SOCIALIZED MEDICINE DAILY DIGEST FOR 2/26/10

Obama to Make Health Care Announcement Next Week

cbsnews.com ^ | Feb. 26, 2010 | Stephanie Condon

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 7:35:59 PM by Free ThinkerNY

President Obama will make an announcement sometime next week on what he "believes is the best way forward" on health care reform, the White House said Friday.

"We've had many weeks to contemplate where we are," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Healthcare Summit : Chicago Style

Human Events ^ | FEBRUARY 25, 2010 | Jed Babbin

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 8:39:02 AM by RobinMasters

Senate Democrat “moderates” probably slept well last night, but no House Blue Dog should have. In the marathon Blair House healthcare “summit,” the Chicago Obama family made it perfectly clear that the Senate Dems are protected “made men” but the House members are expendable in Obama’s pursuit of nationalizing healthcare.

Watching Rep. Paul Ryan pawn President Obama at his own healthcare summit: Priceless

Jim DeMint: Irreconcilable Differences [Health care takeover]

DeMint's blog ^ | Feb 25, 2020 | Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)

Posted on Thursday, February 25, 2010 11:41:11 PM by upchuck

Less than one hour into the President Obama’s health care summit the Senate’s most powerful Democrat reminded Republicans they can jam through a takeover of the health care system no matter what’s said during the next few hours of the meeting.

In his opening statement Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat said, “reconciliation isn’t something that’s never been done before.”

DC health-clubbing: Bam and GOP take swings

NY Post ^ | February 26, 2010 | Charles Hurt and Andy Soltis

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 6:35:32 AM by Scanian

President Obama said he came to listen to Republicans at his bipartisan health-care summit yesterday, but he ended up in a long-winded debate.

"Should people in Washington decide exactly how this works?" Rep. Paul Ryan, a Republican of Wisconsin, asked the president.

"Paul . . ." Obama began, but then switched gears and responded to Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell's earlier complaint that Democrats were dominating the summit by taking up twice as much time as Republicans.

"There was an imbalance on the opening statement -- because I'm the president," Obama replied. "I didn't count my time in dividing it evenly."

Dems may take shortcut in passing health overhaul (despite Americans being against it)

Washington Post ^ | 2/26/2010 | ALAN FRAM/AP

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 6:37:19 AM by tobyhill

Democrats struggling to enact President Barack Obama's health care overhaul may take a seldom-used Senate shortcut. That prospect has infuriated Republicans who, it turns out, have used the process far more than Democrats.

That's just one hint of the pressures, emotions and uncertainty that Democrats' use of the so-called reconciliation process would unleash for both sides.

Health Care Attack on Both Coasts

Townhall.com ^ | February 26, 2010 | Meredith Turney

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 7:23:54 AM by Kaslin

One thing is clear from the Healthcare Summit at the Blair House today: the President Congressional Democrats are more committed than ever to forcing their healthcare takeover on a resistant citizenry. The latest iteration of the monstrous healthcare legislation contains much of the same budget gimmickry, tax increases and government control as previous versions. Just when Americans thought they had killed Obamacare, it came roaring back to life, and with an even fiercer determination to live.

But the healthcare battle isn’t just raging in Washington, D.C. California’s State Senate recently passed SB 810, the newest version of universal healthcare to be debated in the state’s legislature.

Health-Care Humdrum

Townhall.com ^ | February 26, 2010 | Jonah Goldberg

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 7:50:32 AM by Kaslin

The longest week I ever spent was the six hours I spent watching Thursday's health-care summit.

The better angel of my nature says that this confab is a wonderful spectacle of democracy. Serious men and women airing serious disagreements in a (relatively) respectful and substantive manner. Huzzah for democracy. Wahoo for C-SPAN. Attaboys and attagals to all involved.

My more devilish side says that this is a debacle par excellence, the policy-wonk equivalent of a show trial where the result is foreordained and the speeches are for the benefit of no one but those who don't understand what's really going on while the posturing is for the handful of Kremlinologists who care passionately about minutiae.

Obama distorts polls to prop up health care

Conservative Examiner ^ | 2-26-10 | Robert Moon

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 8:06:31 AM by aquapub

In an attempt to justify forcing his Constitution-trampling health care takeover on a completely unwilling public, Obama has adopted this new talking point about Americans actually supporting ObamaCare and just being to stupid to realize it.

Bottom line on health care summit: Dems push ahead

AP ^ | 02/26/2010 | RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and JENNIFER LOVEN

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 8:55:48 AM by Phlap

President Barack Obama strongly signaled that Democrats will move forward on a health care overhaul with or without Republicans, preparing his party for a fight whose political outcome will rest with voters in November.

Delivering his closing argument at a 7-1/2-hour televised policy marathon Thursday, Obama told Republicans he welcomes their ideas — even ones Democrats don't like — but they must fit into his framework for a broad health care remake that would cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans.

That's the deal.

It's a gamble for Obama and his party, and it's far from certain that Democratic congressional leaders can rally their members to muscle a bill through on their own.

Summit Over, Democrats Move to Ram Healthcare Into Law

NewsMax.com ^ | Feb. 26, 2010 | David A. Patten

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 10:20:09 AM by NoRedTape

"That's why I think this was a group of folks dancing around the campfire. I'm not sure that they moved one inch either way on the big issue …. I think the political price tag might be too high for that scenario to come to fruition. But that's about the only way I see there being any chance for this to happen."

On Wednesday, several House Democrats said getting the Senate bill through the House as is will be a very difficult proposition. The original bill passed by the House in November following months of tortuous negotiations passed by just 220-215. A defection of just three more Democratic votes would have doomed the bill. And that was before Sen. Scott Brown's stunning upset in Massachusetts.

Uniting Democrats Is Challenge at Health Forum

NY Times ^ | 02/25/2010 | DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 10:22:28 AM by Phlap

After more than six hours of extraordinary debate on Thursday over health care policy, President Obama had not won over any of the Republicans, and he seemed to end the day largely where he started, with little choice but to try to rally his Democrats to act on their own.

The Verdict on Obamacare (The Obama Health Summit Gambit did not help the Democrats at all)

National Review ^ | 02/26/2010 | The Editors

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 11:11:58 AM by SeekAndFind

The White House was hoping the health-care summit would create momentum among Democrats to push their bill through Congress. It almost certainly did not work.

Both sides repeated points that have been made countless times over the past year. That being the case, it seems likely that the public will react to what they heard from the Blair House meeting much as they have to the months-long debate in Congress: by agreeing in larger numbers with the Republican view that the bill the Democrats are pushing is hopelessly flawed.

Obama to Push Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill: If You Don't Like it Vote Us Out

LifeNews.com ^ | February 26, 2010 | Steven Ertelt

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 11:27:08 AM by julieee

Washington, DC -- After a health care summit that saw him hear how Americans don't want to pay for abortions had Nancy Pelosi misleading attendees about abortion funding, President Barack Obama plans to push the pro-abortion health care bill. And he has a message for Americans who don't like it: vote us out.

Morning Bell: Someone Needs to Tell the President His Health Care Plan is Dead

Heritage Foundation ^ | 2-26-10 | Conn Carroll

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 11:55:44 AM by kingattax

The day before yesterday’s White House health care summit, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) told reporters: “The only way this works is for the House to pass the Senate bill and then, depending on what the package is, the reconciliation provision that moves first through the House and then comes here.”

Obama campaigns for seminar callers on health care

organizing for America ^ | 2/25/10 | Obummer

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 11:44:35 AM by yooling

radio.barackobama.com

The fate of health reform has been a focus of debate in living rooms and offices, on TV and online -- and on talk radio. And since millions of folks turn to talk radio as a trusted source of news and opinions, we need to make sure OFA supporters are calling in with a pro-reform message.

Healthcare Hogwash at Blair House

Human Events ^ | February.26, 2010 | Connie Hair

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 12:52:15 PM by Reagan Man

After seven long hours at Blair House, the only thing clear is that a government system of healthcare costs about 14% more than a private system.

Democrats made it clear yesterday that they are going to stick with their highly-unpopular “comprehensive” approach and attempt to shove through the government takeover of health care using reconciliation. The over seven and a half hour staged press event was designed to provide political cover in the form of an appearance of outreach to Republicans. A resolution of issues was never intended.

White House Ethics Fix: Expand Backroom Union Health Deal to Everyone

NLPC ^ | February 25, 2010 | Carl Horowitz

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 12:56:30 PM by jazusamo

President Barack Obama is a man who remembers his allies, especially in preparation for a showdown. This Monday, three days before today's all-day televised bipartisan health care summit, the president unveiled his latest plan for a health care policy overhaul. The measure, 11 pages long, resembles the Senate bill passed on Christmas Eve by a 60-39 margin. Obama knows the prospects for passage are uphill. The plan is costly and its burden will fall on a great many Americans, not just "the rich." Among its more controversial features, the White House proposal retains, in scaled-down form, a key Senate provision: a 40 percent excise tax on high-cost ("Cadillac" or "gold-plated") health insurance plans originally scheduled to go into effect in 2013. This January, the White House and top labor officials negotiated a special five-year delay for enrollees in union-sponsored plans. Backroom deals on many other features can't be counted out this time either.

NBC News: Oh Canada, We See So Many Upsides in Your Single-Payer Health Care

Newsbusters ^ | February 26, 2010 | Jeff Poor

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 1:08:32 PM by Rufus2007

Although the Canadian health care system may kind of work for its roughly 33 million people and still have a myriad of downsides, its hard to imagine it could be sustainable in the United States, with 304 million people. But looking at the Canadian system was how NBC News decided to handle its follow-up to the health care summit.

On the Feb. 25 broadcast of the "NBC Nightly News," anchor Brian Williams posed the question whether the Canadian system was better. Though the report pointed out some flaws, NBC made nationalized care seem nice.

In Gamble, Obama and Dems Prepare to Ram Health Care Through

FoxNews.com ^ | 02/26/10 | FoxNews

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 1:36:26 PM by AngelesCrestHighway

President Barack Obama strongly signaled that Democrats will move forward on a health care overhaul with or without Republicans, preparing his party for a fight whose political outcome will rest with voters in November. Delivering his closing argument at a 7-1/2-hour televised policy marathon Thursday, Obama told Republicans he welcomes their ideas -- even ones Democrats don't like -- but they must fit into his framework for a broad health care remake that would cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans. That's the deal.

Matthews:'It's The End of the Democratic Party' If Senate Doesn't Pass Healthcare Via Reconciliation

Newsbusters ^ | 2/26/10 | Noel Shepherd

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 2:41:44 PM by pissant

Chris Matthews Thursday said that if the Senate doesn't use reconciliation -- or what some are calling the "Nuclear Option" -- to pass healthcare reform after it once again clears the House, it will be the end of the Democratic Party.

Bottom Line on Health Care Summit: Dems Push Ahead

Yahoo! News ^ | Feb. 26, 2010 | Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Jennifer Loven (AP)

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 3:03:13 PM by justiceseeker93

WASHINGTON - Democratic congressional leaders vowed Friday to resurrect their long-stalled health care legislation with or without Republican suggestions or even their votes. One day after an unprecedented health care summit that brought together President Barack Obama and lawmakers of both parties, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the nationally televised event showed GOP lawmakers are "accepting of the status quo" in which insurance companies mistreat consumers.

Sarah Palin On Obama’s Top 5 Health Care Falsehoods (Lies)

Citizen Palin 4 President ^ | Sarah Palin

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 3:03:16 PM by MaxCUA

We should be thankful for yesterday’s 7-hour health care summit – it was helpful in that it allowed Americans to hear the fundamental differences in approaches to meeting health care challenges. On one side, commonsense conservatives laid out fiscally-sound, free market-based, patient-centered solutions; and on the left’s side we heard about the Democrat’s belief that growing government is the only way to meet challenges.

Obama gives GOP 6-week deadline to get on board with healthcare package

Healthcare Finance News ^ | 2-26-10 | Diana Manos

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 3:30:33 PM by truthandlife

At a White House healthcare summit held Thursday, President Barack Obama urged Republican congressional leaders to consider working on several areas of common interest in the healthcare reform package, giving them a rough 6-week deadline before Democrats may consider using alternative measures to pass the plan.

Ben Nelson:Dems may have to abandon comprehensive health bill,go step-by-step(Cornhusker Kickback)

The Hill ^ | 2/26/10 | Michael O'Brien

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 5:08:40 PM by mdittmar

Democrats may have to abandon their effort for comprehensive healthcare legislation in favor of a piecemeal approach, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said Friday.

Obama's new health care proposal keeps Louisiana Medicaid provision(Louisiana Purchase)

Senator Mary Landrieu ^ | 2/22/10 | Jonathan Tilove, The Times-Picayune

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 5:29:16 PM by mdittmar

President Barack Obama unveiled his new health care proposal Monday, jettisoning a special Medicaid deal for Nebraska in the Senate bill, but leaving untouched a section crafted to help keep Louisiana from suffering a steep drop in federal Medicaid money as a delayed consequence of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Obama Revives Senate's Dead Health Reform

Investors.com ^ | February 26, 2010 | DAVID GRATZER

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 9:26:14 PM by Kaslin

A solid majority hopes Congress will completely abandon its existing proposals for health care reform and "start from scratch" instead, according to a recent Gallup poll. Yet last Monday, the president tabled a plan that's different in only three significant respects from past congressional bills: It's bigger, it's more expensive, and it's more complicated than the last version.

Health Reform Goes To Voters This November

Investors.com ^ | February 26, 2010 | DAVID S. BRODER

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 9:35:29 PM by Kaslin

Two hours before President Obama opened his health care summit, and two blocks away, a couple dozen reporters gathered at the invitation of the Christian Science Monitor for a breakfast at which the reform proposal's doom was foreshadowed.

Pro-Abortion Democrats Renew Threat: No Health Care Bill With Stupak Amendment

Life News ^ | 2/24/10 | Steven Ertelt

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 10:28:14 PM by Libloather

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As the next chapter of the debate over the pro-abortion health care bill begins, pro-abortion House Democrats are renewing their pledge not to support any bill with the Stupak amendment. That's the amendment originally added to the House bill that ban all abortion funding.

What Voters Know About ObamaCare

The Wall Street Journal ^ | 02-26-10 | JOHN FUND

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 10:37:29 PM by GOP_Lady

A full 48% of voters want Congress to start over, and 25% want lawmakers to stop working on health care altogether.

When Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander opened the Republican response to President Obama's remarks at yesterday's health care summit, he asked Democrats to renounce the idea of using parliamentary maneuvers such as reconciliation to pass health care with a simple majority vote.

Mr. Obama tried to swat him down by claiming Americans wanted a straight up-or-down vote on his health care bill and don't care about what methods are used to get it. "You know, this issue of reconciliation has been brought up. Again I think the American people aren't always all that interested in procedures inside the Senate. I do think they want a vote on how we're going to move this forward," he told the 40-plus summit participants.

Ron Reagan & Behar Agree: Ronald Reagan Was ‘Original Fearmonger’ of Socialized Medicine

Newsbusters.org ^ | 2-26-10 | Brad Wilmouth

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 1:03:23 PM by Justaham

On Thursday’s Joy Behar Show on CNN Headline News, host Behar brought up a 1961 Ronald Reagan quote opposing socialized medicine being cited by conservatives, prompting guest Ron Reagan to argue that his father was wrong in opposing Medicare because some of the dire predictions have not happened yet. After Behar complained that "the GOP is always trotting out Ronald Reagan. I mean, can't they come up with something new? This was 50 years ago," she soon added, "He was the original fearmonger, too. I hate to say it."

Pelosi Struggles to Corral Votes for Health Care Bill http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2460678/posts

Democrats, Republicans Still Can’t Agree On Remedy For Ailing Health Care System http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2460669/posts

Healthcare, elections & ‘nuclear option’ Pelosi says she hopes for GOP votes “but it doesn’t matter” http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2460630/posts

Obama silent ahead of vote on Armenian genocide
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2460619/posts

Insurance remarks by Senator Tom Harkins illogical and inaccurate at Obama’s ‘Health Care Summit’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2460610/posts

Crist: Don’t scrap ObamaCare, even though I can’t name anything good about it
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2460601/posts

Republicans Get the Chance to Punch Back at the Speaker-in-Chief
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2460594/posts

Wasting Time in Washington
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2460582/posts

Want to stop O’health care from reconciliation passage? Call vunerable Congressional swing voters!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2460573/posts

Ailing Health Care
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2460565/posts

Dems take a second look at GOP proposals, including tort reform
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2460561/posts

The Results of Socilaized Medicine: Do we Really Want What Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are Selling?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2460833/posts

Organized labor’s agenda hits roadblock; what now?(This is interesting)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2460824/posts

Republicans Oppose Democrats’ Do-Over Intelligence Bill
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2460805/posts

President Vows He Won’t Be Influenced by Polls in Healthcare Debate
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2460769/posts

Republicans Gird for Democrats’ End Run on Health Care (CBO double counts Medicare savings, taxes)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2461278/posts

Pelosi: Lawmakers Should Sacrifice Jobs for Health Care (Pelosi’s new strategy for her fellow Dems)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2461272/posts

White House: Simple up-or-down vote on health care
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2461266/posts

Obama’s Democrats voice new confidence on healthcare
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2461242/posts

GOV. PALIN REACTS TO HEALTH CARE SUMMIT
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2461239/posts

Speaker Pelosi Tells Democrats to Sacrifice Their Career For Obamacare
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2461223/posts

Pelosi: GOP has had its day; confident Dems can pull together on health bill
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2461216/posts
Pelosi to Dems: Support health bill, even if it kills career
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2461195/posts
17.2% insurance rate increase? Thank Paul Ryan [Bush didn’t do it!]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2461194/posts
Pelosi says Obama has the votes to pass health reform
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2461187/posts
Pelosi – A Bill Can Be Bipartisan Without Bipartisan Votes
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2461177/posts
Pelosi: GOP has had its day; confident Dems can come together
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2461156/posts

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