Quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414255/posts
The Real Price of the Senate Health Bill
The Wall Street Journal ^ | 12-24-09 | Karl Rove
Posted on December 23, 2009 7:58:16 PM PST by GOP_Lady
Pushing health-care reform through the Senate will hurt Democrats.
By now Majority Leader Harry Reid’s explanation for how he is getting his health-care bill through the Senate has pinged its way across the country. “I don’t know if there is a senator that doesn’t have something in this bill that was important to them,” he said this week. “And if they don’t have something in it important to them, then it doesn’t speak well of them.” But take these comments two steps further and it becomes clear that how Mr. Reid reached unanimity in his caucus could hurt Democrats more than they realize.
First, taking Mr. Reid at his word means every Democratic senator got something. That implies there are even more howlers to discover that will dog Democrats next year.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414183/posts
Innovation Gets Sick
Investors.com ^ | December 2009 | INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY Staff
Posted on December 23, 2009 5:41:31 PM PST by Kaslin
Reform: There are many problems on the health care road the country is being forced to take. But one not getting as much attention as it should is the harm done to a critically important sector: medical innovation.
The high costs, restricted choices and eventual rationing that will result from the Democrats’ health care plan are being discussed to varying degrees by those who are uncomfortable with what’s being rushed through Congress. But the final legislation’s effect on medical innovation has been somewhat lost with so much attention focused elsewhere. So let us clarify:
The Democrats’ plan will slow innovation of pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
If that failed to set off internal alarms, consider the comments of Robert Reich, secretary of labor under Bill Clinton. The left-wing academic explained it perfectly two years ago when he said that if government used its power “to force drug companies and insurance companies and medical suppliers to reduce their costs,” it would mean “less innovation.”
And that, he went on, “means less new products and less new drugs on the market, which means you are probably not going to live that much longer than your parents.”
America is the king of medical innovation. When the Cato Institute measured the top 27 innovations from 1975 to 2000, the U.S., with a population of 307 million, had 20; the EU and Switzerland combined (population 499 million) had 14. (The total exceeds 27 because multiple nations sometimes share credit for innovations.)
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...