Free Republic

Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, tells National Review Online that House Democrats are planning to use the budget-reconciliation process in order to pass Obamacare. “They’re meeting with each other this weekend to pursue it,” says Ryan. “I’ve spoken with many Democrats and the message is this: They’re not ready to give up. They’ve waited their entire adult lives for this moment, and they aren’t ready to let 100,000 pesky votes in Massachusetts get in the way of fulfilling their destiny. They’ll look at every option and spend the next four or five...

Charities warned that patients with less common forms of cancer were being discriminated against, while others condemned the system as a “scandal”. Patients and their doctors can appeal for the NHS to pay for drugs not currently licensed for that type of the disease. But one in three applications were turned down in the last three years, leaving patients having to pay up £20,000 for the medication themselves. The Rarer Cancers Forum, who obtained the figures, said that patients in France were up to 55 per cent more likely to get so-called “near-label” treatment, drugs licensed for a similar disease,...

To: flag@whitehouse.gov Date: Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 9:41 PM Subject: Healthcare citation submission Dear Sir and/or Madam: I saw on the briefing page entitled "Facts are Stubborn Things" on the Whitehouse.gov site that you are soliciting links to Websites that are not flattering (or as you put it, "fishy") to the President's health care initiative. I would like to submit for inclusion in your database a portion of my award-winning speech, "Defenders of Liberty," for it mentions heath care reform in the following: "We further reject the guise of "universal health care" and recognize this abhorrent creature for what...

As lawmakers begin their August recess, small groups of protesters are taking over town hall meetings on health care and other issues. The resulting scenes are showing up on YouTube. At a recent appearance by Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat from Texas, protesters chanted "just say no" outside a grocery store in Austin. The congressman was shouted at, heckled and followed to his car. "We're not going to have a shouting match," he said to the crowd. "You're supposed to be representing us," came one answer. "And I'm doing just that," Doggett insisted. "No, you're not!" a voice responded, as...

The debate over achieving universal health care can seem hopelessly confusing. But the issues are actually pretty simple when you consider the lessons of Massachusetts. In 2006, state lawmakers seeking to broaden health coverage made it illegal to be uninsured. It works like this: Employers have to offer you a health plan. If you are jobless or don't like your employer's plan, you must buy your own. If you don't get one, you pay a stiff fine. This strategy—known as an employer and individual "mandate"—forms the backbone of the national health reform bills now making their way through Congress. On...