Health care bill advances to House floor

[C Monkee]

Proving my contention that broken, ineffective, and bankrupt government programs leads to more broken, ineffective, and bankrupt government programs, the Treasury Department has reported that America faces a $43 trillion unfunded obligation in Social Security and Medicare benefits with 77 million retiring baby boomers and rising health care costs.

According to the CBO, paying for the promised benefits will eventually force Congress to impose a 63% income tax on the middle class and an 88% tax on the "wealthy."

Yet, even as we try to figure out how to meet our current obligations, the President wants to create an additional health care entitlement and further increase spending elsewhere in the budget.

The Social Security trust fund will be exhausted by 2037, and the Medicare hospital trust fund will become insolvent by 2017 according to a report by the trustees of the two programs.

In fact, next year – 2010 – Social Security’s costs will exceed it’s income.

Medicare has an unfunded liability of $36 trillion over the next 75 years, or about $317,000 per U.S. household, and in just the next 5 years, by 2013, Medicare’s unfunded liability is projected to grow by 33 percent, to $48 trillion – or about $412,402 per household.

When Social Security and Medicare are taken together, the total unfunded liability is $40 trillion, or about $353,000 per household. By 2013, that total will grow to $54 trillion, or $474,077 per household.

So let me ask you this: When we can't afford the public health plan we have already, does it make sense to expand it? That’s exactly what the Democrats want to do with their health care overhaul. The public option by another name is just "Medicare for All."

The system is already broken, yet they want to compound the problem. With math like this, it’s no wonder we have a debt nearing $12 trillion and our country is running record deficits. This is real money we’re talking about here, and real people’s futures. Let’s get serious.

Politicians lied to us about the "Social Security Trust Fund." They spent our money and the system cannot and will not deliver on it's future promises.

In 1966, Medicare cost $3 billion. The House Ways and Means Committee, along with Lyndon Johnson's administration, projected that Medicare would cost $12 billion, adjusted for inflation, by 1990. In 1990, Medicare costs were over $107 billion. That's nine times Congress' projections. That's only 900% off! Close enough for government work. Medicare now costs over $400 billion and is heading towards bankruptcy. Do you really believe that Obama's numbers will be any less counterfeit?

Nevertheless, a large part of the population, like an abused spouse, keep coming back for more, believing the continual lies wrapped in empty, deceptive and condescending rhetoric of "hope and change." When will we get tired of being lied to? When will we hold politicians accountable?

America: Either wake up or or bend over and let the likes of Pelosi, Reid, Obama and the RINO's have their way with you.

[Chris mankey]

Marianne 20 wrote:

<quoted text>
Stupid drug addict! You know you're spewing lies. Even my democrat friends are not for the public option. Only poor welfare recipients like you are for it!

Sorry, moron. I don't do drugs!

"Only poor welfare recipients like you are for it!"

Don't get any welfare. Thanks for playing!

[Chris mankey]

Eighthman wrote:

I bet the first thing that went through Obama's mind was "Allahu Akbar." when the bill passed.

Wow, Clearly NOTHING went though your mind from Birth till death!

[2010 is now]

Marianne 20 wrote:

<quoted text>
You minnesota people are worse than hillbilly types. Your women are all fat and ugly and drive trucks.

Not all of us as you can see Marianne (always liked that name) there's still a good number of us that are capable of our "own" thinking and my wife isn't fat or ugly (thank God) but there are times I wished she knew how to drive a truck...LOL. No matter and no need to worry... this thing really is their WATERLOO!

[Monkeyshines]

The cost of the Democrat's government health care


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/...

Free health care is a very expensive proposition. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, Connecticut Democrat, are sponsoring a massive health care bill to extend coverage to 50 million Americans who supposedly do not have it. On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the cost of the Kennedy-Dodd health care bill would run to at least $1.6 trillion over 10 years and that it would cover just one-third of the so-called "uninsured."

Sen. Judd Gregg, New Hampshire Republican, said the bill easily could top $2 trillion. Using the CBO estimate, Utah Republican Sen. Orrin G. Hatch's office calculates that the tab for this comes to $62,500 per uninsured person over 10 years.

White House economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers claimed in April on NBC's "Meet the Press" that President Obama's government health-insurance program would pay for itself. He promised there was so much waste and inefficiency in private insurance that a government system could save $700 billion a year just by eliminating unnecessary surgery. He said waste from surgery alone accounted for 30 percent of all health care spending in America.....

Read more at washingtontimes.com ...

----------

This article describes the many mistakes and faulty assumptions that went into the planning of Medicare, and how the ultimate costs were grossly underestimated:
http://www.reason.com/news/show/29339.html

EXCERPT:
At its start, in 1966, Medicare cost $3 billion. The House Ways and Means Committee estimated that Medicare would cost only about $ 12 billion by 1990 (a figure that included an allowance for inflation). This was a supposedly “conservative” estimate. But in 1990 Medicare actually cost $107 billion.

...Anticipating a 3.5-percent annual inflation rate, government actuaries predicted that the cost of a day’s hospital stay by 1985 would be $155 and that the hospital insurance portion of Medicare would cost $9 billion by 1990. The actual average cost of a hospital day by 1985 was over $600; instead of $9 billion, the hospital-insurance program cost $63 billion in 1990.

[2010 is now]

Chris mankey wrote:

<quoted text>
Eighty-three percent of Americans favor and only 14 percent oppose “creating a new public health insurance plan that anyone can purchase” according to EBRI, a conservative business research organization.
Looks like you should focus on polishing your OWN turds!

Key Word in my post: VOTERS...Now go polish his turds elsewhere..Liberal NIMROD!

[MoMoneyMankey]

AARP may benefit from health reform; GOP cites possible conflict of interest

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_136477...

The nation's pre-eminent seniors group, AARP, has put the weight of its 40 million members behind health care reform, saying many of the proposals will lower costs and increase the quality of care for older Americans.

But not advertised in this lobbying campaign have been the group's substantial earnings from insurance royalties and the potential benefits that could come its way from many of the reform proposals.

Screwing the Seniors? AARP to Make Millions Off of Obamacare

http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2009/10/screwi...



AARP is trying to portray itself as a "non partisan" observer on the health care debate, but has been actively working toward ensuring the passage of Obamacare. All the evidence points to the fact that the Senior advocacy organization is willing to push through a plan that will hurt its membership so it can make millions on its insurance related activities.

Republicans Target AARP's Ties to Health-Insurance Industry

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1256652036775...

WASHINGTON -- Republicans in Congress are taking aim at AARP's financial ties to the health-insurance industry just as the advocacy group is taking a more prominent role supporting an overhaul of the nation's health-care system.

Even Some Democrats Are Skeptical About Senate’s Government-Sponsored Health Insurance Plan

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/56127



The focus of the health overhaul debate now shifts to whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can persuade a handful of moderate senators to get behind his new proposal for a government-sponsored insurance plan.



Pelosi: Health care 'public option' needs new name

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/A...



House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says a government-sponsored public option for health care lives. But it may be going by a different name.

In an appearance at a Florida senior center Monday, the Democratic leader referred to the so-called public option as "the consumer option." Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat, appeared by Pelosi's side and used the term "competitive option."





Constitutionality of health overhaul questioned

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/28/c...



On top of all the other obstacles facing President Obama in his quest to pass health reform is this one: Does the U.S. Constitution allow the government to require uninsured Americans to buy medical insurance or impose a tax penalty if they refuse?

Congress has never before required citizens to purchase any good or service, but that is what both House and Senate health bills would mandate.

[2010 is now]

Chris mankey wrote:

"We have the best health care in the world. If you are penniless you can go into great emergency rooms around the country AND NOT BE DENIED CARE.
"
Actually where 37th in the world in health outcomes. And of course you can get health insurance in england if your a student FROM THE UNITED STATES

I read that info too... it's made for clueless idiots like you. One of the countries listed ahead of the USA I remeber is Cuba. So why are they always risking their lives in flimsy boats to escape from there to get to here?

[Chris mankey]

Keywords in my post "conservative business research organization." "survey" and "majority think it's a good idea"

[C Monkee]

When have we seen this before? Oh, yes- Medicare:

Defenders of the public option quickly point out that Kennedy’s American Health Choices Act promises to pay health care providers 10 percent more than Medicare. But as the Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner noted at Cato@Liberty,“When Medicare began, proponents promised it would reimburse at the same rate as insurance. That promise didn’t last long.” In fact, in his letter to Kennedy and Baucus, Obama explicitly endorsed the idea of setting mandatory physician and hospital reimbursement rates through the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. In other words, the payments would no longer be merely advisory."

Government doesn’t exist to turn a profit, nor does it face competition. That’s why, in part, government operates so inefficiently. We put up with that in certain areas, like the military, because we don’t want private groups arming themselves with tanks, bombers, and armies and navies. In most other areas, we prefer the private sector, as competition usually gets us the best products and services at the best prices.

Government exists to service its interests, at least in its present form. Mostly, it serves to further itself. Any government bureaucracy that sees danger in competition will work to eliminate it. The dynamic in health-care plans would not be government making private insurers “more honest”, but in squeezing them out of the marketplace to create a monopoly. Since government doesn’t have to show a profit to exist, it will simply low-ball the other insurers on price until they all drop out of the health-care field. In an ironic way, it’s similar to how Standard Oil built its monopoly, which the government had to bust in order to get real choice and competition in the gasoline market.

The absolute goal is single-payor system, which is the industry term for fully-socialized medicine.
The thing that killed Hillarycare was letting the general public see the fine print. Obama knows this, which is why the most disturbing parts of the plan are being kept under wraps until the last minute; in fact, many of the final provisions of the plan will be decided upon AFTER passage. It is also being tacked on to a budgetary bill, which only requires 51 votes (instead of the usual 60) for it to pass. You can bet that there will be NO LOOPHOLES for private industry to exploit, as the goal is total capitulation to the federal mandate.

[merle]

This obama pelosi regime sticks in the craw of the American people, and it will not stand.

[Chris mankey]

2010 is now wrote:

<quoted text>
I read that info too... it's made for clueless idiots like you. One of the countries listed ahead of the USA I remeber is Cuba. So why are they always risking their lives in flimsy boats to escape from there to get to here?

Yeah the world health organization is clearly for "clueless idiots like me" ! Don't dispute the data, launch little ad hominem attacks on me!

"So why are they always risking their lives in flimsy boats"
Because they don't like castro?

So why don't people in denmark come to the "worlds greatest healthcare system ©" to get treatment? Because they don't want to be bankrupt? Tell you what, if you can tell me what's wrong with the methodology that the world health organization uses to gather its' data, I'll take you seriously!

[Marianne 20]

merle wrote:

This obama pelosi regime sticks in the craw of the American people, and it will not stand.

Yep, it's just a matter of time until dems get voted out. Republicans will have to come in and fix everything. Everything Obama has tried to do has turned to crap. This is the worst president the nation has ever known. Can't wait to see what the jobless rate will be tomorrow. I bet it's 19% by Christmas time. This just goes to show everyone that Obama's methods don't work. This inexperienced clueless president is ineffectual and impotent.

[Chris mankey]

"Government doesn’t exist to turn a profit, nor does it face competition. "

Of course profits for insurance companies are the premiums and actually providing services are expenses. Thats why a broken arm is likely to become a "preexisting condition " in todays market.

[Marianne 20]

2010 is now wrote:

<quoted text>
Not all of us as you can see Marianne (always liked that name) there's still a good number of us that are capable of our "own" thinking and my wife isn't fat or ugly (thank God) but there are times I wished she knew how to drive a truck...LOL. No matter and no need to worry... this thing really is their WATERLOO!

Of course I was speaking only of the democrats. Sorry! Just like all Californias are not pro-Obama (I've had to explain this in a few posts). I agree with you! This is their "waterloo."

[Marianne 20]

Chris mankey wrote:

<quoted text>
Yeah the world health organization is clearly for "clueless idiots like me" ! Don't dispute the data, launch little ad hominem attacks on me!
"So why are they always risking their lives in flimsy boats"
Because they don't like castro?
So why don't people in denmark come to the "worlds greatest healthcare system ©" to get treatment? Because they don't want to be bankrupt? Tell you what, if you can tell me what's wrong with the methodology that the world health organization uses to gather its' data, I'll take you seriously!

Apparently no one takes you seriously! You're a joke!

[TheMaster]

Unbelievable what is happening to this country.

Just saw on C-Span that they want the National Health Service to guarantee that cancer patients can see a specialist within 2 weeks and get their tests done within a week. LMAO, and this is what some want here.

[Tomtrishy]

Thank goodness there's quite few people here who aren't willing to trade away their freedom for a little bit of security. That's how the socialists are doing it you know. Just a little bit at a time. This one is a pretty big reach though and I think it will wake people up and cause a backlash. Whether it'll hold for long is another question. There may just be too many Chris Mankeys.

[2010 is now]

Chris mankey wrote:

<quoted text>
Yeah the world health organization is clearly for "clueless idiots like me" ! Don't dispute the data, launch little ad hominem attacks on me!
"So why are they always risking their lives in flimsy boats"
Because they don't like castro?
So why don't people in denmark come to the "worlds greatest healthcare system ©" to get treatment? Because they don't want to be bankrupt? Tell you what, if you can tell me what's wrong with the methodology that the world health organization uses to gather its' data, I'll take you seriously!

World Health Care Orginization?.... what part of that title don't you get... Come on Chris.. are you even capable of your own thinking, or have you been completely sucked in?

They don't like Castro.. but love their health care so they jump into little boats, canoes or rafts in order to get to a country that according to you will give them less and worse health care... come on man.. now you've swallowed it hook line and sinker, or dived off the shallow edge and banged your head.

[BobbySomers]

Interesting read.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEA...