is more troubling. This was a decision vetted by his advisers and clearly thought through by the president himself. The decision caused an embarrassing situation and wasted precious media time, not on health care, but on defending his actions.

...

In the end, two issues will shape this presidency much more than the Olympics: the outcome of the health care debate and the decision over whether to send troops to Afghanistan.

Nonetheless, the incident should serve as a warning to the president and his staff. This is the kind of action they should not repeat.

Obama: health care plan won't cover illegal immigrants, so we should legalize them.

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.

"If anything, this debate underscores the necessity of passing comprehensive immigration reform and resolving the issue of 12 million undocumented people living and working in this country once and for all."

Mr. Obama said legalizing illegal immigrants is a way to take the sting out of the entire issue.

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You lie!!

Well, he is at least being misleading. True, his plan doesn't cover illegals. But he wants to make illegals LEGAL.

That's Hope and Change I can believe in.

What scare tactics?

From Obama tonight:

OBAMA SCARE: 'MORE WILL DIE' IF WE DO NOTHING ON HEALTH...
'DEFICIT WILL GROW. MORE FAMILIES WILL GO BANKRUPT. MORE BUSINESSES WILL CLOSE'...
SYSTEM 'AT BREAKING POINT'...
'TIME FOR GAMES HAS PASSED'...

'We have seen scare tactics'...

hahaha! Nothing like scaring people with scare tactics.

President Obama on Wednesday urged liberal Democrats to consider alternatives to a government-run health insurance plan, even as he re-stated his support for the idea.

"It's worth noting that a strong majority of Americans still favor a public insurance option of the sort I've proposed tonight." ... really??

"The time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action," Obama said. "Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together ... Now is the time to deliver on health care."

Children!! The time for bickering is over! Go to your rooms and think about health care!

"We've seen Washington at its best and at its worst. We have seen many in this chamber work tirelessly for the better part of this year to offer thoughtful ideas about how to achieve reform," Obama said. "But what we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government. Instead of honest debate, we've seen scare tactics. Some have dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise."

Barack, I don't think scolding Congress (and implicitly the American people) helps you sell your ideas.

If other countries are doing it...

French gov't to tackle surging health care deficit...

FLASHBACK: French healthcare 'badly run'...

UK: Restrictions on prescription drugs 'defy belief'...

UNDERSTANDABLE, CLEAR TERMS

BIDEN: OBAMA SPEECH TO LAY OUT IN 'UNDERSTANDABLE, CLEAR TERMS' WHAT HE WANTS FOR HEALTHCARE...

"It's going to be a major speech laying out in understandable, clear terms what our administration wants to happen with regard to health care and what we're going to push for, specifically," Biden said

You heard it straight from Mr. Gaffe himself, Obama will lay it out clearly and understandably.

We will see...

UK - Death Panels

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, a group of experts who care for the terminally ill claim that some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death.

Under NHS guidance introduced across England to help doctors and medical staff deal with dying patients, they can then have fluid and drugs withdrawn and many are put on continuous sedation until they pass away.

As a result the scheme is causing a “national crisis” in patient care, the letter states. It has been signed palliative care experts including Professor Peter Millard, Emeritus Professor of Geriatrics, University of London, Dr Peter Hargreaves, a consultant in Palliative Medicine at St Luke’s cancer centre in Guildford, and four others.

“Forecasting death is an inexact science,”they say. Patients are being diagnosed as being close to death “without regard to the fact that the diagnosis could be wrong.

“As a result a national wave of discontent is building up, as family and friends witness the denial of fluids and food to patients."

If they can't get clunkers right...

... why should we let them run health care?

SHOW THEM THE MONEY: Dealers Still Waiting For 'Clunker' Cash...

'We had 102... we've been paid for one'

What else should we blame? The Hippocratic Oath!!!

Courtesy of Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health adviser to President Barack Obama, brother of Cheif of Staff Rahm Emanuel:

Dr. Emanuel is part of a school of thought that redefines a physician’s duty, insisting that it includes working for the greater good of society instead of focusing only on a patient’s needs.

Whoa! Hello Obamunism! The greater good of society?! Doctors are supposed to heal the ills of society??

Dr. Emanuel blames the Hippocratic Oath for the "overuse" of medical care: "Medical school education and post graduate education emphasize thoroughness," he writes. "This culture is further reinforced by a unique understanding of professional obligations, specifically the Hippocratic Oath's

"Vague promises of savings from cutting waste, enhancing prevention and wellness, installing electronic medical records and improving quality of care are merely 'lipstick' cost control, more for show and public relations than for true change."

True reform, he argues, must include redefining doctors' ethical obligations

In numerous writings, Dr. Emanuel chastises physicians for thinking only about their own patient's needs.

Dr. Emanuel believes doctors should serve two masters, the patient and society, and that medical students should be trained "to provide socially sustainable, cost-effective care."

Dr. Emanuel argues that to make such decisions, the focus cannot be only on the worth of the individual.

Dr. Emanuel concedes that his plan appears to discriminate against older people

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What part about rationing, death panels, socialism and Obamunism are people not seeing here?

Also, let's not forget that The Health Commissioner is going to dole out health care based on your income and IRS filings.

The finger pointing continues and they turn on their own

The finger pointing continues and they turn on their own

Moderate Blue Dog Democrats "just want to cause trouble," said Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who heads the health subcommittee on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

"They're for the most part, I hate to say, brain dead, but they're just looking to raise money from insurance companies and promote a right-wing agenda that is not really very useful in this whole process," Stark told reporters on a conference call.

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What do you do when you've run out of people to blame? Blame your colleagues!

Who's to blame for everything we can't accomplish:

• Bush
• Talk Radio
• Mobs of un-american Tea-baggers
• Vast right-wing conspiracies
• FoxNews
• Bush
• Rich People
• ... and Blue Dog Democrats "just looking to raise money from insurance companies and promote a right-wing agenda"

Welcome to bizarro world...

Surprise... Pete Stark is from California!

Section 431(a) .. read the bill people!

From our friends at CBS

Section 431(a) of the bill says that the IRS must divulge taxpayer identity information, including the filing status, the modified adjusted gross income, the number of dependents, and "other information as is prescribed by" regulation. That information will be provided to the new Health Choices Commissioner and state health programs and used to determine who qualifies for "affordability credits."

Section 245(b)(2)(A) says the IRS must divulge tax return details -- there's no specified limit on what's available or unavailable -- to the Health Choices Commissioner. The purpose, again, is to verify "affordability credits."

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The Health Choices Commissioner is going to determine who gets care based on their income? Shouldn't we determine who gets care based on THEIR HEALTH! What else is the Commissioner going to decide? Can someone tell me how this isn't a tax? Can someone tell me how this isn't rationing? In fact, this is the dictionary definition of rationing. The Comish is going to ration "affordabioity credits" to the people the GOVERNMENT feels are most deserving. Someone please tell me how this wouldn't be ripe with political intervention? Politicians pander to the elderly primarily because the Goverment controls their social security. If you control social security you control the votes... if you control health care you control the people who get the most "affordability credits"

No one left to blame...

Now Obama is blaming the media... the media!

Press Sec Robert Gibbs has grown more sardonic and patronizing as the summer wears on and Obama’s poll numbers wilt.

The press secretary has lectured reporters on the nature of their jobs — apparently to defend the administration against “misinformation” rather than asking impertinent questions like “How will you pay for it?”

Gibbs is so crabby because, incredibly, the administration blames the media for the president’s problems.

It tried blaming Republicans, but the GOP is too far out of power. When the leader of the free world is complaining about a posting on the former governor of Alaska’s Facebook page, he’s got problems.

Team Obama tried blaming special interests, but that was a bust too.

Democrats tried blaming the “mobs” of “un-American” protesters and “evil mongers” who were giving raspberries to members of Congress at town halls.

That flopped too, leaving the administration to blame the messenger.

And one can understand why Gibbs would be a bit shocked by the slightly less accommodating tone of the media.

Reporters who traveled with the Obama campaign tell horror stories about the organization — dishonesty, rudeness and abysmal access.

Honestly, let's look at the list of people Barack has blamed since taking office:

• Bush - who set the bar exceedingly low for any President to compare themselves to
• The GOP - who does not control either house of congress or the Presidency
• The Insurance Companies and Special Interests Groups - Lobbyists, what?
• "Un-american" "mobs" who are "disrupting" Town Hall meetings
• Talk Radio - I find it ironic that the king of new media and main stream media's golden boy feels threatened by AM RADIO!
• Former Governors of Alaska and Facebook - when you are blaming Sarah Palin and Facebook you know you have lost control of the debate.
• Rich People
• a Racist Cop
• And finally he is now blaming "the media" for his Health Care implosion.

Not to be outdone:

NY Gov. blames his problems on his race...

and that 'The next victim is President Obama'..

and... NY Gov.: People get 'nervous' if there are 'too many' minorities in office...

Sounds like more racial pimpin'

Meanwhile...POLL: New Low for Obama Approval Index...

Obama to raise 10-year deficit to $9 trillion

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to approximately $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday.

The higher deficit figure, based on updated economic data, brings the White House budget office into line with outside estimates and gives further fuel to President Barack Obama's opponents, who say his spending plans are too expensive in light of budget shortfalls.

The White House took heat for sticking with its $7.108 trillion forecast earlier this year after the Congressional Budget Office forecast that deficits between 2010 and 2019 would total $9.1 trillion.