Read this very carefully

greg334 · Aug 10, 2009

From the op-ed page of USA today.

'Un-American' attacks can't derail health care debate

By Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer

Americans have been waiting for nearly a century for quality, affordable health care.

Health coverage for all was on the national agenda as early as 1912, thanks to Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose presidential run. Months after World War II came to an end in 1945, President Harry Truman called on Congress to guarantee all Americans the "right to adequate medical care and protection from the economic fears of sickness." From President Lyndon Johnson to President Bill Clinton, to President Obama's winning campaign on the promise of reform, there hasn't been a more debated domestic issue than the promise of affordable health care for all.

We believe it is healthy for such a historic effort to be subject to so much scrutiny and debate. The failure of past attempts is a reminder that health insurance reform is a defining moment in our nation's history — it is well worth the time it takes to get it right. We are confident that we will get this right.

Already, three House committees have passed this critical legislation and over August, the two of us will work closely with those three committees to produce one strong piece of legislation that the House will approve in September.

In the meantime, as members of Congress spend time at home during August, they are talking with their constituents about reform. The dialogue between elected representatives and constituents is at the heart of our democracy and plays an integral role in assuring that the legislation we write reflects the genuine needs and concerns of the people we represent.
However, it is now evident that an ugly campaign is underway not merely to misrepresent the health insurance reform legislation, but to disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue. These tactics have included hanging in effigy one Democratic member of Congress in Maryland and protesters holding a sign displaying a tombstone with the name of another congressman in Texas, where protesters also shouted "Just say no!" drowning out those who wanted to hold a substantive discussion.

Let the facts be heard

These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades.

Health care is complex. It touches every American life. It drives our economy. People must be allowed to learn the facts.

The first fact is that health insurance reform will mean more patient choice. It will allow every American who likes his or her current plan to keep it. And it will free doctors and patients to make the health decisions that make the most sense, not the most profits for insurance companies.

Reform will mean stability and peace of mind for the middle class. Never again will medical bills drive Americans into bankruptcy; never again will Americans be in danger of losing coverage if they lose their jobs or if they become sick; never again will insurance companies be allowed to deny patients coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

Lower costs, better care

Reform will mean affordable coverage for all Americans. Our plan's cost-lowering measures include a public health insurance option to bring competitive pressure to bear on rapidly consolidating private insurers, research on health outcomes to better inform the decisions of patients and doctors, and electronic medical records to help doctors save money by working together. For seniors, the plan closes the notorious Medicare Part D "doughnut hole" that denies drug coverage to those with between $2,700 and $6,100 per year in prescriptions.

Reform will also mean higher-quality care by promoting preventive care so health problems can be addressed before they become crises. This, too, will save money. We'll be a much healthier country if all patients can receive regular checkups and tests, such as mammograms and diabetes exams, without paying a dime out-of-pocket.

This month, despite the disruptions, members of Congress will listen to their constituents back home and explain reform legislation. We are confident that our principles of affordable, quality health care will stand up to any and all critics.

Now — with Americans strongly supporting health insurance reform, with Congress reaching consensus on a plan, and with a president who ran and won on this specific promise of change — America is closer than ever to this century-deferred goal.

This fall, at long last, we must reach it.

Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is speaker of the House and
Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is House majority leader.

NOW here is a real warning.

As much as a bunch of you think I am full of sh*t about a lot of things but believe me I am not about health care. I have been part of two significant things, one was the company PAC of the Pharma company I worked for and the other was part of the doctors/service providers board that BCBS ran for HIPAA.

The company I used to work for had a direct hand in writing the Part D Medicare drug program and there were things that were openly discussed that were highly political and very bad for the people. It is now that I hear that the same company with a number of others is on board with the new health care plan.

Being part of the advisory board for HIPAA was another eye opener, the original laws were gutted because of political reasons and if you think you have privacy now, just wait until they get federally mandated medical records off the ground, you soon will discover no one has any privacy.

No matter who you feel about this, fight it. It is not going to be what they pass in congress but how it is going to be practiced. This is one of several steps, the first one is the hardest, which is passing it to get their hands on it, they will change it very quickly to fit their needs.

IT IS NOT UN-AMERICAN TO PROTECT ONE'S SELF OR FAMILY

BUT IT IS UN-AMERICAN TO BE LAZY ENOUGH TO PUT YOUR LIFE IN THE HANDS OF A POLITICIAN

Turtle · Aug 10, 2009

That's the key, passing it and getting control of it. Once they have control of it, they can do with it whatever they want. Universal healthcare is something so large that it requires overwhelming bipartisan support, and an overwhelming support by an overwhelming majority of the people. This affects everyone on the same level as a Constitutional Amendment, and needs to have that level of support. Instead, the Democrats are trying to ram a partisan bill down our throats by using misrepresentation and outright lies being passed off as "facts". It would be different if the bill had actual details of how things will operate and how things will be implemented, but it doesn't. It has broad goals and statements about more patient choice, but it also allows for the government to dictate the when, why, how and who of it just the same. It's no wonder that Obama's healthcare polling numbers have quickly fallen from the high 80's to the current 39%. This is something that needs to have a bunch of people sit down and over a couple of years (instead of the couple of weeks it took) hammer out a decent bill, and then have at least 2/3 of the States ratify it.

chefdennis · Aug 10, 2009

Hey hilary screamed it was "our right to disagree and debate with this adminastration" but then again that was bush....the messiah has risen and taken over now...but hey this is what the barry supportters wanted....change....and they must be in total agreement with all of this crap, i mean change we are gettung pushed onto the people, they never refute anything posted here..so one can only figure they are in total agreement with the way barry is changing things including this , and the snitch program, and the union thugs beating people and acorns plans for more militant action and cap and trade and higher taxes and rationing of medical care and the list goes on...well here is a reply form the "Hertiage Foundation" to nancy, steny, and barry....:

Morning Bell:
Dissent Is Not Un-American
Posted August 10th, 2009 at 9.31am in First Principles, Health Care.
Morning Bell: Dissent Is Not Un-American The Foundry

Whether the source is Gallup, Pew, Quinnipiac, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, the Washington Post, or even the New York Times; every recent poll on the issue shows that either pluralities or majorities of Americans have serious doubts about President Barack Obama’s health care plan. Reviewing the month’s polling data, Gallup’s Frank Newport sums it up: “The bottom line is a sense that, while Americans apparently favor some type of healthcare reform in the long term, they are in no hurry to see healthcare reform legislation passed in the short-term on a rushed schedule. … A Pew Research poll released this week shows that those who are worried about new health care legislation are most likely to say it is because it involves too much spending and would increase the deficit.”

Wrapped in their liberal Washington cocoon, however, the leadership in Congress simply do not want to hear this message. Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) have chosen to pen an op-ed in today’s USA Today calling those who want Congress to hear their concerns about health care “simply un-American.”

Pelosi and Hoyer claim that opponents of Obamacare are disrupting townhalls across the country by “drowning out the facts” about health reform. However, it is not the townhall-attending Americans that don’t have their facts straight. It is Pelosi, Hoyer, and Obama’s allies that are doing violence to the truth.

The Threat to Your Current Medical Care: Pelosi and Hoyer claim: “The first fact is that health insurance reform will mean more patient choice.” This is simply not true. According to the non-partisan Lewin Group, under the House legislation about 83.4 million people would lose their current private insurance. This would represent a 48.4 percent reduction in the number of people with private coverage. Pelosi and Hoyer also claim: “Reform will mean affordable coverage for all Americans.” But thanks to new price controls set in the legislation, yearly premiums for the typical American with private coverage could go up by as much as $460 per privately insured person.

The Cost Explosion: Pelosi and Hoyer also claim their plan will “lower costs.” But this has been thoroughly refuted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). In fact, the House plan significantly expands health care costs and it is Pelosi and Hoyer who have gamed the system to try and conceal this truth from the American people. The House plan delays any real spending increases until 2013 so that Obama allies like the Washington Post’s Steven Pearlstein can claim the bill only increases government health care spending “by about $140 billion” In reality, once all of the House bill’s spending takes effect, Obamacare will be spending $245 billion a year. And in the out years? CBO director Doug Elmendorf said this: “In sum, relative to current law, the proposal would probably generate substantial increases in federal budget deficits during the decade beyond the current 10-year budget window.”

A Government Takeover of Health Care: In his weekly radio address, President Obama again claimed his health plan would not: “bring about a government takeover of health care.” Obama needs to check his facts with Pelosi’s and Hoyer’s colleagues in the Democratic Caucus, because Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) is on record saying that Obama’s public “is the best way to reach single-payer.” And Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) is also on record saying: “A public option will put the private insurance industry out of business and lead to single-payer.” Do Pelosi and Hoyer consider Frank and Schakowsky un-American for contradicting the President?

The raucous nature of some of the townhalls may sometimes be regrettable. But it should be noted that none of the confrontations turned violent until the White House instructed their big labor allies to “punch back twice as hard.” Dissent and public debate are part of the First Amendment. People who seek to stifle public debate are the one’s acting in contradiction to our core American values. Which is why it was so troubling to hear the President of the United States utter these sentences last week: “I don’t want the folks who created the mess doing a lot of talking. I want them to just get out of the way so we can clean up the mess.”

Quick Hits:

With the drug industry set to run ads in favor of President Obama’s health care plan, President Bill Clinton’s Labor Secretary Robert Reich explains “How the White House’s Deal With Big Pharma Undermines Democracy.”
Bailouts for financial firms and billions in tax revenue lost because of the recession drove the deficit to a record $1.3 trillion in July.
USA Today reports that the absence of the 750,000 vehicles destroyed by the Obama administration’s Cash for Clunkers program will cause “already rising prices for used cars to head even higher.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, President’s Obama’s grass-roots team has slipped in the health care debate due to “core supporters’ disenchantment and effective GOP resistance.”
President Obama’s use of signing statements is provoking mounting criticism by lawmakers from both parties.