RUSH: A Duke Professor Explains WHAT THE HEALTH CARE BILL ACTUALLY SAYS

www.rushlimbaugh.com ^ | Wednesday, August 12, 2009 | Rush Limbaugh

[ForGod'sSake]

You’re welcome!

[ForGod'sSake]

Geez Neil, I realize I may have struck a nerve but don’t you think your response is a little over the top.

[ForGod'sSake]

Thanks for the ping, but your conclusion about reluctance to look behind the curtain is flawed.

I'll admit I could be wrong about this; it wouldn't be the first time. I'm going to search for a drop-dead article on the subject and post it to FR just to see what kind of response there is. Any bets?

[Yosemitest]

We know it's about control.
But DEMOCRATS NATIONAL SOCIALISTS can't handle the truth about health care.
So let's beat them to death with their own bill!!!

And just in case they forget who's fault it is ... that it's broken ...

Obama: "I Don't Want the Folks who Created the Mess to do a lot of Talking" "

Okay, then the DEMOCRATS need to shut up!!!

Lets review:

Who was it that moved Medicare Trust Funds out of the "trust box" and into the General Revenue, replacing them with Government I.O.U.s?
"In early 1968 President Lyndon Johnson [DEMOCRAT] made a change in the budget presentation by including Social Security and all other trust funds in a"unified budget." "

Who was it that expanded Medicare and Medicaid to cover many, many more people than it was originally designed to cover?

The History of Medicare

In 1965, the Social Security Act established both Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare was a responsibility of the Social Security Administration (SSA), while Federal assistance to the State Medicaid programs was administered by the Social and Rehabilitation Service (SRS). SSA and SRS were agencies in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). In 1977, the Health Care Financing Administration was created under HEW to effectively coordinate Medicare and Medicaid. In 1980 HEW was divided into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The first U.S. President to propose a prepaid health insurance plan was Harry S. Truman [DEMOCRAT]. On November 19, 1945, in a special message to Congress, President Truman outlined a comprehensive, prepaid medical insurance plan for all people through the Social Security system. The plan included doctors and hospitals, and nursing, laboratory, and dental services; it was dubbed "National Health Insurance." Furthermore, medical insurance benefits for needy people were to be financed from Federal revenues.

Over the years, lawmakers narrowed the field of health insurance recipients largely to social security beneficiaries. A national survey found that only 56 percent of those 65 years of age or older had health insurance. President John F. Kennedy [DEMOCRAT] pressed legislators for health insurance for the aged. However, it wasn't until 1965 that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed H.R. 6675 (The Social Security Act of 1965; PL 89-97) to provide health insurance for the elderly and the poor.

On July 30, 1965, President Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Bill (Title XVIII and Title XIX of the Social Security Act) in Independence, Missouri in the presence of former President Truman, who received the first Medicare card at the ceremony; Lady Bird Johnson, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, and Mrs. Truman also were present. President Johnson remarked: "We marvel not simply at the passage of this Bill but that it took so many years to pass it."

Medicare extended health coverage to almost all Americans aged 65 or older. About 19 million beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare in the first year of the program. Medicaid provided access to health care services for certain low-income persons and expanded the existing Federal-State welfare structure that assisted the poor.

The 1972 Social Security Amendments expanded Medicare to provide coverage to two additional high risk groups disabled persons receiving cash benefits for 24 months under the social security program and persons suffering from end-stage renal disease.

...(continued at link)

So Democrats,

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE
FOR INSURING THE FAILURE
OF THE MEDICARE/MEDICAID PROGRAM!!!

So DEMOCRATS ... SHUT UP!!!

You have no integrity!!!

[ForGod'sSake]

I heard about this on Rush Limbaugh yesterday and didn't think anything else needed to be added...

Understood but I was more soliciting opinions about what to do about the impending Medicare train wreck. Not to mention medicaid, SS, etc. Should some or all of them be phased out, or is that even a viable option? Going cold turkey would most certainly create all manner of havoc.

[Yosemitest]

Cheers to you, too!

[rlmorel]

No, but it is a bit off topic for the substance of the thread itself, so you should be careful you don’t hijack the thread.

You start a lot of threads (much higher, I would guess than my stats) so I would suggest starting a new one and framing the issue more precisely.

I was simply taking issue with your assertion that a lack of hits indicated a lack of interest. You have to look at the time of the day the thread started, etc.

Things that get posted when people are tying up work stuff and going home might not generate as many hits until much later or at all if it rolls off the bottom.

By the way, I do appreciate your pings. State’s rights have become more important over time, and one of the factors is your ping list. (I think some people just didn’t appreciate the generalization)

[nascarnation]

I’m with you on this topic.

As millions of baby boomers like myself transition from taxpayers (often at the top of our career level earning power and thus top of our tax paying amounts) to payment receivers, the Social Sec and Medicare programs are in big trouble.

I paid the max SS tax for nearly 40 years and now I’m going to be paying in nothing and collecting.

The “hundreds of billions” that AARP says are in the “trust funds” are bookkeeping entries only, a promissary note from a broke government.

[ForGod'sSake]

Good post. I know there's plenty more where that came from. So, is there anything that can be done to actually fix the problem before we are completely, not just technically, backrupt. The one thing I'm almost certain of, cold turkey is not the answer; the immediate suffering would be unimaginable.

[ForGod'sSake]

Thank you for your gracious response.

[ForGod'sSake]

As millions of baby boomers like myself transition from taxpayers (often at the top of our career level earning power and thus top of our tax paying amounts) to payment receivers, the Social Sec and Medicare programs are in big trouble.

I made the transition a couple of years ago; my timing couldn't have been worse. Fact is, I was tired and ready to kick back, so I'll live with the consequences. I have no obligations outside of local taxes, so it could have been worse.

[Yosemitest]

To fix it...

Start by locking up all the thieves responsible for getting us into this mess.
They'll be no Democrats left in office, and few Republicans.
Then get government OUT of health care.
Then do tort reform.

All the criminals taken from the guilty,
confiscate everything they have, sell their organs for money,
and send them to HELL!!!

[screaminsunshine]

People are not so opposed to some government funding as they are to government controlling and gatekeeping. With Medicare people can go to whatever doctor they want. They do not need “permission” from a gatekeeper”.

[ForGod'sSake]

Well, a bit harsh, but it may be the ONLY fix.

Another Freeper made a simple but elegant point on another thread on a different topic: The damage caused by getting us back to our founding principles will at least leave us with a country worth having after the rubble is cleared away. If we continue on the present path, we'll be left with an America unfit to live in.

[ForGod'sSake]

People are not so opposed to some government funding as they are to government controlling and gatekeeping.

I think our Founders were keenly aware of human nature and their propensity to vote themselves goodies given the opportunity. I think they were also keenly aware of a "general" government's propensity to go prospecting for those people. In spite of themselves they created a document that would bar the general government from doing just that. The states were not under the same restrictions and could have implemented all the nanny state foolishness they figured they could get away with - and could pay for. What went wrong? The "general" government violated their part of the compact anyway and proceeded to take us down the garden path. A centralized government will NEVER rein itself in! They will continue to consolidate power and control until they're stopped.

With Medicare people can go to whatever doctor they want. They do not need “permission” from a gatekeeper”.

Do you approve of Medicare?

[Yosemitest]

"The damage caused
by getting us back to our founding principles
will at least leave us with a country worth having
after the rubble is cleared away.

If we continue on the present path,
we'll be left with an America unfit to live in."

He stated the issue very well.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks ForGod’sSake.

[screaminsunshine]

I did until I saw ads on tv to givet fat people free scooters paid for by medicare. Als why should a working stiff who can not afford insurance pay for a multi-millionares insurance?

[combat_boots]

Someone posted a graphic somewhere that the last actual budget surplus was in 1957. I had thought JFK spent the last piece. Your point about what will happen is well taken. Spending like this is criminal; it’s like DC is trying to get set to take the money and run.

IIRC, our actual total fiscal exposure is over $600T, $24T of that by the end of this year.

48% of 7-Yr Fed Notes were bought back after a few days recently. That’s a whirlpool if ever there was one.

Ticker guy & Peter Schiff are all over this.

He who controls the debt controls everything.

[ForGod'sSake]

Understood. So you never really gave much thought to the justification, nay, the authority under which Medicare, etc came into existence? If in fact these programs are truly unconstitutional abominations, what if anything should or can be done about it now? Or do we simply muddle along in hopes the printing presses hold up longer than we do? One heck of a legacy for our kids and grandkids isn’t it?