AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

The charges of those opposing Obamacare have finally been proven.  The architect, Jonathan Gruber, admits that language was used to mislead about the costs and impact of the law.Watch the video.

Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. And, basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really very very critical to get the thing to pass. And, you know, it’s the second best argument. I wish Mark was right we could make this transparent but I would rather have this law than not.”

U.S. HAS SILENT EBOLA CZAR

Very interesting story on Dr. Lurie, an assistant secretary at the Department of Health & Human Services.  It is her job to take the lead on Ebola and other infectious diseases but she has not uttered a word. And it appears no preparedness for anything has taken place in spite of the money Congress allocated. But it may be she is too busy giving Democrat donors sweet heart deals on government grants.

See, in 2004, Congress passed The Project Bioshield Act. The text of that legislation authorized up to $5,593,000,000 in new spending by NIH for the purpose of purchasing vaccines that would be used in the event of a bioterrorist attack. A major part of the plan was to allow stockpiling and distribution of vaccines.

Just two years later, Congress passed the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, which created a new assistant secretary for preparedness and response to oversee medical efforts and called for a National Health Security Strategy. The Act establishedBiomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority as the focal point within HHS for medical efforts to protect the American civilian population against naturally occurring threats to public health. It specifically says this authority was established to give “an integrated, systematic approach to the development and purchase of the necessary vaccines, drugs, therapies, and diagnostic tools for public health medical emergencies.”

Last year, Congress passed the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2013 which keep the programs in effect for another five years.

If you look at any of the information about these pieces of legislation or the office and authorities that were created, this brand new expansion of the federal government was sold to us specifically as a means to fight public health threats like Ebola. That was the entire point of why the office and authorities were created.

SPANISH FLU & EBOLA

An interesting comparison of how the government responded to the great flu epidemic after World War I and how it is responding to Ebola.

But playing "national security" progressive politics with public health can bring outright disaster. When the United States entered World War I, Woodrow Wilson played the national-security card early and often. The war effort became an excuse for everything from jailing political opponents to spying on everyday Americans. But, when the president used a global war as an excuse to preempt sound public-health policy, he reaped a global catastrophe.

EBOLA ROUND-UP 10/3/14

Listening to events over the past week, especially with regard to the incident in Dallas leaves one wondering.  The news keeps changing regarding the potential threat.

President Obama said not to worry. . .it wouldn't happen here, but it has happened.  And the CDC was saying how difficult it was to spread and even Chris Matthews the liberal talk host at MSNBC went after his inconsistencies.  So where are we?

"Obama Nixed Bush-Era Quarantine Proposal":  In 2010, the Obama administration withdrew updated quarantine regulations drafted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and proposed by the Bush administration. The new rules would have required air passengers to submit more information to airlines and strengthened the government’s authority to detain travelers suspected of carrying disease.

Liberals like to say that President Bush and Republicans generally are “science deniers.” But in this instance, Bush followed the path recommended by the Centers for Disease Control — no science deniers, they. It was Obama who elevated ideology over science thereby (to borrow the CDC’s words) denying Americans “critical” protection against “dangerous diseases spread by travelers.

"Obama Rips Bush for Being Unprepared for Avian Flu Outbreak":  But something must have been done right, according to the article. . .you don't hear about the Avian flu anymore.

Investors.com.  "Obama's Pathetic Response to Ebola Isn't Reassuring."  "The chances of an Ebola outbreak here in the United States are extremely low," President Obama said recently. But he was wrong. We wonder: Was he repeating a considered medical opinion, or just offering his own?

The Hill.  "Health Officials Clam Up about the Effort to Contain Ebola in Texas."  It sounds like the CDC and others don't know what they are doing.

George Will:  "Americans Want to Trust Government But Can't."

Vice President Joe Biden:  "The disease spreads with blinding speed"--but there are no travel restrictions.  The Veep should maybe read the Daily Mail.  With open borders and travel who knows who or what is coming in.

Cleaning up Dallas apartments without proper suits!  Government gone brain-dead.

Chris Matthews goes after Obama ("it isn't likely") and Ezekiel Emmanuel.

NBC News:  "Ibuprofen Is All It Takes to Pass Airport Screening."

MEDIA COVERAGE OF OBAMA & DEMOCRATS

Recently there has been more criticism in the media of Obama but it clearly doesn't rise to the level of how Bush had been treated.

Powerline has a summary of recent press criticisms of Obama.  The left-liberal establishment is in crisis at the moment. They can’t make up their mind between desperately trying to prop up Obama, and giving up on him and increasing their distance.

Kyle Smith at the New York Post discusses why comedians and Saturday Night Live have trouble making fun of Obama like they do other politicians, especially when he has said some things that could be used in a skit.  Downey comments in “Live from New York,” “I have to say, and even [Al] Franken agrees with me — I’ve talked to him about this — that the last couple seasons of the show were the only two in the show’s history where we were totally like every other comedy show: basically, an arm of the Hollywood Democratic establishment. . . . We just stopped doing anything which could even be misinterpreted as a criticism of Obama.”

Leftist Cornel West always speaks his mind and has changed his view of Obama.  I wonder if I will hear this on the nightly news.  And we ended up with a brown-faced Clinton. Another opportunist. Another neoliberal opportunist.

Meet the Press goes after Senator Rand Paul (R, KY) implying that he was trying to gain publicity for his charitable medical work in Guatemala while not criticizing Obama for golfing or expensive vacations.

VA SCANDAL UPDATE

The media has noted that "al Qaeda terrorists at Guantanamo treated better than our vets."  You can't fire incompetents in the VA and they actually end up being promoted or given bonuses.

The Left has bragged about the VA as a model for medical care, but this socialist model has failed.

The "secret" of the VA's "success," Krugman argued, "is the fact that it's a universal, integrated system." That saves on administrative costs and allows for efficient record-keeping. Krugman acknowledged that the VA had a history of mismanagement and mediocre care, until "reforms beginning in the mid-1990's transformed the system." But wait. Hasn't it been a universal, integrated system all along?  This sounds like it could be a prophetic statement about Obamacare.  At least in a private care system you can sue the doctor or hospital for malfeasance. And Krugman opposed Republican proposals allowing vets to use VA benefits in private care systems.

From WND.  Obama failed to fix problems left over from the Bush administration even though he promised to.

Map showing an "epidemic" of VA incompetence.

VA SCANDAL

It has not been discussed widely but the recent treatment scandals in the Veteran's Administration should raise concerns about what will happen when the government runs all health care.  John Fund deals with some of the ramifications of this issue.  There are scandals in other countries which have national health care related to delays in treatment and potential patients being "removed" from surgery lists to make the government look like it is taking care of the health needs of its citizens.

Obama was warned about the VA health care crisis in 2008.

"Socialized Medicine on Trial".  Government has failed utterly. 

DEMOCRATS VIEW OF WORK

From Michael Goodwin:

"Opportunity created by affordable, quality health insurance allows families in America to make a decision about how they will work, or if they will work,” Jay Carney said. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi applauded the law for freeing people from “job-lock.”

"WE ALL KNEW" OBAMA WAS LYING

From liberal Democrat Senator Gillibrand (NY).  If all Democrats involved in Obamacare knew it was a lie from the beginning, it does not speak highly of their ethical values. . .or their respect for the American people.  And  you never build a program on a lie if you have a Judeo-Christian value system.  It reminds me of Hitler's use of lies: “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it”.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) admitted Sunday to knowing the promises President Obama made about his signature health care plan were false. On ABC’s This Week, fill-in host Martha Raddatz asked Gillibrand where she felt misled by Obama, considering the fact that the President said that Americans who wanted to keep their health care plans could do so.

Hitler also said:  "How fortunate for leaders that men do not think."

OBAMACARE FAILURE

One of the most troubling issues that does not get a lot of coverage is why the Obama White House did not see that problems were coming or why they ignored some of the reports that the web site was not ready.  Presumably these are smart guys, but no one seemed to want to face reality. And no one has resigned!  Either they are just ignorant "yes" people confined by ideological blinders or they wanted it to fail as some conspirators are arguing.

Reflect on that for a moment. The President of the United States is sitting in the Oval Office day after day. The West Wing is stuffed with high power aides. His political appointees sit atop federal bureaucracies, monitoring the work of the career staff around them. The President has told his core team, over and over, that the health care law and the website rollout are his number one domestic priorities.

And with all this, neither he nor, apparently, anyone in his close circle of aides and advisors knew that the website was a disaster. Vapid, blind, idly flapping their lips; they pushed paper, attended meetings and edited memos as the roof came crashing down. It is one thing to fail; it is much, much worse not to see failure coming. There is no way to construe this as anything but a world class flop.

 Another report on White House incompetence from the National Journal.  The technical issues also seem to be marked by "politics."

The same story by Amy Goldstein and Juliet Eilperin revealed that the Health and Human Services Department hired technology contractors without requiring specific performance criteria. It is customary in the private sector to include benchmarks in technology contracts. Not so with the seat-of-their-smarty-pants Obama administration. "The meaning of success was defined for the first time during the panicky days of October, when White House officials belatedly recognized that the federal exchange had serious software and hardware defects," The Post reported.

RECORD ON HOUSE VOTES TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT

The GOP House passed 11 bills to reopen government or keep it going since September.  All of them were rejected by the Democrats in the Senate or President Obama.  Somehow we only see the obstructionism of Republicans in the media.

REPUBLICAN HEALTH CARE PLAN

According to liberals and Democrats, Republicans have no health care plan(s).  But they do, although evidently the media does not cover Republican alternatives.  I don't know if Republican proposals are good or bad, but I think the debate should move beyond just one on Obamacare.  Even George W. Bush had a proposal on the table and it looks better (simpler) than what Obama has on the table.

It’s arguably the favorite myth of progressives, the oft-repeated claim that Republicans have no health plan. Hence, President Obama was fully justified in ignoring them and proceeding to enact a comprehensive health reform law on a strict party line vote—something completely unprecedented in American political history. Karl Rove last week did an excellent job of countering that myth in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. For those who may have missed that piece, or those who want further details and links not feasible to include within the constraints of a printed op-ed, this post is intended to fill in some blanks.

IRS EMPLOYEES UNION REJECTS OBAMACARE

Crazy.  The IRS is supposed to enforce Obamacare, yet the employees don't want to be under it.

National Treasury Employees Union officials are urging members to write their congressional representatives in opposition to receiving coverage through President Obama’s health care law.

OBAMACARE PROBLEMS

One just needs to look at the flowchart to wonder how in the world Obamacare is going to work. For other looming problems in its administration, read the summary at Hotair. I don't recall any piece of legislation ever having these kinds of looming issues--of course it was passed with congressmen reading it.  And in 3 years they still have not figured out how to deal with smokers.   Hotair asks:  If the Obama administration is this incompetent at running its highest priority, just how badly are they bungling everything else?

HOLLYWOOD HELPED ADOLF HITLER

An historian argues that Hollywood helped Adolf Hitler with his propaganda efforts.  This is a subject that I will be watching to see how Urwand's book is reviewed. The New York Times quotes some critics, but it also indicates there are documents supporting Urwand.  Harvard Press did publish it and it is not noted for publishing "conspiracy" literature.

But now a young historian says that in the years before the war, Tinseltown was marching to a very different tune. Ben Urwand, 35 has written a book, The Collaboration: Hollywood's Pact With Hitler, in which he cites documents that prove, he says, US studios acquiesced to Nazi censorship of their films actively cooperated with the regime's world propaganda effort.

COST OF OBAMACARE

Supporters say it will cost less; critics say it will cost more.  Forbes seems to have done a good job showing that insurance is actually going up under Obamacare.  There is an issue of supporters "spinning" the rates to make them look lower.

CHINESE CREATE SUPER VIRUS

Why in the world do Chinese scientists need to create a super bird-flu virus?  Researchers can't even cure some of the current strains.  It is like biological warfare has begun.  Washington is worried about guns when maybe it should be focused on chemical and biological weapons of the future.

Senior scientists have criticised the “appalling irresponsibility” of researchers in China who have deliberately created new strains of influenza virus in a veterinary laboratory.


They warned there is a danger that the new viral strains created by mixing bird-flu virus with human influenza could escape from the laboratory to cause a global pandemic killing millions of people.

OBAMACARE

Democrat leaders in Congress were seeking a way to get around Obamacare while sticking the rest of the country with it.

HEALTH CARE COSTS IN THE UNITED STATES

An analysis of why health care costs are so high.  Why should one generic Tylenol pill cost a $1.50 a pill?

What are the reasons, good or bad, that cancer means a half-million- or million-dollar tab? Why should a trip to the emergency room for chest pains that turn out to be indigestion bring a bill that can exceed the cost of a semester of college? What makes a single dose of even the most wonderful wonder drug cost thousands of dollars? Why does simple lab work done during a few days in a hospital cost more than a car? And what is so different about the medical ecosystem that causes technology advances to drive bills up instead of down?

FACT-CHECKING THE STATE OF THE UNION, 2014

When the left-wing  Huffington Post fact checks Obama's State of the Union Address and finds a number of serious errors in his statements, his administration is definitely in mess when it comes to dealing with the problems faced by America.  He is upsetting conservatives, moderates, and now liberals with his policies.

IBD discusses the debt crisis challenge which the State of the Union seemed to ignore.

First, despite what Obama says, the debt crisis is nowhere near fixed — as anyone who's looked at the report from Obama's own debt commission would know.

That report opened with this stark statement: "Our nation is on an unsustainable fiscal path." Left unchecked, it said, the rising debt "will put America at risk," and that "continued inaction is not a viable option."

The American Spectator on Obama's "most audacious lie."  

Humor(?) in the speech.