Tuesday, March 23, 2010

What He SAid

http://www.walter-c-uhler.com/Reviews/decent.html
Republicans would have you believe that their objections to the new Health-Care law were matters of principled disagreement - too costly, too much government interference, et cetera. However, anyone inclined to believe such assertions should not only recall their support for the expensive war in Iraq and the budget busting tax cuts for the rich, but also the question raised repeatedly by Chris Matthews: If Republicans are, indeed, genuinely concerned about getting near universal health care right, why didn't they offer and pass health care reform, when they controlled the both houses of congress and the presidency? They had total control for most of 2001 to 2006.



I got your health care rationing right here

a recent post on Sadly, no! from Trilateral Chairman:


This was the weirdest part of the whole healthcare debate. Did people *really* think that there was no rationing of care, that doctors never had to make life-and-death decisions about treatment? Heck, every *day* somebody finds that their insurance company won’t cover Treatment X (because it’s allegedly “unproven” or costs as much as the insurance company CEO’s Hummer). Every *day* my colleagues in neurology end up battling with insurance companies to get therapy for a particular patient who has an unusual presentation and doesn’t fall into any of the insurance guys’ neat little bins.

It happens even without the insurance companies. Every *day* the guys over in the neonatal critical care ward say “Well, we have 10 of these super-expensive incubators but 12 preemies who need them, so we’re giving ‘em to the ones who are most likely to survive and we’ll keep the others as comfortable as possible.” This is just the obvious consequence of expensive high-tech medical care and limited resources. I’d rather have the docs doing it than the insurance SOBs, but it’s going to happen no matter what.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Caribou Barbie partakes of Socialist health care in some Commie country

Sarah Palin -- who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care -- admitted over the weekend that she used to get her treatment in Canada.



The best health care system in the world!
h/t WTF Is It Now?!?

Monday, March 8, 2010

Larry Craig Syndrome

*sigh* if only this were news...another hypocritical Repub senator voting against gay rights for 14 years before he admits he's gay:


State senator from Bakersfield says he's gay after DUI arrest - San Jose Mercury News

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Shallow thoughts for today

Sorry I can't credit this:


* Nothing ticks you off more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

* I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

* I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

* How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

* I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars
teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front.Stay strong, brothers!

* Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

* Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

* I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

* Bad decisions make good stories

* You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

* Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

* There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to fall after leaning your chair back a little too far.

* I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my thirty page insurance policy that I swear I did not make any changes to.

* While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA . No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.

* I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

* I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

* Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

* Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

* I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

* Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

* I wonder if cops ever get ticked off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

* I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

* I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with liquor than with "Kay".

Monday, March 1, 2010

Dear Senator Dick

Senator Bunning: you had no problem passing every debt and deficit increasing bill under Bush's watch. You have caused more suffering among the American people because you are more concerned with your future as a lobbyist than depriving Americans of benefits and jobs. Why do you hate America?

Lone Republican Senator blocking a million-plus Americans from receiving unemployment benefits

Sarah Palin stormed the bestseller list last year with "Going Rogue"-a political memoir whose title coyly referenced the former GOP vice presidential nominee's supposed defiance of the consultants running the McCain campaign. But this year we have a new poster boy for the Going Rogue playbook: GOP Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky. For the past week, Bunning has been single-handedly blocking more than a million Americans from receiving unemployment and COBRA health insurance benefits, as of today, when their benefits funded under the 2009 stimulus law run out. The suspension of benefits affects everyone from doctors to government employees.



Since cutting health and unemployment benefits isn't the most popular thing to do in a job-starved recession, the Senate had reached near unanimity on extending these programs. But near-unanimous isn't enough when senators are looking to stretch out the lifespan of benefits about to lapse-they need to reach unanimous consent. And that requirement has delivered a great deal of power into Bunning's hands-- power that has allowed him to block the extension until the Senate find $10.3 billion in spending cuts elsewhere to fund the safety-net spending.



"I believe we should pay for it," Bunning said. "I'm trying to make a point to the people of the United States."



Bunning has long been something of an outlier, even within his own caucus. Last year, he announced his plans to retire, having received de facto votes of no confidence from most Senate campaign strategists. And now that he's got nothing to lose next November, he's bucking all kinds of pressure from GOP leaders, who argue that Bunning's quixotic stand has done nothing to improve the party's "party of no" image.



And indeed, Bunning has seemed oddly cavalier about the broader fallout from his one-man crusade -except that is, when it comes to his own college hoops-viewing schedule. "I have missed the Kentucky-South Carolina game that started at 9:00 and it's the only redeeming chance we had to beat South Carolina since they're the only team that has beat Kentucky this year," he said on the Senate floor last Thursday night. Later, when a Senate colleague pleaded with him to drop his objections to the extension, Bunning reportedly responded by saying, "Tough sh*t."



Many on the right and the left have weighed in on Bunning's stance in recent days. The Atlantic Monthly's Megan McArdle called it "political poison," as she says that even conservatives are sympathetic to the needs of the nation's jobless right now. She added that Bunning's efforts would probably be better served if he found "some useless defense appropriations to complain about" instead. And well before this latest flap, blogger Matt Welch wrote in a review of Bunning's odd, belligerent career that the lawmaker has obviously "lost his marbles."



Still, some conservative writers are hailing Bunning's efforts. Redstate.com, for instance, praised the senator for "standing strong for the American people," adding that Bunning showed courage in daring "to ask the simple question of how these extensions would be paid for."



One thing is quite clear: Senator Bunning is not backing down. When questioned today by ABC reporter Jonathan Karl in the hallway of the Hart Office Building, Bunning refused to answer any questions about his actions. When Karl attempted to follow him into the elevator with a cameraman in tow, Bunning yelled "Excuse me! This is a Senator's only elevator!" And to drive the point home, Karl writes, the senator "walked toward the elevator and shot the middle finger over his head."


h/t yahoo news

Word From Warren

Billionaire Warren Buffett says health care costs are a major drain on U.S. businesses and act like an "economic tape worm."

The head of the holding company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Monday on CNBC that America's health care system needs fundamental reform to attack costs because it's not practical to continue devoting roughly 17 percent of the nation's gross domestic product to health care.

Buffett says much of the rest of the world is paying about 9 percent of their GDP on health care and have more doctors and nurses per person.

He says he hopes Congress will develop a new health care reform proposal that will restrict costs more than any of the current plans would.

h/t Huffington Post

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