Jim's Blog
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March 12, 2010
House to Vote on Health Care Takeover Next Week
Looks like Democrats are gearing up to take the big vote on ObamaCare next week. At least, that's what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House members today.
Breaking news from Politico:House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her members Friday to brace themselves for a climatic health care vote as early as next week, warning them to clear their schedules for next weekend and promising to stay in session until the landmark vote, people present at the meeting told POLITICO. President Barack Obama has postponed an overseas trip until March 21, and Pelosi said, "I am delighted the president will be here for the passage of the bill. It will be historic."
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March 10, 2010
GOP Senators Vow to Stop Reconciliation
Sen. DeMint joined his Republican colleagues, Sens. John Thune (S.D.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), at a press conference today to discuss Democrat plans to force Obama's health care takeover into law -- even with the majority of Americans opposed to the takeover. The group vowed to stop reconciliation if Democrats insist on moving forward with the increasingly unpopular bill.
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March 4, 2010
FOX: DeMint on Obama's Reconciliation Strategy to Take Over Health Care
Sen. DeMint goes "On the Record With Greta" Van Susteren of FOX News to discuss President Obama's latest speech about forcing the passage of his health care takeover plan through reconciliation
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March 4, 2010
WSJ: President Being Dishonest About True Costs of ObamaCare
Today the editors of the Wall Street Journal criticize President Obama for lacking "fiscal honesty" in explaining his health care takeover plan to the American public yesterday:At his press conference yesterday, Mr. Obama claimed that "my proposal would bring down the cost of health care for millions—families, businesses and the federal government." He said it is "fully paid for" and "brings down our deficit by up to $1 trillion over the next two decades." Never before has a vast new entitlement been sold on the basis of fiscal responsibility, and one reason ObamaCare is so unpopular is that Americans understand the contradiction between untold new government subsidies and claims of spending restraint. They know a Big Con when they hear one.
Mr. Obama's fiscal assertions are possible only because of the fraudulent accounting and budget gimmicks that Democrats spent months calibrating...
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February 25, 2010
GN: Obama's Health Care Plan Is Nothing New
Today President Obama is hosting a health care summit with select congressional Republicans and Democrats. However, on Monday Obama finally rolled out his own version of a health care takeover that looked very similar to the plans already being considered by Democrats on Capitol Hill.
The editors of The Greenville News agree:A new health-care reform proposal presented by President Barack Obama in advance of today’s health-care summit offers little substantive change from two proposals that already have been rejected by those seeking more targeted reform.
In this regard, the president’s latest attempt to open a bipartisan debate on this issue seems less than sincere, despite a calculated plea to health-care reform opponents that they should present alternative ideas.
This country’s health-care system undoubtedly has room for improvement. However Obama signals that new ideas are unwelcome if they don’t jibe with Democratic proposals with his decision to present this plan in advance of the summit that includes Democrats and Republicans and the threat Democrats could use a procedural rule to shut out dissent.
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January 27, 2010
FOX: DeMint Shares Expectations for State of the Union
Sen. DeMint shares his expectations for President Obama's first State of the Union with Neil Cavuto on FOX Business:
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January 26, 2010
ABC: DeMint vs. Menendez on 'This Week'
This past Sunday Sen. DeMint joined Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to discuss the political future of their respective parties following Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts Senate race on ABC News' "This Week."
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January 19, 2010
Senate Returns; Dems' Top Priority Still Health Care Takeover
The full Senate returns from its holiday recess this week and the health care debate between the House and Senate will continue. Democratic leadership from both Houses of Congress have been meeting since the Senate passed its own version of the health care bill just before Christmas. Leadership is doing their best to reconcile the wishes of both House and Senate Democrats in hope of keeping both sides on board for a final vote before sending the final version to President Obama's desk for signing.
With the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's Senate seat up for grabs, Democrats are considering various options to get the bill to the president. Even if Democrats retain Kennedy's seat there is concern that some Democrats are having second thoughts about supporting the bill. Reports The New York Times:It is unclear if rank-and-file Democrats would go along, and House Democratic leaders said no final decision would be made until they talked to their caucus.
But even as Democratic leaders pondered contingencies, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, insisted that the legislation would move forward, though she acknowledged that Tuesday’s results could force a tactical shift...
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December 17, 2009
Coburn: Reid-Obama Health Care Takeover Will Ration Care, Shorten LIfe Spans
In an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) explains that just because the "public option" has been removed from the health care takeover bill being considered in the Senate doesn't mean Americans shouldn't worry about rationing and shorter lifespans under the Reid-Obama plan. Dr. Coburn has practiced medicine for over 25 years so he knows what he is talking about. Here's in the intro:I recently suggested that seniors will die sooner if Congress actually implements the Medicare cuts in the health-care bill put forward by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. My colleagues who defend the bill -- none of whom have practiced medicine -- predictably dismissed my concern as a scare tactic. They are wrong. Every American, not just seniors, should know that the rationing provisions in the Reid bill will not only reduce their quality of life, but their life spans as well.
My 25 years as a practicing physician have shown me what happens when government attempts to practice medicine: Doctors respond to government coercion instead of patient cues, and patients die prematurely. Even if the public option is eliminated from the bill, these onerous rationing provisions will remain intact.
For instance, the Reid bill (in sections 3403 and 2021) explicitly empowers Medicare to deny treatment based on cost. An Independent Medicare Advisory Board created by the bill—composed of permanent, unelected and, therefore, unaccountable members—will greatly expand the rationing practices that already occur in the program. Medicare, for example, has limited cancer patients' access to Epogen, a costly but vital drug that stimulates red blood cell production. It has limited the use of virtual, and safer, colonoscopies due to cost concerns. And Medicare refuses medical claims at twice the rate of the largest private insurers...
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December 11, 2009
Report: Reid-Obama Health Care Takeover INCREASES Costs for ALL Americans; Forces Nearly 20 Million Off Current Coverage
Yesterday, the Obama Administration’s own chief actuary issued a report on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009,” noting that health care costs would increase under the Democrat Majority’s health proposal.
According to the report, the Reid-Pelosi-Obama health care bill could increase health care costs for all Americans, threaten access to care for seniors, and force nearly 20 million Americans off of their current coverage.
Under the Democrats’ proposal, national health spending would increase from 16 percent of GDP now (1 out of every 7 dollars) to 20.9 percent under the Reid bill (more than 1 out of every 5 dollars). In fact, the chief actuary concluded that the federal government and the country would spend $234 billion more under the bill than without it. In addition, the report notes that seniors could face significant decreases in access to providers who might find the severe cuts to Medicare under this bill enough to end their willingness to accept Medicare patients. Finally, the report found that 17 million Americans will lose their employer-sponsored coverage, with even more small employers “inclined to terminate their existing coverage.”
The president promised Americans during his run for the White House that if they liked their current coverage they would get to keep it -- sounds like his campaign rhetoric isn’t matching the reality of the Democrat Majority’s proposals.