All the News That's Fit to be Tied

I have an axe to grind, but unlike the New York Times, I freely admit it.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

All Roads Lead to the Public Option

N o matter how the Congress and the President try to disguise their intention they plan to create a system of rationed care run by the government. Many in Congress have been waiting their entire career to accomplish this including Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi and many others. They know that single-payer does not have the votes in the House or the Senate so they will change its name, call it what it is not and try any combination of devices to get it through. Witness the current situation. After getting a bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee they have moved the discussions behind closed doors and now plan to write the pubic option, which could not pass, into a new bill and call it the bill that passed. This "is the best path to get us to single-payer" according to Barney Frank, a long-time supporter of the Canadian system. So despite all current statements to the contrary this is where the liberals in Congress want to take us. With the Presidency and strong majorities in the House and Senate this is their best opportunity to do it. Take a minute and ponder this: we already have several examples of government-run healthcare including Medicare and Medicaid, veteran's hospitals and Indian reservations. It is well-known that those with Medicare must have supplemental plans for things not covered and we have all heard the horror stories of veteran's and Indians. Through the years Medicare has covered less and less, and supplemental coverage has cost more and more. Medicare has cut the reimbursement rate, which has resulted in many doctors and hospitals no longer accepting Medicare patients unless they carry supplemental policies. The current plan includes additional cuts in Medicare so it will only become worse. None of this is to even mention it has 46 Trillion in unfunded liabilities already. Add to this the myriad penalties, forced enrollment and increased regulation and there is no way such a plan could be deficit neutral or cost less. And finally, what is perhaps the most telling of all is that our Congress plans to exclude them selves from the system they are devising for us. Changing the name of the bill from National Healthcare to Healthcare Insurance Reform does not disguise the truth of what the government wants to do. The plan ends with a single-payer government run healthcare system, which history shows will destroy a healthcare system that is the envy of the world. Keep talking America. Let your Representative and Senators know how you feel. Keep those cards, letters and phone calls coming.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Men in White Coats

The Obama Traveling Medicine Show made a stop at the Rose Garden yesterday to help the President sell his healthcare reform message. There they were seated before and standing around him as he delivered the spiel of the day declaring doctors from every state supported his health plan. To prove it we were treated to a large group of lab-coated doctors in blazing white unused lab coats. The lab coats had never seen a hospital and it made you wonder if the doctors that were present had ever been in one either. After all you could be a doctor and never have practiced medicine. Say you were a Juris Doctor or a Doctor of Business Communication. You would be a doctor that never practiced medicine. However, it's not very likely that Obama would go such as great extent to trick the public. Oh yes, we know about the town hall plants, the predetermined questions, the orchestrated yelling, fainting, bussing and other activities that surround the President's activities. We here at thenewnarrative have been following the escapades of the Traveling Medicine Show since the end of the 2008 Democratic Primary. Given those things it's not likely he would try such a bush-league prank as dressing everyone up as a doctor. Or would he? Under normal circumstances the media would be asking questions, but with this President they just comply. So the questions remain: were all those present doctors or were just some of them doctors? How many of each? Is it just another illusion created to fool the crowd or can we take it at face value? Make your own judgment.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Obama Lets Iran Off the Hook

Iran got the best of both worlds this week when it forestalled any action on its nuclear ambitions, and will also get other countries to enrich much of its current un-enriched inventory of uranium, which it can use to create additional nuclear warheads for its missiles. You really can't make this stuff up. Perhaps if President Obama had flown to Switzerland instead of Denmark, the outcome might have been different. Any effort to portray the talks as anything other than a disastrous failure is an effort in futility and entirely dishonest. If the President wants to succeed with Iran he needs to fire a bunker-buster Cruise Missile right into the Qom facility tunnel entrance. The QOM facility is not even operational yet so it serves the purpose of providing a demonstration of force and also eliminates the possibility of radiation escaping into the atmosphere. The real work of enrichment goes on at the Narantz underground facility and the UN won't be permitted to go there. A Cruise Missile would be a meaningful message; "You stop now or else your Capital will be next." He has been fooled by his allies and snubbed by his enemies who are entirely unimpressed with his charm, wit and charisma. He either knows he is being played for a fool or he's a totally committed participant to the erosion of American influence in world affairs. As the star of the Obama Traveling Medicine Show he is a real pro, but as a world leader he is an amateur.