Townhall.com, Where Your Opinion Counts
Talk Radio:   Bill Bennett   Mike Gallagher   Dennis Prager   Michael Medved   Hugh Hewitt   
BREAKING NEWS  LeftArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican   RightArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican  
Columns, funnies & more in your inbox!
  • Check the boxes and send us your email address to receveive your free newsletter
  • Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
  • Townhall.com’s weekly inside scoop on what’s happening behind the scenes in the world of politics. When news breaks, we report.
  • Signup to receive the latest daily Townhall cartoons

Townhall.com The Blogspot for Political, Conservative and Republican Blogs and Bloggers


Friday, November 20, 2009
The Affluent "Uninsured"
Posted by: Carol Platt Liebau at 3:38 PM
The Washington Post is running an unbelievably nauseating piece about young people who stand to inheirit a good chunk of money, but their "progressive values" mean they are "conflicted" about it (perhaps they needn't worry; if the Democrats remain in charge, it'll all be taxed away anyhow).

But as we stand on the brink of the health care bill coming to debate in the Senate, this passage from the piece leaped out at me:

"In Vermont [this year], I broke my finger and didn't have insurance," said [28 year old Janelle] Treibitz, whose father is chief executive of a Colorado company that designs visual presentations for court trials. "I got my X-ray and gave [the hospital] a fake name and walked out. Is that okay that I am doing that -- taking up resources because I am refusing to take money from my parents?"

In other words, a young woman who clearly has the ability to have private coverage -- if she chose to -- remains uninsured.  Setting aside the fraud she committed (no,  Janelle, it's NOT "okay" that you are "doing that"), it's worth pointing out how many other young Americans are in a comparable position.

Jeffrey Anderson has shown that although young people 18-24 are only 10% of the population, they represent 18% of the uninsured.  People like Janelle are not atypical -- and they put the lie to President Obama's claim that we need "reform" (and a public option) because those who are presently uninsured cannot get insurance.

Janelle could have gotten insurance; she simply refused to.  And now people like her are serving as a rationale for destroying the greatest health care system in the world.




Friday, November 20, 2009
Dems Put Price on Landrieu's Health Care Vote: $100 Million
Posted by: Meredith Jessup at 10:32 AM
Jonathan Karl reports on the ABC News blog:

What does it take to get a wavering senator to vote for health care reform?

Here’s a case study.

On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.” 

The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.” 

I am told the section applies to exactly one state:  Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill.

In other words, the bill spends two pages describing would could be written with a single world:  Louisiana.  (This may also help explain why the bill is long.)

Senator Harry Reid, who drafted the bill, cannot pass it without the support of Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu.

How much does it cost?  According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.






Thursday, November 19, 2009
Health Care Cloture Vote Officially Scheduled For 8PM Saturday Night
Posted by: Townhall.com Staff at 5:32 PM
Reid just filed cloture on the motion to proceed with HR 3590, which is the bill that will eventually be the official health care reform legislation. The actual vote will be on Saturday night at 8pm.

This means three things:

1) Reid is flat-out ignoring the 72-hour window to "read the bill" that pretty much everyone and their mother has requested.

2) Reid is dropping a bill that will influence the health of every man, woman and child in America at 8PM on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Perhaps this is in response to the fact that over half of Americans are terrified of health care reform, and only 40% support it?

3) Most alarmingly, Reid wouldn't drop the bill unless he was fairly confident he could get it passed.



Tags: health   care



Thursday, November 19, 2009
Senate Health Care Bill to Raise Taxes
Posted by: Meredith Jessup at 3:37 PM
From economist Keith Hennessey comes a list of taxes included in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's Senate health care overhaul:

  1. 40% excise tax on health coverage in excess of $8,500 (individuals) / $23,000 (families).  Amounts are indexed for inflation by CPI-U 1% – begins in 2013 – $149 B tax increase

  2. Additional 0.5% Medicare (Hospital Insurance) tax on wages in excess of $200,000 ($250,000 for joint filers) – begins in 2013 – $54 B tax increase

  3. Impose annual fee on manufacturers and importers of branded drugs – begins in 2010 – $22 B tax increase

  4. Impose annual fee on manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices – begins in 2010 – $19 B tax increase

  5. Impose annual fee on manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices – begins in 2010 – $60 B tax increase

  6. Cut in half (to $500K) the amount of an executive’s compensation that a health plan can deduct from its corporate income taxes – begins in 2013 – $600 million tax increase

  7. Impose 5% excise tax on cosmetic surgery and similar procedures – begins for surgery in 2010 – $6 B tax increase!
According to the Senate GOP research committee, the bill will raise taxes by $493.6 billion and cut Medicare by $464.6 billion.

Click here to read Hennessey's observations on these taxes and their widespread implications.





Thursday, November 19, 2009
34 Hours Straight
Posted by: Townhall.com Staff at 12:53 PM
Sen. Tom Coburn is trying to force Senate clerks to read the 2,074-page Senate health care bill before it's voted on. That would take roughly 34 hours. The Washington Times says:
Pity the poor Senate clerks.
How about, pity the poor citizens who are subject to such a monstrosity!


Tags: health   care



Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Reid: Obamacare Will Cut The Deficit By 3/4 Trillion Dollars & Strenghten Medicare!
Posted by: Greg Hengler at 7:09 PM
Rumor has it that the bill will also grant you three wishes. BTW: Watch that weasel Al Franken scuttle his way into the camera shot with a "Is the camera on me" look on his mug.






Wednesday, November 18, 2009
CBO: New Obamacare Bill Will Cost $849 Billion
Posted by: Kevin Glass at 5:31 PM
It's been reported that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has released its scoring of the health care overhaul bill that Harry Reid has brought to the Senate, saying that it will cost $849 billion over the first ten years after its enactment. 

The CBO has not released the full text yet, so it's difficult to know what is accurate about the score and what may be misleading. However, Peter Suderman at Reason offered something to keep in mind with the CBO score:
Ezra Klein is reporting that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has seen the CBO scores for the Senate's health care bill, and is "very pleased." Of course he is: It's doubtful that we'd be getting a score today if he weren't; according to one of Klein's recent posts, the reason we didn't see the score last Friday, as originally expected, is that the CBO's numbers came back to Reid, but weren't what was hoped. As a result, the bill, according to Klein, was "tweaked and trimmed until CBO [gave] Reid the answer he's looking for." Indeed, this is often how the scoring process works: Legislators work closely with CBO to push and pull at various elements of the bill until the CBO's math produces the desired result. So given that Reid knows exactly what it will be in advance (he sees preliminary numbers), can choose to release the score or resubmit again, and has been working with the CBO to make sure the numbers are to his liking, it's hardly surprising to see that, on a high profile bill like this, Reid is happy with the result.
How much of the reported CBO score will be honest and how much will be a Harry Reid-helmed attempt to game the CBO scoring system? Only time will tell.





Wednesday, November 18, 2009
MSNBC's Dr. Nancy: Mammogram Rationing Is "Smart"
Posted by: Greg Hengler at 4:12 PM
What can you say? She's a true believer with a neat title before her name. H/T: Scott Whitlock






Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Dean of Harvard Medical School Gives Obamacare An "F"
Posted by: Greg Hengler at 4:01 PM
Dean Jeffrey S. Flier begins his piece for the WSJ: As the dean of Harvard Medical School I am frequently asked to comment on the health-reform debate. I'd give it a failing grade.

I would like to send a "shout out" to all the Obamacare-supporters (especially the wine swirlers) to read this.





Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Crucial Health Care Vote Expected At 5 PM TONIGHT
Posted by: Townhall.com Staff at 2:17 PM
It's go time. Republican Senate aides expect Harry Reid to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed with Obamacare at 5pm tonight. This means that the writing-the-bill part of Obamacare will end, and the process will begin to call an official vote in the Senate.

Reid is invoking cloture because he'll get his secret CBO score back this afternoon -- you read that right. Secret CBO score. We don't get to know the dollar amount because Reid doesn't want us to. Not that it really matters -- you can bet your bottom dollar that no matter what the price tag, he's going to push forward with this legislation. That's because, among other things, the passage of the health care bill is essential to Democrats getting re-elected in 2010.

A vote in favor of cloture at 5pm tonight is as good as a vote in favor of the bill itself. Some Senators will try to hide behind the idea of "wanting debate" or "starting the process" but that's not even close to accurate. Once cloture is invoked, debate will indeed start. Not a single Senator will change their opinion. Then, the process will continue until the bill is called to a vote.

If Reid abides by the push to "read the bill," the thing will probably be called for a vote right during the Thanksgiving holiday, enabling him to ram through divisive legislation just as Americans are focusing on their families rather than federal politics.

Republican Senate aids are asking constituents to write letters to their Senators TODAY, asking them to stop the motion to proceed with cloture. But things are not looking up. As of today, Reid is "cautiously optimistic" that he has the requisite 60 votes to pass.

No one expects Reid to use the "nuclear option," or, reconciliation to pass the bill. But that begs the question: if they've taken the nuclear option off the table, doesn't that indicate some serious confidence that they can get it passed through traditional methods?


Tags: health   care



Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Personal Choices, Not "The System", Bring Bad Health Outcomes
Posted by: Michael Medved at 1:57 PM

Careless About Litter, Careless About Health

  Regardless of the future of Obamacare, the most important health decisions won’t be made by Congress, or bureaucrats, or insurance companies, or doctors, or hospitals, but by individual Americans with their personal choices and habits.

  This realization hit me with special force as part of the normal neighborhood litter patrol that I’ve described many times on my radio show. For several years, I’ve made it a point to stop the car to pick up garbage that’s been thoughtlessly deposited by the side of the road in the suburban area surrounding our home. This weekend, I especially noticed the prevalence of two particularly obnoxious sorts of trash: cigarette packs and butts, along with fast food wrapping and bags. As I collected the litter in the plastic bag I carry, it occurred to me that the people who were hurting our neighborhood were also hurting themselves. Though no one seriously wants government to crack down further on tobacco or MacDonalds, everyone knows that cigarettes and junk food contribute to bad health outcomes for millions of Americans. Regarding the propensity to litter, it makes sense that those who are careless and sloppy concerning their own bodies will be comaprably careless and sloppy when it comes to a public thoroughfare.

   On a similar note, those 30 million citizens who neglect their own welfare by failing to purchase health insurance are far more likely to undermine their own health with self-destructive habits – smoking, heavy drinking, over-eating, and so forth. Those who are truly too poor to get any sort of private or workplace insurance are already eligible for generous government assistance through Medicaid; in fact, official federal figures suggest that as many as 14 million of the currently uninsured could sign up for Medicaid immediately if they chose to do so. But the same recklessness and irresponsibility that leads people to tobacco-related illnesses and morbid obesity leads people to ignore their own insurance needs, regardless of potentially disastrous consequences.

 

A Thousand Dead Today Because of Lack of Insurance?

  This undeniable association between the uninsured and unhealthy habits helps to explain one of the popular (and utterly misleading) statistics endlessly invoked by big government advocates in the current medical insurance debate. According to apologists for Obamacare, some 45,000 Americans die needlessly every year because they can’t get health insurance. The president’s stalwart supporters love to repeat that “nearly 1,000 Americans die with no reason every single day” because the government fails to provide them with the health insurance they need and deserve.


Read More...





Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Rationing: Mammograms Too Expensive?
Posted by: Townhall.com Staff at 3:59 PM
Guest post from Americans for Prosperity

Yesterday, a federal panel decided that self-exams and some mammograms are no longer necessary for women in their forties and should only be administered every other year for those in their fifties and sixties. Despite being said to reduce cancer deaths by about 15% in women ages 39-59, the federal panel based their decision to change the guidelines because they concluded too much money was spent on “unnecessary tests.”

Sound familiar? That’s probably because it’s the same rationale for many of the decisions made by the government rationing boards in Britain and Canada.

And the results speak for themselves. Where mammograms are used much more infrequently than the U.S., breast cancer mortality rates are 9 percent higher in Canada and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom!

Is this what we are to expect once we have government-run health care as well?




Tags: health



Monday, November 16, 2009
Lieberman Is In A Pretty Good Spot
Posted by: Townhall.com Staff at 10:53 AM
Reid needs all 60 members of his caucus to vote for Obamacare if it is to pass, so Lieberman's vote is crucial. But since since health care is such an important issue for the Democrats, Lieberman's willingness to buck the party line on Obamacare as an indication of newfound confidence.





Sunday, November 15, 2009
Democratic Congressman: Requiring Health Care Insurance Is Like Requiring Drivers' Licenses
Posted by: Townhall.com Staff at 11:14 AM
Here's Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) talking to CNS News:
The United States Congress passed laws regarding Medicare and Medicaid that became de facto mandatory programs. States all the time require people to have driver’s licenses. I think that this is a bit of a spurious argument that’s being made by some folks.





Sunday, November 15, 2009
Independent Analyst Gives The Real News To Pelosi On Health Care
Posted by: Townhall.com Staff at 11:05 AM
A longstanding independent technical advisor to the Executive Branch and Congress has released an analysis of the costs, savings, and coverage impacts  of Pelosicare.

Their analysis? Wellness programs could decrease costs by preventing disease, but the cost of installing those wellness programs is more than the cost of treating the disease in the first place. Coupled with a longer lifespan, preventive care is almost guaranteed to cost more.

The report also highlighted a concern of many Republicans in pointing out that Medicare cuts are very, very difficult to sustain.

Preventative care is arguably better for people than disease treatment. But isn't it about time for Pelosi to start telling the truth about the costs?




« Previous123456789103536Next »
Your Blog Postings:
Last updated 13 Minutes 44 Seconds Ago
Last updated 17 Minutes 46 Seconds Ago
Last updated 22 Minutes 27 Seconds Ago
Last updated 24 Minutes 48 Seconds Ago
Last updated 25 Minutes 39 Seconds Ago
 

Archives of our Conservative, Republican, Political Blogs

Blog Search



Townhall Conservative, Republican, Political Blogs Townhall Blogs
Townhall Conservative, Republican, Political Columns Columns
Your Townhall Conservative, Republican, Political Blogs Your Blogs
By Month
 November 2009
 October 2009
 September 2009
 August 2009
 July 2009
 June 2009
 May 2009
 April 2009
 March 2009
 February 2009
 January 2009
 December 2008
 November 2008
 October 2008
 September 2008
 August 2008
 July 2008
 June 2008
By Issue
 A Culture of Life
 Budget & Government
 Campaigns & Elections
 Education
 Energy & Environment
 Faith & Family
 Foreign Affairs
 Health Care
 Immigration
 Jobs & Economy
 Judges & Courts
 Media & Culture
 Property Rights
 Safety & Security
 Science & Technology
 Second Amendment
 Social Security
 Tax Relief
Advertisement

Comments Comments

Curt,
 Re: AP Studies Palin's New Book, Health Care Bill
  By Dennis
Recovery
 Re: "Stimulus" Fuzzy Math of the Day: Jobs Without Spending Money, Money Spent Without Jobs
  By Origanalist
ShaZam!
 Re: Dems Put Price on Landrieu's Health Care Vote: $100 Million
  By Son of WW2@ Veterans
Yo mama
 Re: CNN's Anchor To Bullies Of "Pledge Kid": He's Smarter & You're Dork-Wads!
  By Dennis
AP and Val
 Re: AP Studies Palin's New Book, Health Care Bill
  By Dennis
SJA
 Re: GMA: Michelle Obama Is The Only Possible Oprah Replacement
  By Ronna
Greg
 Re: Moms Celebrate "Twilight's" Evil, Danger, Bad Boys, Seduction, & Mom-Daughter Hi-5ing The Hot Guys
  By An Instinctive Gesture of Reciprocal Liking
Hey, is Palin a celebrity?
 Re: AP Studies Palin's New Book, Health Care Bill
  By Lonny
wow
 Re: Dems Put Price on Landrieu's Health Care Vote: $100 Million
  By Lonny
Bladder, further
 Re: This Day in American History...
  By Cicero
the best democrat..
 Re: Dems Put Price on Landrieu's Health Care Vote: $100 Million
  By Talula
IOW, Blathermir. . .
 Re: This Day in American History...
  By Cicero
social suicide
 Re: Iraqis Taunting Americans About Brett Favre
  By Lonny
Housing remains depressed
 Re: "Stimulus" Fuzzy Math of the Day: Jobs Without Spending Money, Money Spent Without Jobs
  By D G
healthcare and education costs
 Re: The Affluent "Uninsured"
  By Lonny
Ha! Val, the face
 Re: Iraqis Taunting Americans About Brett Favre
  By dreadnaught
newsflash
 Re: Moms Celebrate "Twilight's" Evil, Danger, Bad Boys, Seduction, & Mom-Daughter Hi-5ing The Hot Guys
  By dskerman
my good wife goes to NC
 Re: This Day in American History...
  By dreadnaught
Dreadnaught
 Re: Iraqis Taunting Americans About Brett Favre
  By Big Sky Cowboy
AP
 Re: AP Studies Palin's New Book, Health Care Bill
  By Curt

The Latest on Town HallThe Latest on Town Hall


Blog Roll Blog Roll