Free Republic

<p>In the early days of the Saturday Night Live television program, a character named Emily Litella would begin her Weekend Update guest editorial with a question like: "What's all this fuss I hear about an eagle rights amendment?"</p> <p>She would prattle on indignantly until alerted that she had misunderstood -- it was "equal rights amendment." She would pause, then say, to peals of laughter, "Never mind."</p>

Prescription-Drug Plan Falls Flat Call it the New Coke of the Bush administration. Back in 1985, the Coca-Cola Co. made a major screw-up. It decided to get rid of its classic cola drink and replace it with something sweeter called New Coke. The company had extensively market-tested the new product and was convinced that it would lead to higher sales. But when consumers found out that they would lose the Coke they had loved for 100 years, there was a vast outcry and the company was forced to dump New Coke and bring back the old formula. Republicans have made...

<p>The President hosted the unveiling of the portraits of Pres. Clinton and former First Lady in the East Room of the White House. The President was very gracious in his statements about the Clinton years in the White House.</p> <p>The President is now traveling to Liberty, Missouri to participate in a 'Conversation on Medicare-Approved Prescription Drug Discount Cards.'</p>

KERRY IGNORES HIS-STORY IIIs Kerry’s Rhetoric Better OffThan It Was 4 Years Ago?____________________________________________________“If I’m President we’re going to repeal that phony [prescription drug] bill." (Sen. John Kerry, “Ending The Era Of Special Interests,” Remarks In Nashua, NH, 1/21/04)4 YEARS AGO, KERRY SAID MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT WAS URGENT PRIORITY (TODAY, KERRY OPPOSES BIPARTISAN MEDICARE LAW)In 2000, Kerry Criticized Senate For “Missing A Historic Opportunity” To Provide Prescription Drug Benefit For Seniors.  “We are missing a historic opportunity in the Senate in terms of our legislating process. The fact is, we have an opportunity to provide 14 million senior citizens, who lack...

(transcript from post, online copy shown on Dept of HHS/FDA stationery) March 18, 2004 Via Fax: (608)267-8983 The Honorable Jim Doyle The Governor of Wisconsin Office of the Governor 115 East State Capitol Madison, Wisconsin 53702 Dear Governor Doyle: It is with concern that we observe your recent creation of an internet site intended to encourage Wisconsin citizens to purchase unapproved, illegal drugs from foreign pharmacies. We strongly believe that the endorsement of the practice by a public official such as yourself undermines one of our nation's key consumer protection statutes and places your constitutents at unnecessary risk of harm...

Pharmacist faces complaint over failure to dispense birth control (Published Tuesday, March 16, 2004 09:10:04 AM CST) Associated Press MADISON, Wis. -- The state Department of Regulation and Licensing has filed a complaint against a pharmacist who refused to fill a woman's birth control prescription because of his religious beliefs. The complaint against Neil Noesen was filed with the Wisconsin Examining Board over an incident that happened in the summer of 2002. It said Noesen, 30, was working as a fill-in pharmacist at the K-Mart Pharmacy in Menomonie and had told the managing pharmacist he wouldn't fill prescriptions for...

Sen. John Kerry has no right to scare senior citizens with "misinformation" about the Medicare Prescription Drug Law -- especially when he skipped the final vote on that bill, said House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). "Instead of standing up for senior citizens, it appears Sen. John Kerry would rather scare our Greatest Generation with misinformation about the voluntary and affordable Medicare-Prescription Drug Law that I helped write," Hastert said in a statement released Tuesday. "Fact is, while promising his constituents he wouldn't miss any important votes, the Senate's most liberal member from Massachusetts skipped 36 of 38 votes, including final...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Monday expanded efforts to fight illegal diversion and abuse of prescription drugs such as painkillers and sedatives. Officials said they were taking particular aim at Internet pharmacies that sell controlled substances illegally and create easy access for teenagers, 14 percent of whom abuse prescription drugs. "We intend to curtail this vicious practice that targets our youth in particular because of their access and interest in the Internet," John Walters, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, or ONDCP, said at a press conference. The effort was announced by the...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the active ingredient in prescription medications? Some people think it must cost a lot, since many drugs sell for more than $2.00 per tablet. We did a search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA. As we have revealed in past issues of Life Extension, a significant percentage of drugs sold in the United States contain active ingredients made in other countries. In our independent investigation of how much profit drug companies really make, we obtained the actual...

<p>Riley Waller is among many Washoe County senior citizens still angry over the Medicare prescription plan signed into law in December, saying it will gouge seniors and the taxpayers who’ll pay for it.</p> <p>More than 100 senior citizens listened Thursday morning as Nevada Division of Aging officials explained how the new prescription drug program will work.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON - Conservatives wait warily as President Bush makes final decisions about his election-year budget, three years into an administration on whose watch spending has mushroomed by 23.7 percent, the fastest pace in a decade.</p> <p>While Bush has emphasized repeatedly the need to rein in spending, overall federal expenditures have grown to an estimated $2.31 trillion for the budget year that started Oct. 1.</p>

If you haven't been following the take-no-prisoners approach of the Congressional Republican leadership--ramming through Medicare legislation by threatening reluctant GOP colleagues, barring Democrats from conference committees, keeping roll call open for almost three hours (breaking with the usual fifteen minutes)--Senator Chuck Hagel's (R, Neb) recent remarks convey some sense of the damage being done to our parliamentary system by the rightwing thugs currently running Congress. "It's almost anything goes," said Senator Hagel, far from a liberal voice, in criticizing his own party's leadership. "I think we're on the edge of something dangerous if we don't turn it around...It's like the...

President Bush signed legislation today that creates a prescription drug benefit for the elderly, launching the biggest changes to the Medicare system since its creation in 1965. "For the first time, we're giving seniors peace of mind that they will not have to face unlimited expenses for their medicine," Mr. Bush said just before sitting down at a desk in Constitution Hall, near the White House, and signing the new law, surrounded by applauding supporters and an audience of several hundred people. Presidential bill signings typically are set at the White House, on smaller scale. The bill, which the government...

During 14 years in the Michigan Legislature and 11 years in Congress, Rep. Nick Smith had never experienced anything like it. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, in the wee hours last Saturday morning, pressed him to vote for the Medicare bill. But Smith refused. Then things got personal. Smith, self term-limited, is leaving Congress. His lawyer son Brad is one of five Republicans seeking to replace him from a GOP district in Michigan's southern tier. On the House floor, Nick Smith was told business interests would give his son $100,000 in return for...

Despite the very best efforts of the House Republican leadership, I concluded that I must oppose the prescription drug bill that emerged last week from House-Senate negotiations. It would in fact represent the largest expansion of Medicare in 35 years. As Nancy-Ann DeParle, President Clinton's Medicare administrator, said, this would be "the biggest expansion of government health benefits since the Great Society." With an annual federal deficit of more than $400 billion, I will support the creation of a national prescription drug plan only if it's fiscally responsible and includes free market Medicare reform measures. Only by significantly reforming Medicare...

...Eight in 10 said they would be angry or upset if Congress should adjourn this year without passing a prescription drug plan for older Americans. Of those people who would be upset, they said they would blame Republicans by a 2-1 margin.Quote from the Recent Poll on Bush's popularity. Now whether you agree that there should be a plan or not, it is obvious the Republicans have worked out plan that the Democrats are threatening (Thanks to Senator "Hiccup" Kennedy) to note allow a vote on. Are you telling me that by a 2-1 margin, these voters would blame Republicans...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryNovember 15, 2003 President Urges Congress to "Finish the Job" on Medicare in Radio Address      In Focus: Medicare     Audio THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week I traveled to Florida to visit with seniors about an important goal for my administration and this nation. After years of debate and deadlock, the Congress is finishing work on the biggest improvements in senior health care coverage in nearly 40 years. Some important details of the Medicare legislation have to be worked out, but leaders in both the House and the Senate have already agreed to four clear-cut improvements...

Liberals are revealing their true colors yet again in the happy dance they are doing over Rush Limbaugh’s admission that he is addicted to prescription painkillers and his trip to rehab. With a few notable exceptions, such as liberal commentator and radio talk show host Alan Colmes of Fox News’s “Hannity and Colmes,” the self-proclaimed Party of Compassion is gleeful over the problem that Limbaugh is experiencing. Liberal mean-spiritedness has shown up in many ways of late, including the scuttling of Miguel Estrada, demands to impeach President Bush for his military policy, their fervent scandal-mongering in the Joseph Wilson affair,...

Liberals are revealing their true colors yet again in the happy dance they are doing over Rush Limbaugh’s admission that he is addicted to prescription painkillers and his trip to rehab. With a few notable exceptions, such as liberal commentator and radio talk show host Alan Colmes of Fox News’s “Hannity and Colmes,” the self-proclaimed Party of Compassion is gleeful over the problem that Limbaugh is experiencing. Liberal mean-spiritedness has shown up in many ways of late, including the scuttling of Miguel Estrada, demands to impeach President Bush for his military policy, their fervent scandal-mongering in the Joseph Wilson affair,...

There is nothing I would like more than to see Rush back on the radio. I've been one of his long-time fans. I will continue to be one. However, I have watched rehabilitation programs and the people who use them for about two decades. The position of chaplain gives one an unusual vantage point. You aren't patient, or healthcare provider, or visitor. You are spiritual counselor to all of the above. You hear comments and thoughts of both clients and those close to them. You hear the concerns of those who provide care, who hope against hope that those who...