Profile | Dick Morris
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Health Care Reform Endorsements: Bought and Paid For
By Dick Morris | 11/07/09 | 12:02 AM EDT | 7 Comments
As the suicidal Democratic congressmen proceed to rubber-stamp the Obama health care reform despite the drubbing their party took in the '09 elections, the president trotted out the endorsements of the AMA and the AARP to stimulate support. But these -- and the other endorsements -- his package has received are all bought and paid for. Here are the deals:
The American Medical Association (AMA) was facing a 21 percent cut in physicians reimbursements under the current law. Obama promised to kill the cut if they backed his bill. The cuts are the fruit of a law requiring annual 5 percent to 6 percent reductions in doctor reimbursements for treating Medicare patients. Bravely, each year Congress has rolled the cuts over, suspending them but not repealing them. So each year, the accumulated cuts threaten doctors. By now, they have risen to 21 percent. With this blackmail leverage, Obama compelled the AMA to support his bill ... or else!
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) got a financial windfall in return for its support of the health care bill. Over the past decade, the AARP has morphed from an advocacy group to an insurance company (through its subsidiary company). It is one of the main suppliers of Medi-gap insurance, a high-cost privately purchased coverage that picks up where Medicare leaves off. But President Bush-43 passed the Medicare Advantage program, which offered a subsidized, lower-cost alternative to Medi-gap. Under Medicare Advantage, the elderly get all the extra coverage they need plus coordinated, well-managed care, usually by the same physician. So more than 10 million seniors went with Medicare Advantage, cutting into AARP Medi-gap revenues.
Presto! Obama solved their problem. He eliminates subsidies for Medicare Advantage. The elderly will have to pay more for coverage under Medigap, but the AARP -- which supposedly represents them -- will make more money. (If this galls you, join the American Seniors Association, the alternative group. Contact sbarton@americanseniors.org.
The drug industry backed Obamacare and, in return, got a 10-year limit of $80 billion on cuts in prescription drug costs. (A drop in the bucket of their almost $3 trillion projected cost over the next decade). They also got administration assurances that it will continue to bar lower-cost Canadian drugs from coming into the U.S. All it had to do was to put its formidable advertising budget at the disposal of the administration.
Insurance companies got access to 40 million new potential customers. But when the Senate Finance Committee lowered the fine that would be imposed on those who don't buy insurance from $3,500 to $1,500, the insurance companies jumped ship and now oppose the bill, albeit for the worst of motives.
The only industry that refused to knuckle under was the medical-device makers. They stood for principle and wouldn't go along with Obama's blackmail. So the Senate Finance Committee retaliated by imposing a tax on medical devices such as automated wheelchairs, pacemakers, arterial stents, prosthetic limbs, artificial knees and hips, and other necessary accoutrements of health care.
So these endorsements are not freely given, but bought and paid for by an administration that is intent on passing its program at any cost.
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7 Comments | Related Topics »National
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Comments
They all have their hands in the cookie jar. Follow the money.
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|Let's hope this doesn't pass the House tomorrow. Hope the Blue Dogs were paying attention on Tuesday.
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|I have it on good authority by someone I know, who told me she called Pelosi's office. She said that Pelosi's secretary took the call and the woman caller asked "How many face lifts has Pelosi had?" Pelosi's secretary hung up on her.
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|Great and informative article by Mr. Morris. yet again another eye-opener, but only to those who are willing to read it and comprehend the danger that this Country is in. I wish with Mr. Morris's great knowledge base he could pull out a rabbit from his magic hat and fix it all!
I feel as if our Country has been hijacked by Chicago-style corruption. This Congress just doesn't give a damn what the public thinks or wants. If the President wanted to do right by The People he could have done so. He doesn't want to.
America has an autocrat in the White House.
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|We all KNOW what Pelosi is worth, multi-multi-multi millions. But now, according to http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29235.html => during 2007 through 2008, "even as many Americans lost jobs and saw their savings and their home values plummet," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gained about $9.2 million. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) gained about $3 million, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) had an estimated $2.6 million gain, and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) gained about $2.8 million."
"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is next, worth an estimated $21 million. President Barack Obama is the sixth-wealthiest, worth about an estimated $4 million." So much for that over-worked poverty striken image of being a poor man!!
The article also names those who lost MILLIONS of dollars, seemingly without having their lifestyles altered, some "lawmakers are estimated to have suffered double-digit percentage lossed in their net worth from 2007 to 2008. The biggest losers include Kerry, who lost a whopping $127.4 million; Warner lost about $28.1 million; Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) lost about $11.8 million; and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) lost about $10.1 million.
I wonder how happy THEY are with this administration? AND, do you honestly believe that THEY are interested in YOUR health care? Give me bleeping break.
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|Subtle is not part to Red County's bag. The more hyperbolic the headline the better. Drive-by Saturday Night Specials firing dum(b) dum(b) bullets by anons are the modal response. So what gets lost is meaningful information for a democracy based on a well-informed electorate.
I am a Blue Dog Democrat through and through. I have made the movement from a more left-of-center to center position. I am also a transplant from the Bloody Eighth of Indiana. So this overnight news is especially meaningful for me:
Anti-abortion Democrats will be allowed to offer an amendment during the House health care debate Saturday that would ban most abortion coverage from the public option and other insurance providers in the new so-called "exchange" the legislation would create, three Democratic sources told CNN.
The prohibition would exclude cases of rape, incest or if the mother's life is in danger, known as "Hyde" language.
(...)
Several anti-abortion Democrats will offer the amendment, including Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Indiana, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, who are scoring a major victory in convincing Democratic leaders to allow this vote.
www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/07/health.care/index.html
Centrism
Brad Ellsworth is the current congressman representing the Bloody Eighth. He is former sheriff of Vandenburgh County with Evansville as the county seat. He took the congressional seat away from far right crazy John Hostetler. He won his first term in 2006, 61-39, the largest majority over an incumbent in the 2006 cycle.
Centrism is where the action is. Centrism is populated by thinking people who think for themselves. They are not influenced by flimsy propaganda efforts. Centerists such as Brad Ellsworth are welcome within the national (D) party. Ellsworth will not be targeted for purging. He will not be shunned. He will as welcome as any member of the House at White House functions.
Go ahead and throw rotten tomatoes at me. Tell me how my comment is not germane to Morris' sermon to the Red County choir. I am wearing my dum(b) dum(b) bullet proof vest...
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|I do not agree with your first paragraph at all. People exercising their free speech can do so "anonymously" - no laws state otherwise. Furthermore, your views, are just that "your" views. You own them. The rest of us are free to agree or disagree with you. "centrisim is where the actions is" for YOU. And you are entitled to eat that meal on your own. The rest of us have equally if not better reasoned analysis on the topics, whether you agree or disagree, that is your choice. BUT, to state as arrogantly as you just have above, your autocratic views, well, guess what you just did: the very thing you are accusing Red County of doing.
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