Health Care Reform Summit Live Blog
[ALL TIMES MOUNTAIN -- so I don't have to do math.]
8:43AM I came in at about 8:30, just in time to see Lamar Alexander quote de Tocqueville, praise LBJ, and tell President Obama they needed to “start over” on health care. Then Nancy Pelosi came on and said we have a moral responsibility not to pass on a huge debt to our children, and I immediately regretted not having made a very large pitcher of bloody marys. And made it with grain alcohol.
8:44AM Harry Reid is telling a sob story. Which is eerily like Dr. Seuss writing erotica.
8:58AM I’m pretty sure that every time Obama goes into Lecturing Professor Mode, he loses a voter. And right now, he’s not just lecturing, but lying — the CBO said his “plan” can’t be scored, because it’s too vague. And yet he’s promising 15-20% reductions in premiums.
9:02AM “Rather than argue with you in public about it…” said Lamar Alexander to the President. Then why did you show up, Lamar? “We’re gonna be here all afternoon,” said Obama. This is gonna kill me.
9:06AM Tom Coburn is speaking, and of course he’s a medical doctor. And he’s rightly pointing out that government already distributes 60% of health care — and does so in the worst possible manner. Obama’s bill is more of the same.
9:08AM You’ve got to respect Coburn, but when he talks about government going after fraudulent spending, that’s like hiring Ted Bundy to manage campus security.
9:10 Again from Coburn: — government creates diabetes through food stamps and school lunches. By all means let’s put the lunch lady in charge of liver transplants.
9:15AM What Steny Hoyer won’t say: Your health care provisions will change. His won’t.
9:33AM If this summit is supposed to give HCR some momentum, I don’t see it working. Although it might just reduce medical costs after all — it might be weeks, maybe even month, before political junkies need to buy another bottle of Unisom.
9:42AM I missed the speaker’s name, up getting a cup of coffee, but he makes an excellent point — by federally setting insurance standards and prices and mandating purchases, you’ve eliminated competition. Completely.
9:48AM Chuck Schumer says your doc can get paid four grand by sticking his head in the door. Maybe under your plan, Senator.
9:51AM Michelle Malkin tweeted, “Sen. McConnell notes: Dems=52 minutes. GOP=24 minutes.” This isn’t a summit — it’s a lecture.
10:00AM Yes, I really did just hear the President explain that his plan would give you fewer insurance choices, and then define that as “a benefit.”
10:03AM I missed this bit that ran before I got started, but Nancy Pelosi claims this bill will create 400,000 jobs, “almost immediately.” See the video on RCP.
10:06AM Senator Clyburn complains that people have trouble “navigating” the current system. For your entertainment, here’s a map of the new system.
Feeling better yet?
10:11AM If there are to be no caps on payments from insurers and very hard caps on payments to insurers, then how are costs going to be cut? And where will the extra money come from? Just askin’.
10:12AM Boustany says he wants to simplify things. See the 10:06AM entry above.
10:17AM Maybe it’s just me projecting, but the President doesn’t look like he wants to be there today. He’s spending lots of time slouched, chin on hand. Bored. Maybe even a little resentful.
That’s no way to sell an unpopular bill to a dubious public.
10:20AM First, the President set an August deadline for his health care bill. When that slipped, it became Labor Day. Then Christmas. Now… like, whenever, dude. And he complains that he can’t even get the senators to stay on the clock today?
10:26AM I zoned out there for a minute. Was George Miller saying his cleft palate has acne children?
10:31AM “We’re not campaigning anymore. The election is over… we’re supposed to be talking about insurance.” That was Obama, addressing John McCain like a child. People with that dismissive attitude will soon be running the entire health care industry, if Obama gets his way.
10:40AM Cantor is good, but I wish he’d just lay it on the line and say, “This IS a takeover.”
10:44AM The arrogance. “Nine or ten million Americans” might be forced to change plans, Obama admits. But that’s “out of 300 million.” As I said last week on this takeover — you can’t make an omelet without screwing some chickens.
10:47AM Full-bore lecture mode. I honestly don’t know how Obama expects to move his bill forward when almost every critique earns his condescension.
10:49AM “We insure ourselves by making sure we insure somebody else.” To paraphrase: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
That sounds familiar somehow.
10:54AM Louise Slaughter reminds us that she was here for the Clinton health care takeover debate, back in ’93. I think it’s past time that Ms. Slaughter returned to New York.
10:57AM Break time so House members can take a vote. Back in 45 minutes.
11:19AM While you wait for recess to end, check out two of this week’s three Trifectas on PJTV. On the first one, Scott Ott, Bill Whittle and I look at the insanity of the politics behind the bill. On the second one, we look at the insane practicalities.
Hilarity ensues.
11:31AM Just seen on C-SPAN: The President determining which of our arguments are “legitimate.” Thank you so much for your help, sir.
11:59AM They can’t get back from recess on time (did kickball go extra innings?), but they promise not to create any waiting lines at the free clinic where your specialist used to have an office!
12:07PM Mike Enzi just demonstrated that the claim of “400 Republicans amendments” to be pretty much a big fat lie. Besides, most amendments have little to do with a bill — they’re usually earmarks and trifles. The real meat is in the bill itself, and the Democrats gave the Republicans zero input. Although from watching this thing unfold today, I’m not so sure more cooks would have made the soup any better.
12:10PM Tom Harkin hits the “we agree on a lot” talking point, then goes into a constituent sob story. Lather, rinse, repeat.
12:13PM Harkin: “What I’m saying Mr President and others, is this all hangs together.” No thanks, Senator — in this case I’d rather hang separately.
12:17PM “The more people in the pool, the cheaper it is for everybody.” Harkin is a treasure trove of hilarity today, if you’ll excuse the mixed metaphor. Is it cheaper for young people who only need or want catastrophic (or no) insurance, to be thrown into the same pool with the sick and elderly? Well, no. What Harkin wants to do is enlarge, radically, the transfer of wealth from the young (and typically poorer) to the old (and typically) richer. Why won’t the Republicans grab this obvious point and poke the Democrats in the eye with it?
12:23PM Bam! There it is. Obama just outlined how he’s going to get us all into the same “pool,” using the “turn the heat up slowly” method. In other words, we’re not getting a single payer system — but our kids will.
12:25PM Stop the presses! Jay Rockefeller claims insurance companies want to make money. Can we please get someone to fact-check his ass?
12:30PM Good grief! Rockefeller just said “we’ll be watching you” if you don’t buy his health insurance. Has he no idea how that sounds to a typical American?
12:40PM Obama: “Each family with health insurance… is picking up $1000 for everyone without insurance.” And they’ll pay even more (with less choice) under this “reform” bill. Where’s the appeal?
12:44PM Joe Biden finds something they all agree on: His hair plugs are ridiculous.
12:48PM Reading the body language, I’m not sure Obama has ever hated Biden more than he does right now. Unless there’s a tie, Biden doesn’t even get a vote on this thing — and he keeps going on and on and on.
12:50PM Biden on Medicare: “It’s and entitlement,” and “it exists.”
Thanks, Joe!
12:54PM Paul Ryan is reading the riot act. Too many facts coming too quickly. If anyone looks good today, even grading on a curve, it’s Ryan and Cantor and… that’s about it.
12:55PM “Hiding spending does not reduce spending.” That’s Ryan, and it’s your takeaway line today.
12:57PM Wow. Who’s got this on TiVo? I need a screen grab of something. Sometime around 12:56PM Mountain C-SPAN showed Obama just glowering at Ryan. I mean, a real if-looks-could-kill moment. Just brutal. No… wait… not “just” brutal. It was also quite revealing.
1:05PM Every time I catch Obama with his chin on his hand, it relieves my boredom just a little bit. But, boy, it does add up.
1:14PM Grassley makes the excellent point that just because Congress says they’ll cut spending today, doesn’t mean they won’t reinstate the spending tomorrow. Of course, I used about 18,000 fewer words than Grassley — but I’d really like to get to the drinking soon.
1:15PM Grassley: “I don’t see any future Congress having any more guts than we do.”
1:22PM Conrad reminds us that sick people spend a lot more money on health care. Again, we’re going to need a fact-checker on his ass.
1:27PM Good for John Boehner — he called it a “takeover” and didn’t apologize.
1:33PMJim Cooper says Americans wonder how Congress behaves when the cameras are off.
No.
We.
Don’t.
1:38PM Do not taunt the Happy Fun President.
1:45PM Dick Durbin thinks that anyone who suffers from malpractice should get whatever… well, he doesn’t say. Presumably, whatever a jury is willing to award. That’ll cut costs.
1:49PM Apparently, the President wasn’t too fond of Grassley’s remarks, either. Enjoy the view UTNOPOTUS. (Up The Nose of the President of The United States.)
1:56PM Barrasso: White House’s own actuary says health bill will cause 20% of all hospitals and clinics to go underwater.
1:59PM “It’s my heart, it’s my life.” YES! I said to Bill Whittle and Scott Ott in our virtual “green room” before taping Trifecta on Wednesday, that if the GOP didn’t bring up the Canadian premiere coming here for heart surgery, then this whole thing would be a waste. Glad Barrasso did it.
2:00PM “They’re not premieres of somewhere, sultans of anyplace.” That’s our golden orator in action.
2:02PM Obama points out that members of Congress are in the top income bracket. What wrong with this picture?
Also, Waxman is on. And I can’t drink. Right now I’m looking at my keyboard the way Obama looks at Paul Ryan.
2:08PM It’s in my contract that I don’t have to watch or listen to Henry Waxman while sober. Blogging will resume just as soon as he’s finished speaking, two or three forevers from now.
2:13PM Shorter Peter Roskam: This bill’s so bad, even President Obama can’t sell it. Followed by, “this isn’t a prop — this is the Senate bill!”
2:21PM Since he’s retiring, Chris Dodd would like to remind that his health care coverage is way better than yours. And so is his pension. As is his quaint Irish cottage.
2:28PM Joe Barton: Texas has gained 18,000 doctors and lowered malpractice insurance premiums by 27% since instituting malpractice reform in 2003.
2:32PM Please, no cruel jokes about Ron Wyden’s lisp. His speech therapist died recently in a tragic spittle accident.
2:37PM Democrats agree: “American health care is the best. It’s also malicious, unfair, and bankrupting us.” OK, then.
2:41PM Patty Murray: “Americans are in a box… and passionate about the public option.” That’s one big commie shipping crate.
2:50PM I do wish Dingle would stop his pathetic suck-up routine. If this is the big finish, this big bill is finished.
2:55PM OK, that’s all I can take. Give me a couple minutes to write the wrap.
2:57PM Wait… one last thing before the wrap. Nancy Pelosi promises that insurance companies will exist on the playing field of the American people.
Does that even mean anything?
3:00PM Yikes. The President says he’s going to go on for ten more minutes. Should I go ahead and write the wrap-up, or listen some more? It’s been a long, long day, folks…
3:03PM Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you did just hear a Democrat praising Wal-Mart’s business practices.
3:06PM Free markets for Wrangler Jeans = good, says the President. Free markets for insurance = “race to the bottom.”
3:07PM Just a second thought on the 3:06PM post. If some things are just too important for liberty, then what’s liberty for?
3:14PM Every extra second the President speaks, I stomp on a kitten.
3:15PM Seriously, I thought the President was supposed to address the big themes — think, Reagan, Clinton — and not address every little detail. This is not inspiring. This is pure hectoring. And it’s not going to get public opinion to budge.
3:18PM “What I’d like to propose is… the Republicans do a little soul searching.” That’s not a proposal.
3:22PMHere’s the wrap.
Not many people are watching this thing today, and not many more will pay it much mind. But the summit will get some nice media spin, and public support for two unreadable bills will rise. A little. For a few days. And then… nada.
The Republicans brought their A-game today (I’m grading on a curve) and the Democrats brought their sob stories. And the fact remains that most people are pretty happy with their health care and very mindful of their wallets — which is why talking dollars today was a smarter move than talking emotions.
Most everyone said the President was setting a trap for the Republicans, and on PJTV, I agreed. But I also quoted the only semi-memorable bit of dialogue from the Star Wars prequels:
Obi-Wan Kenobi: I sense a trap.
Anakin Skywalker: Next move?
Obi-Wan Kenobi: [smiling] Spring the trap.
Fortunately the Republicans did just that. And if what we saw was supposed to be a trap, it was set by one of the Spy vs Spy guys.
This thing is a public health hazard. To paraphrase Mark Twain, this is “Audio/Visual Chloroform”.
Prediction: This will blow up in the face of the Dems.
new drinking game: one shot per use of the phrase “Donut Hole”
I agree that our health care system is sick. The Republicans want to prescribe some antibiotics. The Democrats want to try a riskier scheme involving amputations and cloning.
The chloroform is working… Nancy’s looking pretty Hot!
Question to the forum: How do you “Cut Costs” on a problem by raising funding for the program? Dont you “cut costs” by freezing spending and then doing more with that money?
Ooo – they want to cut fraud & waste in Medicare! What a marvelous idea! Why did no one think of that before
Obama says “I don’t want to interrupt” everytime he interrupts
Having worked for many years in an operational area of academia which was, nevertheless, managed by phd’s with only theoretical experience (and that in non-relevant areas anyway), this is all looking narcoleptically familiar. Only thing missing is the guy writing on the big manilla pad..
When can we start the name-calling? This a clear display of vote buying.
I’m not interested in bi-partizenship, or reaching across the aisle or compromise, or paying to insure an infinite number of illegals. Jeez.
Start fixing the problems with tort reform, nationwide health insurance, recouping of the billions in annual fraud, and securing the border.
Hey! No drinking games! This thing is SIX HOURS long. You’ll die of alcohol poisoning, or at least, drive up medical costs as they rush you to the hospital. Of course, six hours of this, aand it may happen, anyway.
And no sick jokes about Pelosi being hot. I’m drinking here!. I only want to throw up from drinking too much.
uh, is it just me or did the White House feed just go down? And just as Paul Ryan (I think it was him) was taking it to the Dems about killing competition by federalizing health care. He was speaking in clear, direct language….and then blank…ooops…it just came back.
Too bad this isn’t feel-a-vision. I want some fondling while I’m being f*****.
I’ve lived — and been treated — under both Canada’s and Britain’s systems of public health care. When I came to the US, I saw machines, tests and a high standard personal care from medical personnel that I’d never seen before.
Whatever these guys say that limits the supply side of medical treatment means that we will pay for it in blood and shorter lives. Not to mention the time spent sitting in waiting rooms for sub-standard treatment (this being the most offensive part of government sanctioned medical care).
This same kinda thing happens around page 700 of Atlas Shrugged, right? The doc “went on strike” because they told him who he had to see and how much he could charge ….
Ryan & Boustany talking sense. I thought the GOP had no idea and no heart? The MSM told me so.
I don’t understand why republicans haven’t brought the 2,000 page Obamacare plan and started reading it outloud, page by page. And then stop for a minute and ask his Excellency, Barack Hussein Obama – did you really expect to discuss all 2,000 pages of this monstrosity in 3 hours?
Is there anyone who thought this wouldn’t be an Obama lecture/admonition to shut up and go along?
RE: #14. Bin there, done that. Medical strikes are commonplace in Canada and European nations. And the money the pols put into “reducing waiting times” gets sucked up by the big medical public service employee unions. It never trickles down into more beds in the hospital, more MRI machines or more slots in the operating room.
#16 Hyphenated American – 6 hours, dude. 6 hours of monotony. Your point is valid, however. That would be fun, to have someone droning on in the background reading the bill.
The Pubbies shouldn’t even be there, really. They should have told him they were not going to debate this stupid healthcare bill anymore. The people have spoken. In the court of public opinion, “We Won!” Throw that back in his face.
Heard on the Bill Press Show this morning: A woman without health insurance broke her arm pretty bad. She had to have pins put in. She didn’t want to go to the hospital and refused to stay overnight because she lacked health insurance.
The Cost: $24,000.00!!!!!!!!!
What is it the Repubs and their followers don’t understand about the need to address this problem? Start over??? Why don’t the Repubs et al realize folks are dying????
Repubs disgust me totally.
Wow, Eric Cantor.
It’s like taking a shower after the endless bloviation.
This is giving Obama a radical Marxist a forum for appearing reasonable.
Hey Rush, McCain let him as did other GOP senator’s let Obama call him by his first name while they called him “Mr. President”. McCain did not make this despicable human being look anything other than presidential to the average nitwit American.
Rush is bullshi**ing about how well the Republicans look to those “undecided independent” morons that hold us hostage.
We are on our own. Keep boycotting and taking to the streets. We haven’t even reached first base.
Send McCain packing in November.
Uh oh, the theoretical perfesser is off again.
Earlier, it was some problem had with ACME insurance (name made up) when they didn’t want to provide him (Barry) coverage when he had a fender bender.
He’d expect an apple from his car insurer, he got an orangel.
Can anyone tell me why the President doesn’t seem to need his teleprompter today?
One has to wonder how many unemployed are sitting at home watching this and thinking, “Screw health care, what about me?”
Cantor is good???? WTF are you talking about? Is this a rightie blog? If it is, I’m out of here. Righties are nuts.
Just so you will ask the question that has nothing to do with health care reform. Get with the issue, please.
Do you want a civil servant in DC (sorry, an expert with a degree in statistics) deciding that your Bubby and Zeide shouldn’t be given treatment because of….whatever…or WORSE, YOU shouldn’t be given treatment — after you’ve worked all your life and had it taxed away to pay for SOMEONE ELSE’S treatment, PLUS that statistician’s salary and benefits.
That’s what its about here, folks. And don’t tell me that’s rubbish. That’s the case in Canada and Europe.
And thats the half-time whistle folks.
Reply to a DownriverDem #21:
“A woman without health insurance broke her arm pretty bad. She had to have pins put in. She didn’t want to go to the hospital and refused to stay overnight because she lacked health insurance. The Cost: $24,000.00!!!!!!!!!”
This was the cost of the medical service. So, what is stopping Obama from examining why putting pins into a broken arms costs $24,000? Did someone say “tort reform”, “FDA reform”?
If you really want to cut medical COSTS, I suggest we implement these easy, simple steps that I listed on my blog a year ago:
1. Allow the sale in the US of all medical drugs which are legal in EU, Canada, Australia and Japan. FDA approval should be optional.
2. Everyone who has a doctor’s license in those countries should be allowed to practice medicine in US. Moreover, US policy must encourage and aid immigration of doctors from those countries to America. Immediate permanent residency to all practicing doctors from developed countries who want to come to the US.
3. Abolish state limitations on minimum medical insurance coverage.
4. Give private doctors and hospitals same protection from lawsuits as the government entities have.
5. Stop the influx of illegal immigrants.
Hubris. Obama was/is “too clever by half.” He thought/thinks he can hype the natives with the same tired (and blatantly false) talking points as before. He and the rest of the Dims are looking bad, bad, bad. They are totally failing to address the many substantive points the Elephants raise. The answer of the Donkeys to every question is “Cheeseburgers!, Cheeseburgers!, Cheeseburgers!”
Did you notice when they took the break that EVERYONE avoids Biden like he’s the obnoxious loser at a party? Not one person wanted to even acknowledge he was in the room during this recess.
It’s a bad bill, downriver, opposed by a significant percentage of Americans.
Cantor proposes scrapping a couple thousand pages of convoluted bureaucratic verbiage and starting again.
You have a problem with that ?
I wish we had know before the election that the President had such poor judgement as to buy insurance from a company that as any child knows, is also responsible for so much mayhem in the southwestern US, I’m talking of course about the “ACME Corporation”, who with their defective parachute bombs, rocket powered cars and non-osha standard sized anvils have inflicted so much pain and stress on the wildlife of Arizona.
Cant he buy insurance from a lizard or that girl named “flo” like the rest of us?
DR Dem – what blog did you think you were on? Get a clue dude. Get Mommy to ‘splain it to you – Mommy being the fed govt.
1. frank martin:
Prediction: This will blow up in the face of the Dems.
RE: #31. Increasing the supply side of medical treatment. That would do it.
Mr. Independent – TOTUS is not necessary, because Obama has been campaigning about healthcare for three years, now. Got it down pat. All the dismissiveness and sneering is just the gravy.
DownRiverDem – Righties like to drunkblog, too. We like Stephen Green. He’s hilarious.
As for people dying (and a 24k emergency bill), why do you think it costs so much in the first place? Government created the problem, and you want, what, more government as the solution?
1. frank martin:
Prediction: This will blow up in the face of the Dems.
Sadly, no. The Republicans are always ready to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by aiding and abetting progressivism.
Honestly, the Republicans could ruin a wet dream. They didnt need to go to this circle jerk, and like everybody with a brain said, this just gave the democrats the opportunity to polish this turd–at the republicans expense.
I just pray that some of the incoming republicans are more articulate than McCain.
#25 state “Can anyone tell me why the President doesn’t seem to need his teleprompter today?’
Yes,see my last post #23.
He’s playing executive. He knows less about his own bill than the Republicans. As usual he’s the least qualified person in the room.
If you are an Independent in the sense that you are still open to Obama’s solutions than You are what’s wrong with this country.
The man is a Marxist/black supremacist that is illiterate in business, economics along with our nation’s history and all of Western Civilization.
He hates our country and Constitution, “Mr Independent”.
A total ZERO.
“Testiness (exhibited) on the President’s part and an inability to listen.”
Exactly.
Lest there was any doubt that Obama was lying about the CBO saying that premiums would go down, from the CBO Report on Premiums:
Additional to #16:
GOP should bring up the Senate bill (Obama said he got 96% of what he wanted in it) – and I mean, bring all 2,000 pages into the room and drop it on the table. And they should start reading from it – occasionally asking His Majesty Barack Hussein Obama some deep penetrating questions.
For example: “My Lord, we are not sure what section 35, subsection J requires of your American subjects. Would YOU take YOUR time and explain to us in plain words what this subsection means. Hugs and Kisses, Republican Party”.
Obama wanted a show – lets give it to him. Lets turn this into a theatre, for God’s sake.
frank martin
Thanks so much for that comment.
Beep Beep!
downriver dem – why didn’t the woman have healh insurance? In Canada and other socialized countries, your health care isn’t free. You pay for it, far more than your insurance plicy would cost, out of your high taxes.
The extremely high cost of health care in Canada has to cover those who, like that woman without health insurance, don’t pay taxes. Or, was it the situation where the woman CHOSE not to purchase health insurance? You could clarify this.
However, in Canada, any and all who pay taxes, – this money goes to health care. And it has to be a LOT more than it would be if the individuals CHOSE to purchase health care insurance. Because the people who pay taxes are paying not only for their own health care but also for those who don’t pay taxes.
Oh and in Canada, many treatments aren’t covered by the ‘universal health care’ of the govt. Got that? You might need treatment but the govt won’t pay for it. You have to pay for it your own. So, you end up paying for basic health care, plus the basic health care of those who don’t pay taxes, and, all those costs that govt won’t pay for!
And the quality of care doesn’t match that of the US, which is why so many, many people who can afford it, including Canadian politicians, go to the US for treatment.
Don’t be naive. You get what you pay for, and socialized health care, where the people who work have to support both themselves and those who don’t work, can’t cover the full health care needs.
Additional:
GOP should also raise the question of Obama’s secret deal with the pharmaceutical companies – in return to some rule in Obamacare, the pharms agreed to spend 150 MILLION dollars to support him.
It would only make sense for some brave republican to ask Mr.President directly – what exactly did you offer the pharm. companies in return for 150 million dollars? The public really wants to know, and surely Mr.President would not be ashamed to give the details on the deal, right now, right here, in front of the all American people.
Obama wanted a show – and GOP should let him have a show. He wanted to be the main character – it should be arranged to be so.
Gee, THANKS, Mr. Moderator!
DownriverDem, I find it hard to believe that you didn’t know this was a Conservative website, which means you’re just trolling.
But you do realize that the primary reason cash-for-services is impracticable is precisely because of the level of government meddling in health care, right?
There’s a basic concept of economics that when you hide the cost of a product or service from the people who use it, that cost will rise. When you externally subsidize costs, costs will rise.
In any case, your ‘point’ is moot. Nobody is defending high costs in health care, nor is anyone saying that nothing needs to change. Conservatives/libertarians advocate actually fixing the problems – getting government out of health care / health insurance (allowing interstate competition, getting rid of ‘forced coverages’, disentangling insurance from employment, etc); fixing medical malpractice lawsuit problems; and so on.
On the other hand, Democrats allowed an insurance lobby group to draft their ‘reform’ bill, which basically turns the big insurance companies into a government-run oligopoly. It turns insurance into a product nobody really wants, then forces us to buy it. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, because insurance companies give tons more money to Democrats than Republicans.
Rather than spit venom about how much Republicans ‘disgust’ you, why don’t you explain to us what you like about Obamacare? What do you really think it will fix?
I’m sick of hearing about preexisting conditions. Thats not how insurance works. Insurance is a hedge against what might happen in the future not what has already happened.
Senator Harkin: It all hangs together. Correction: Democrats are all going to hang together.
Cantor lays the 2,400 page bill on the table and Obama calls it a prop. Wow, this goes down in sound byte history along with “deficit of trust” and “shovel ready jobs.”
What do you bet Tom Harkin was an agent for Acme Insurance?
What, a private business wants to make money? That’s simply free market capitalism. Oh wait, I forgot that we have a president who doesn’t believe in free market capitalism.
True to an extent for catastrophic health insurance but fails when you include everybody.
But completely false as you cannot pool risk for Comprehensive Health Insurance. Question: What are the chances of you, me or anyone else getting sick, injured, or old? Or sick, injured and old? 100%. What they are pushing and what most healthcare today is not insurance, it is a buying program or as this commenter says a cash flow management program
Cantor clearly was reading this blog during recess, followed our advice, and put that mostrosity on the table. Cantor’s clearly an idiot, listening to a bunch of drunks!
I like Cantor, and his stock just keeps going up with me.
“Each family with health insurance… is picking up $1000 for everyone without insurance.” …I maintain that this is one of Capitalism’s strengths…that the market can absorb these costs.
58. SlothR:
“Each family with health insurance… is picking up $1000 for everyone without insurance.”
And Obama wants to create to program in place to increase those costs……
Stephen Green:
The whole contest would be a lot more fun if they did the drinking. Let’s say that for every half truth they take a beer. For every evasion they take a shot. For every failed insult they take a boilermaker. In the first couple of hours they might all be blubbering buddies and drowned when the truths came out. We can only dream that they are in that business for us.
Obama just picked his nose!!!! Mr.Suave!!!
In addition to stuttering and stammering!
Please, Lord, let somebody be recording this!!!!
Mr. Green,
Are you drunk blogging this event today? Please send my regards to your liver.
#61 Lin W.:
“Obama just picked his nose!!!”
No…no way!
Are you for real?
If so, we now have another nickname for him…a good ole Southern appelation:
“Booger”
I think he’ll like it, you?
It’s got that down-home, old-timey kinda vibe to it.
Obama to Boehner: You talk about what I tell you to talk about.
Heh…
“Present” of the United States “Booger” Obama…to my mind, it rings.
I don’t think he ever really much cared for “Barack”, (with a “K”), much anyway.
Everyone called him “Barry” coming up, right?
I note that HotAir is reporting that liberal commentators like Borger, Gergen and Blitzer are commenting that it looks like the Republicans came prepared for the “summit”. This could prove disasterous for the progressives. Paul Ryan schooled President Liar and apparently Obama can’t hide his contempt and anger. The progressives are having a bad day. Things aren’t turning out as they forecast. Reality meets fantasy. Lots of luck pushing this garbage now, fools.
I wish they’d show Obama’s face when the Senator’s start with *anything* with numbers. Obama doesn’t DO numbers, I’m sure.
Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children should avoid
prolonged exposure to Happy Fun President.
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/tv/sat-night-live/commercials/section-1.html
This could be its own blog post.
#66 Samizdat:
“note that HotAir is reporting that liberal commentators like Borger, Gergen and Blitzer are commenting that it looks like the Republicans came prepared for the “summit”.”
Pahhh…at the Moonbat Sweat-Lodge I slum at, they’re all chittering and yammering at each other about how great “Booger” and Pugsley and Greed are doing and how hapless the GOP looks.
Totally expected, each side walks away claiming a glorious victory.
The proof will be in the polling, and the legislation.
The GOP has done a pretty good job of not negotiating against themselves (i.e., avoiding the trap of agreeing to anything in the current Obamanation of a Bill).
I’ve put my first impressions of the debate on my blog:
http://hyphenatedamericans.blogspot.com/2010/02/obama-answered-every-question-with.html
If anyone is interested – please go ahead and read it there.
Highlight for me so far was Senator Ryan belling the cat so to speak: pointing out the double counting of Medicare savings, the Doctor Fix accounting sham, etc. Well played. And of course, Obama reacted in his typical Peevish Thin-skinned The Debate Is Over manner. He’s feeling the lack of TOTUS.
Just Say No to Socialism!
Left/liberal want us to go to hell because it’s warm in the winter.
BINGO! Coverage does not equal care.
Duh.
If lib commentators are commenting that the Pubs came armed, then that translates as they are kicking butt.
Obama is a fool. He got believing his own press, that he held his own last time against the Pubbies, when there was no debate. He thought he could do it again, when there is a debate. In an actual debate on substance, the libs will ALWAYS lose.
Truthfully, the Pubs only need Ryan and Cantor. They’re the wonks. It would have been masterful to ONLY send those two to dispatch the opposition. Imagine the impression that would send as they destroy everyone arrayed against them.
donut hole
I’d love to see a guillotine as a prop at the health deform summit. That’s the customary end of tyrants isn’t it?
Waxman is the ugliest dude in the room – any room.
And that is just his politics
Now we know the inspiration for the Obama Brand Logo: The Donut Hole. It fits his grasp of business, economics, and human behavior.
#75 Marc Malone:
“If lib commentators are commenting that the Pubs came armed, then that translates as they are kicking butt”
Maybe Booger will rescue the day by pulling his trousers halfway down his behind and then grabbing his “junk” while at the podium.
you know…keepin’ it REAL!
Henry Waxman – liar, liar, pants on fire (if only)
Will someone please explain to our President and Vice President that our government is not a democracy. Our form of government is a Republic.
Everytime something doesn’t go their way, laws should change so you only need a majority vote. (Election 2000, Fillibuster 2010, etc.) Our founding fathers knew the dangers of mob rule. We shouldn’t be making laws that benefit only 51% of Americans. We should be making laws tat benefit most of the country.
Waxman gives a bad name to people who look like rats. Normally I don’t like commenting on people’s appearance (unless it’s Christina Hendricks, but that’s a good thing), Waxman, however, I just have to.
#82.
Actually, Obama thought he was elected King. He’d rather be a ribbon cutting monarch than an actual leader.
#83
Waxman does look like a rat. And Eric Holder looks like a Meerkat.
How could they let Dodd in the room – a bigger thief & montebank never existed – oh, way a minute, I forgot Barney Frank, Chris’s butt buddy.
boedicca #85: Please do not insult Meerkats.
Ron Wyden sounds like a character on an episode of Friends: Shhhhteve (whom Monica dated).
After Senator Coburn said that 60% of healthcare spending was by the government, perhaps a point might be made that the Free Market might be worth a try. It would take a while because Medicare would be real hard to excise from the equation (and maybe it can’t). Let insurance be purchased across State lines. Expand the Health Savings Accounts. Make deposits to HSAs tax-free. Maybe even invent for high-risk and/or existing conditions a government, yes government, sponsored reinsurance-like program (that will limit the maximum payout for the insurance company for a given, otherwise uninsurable person/family for specified set of conditions). Try some kind of malpractise reform — non contingency fees or maybe restrict contingency to punitive damages (after all the compensation should go to the plainstiff, right?), or something.
If this all fails to do the job (and it will take a while to find out), there is always the government to fall back on. The government option is always available after all.
Hey, while Ryan was talking, BHO’s face has that look five years olds get when mommy or daddy says that ONE word kids hate above all others: NO!
Good God, I’m so tired of the Democrats wheeling out their personal sob stories. How many times must it be reiterated: nobody is advocating doing nothing.
#91
The Dems are spinning the Fog of Health Care. The only card they have to play is making people fearful about losing care. The cognitively dissonant part is that people are smart enough to know that having only one provider (the government) makes it more likely they won’t get care.
That Ryan is the best wonk, isn’t he? That’s why he’s there, ’cause the Pubs know, that no one waxes wonky like Ryan.
Every time a Dem says “we’re so close, so very close” I can’t help but think of Caylee’s mom saying that about dissappeared Caylee.
Patty Murray is correct. I am passionate about the public option. Passionately opposed to it, that is.
“Ryan hit it out of the park.
The cost curve is not going down under your program, he said to an attentive Obama, it’s going up. You say that our positions are similar.
They are not similar. You want a government takeover of healthcare. We want people to be in charge of healthcare. Ryan was the first Republican I heard who stated the fundamental truth: there is no middle ground between the Democratic and Republican positions.”
Go ahead Lefties tell us how stupid we are and back Obama a total moron.
Isn’t it GREAT how they kept Rangel in reserve for one of the clean up spots? Now that’s a Credible Guy!
What if Charley Rangel and Susan Estrich did a duet?
Would the Democrats in the room please chip in some money for Dingle to get some dental implants? He’s not using his dental insurance.
Hey Dingall – one of the reasons why health insurance costs are going to double by The Year 2025 is because the government has grossly inflated the money supply and piled on a Ton-O-Spending&Debt. Get the spending under control, reduce the debt, and ratchet back the flood of Fed Bucks – that’ll tamp down the inflationary Obamanomic Death Spiral.
98 – Let’s add in Barney Frank and make it a Trio.
#98
David, I think the Geneva Conventions have outlawed that. Not even Mao or Stalin would be that evil.
Dems haven’t figured out that their anecdotal sob stories won’t work, here. People are awake. They want substance. “How’s it gonna affect me?” Pubbies are killing them on substance. The Pubs look like they’ve done their homework, and the American people are going to respect that.
The Dems, by contrast, seem like they’re saying, “The dog ate my homework.” They don’t seem to be addressing the particulars of the bill. At this point, that’ll never fly. The Dems are having a really bad day. The longer it goes on, the better the Pubbies look. Obama is getting his butt kicked, and he looks like he knows it.
How much Formaldehyde did Nancy Pelosi mainline this morning?
Pelosi is babbling – what a leader, what a lady, what a testament to plastic surgery, what a liar.
“On behalf of the American People,” my hairy butt
#105
I’ve heard that one of the expanded coverage items mandated by ObamaCare is hair removal for the heart break of hairy butts.
Too bad it doesn’t cover integrity transplants for the majority of Congress (and the Executive branch).
And our beloved republican eunuchs just sit there and take it! This was an ambush and the idiots just walked right into it-after they were warned.
WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL QUEENOSIE TO BE QUIET…MY HEAD HURTS!
Steve: Translation of Pelosi’s “insurance companies will exist on the playing field of the American people”:
Half of the American people will be losers in the game played out on the playing field.
Politicians + public employees + Unions will be the winners.
The rest of us who will be stuck paying for this mess will be the losers.
Yes I understand that many here have very serious concerns about the President’s policies, I share many of them; but my question was where is his teleprompter?
“Are you all taking notes? There will be a test tomorrow on what I’m lecturing on right now”, says Instructor Obama.
I couldn’t believe the blue dog, a Congressman named Jim something, who bragged about the Presidential Commission of Simpson and Bowells.
What the hell do we need a Congress for if the Presidential Commission is going to do their work. I can see so other hack/presstitute arguing that the Commission is a good thing but a Congressman willing to give away the Congressional perogatves, needs to find another job.
BHO – SHUT UP!!!!!
Obama’s Cognitive Dissonance:
He claims that competition leads to a race to the bottom by people choosing the worst option possible.
He really does disdain us Common Folk.
We’re screwed!!!!
Obama is rewriting the lyrics to “Bobby McGee”.
Freedom’s just another word for no more right to choose.
At the end of the day, those who have to be convinced are the American people, especially the independents and undecided, with everything filtered through the Old Left Media. Unfortunately, the Republicans are their own worst enemy when it comes to persuasion, because they always default to a position of costs, not principles. This is inevitably a defensive strategy, and it makes Republicans look emasculated. In addition, the venue itself doesn’t provide a good way to effectively counteract Obama’s incessant lies and Democrats’ recurrent sob stories.
The Repubs should have come armed to go on the offense. As I recommended in a letter to Eric Cantor, each Republican should have stood up at the outset and said, “We Republicans perceive problems with healthcare in this country, too, just like you Democrats. BUT, the substance of our solutions are so fundamentally different from yours that they are incompatible, and no compromise is possible.”
Such a self-introduction would have clearly demarcated Conservative health care policies, allowed Repubs to refuse to compromise on principles (assuming they could constrain their right liberals like McCain), and set the stage for reality-based, point-by-point rebuttals to every lie concocted by Obama and the progressives.
#110
The mystery of the Teleprompter ‘Splained.
Obama used his superior Government Employee Health Care coverage to get the first ever Teleprompter transplant. The words are now broadcast directly onto his optical nerve.
Cool, huh?
PAY OUR FAIR SHARE???!!!
ARE YOU FREAKIN’ KIDDING ME???
SHARE THIS WEALTH, YOU @##$#$@%^%$#*&^%$$%*!!!!
Argh. Talk about walking in on this at the end… I hope you’re still with us and not hammered and drooling on your keyboard, Steve. It sucks losing another blogging bright light like yourself to the ravages of angry power drinking
(Ahem, I know a little something about that. My partner at work (retired NYPD Patrolman) likes to drink. A lot. I like to drink. A lot. Together, at a bar, with two credit cards/wads of cash = Angry Power Drinking!)
I was going to read this whole thing with just clear, crisp, clean (okay, Brita-filtered) water, but the Dr. Seuss line about Reid has driven me to the rum bottle (admittedly a short commute
)
I’ll post back after my second when I finish the whole thing
BO used the phrase…pony up. I’d like him to pony up and ride out of town! Will he ever stop lecturing…please end this before my mind freezes.
The country would be much better off if Obama just spent his time working on the WH basketball court schedule.
I just turned this three-ring circus on after reading the highlights here, knowing fully well I couldn’t stomach the Goebbel’s flavor of propaganda coming from Obama Incorporated, and all I’m getting is a lecture and generic questions from the Unholy One.
I don’t know how anybody listens to this horse dung. It’s retching.
BO: We cannot have another year long debate on this.
Translation: If we don’t jam this through at Rahmming Speed, we’ll lose too many votes in the 2010 election. Our one opportunity to impose Socialism on America is now.
Last comment from BHO paraphrased: If the Republicans are not willing to do things the way we want, we will pass it anyway using whatever means possible.
What an arrogant child (did anyone notice his middle finger when he was resting his chin in his hand? He seems to make a habit of flipping off people he does not agree with)
ABout time we got some adults in charge.
So what is wrong with 39 dollars an aspirin or 14 dollars for water? or 850 dollars a night for the bed? …without meals… so lets keep the system we have and put more windows on our hospitals so we can all have a laugh at our health care system as we walk on by…..
Senator Coburn made the most sense of all of them with his emphasis on how to save 30% right off the bat. Since his ideas contained tort reform Obama was dismissive. The Republicans did a lot better job than I expected. They kept on message. Obama’s crack about equal time and him being the president was snotty and immature. The Republicans need to use it as a campaign ad later this year.
I have been informationally waterboarded.
However, even the SHILLS for the left say the Republicans cleaned the Democrats’ clocks today.
Kyl and Ryan were outstanding. Pelosi just as easily could have been a puppy with a a pull toy. She had no clue what was going on.
The President “you got me”, tilted the table as much as he could…but, even with a stacked deck, the guys wearing his uniform were still dribbling tobacco juice on themselves in the dugout.
In the end, …we are still likely to get it…in the end, I’m afraid.
Can’t wait to see how the Lunatic Fringe Whiteys at MSNBC spin this disaster for the Dems.
First, I’d like to thank Steve for doing this (watching this mess) so we don’t have to.
Second, I think the thing to remember is that the Republicans didn’t have to win this one, they just didn’t have to lose it. It seems they succeeded in that.
Third, either way the Democrats go on this one, they are really screwed in November. No plan passed means they wasted a year. A plan gets passed despite what the general public wants and said public will not trust them with meaningful power for quite some time (though it is possible the Republicans could prove just as untrustworthy).
Fourth, Poor Citizen insurance companies do not control the cost of medical care. In basic economic terms, if you increase the demand of a particular item, but do not increase the supply, the cost of the item goes up. Medicine is a very (expensively educated) labor intensive item. It also involves the use of (very expensively developed and produced) technology. You can not wave a magic wand and make those facts go away. Without a way to quickly increase the supply of health care, the cost will (no matter how you arrange the payment system) go up.
I don’t think there could have been any reasonable expectation for a better performance by the republicans than what I saw today. The Democrats had to get a jump in Obamacare polling out of today and didn’t come close. The Republicans in general and Cantor and Ryan especially plead their case using substance and logic while the Democrat’s strategy seemed to flop between ‘we represent the will of the people because we say we do’ and ‘we know what’s good for the people even if they don’t’. The public is way beyond buying that at this point and the Democrat’s leadership don’t seem to be grasping that. They don’t show it at any rate. Obama and company played it like they would have 12 months when the independents and moderates of both parties were still cutting them slack. It is quite literally amazing for experienced politicians to be that tone deaf.
The impression I took from watching not all but most of the summit is that Obamacare cratered today.
As an aside, I’m old enough to remember Nixon quite well and I was reminded of him today. Towards the end, Nixon could no longer hide his more disagreeable personality traits from the public. Obama’s body english, facial expressions etc. reminded me of Nixon more than once today. Nixon would drop his chin and look daggers over his nose as opposed to Obama’s raising his chin and looking daggers down his nose, so it isn’t that. I need to see a tape of those moments that jogged the Nixon memories to say exactly why, but it was definitely there.
“2:41PM Patty Murray: “Americans are in a box… and passionate about the public option.”” Well. I believe if you stuff this ..er.. down our throats, you should leave office the same way Mussolini did. That passionate enough for you?
Steve Green is my hero. He took on a tough assignment that no one else would. God bless you my friend, and I hope you haven’t suffered too much battle damage from the anesthesia you no doubt needed after it was over.
On a sour/more serious note, did anyone expect any results from this charade? If so, please rap your head repeatedly on a wall and say out loud, “Government cannot solve these problems by legislating and/or spending them away.” Our President wanted this little confab just so he could look like he was bipartisan to the noobs that occasionally pop their heads up from “American Idol”. The only result he and other Democrats/Socialists desire is complete Government takeover of 1/6 of our economy. Why? Not to “help the people.” It’s for control, nothing more and nothing less.
Thanks again for putting your head in the lion’s mouth so we wouldn’t have to do so. Unfortunately for you Steve, the lion only opened his mouth because he was bored, but what can you do?
Poor Citizen “850 dollars a night for the bed? …without meals…”
Actualy the meal is usually included along with all the little things that maybe don’t matter so much like checking your vital signs, giving you your meds, changing your bedding, changing your bandages, flushing your drainage tubes, cleaning the room, bathing you, feeding you, managing your urinary catherter or bringing you a bed pan and wiping your butt for you. But hey, if you want a cheaper room after your surgery or to recover in after an accident, go to a hotel. Just don’t expect room service to include very many of the above mentioned services.
I wish someone would remind President Clown that he is to be a steward of the people not the “know it all idiot that he thinks he is”. He avoids the confrontation with J McCain(not a big supporter of this FAKE either)when asked about CSpan coverage and other campaign promises, by just showing his true ignorant persona by saying ‘the election is over” does’t discuss the fact that he lied. This president really is a loser. He is about as anti-american as one can be. I can’t believe We the people can’t hold him responsible for his continuous anti-american agenda and have his dumb ignorant ass impeached.
Bless you Steve. I don’t think that even a few drinks would have gotten me through it.
I LOVE Michelle Malkin! She tweeted, “Sen. McConnell notes: Dems=52 minutes. GOP=24 minutes.” This isn’t a summit — it’s a lecture.
The Left Wing Radicals against America (aka Democrats) just want the power to force this ObamaCare down our throats. All the while bankrupting America. Think the Obama Left are for helping average Americans?
HE LIED TO US!!, HE PALYED ON OUR FEARS!!!.
..AGAIN…OH WAIT, IT’S ANOTHER DEMOCRAT THAT IS LIEING…Demoliars..
131
great idea…:)
ALSO!!!, if the medical costs/dr/tests/visits, were NOT NOT so damned high the insurance
companies would not have such high premiums!!
Mr. Green, you are the Iron Man of blogging for watching all of that. Not many on this planet could have managed it, even with the relief of stomping kittens now and then.
We can not afford this HealthCare plan/Takeover. We are going broke. Dems want to push us over the edge. Their plan stays the same and ours gets turned into a 3rd world healthcare system.
I had a great thought that I wish I had thought of last week regarding this meeting. I would have thought of it, if I had known ahead of time the details of this meeting.
The Republicans should have brought in enough copies of Obama’s bill for everyone, fully bookmarked for everyone. Then, they should have taken charge of the meeting. “Mr. President, you said you wanted this as a starting point for these discussions. I agree. Let’s start with your version. Let’s go LINE BY LINE, to use your phrase from the campaign. Please, let’s all turn to the first bookmark….” Can you just see everyone’s reaction as they are forced to READ THE DAMNED BILL? (Gulp!)
Then, they proceed to dissect it. “How about this piece of pork? Can we all agree that it needs to go? How about this political favor? How about this tax starting during another President’s term? Is this other tax really constructive? How about eliminating this expansion of Medicaid that the States simply cannot afford just now?” Show the entire country what a monstrosity his bill is. There’d be nothing left of the bill… and of ObamaCare. Check and Mate.
In regards Congresswoman Slaughter’s story:
Uh-Oh!
Says Ms. Slaughter:
“I talked about a woman from Buffalo who couldn’t afford her own dentures so instead wore a set of dentures from her deceased sister. “Do you believe that in America that’s where we would be?
I learned of the story while in Buffalo from Dr. Lavonne Ansari of the Community Health Center of Buffalo who spoke passionately about one of her patients at a press conference in her Buffalo office in November.”-from:
http://wnymedia.net/temp/2010/02/white-house-health-care-summit/
Oh-KAY then…and who is “Dr Lavonne Ansari”?
Why here she is:
”
Biography appears in Uncrowned Queens: African American Women Community Builders of WNY, Volume III
LaVonne E. Ansari, Ph.D. is the first Muslim African American female Vice President of Niagara County Community College. Dr. Ansari’s education includes a Bachelor’s degree in Professional Studies from Brockport State College, a Certificate in Career Development and Management in Women’s Studies from Cornell University , a Master’s Degree in Multidisciplinary Studies from Buffalo State College and a Ph.D. in Sociology of Education at the State University at Buffalo.”-from:
http://wings.buffalo.edu/uncrownedqueens/Q/bios/A/ansari_lavonne.html
Nice picture, very attractive woman…but hold on a minute!
She’s not an M.D. The “Dr” honorific is just that…honorific.
And since she’s not a Doctor, then she doesn’t HAVE any patients to tell Congresswoman Slaughter about.
But now this is actually a good thing, because since Ansari isn’t a doctor, she is not bound by Patient Confidentiality, and can therefore identify this poor woman.
Even as I speak, I’m sure that several churches and temples are setting up private assistance funds to assist her in her heartbreaking plight.
So…let’s have the name, “Doctor” Ansari, if you please…
The highlight for me was congresswoman Louise Slaughter. Her story about her constituent whose sister died and who took her dead sister’s dentures out and uses them as her own teeth ranks right up there with the great liberal sob stories of all time. Who would have ever believed that this could happen in the United States of America???!!! (sob sob sob…) I was hoping for more details, but hey, you can’t have everything. Do the dentures fit? Do they go clack clack?
#142 Bilgeman – Nice work. As usual, the sob stories are often lies.
Of course, my thought is, “She recycles! Go Green!”
Or maybe, “Now, that’s a can-do woman!”
I was raised dirt-poor. She had to use her sister’s dentures? So? She’s poor! That’s how it works! Life’s not fair. What are we… five years old?
This is a job for CHARITY! Not the gubmint’s job. ‘Cause the money doesn’t belong to the gubmint. It doesn’t even belong to the People. It belongs to the individuals who earned it! The wealth of the nation does not belong to the nation as a whole.
How to shoot down the Lib sob stories from Congress.
“What is your net worth? Okay, so you’re a millionaire. When you heard this sob story, did you actually offer to pay for the care, yourself? Did it even cross your mind?”
“Oh, you can’t pay for the care of everyone who comes to you for help? Guess what? Neither can I. So quit trying to make me do so with your government programs.”
“And while we’re at it, exactly what percentage of your income did you give to actual, non-political, charitable causes last year?”
“I’m sorry. Did you say 1%? I’m a mean-spirited Conservative. I gave only 10%. Maybe that’s because I’m one of those far-right, wingnut, religious, Christian Conservatives who are so backwards and interfere with Progress.”
What amazed me was the way the whole thing ended. Obama basically said, fine, we’ll do what we have to do (apparently meaning reconciliation), and then the elections will tell.
What, he thinks people are going to elect those who want this bill? Didn’t he pay any attention to Scott Brown?
Or does he know something about the elections we don’t.
In any case, it was a godawful way to end the meeting, with threats.
I’m appalled that nobody wants to give President Obama a break. I mean he did his best to
get the parties together to help some of these unfortunate people who can’t afford healthcare.
Moreover, tonight on Letterman, this actor comes on and makes this joke about Obama.
“If there were a stethoscope that could detect the bipartisan spirit,
Obama wouldn’t have a heart beat.”
Then he proceeded to tell this joke about Obama’s in his study and hears “Bo” the family dog drinking
from the toilet and asks his little daughter, Moria, to stop the dog from drinking and she comes back in
a few seconds and says, “Daddy, it’s not Bo. I guess Mom was real thirsty.
I was able to watch more of this after I got home from work yesterday. The president had a bad day…he said he was there to listen but he just could not help himself, he just could not shut up. He came across as irritated, bored, disrespectful, partisan, and arrogant. The job he really wants is Mayor of Chicago, right?
Here’s a cause that the Republicans should take up:
THE WAY to Really Call The Democrats’ Bluff and Save Us in the Process
Barak Obama just wants to give granny a pain killer, not treat her condition. And the state of Oregon would rather assist suicide than give one of its residents cancer treatments/medications.
In response, here’s what we do:
Introduce and pass legislation that would prevent the Federal government, or any of its agencies, from harming us, killing us, or otherwise prevent us from receiving life-preserving treatment, as a matter of its operating any sort of health care system.
Push for a constitutional amendment. Really raise as much stink as possible.
Credit Rose Pappas, senior citizen, Chicago, Illinois.
Let’s get behind this. I have a premium membership with Rush and have already emailed him. If you have access to Glenn Beck and/or Sean Hannity and/or Mark Levin through premium membership, please email them.
Also, if any of you are friends with Congressmen or Senators, please copy them.
And the Award for Sheer Guts goes to Lamar Alexander for daring to stare up into Obama’s funky nostrils at the apex of the Pres’s favorite arrogant posture. Keith “Teabagger” Untermann, Producer.
February 26, 2010
Dear President Obama:
I want to thank you for holding “the health care summit.” It gave the citizens of The United States of America an opportunity to see, in clear bright relief, the philosophical division between the socialistic path and that of the capitalistic path with regard to health care; in such a moment of great division the midterm election of 2010 will determine which path the United States will choose to follow.
During the summit you brought up an example of how your insurance company did not meet your expectations when your vehicle was rear ended and “totaled” against your wish to have it repaired. While this circumstance was unfortunate your reaction to it is very revealing as to how you view a citizens responsibility to administer their own affairs, and your view of the capitalistic system. At that moment, in dealing with your mishap, you perceived that because you paid your premiums you were due something more than the agreement allowed for. As your story goes, “all you wanted was to get your old beater repaired.”
Let’s invent something call the “Obama Insurance Company,” I’m sure Joey Buttafuoco could be used as your pitchman – “Dented bodies lovingly restored.” Your premiums reflect that your company will fix any vehicle in a collision regardless of underlying value. After a few months of doing this what do you think would happen? The Obama Insurance Company would either have to raise it’s premiums or go bankrupt, and your “good” customers would no longer have coverage. Why? With each passing claim paid instead of encouraging a customer to invest in a new used car the Obama Insurance Company is over paying to maintain a diminishing asset. If the Obama Insurance Company wants to offer this option they would have to charge more to cover the potential cost.
Mr. Obama if it is true for vehicles it is true for human beings. Just like your “beater” one day I am going to die. To be sure I want to spend as many days with my family and doing the things I love to do as God, and a little luck, will grant me – but one day this carcass is going to give out. No amount of insurance is going to change this. That said, I need an insurance company to weigh the costs and risks and permit me to voluntarily engage in a policy that will cover my family to avoid medical induced bankruptcy. For sure the government has a role as police officer to make root-en toot-en certain they are solvent, and are living up to their end of the bargain, just as they do with auto insurance companies. In the case of the Obama Insurance Company the regulator would have shut it down before it even opened it’s doors.
Mr. Obama the capitalistic system provides the food you will eat for dinner, the fuel your airplane will consume to conduct government business, and all the stuff that the outstanding Secret Service uses to do it’s heroic and untold vital job. The capitalistic system also provides something even more precious than stuff; self-reliance and creativity. As a young boy I watched a friend of mine create a toy and market it to a major toy company, that toy is still being sold to this day. Short on brains then, but long on perseverance, I got to work doing jobs for people that they did not want to do. Everything from diapers, cleaning houses, lawns, and cleaning vehicles. All this activity led to savings, or capital formation. This capital was invested in a camera, because of a love of photography, I wanted to give it a go. Went to work at a local newspaper and did so well I considered it as a career. Through all of these experiences I learned the qualities I would have to exhibit to succeed in life. Show up on time, tell the truth, look the part, and above all else, always do the right thing. Mr. Obama why do you seek to crush the very system that allows my small story to be replicated millions of times a day, and as a byproduct of this activity, provides our citizens the highest standard of living of any nation on Earth? If you are waiting for the citizens of the United States of America to forget this lesson your frustration is only about to begin.
Respectfully,
Molotov Mitchell of World Net Daily dislocated his knee a few weeks ago. He doesn’t buy health insurance. The hospital knocked 60% off the base charge of $3000 because he was paying cash, and they had no problem working out a payment plan. You can look up his video blog of the incident on wnd.com archives “For The Record.” Seriously, everything else is offered on credit in this country, so what’s wrong with paying for health care on an installment plan?
This FlailBluster of a snarky summit makes 7 hours in labor seem like a walk in the park.
As the wife whose husband is chairman of the board for a major hospital, let me say one thing. Our health CARE is not in trouble!! it is our insurance premiums and insurance business practices ( along with say… “free” emergency care to all and any who appear at our ER) that elevate the cost of care. Hospitals are in the money making business and we have to cover the costs of those who don’t HAVE to pay to get service.So stop calling it a health CARE issue when it is not. ANYONE in this country can get medical care, it is illegal, in an ER to refuse! Health INSURANCE on the other hand is a privilege and not a right! Medicare and Medicaid are a joke, do you really want Gov’t running your insurance? Wake up and smell the roses…
Steve- I love your column. Keep blogging bucko, you nail it every time.
this is really great!! thank you for sharing.