Sun Times Columnist Steve Huntley Nails It on ObamaCare

Steve Huntley is a gentleman and a thoughtful citizen; and he is also a columnist -rarissimo avium On this first day of United States Supreme Court deliberations on the constitutionality of Obama Care, Steve Huntley offers the core problem with this very bad legislation.

No matter where you may stand on President Barack Obama’s controversial health-care law, one point is indisputable: It is an expansion of the power of the federal government into our everyday lives.

That is the fundamental issue in next week’s arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act, a k a Obama­care, and its individual mandate ordering every person to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. Now, you can argue that’s a good thing in that uninsured people will eventually get sick and the costs will shift to the rest of us, either through higher insurance premiums or taxpayer-funded care.But this mandate is not about catastrophic insurance, meaning coverage that would protect an individual from bankruptcy-inducing medical charges — and the rest of us from being stuck with that bill. No, Obamacare is about the government influencing all aspects of medical coverage. That, as we’ve learned in recent weeks, includes the government managing details such as ordering church-affiliated hospitals and charities to provide free contraceptives, which cost a few hundred dollars a year, even if that violates the dictates of their conscience and religious beliefs.

Well done, Mr. Huntley!

Senator Roland Burris to Hickey - What do you want on your Tombstone?

Boy what a great guy! Roland just sent me a note telling about all that he has done to and for me and my kids!

"Hey, I got this one, Hickey! Put your money away!"

Well, Senator, I'll have the pepperoni, mushroom, green olive, onion, extra garlic and just a handful of spinach on my Tomstone, Senator! What'll you have on your's?

Que Hombre!

My fellow Illinoisans,

After nearly a century of false starts and following more than a year of national debate, my colleagues and I have finally passed sweeping health reform legislation, which President Obama signed into law.

We?ve achieved historic reform ? but many Illinoisans have been left wondering: ?What exactly does this mean for me??

There are a number of key provisions that will take effect almost immediately. These include:

- Tax credits for as many as 144,000 small businesses in Illinois
- Immediate access to affordable coverage for 201,233 Illinoisans who are currently uninsured due to a pre-existing condition
- Medicare improvements and lower-cost prescription drugs for 1.8 million Illinois seniors
- Prohibiting insurance companies from using pre-existing conditions as an excuse to deny care to 3.2 million Illinois children

And this is only the beginning. Once the new law is fully implemented, family health insurance premiums will be reduced by $1,630-$2330 with no reduction in benefits. Up to 1 million Illinoisans will receive tax credits. Approximately 1,100-1,700 jobs will be created in our state. A total of 570 Community Health Centers in Illinois will receive additional funding.

In Illinois and across the country, this landmark reform law will provide tremendous benefits in both the short term and the long term. It is even projected to cut our deficit by $143 billion in the first ten years and an astounding $1.3 trillion in the decade after that.

Please log on to my website at www.burris.senate.gov to contact me with any questions or concerns and find out about the work I?m doing on your behalf in Washington. On the issue of health care reform and on every other challenge we face, I am proud to represent you in the U.S. Senate, and I remain committed to fighting for your interests every day.

Sincerely,
Roland W. Burris
United States Senator

Really, how about Repealing this nonsense. It is the worst legislation to come down the pike and down our throats in . . .forever . . . or at least 75 years as this Virginia businessman says.

Here's why from David John Marotta who runs a Wealth Management Company, Senator:

The bill requires all Americans to have health insurance and imposes a $900 fine for not having it. And all health insurance companies must insure people for the same price regardless of any preexisting conditions.

In the past people would pay thousands of dollars for health insurance so it would be there if they needed it. Now they will be able to pay a $900 fine and still be guaranteed insurance even after they develop a serious illness. As a result, healthy people with insurance will do better to drop their coverage and pay the fine until they get sick and need health care.

Rather than increasing the rolls of the insured, this legislation could actually encourage healthy people to opt out of insurance. If insurance can’t discriminate based on my health before insurance, why pay a dime until my out-of-pocket expenses are expected to exceed the cost of insurance?

No insurance system can survive such folly. Savvy consumers will only buy insurance if they anticipate that their expenses will exceed what they pay in premiums. Insurance companies will have no way to screen for a truly average risk pool. As a result, costs will go up until even the sick won’t want to buy insurance.

The bill also provides measures for cost containment, which generally means it will be harder for doctors to get paid for their work. As much as half of the expense of running a medical office is trying to get reimbursed, and this legislation will only exacerbate the situation.

Although the details are not specified, much of the legislation will enable a broad range of powers to be granted to the federal government to use however it sees fit. Committees will decide which procedures are allowable and with what frequency. Technical groups will design the required reporting format for your private medical data. Stakeholder groups will fix prices after consultation with special interest groups. And new agencies will set minimum standards for health-care insurance. Patients pay for about 12 cents of every health-care dollar today. This is not enough to deter health-care consumption. Costs cannot be controlled when the person who pays for a service, the person who benefits from a service and the person who grants the service are all different. Only when most of the money spent comes out of pocket will people have a vested interest in cost containment. Empowering patients to make their own health care decisions is the only viable solution. Although the best economic alternative is having more out-of-pocket dollars, the current legislation requires insurance to pay at least 85 percent of health-care costs.

That last part may kill Health Savings Accounts, which could save much of what ails our health care system. HSAs are coupled with a high-deductible health insurance policy. Such policies are extremely inexpensive.

HSAs are based on the principle that because you pay the high deductible, you are motivated to keep costs low. And because you are unlikely to reach your deductible, your insurance costs are low. Insurance is affordable only when the likelihood of using it is low. An added benefit is that employees own their own health insurance. Hence it is completely portable. If they are laid off or decide to work elsewhere, they can take their insurance with them. In every way, privatized HSAs are working to contain costs. Given the new requirement that 85 percent of costs must be paid by insurance, HSAs will probably not survive the federal bureaucracy.

You can compare the current legislation to having grocery store insurance that pays for the first dollar you spend. Everyone in our risk pool will order filet mignon. First the costs will skyrocket. And then the meat will be rotten.

It isn’t just that some portions of the bill are poorly implemented but the broad scope of the legislation could be fixed. It is fundamentally wrong. And it will have implications that will impoverish rather than empower individuals. The result is not good intentions with unintended consequences, but in fact ill intentions with disastrous consequences.

Only a utopian centralized planner could believe we will be able to anticipate or correct the consequences going forward. The unknown unknowns are liable to produce even more dire meltdowns. Government intervention, monopoly and regulation cause the rigidity that in turn provokes economic forces immune to market adjustments. Bubbles, shortages, deficits, defaults and moral hazard will result.

Once the government competes with the private sector, there is no competition. It is like the referee starting to play on the field. The government has banned private companies from competing with them on mortgages, Social Security and the U.S. Postal Service, and we all know how well those organizations are run.

Quality health care will suffer a similar fate. There is no systemic regulator for expenses, and consequently costs will go up and benefits will dwindle. As a result, the subsidy of the truly needy will be completely swamped by a tsunami of middle-class entitlements.

The current legislation has left undone the incentives to provide quality lowest cost health care. And it is put in place incentives that work toward impoverishing the quality and economics of our current health care system. For these reasons and many more, the current legislation is the worst legislation passed by Congress in the last 75 years.

Cool Drool! Thanks for thinking of me and the kids, Senator.


David John Marotta is the president of Marotta Wealth Management INC. of Charlottesville, providing fee-only financial planning and wealth management at http://www.emarotta.com. Questions to be answered in the column should be sent to questions@emarotta.comor
Marotta Wealth Management INC.,
One Village Green Circle, Suite 100,
Charlottesville, VA 22903-4619

Catholic Prayers for Health - St. Anthony has your back!

With yesterday's signing of Obama Care, I decided to turn more to prayer. Sen. Dick Durbin said on MSNBC that this triple trillion dollar pork sausage laden with abortion language is a real deficit reducer. Dithering Dick must have been scripted by Andy "VAT-69" Stern of SEIU the deficit reducing PAC. Bart Stupak became the Quisling of the New Millennium when he sold out dead children to come for an Upper Peninsula Airport in Michigan and our Hunting Horn of the Mob Media is ginning up Class and Race War with the civility card.

We'll be fine. Stay strong, work hard, be kind and read a bit as well as pray.

Here are some Executive Orders worth the paper they are printed on.

Prayer of Confidence to St. Anthony
Most holy St. Anthony, Beloved Friend of Jesus, I place myself in your heavenly care. Be with me, especially in life's troubles and difficulties. Intercede before the Lord for me, so that I may confidently know I do not face my problems alone.

I join my prayers to yours, O Great Saint, as I ask God to give me consolation in times of sorrow, courage when I am afraid, and healing from all the ills that afflict me.

Obtain for me from God, Most High, the grace to accept whatever is God's holy will for me and my loved ones. Strengthen my faith so that I will never despair, but always have hope in God's healing presence and power in my life. Amen.


Prayer to St. Anthony for Healing of a Spouse
O Glorious St. Anthony, you live now in unity with Jesus Christ, the Divine Physician and the healer of all human ills. I come to you today to ask for your powerful intercession on behalf of my beloved spouse (mention name), who seeks to be restored to good health.

The years we have shared, and the love we have known, is precious to me, and my heart breaks in my helplessness. But I believe that with the Lord all things are possible.

Compassionate Saint, comfort me in my distress and obtain blessings for my beloved spouse so that (name) may be quickly and completely restored to health. Amen




Prayer to St. Anthony for Healing

Compassionate St. Anthony, you are called the "Miracle Worker" by those who have been blessed by your special friendship. I ask you to look with favor on (name the person) who is weak and failing.

Great St. Anthony, come to the assistance of (name). Obtain for him/her health in mind and body, and the strength to accept all suffering in union with Christ, our Savior.

Loving St. Anthony, console all those who are afflicted, and guide them to the heart of the Divine Physician, where they will obtain compassion, mercy and hope. Amen.




Prayer to St. Anthony for Protection Against Danger

O Holy St. Anthony, be our protector and defender. Ask God to surround us with the Holy Angels, so that we may emerge from every danger in the fullness of health and well being. Guide our life journey, so we will always walk safely together with you, in God's friendship. Amen.




Prayer to St. Anthony for Those Suffering with Cancer
Dear St. Anthony, you recognized Our Lord Jesus as the Divine Healer. In your goodness and kindness, please intercede for (mention name) who is suffering from cancer.

If it is God's will, I ask that this day, the gift of healing be granted to (name). Comfort him/her during times of unbearable pain, and ask our Lord to grant him/her peace and patience in suffering.

May God give (name) the fullness of life here on earth, or call him/her home to eternal glory forever. Amen.




Prayer to St. Anthony for Emotional Healing

St. Anthony, dear friend and heavenly guide, be present to me now, and let me know your compassion. Pray to our dear Lord for me, that I may experience calmness and peace in my emotions.

Help me to grow in faith and hope. Protect me from all that displeases God, and obtain for me serenity of mind and spirit.

I place all my confidence in you, St. Anthony, and I pray for mercy, grace and God's gentle goodness. Amen.




Prayer to St. Anthony for the Health of an Expectant Mother and Her Unborn Child
Glorious St. Anthony, you were blessed to hold the Infant Jesus in your arms. I come to you now on behalf of (mention name) who pleads for the health and safety of the child that God has graced her to conceive.

St. Anthony, guard this life God has created, and the mother God has chosen for this child. Let your gentle hand, like that of a skilled physician, aid in her delivery so that this baby will know good health and lasting happiness.

May her child be favored with the grace of holy baptism, and grow to love our Lord Jesus Christ above all else in this world. Amen.




Prayer to St. Anthony for Those on Medication
Gracious God, You have given us many healing remedies that are a benefit to us when we are sick. Through the miraculous intercession of St. Anthony, we ask Your blessing upon the medication prescribed for (mention name) so that he/she may experience healing, and be restored to full health in mind and body. Amen.

"The Hunting Horn of the Mob." The Progressive Media Tyranny

"Liberal journalism is no longer the voice of the free, but the hunting horn of the mob." Kevin Myers - Irish Independent

Retired Marine General Sheehan was hauled before the Grand Inquisitor - Senator Carl Levin to testify on homosexuals in the American military. General Sheehan offered a history lesson and was attacked by Progressive politicians, the Obama White House, and the main stream media. General Sheehan reported that Dutch soldiers had caused unnecessary deaths of Muslims at the hands of the Serbs in Srebrenica .

The pile-on took place as political cover for the lifted 'Don't Ask; Don't Tell' military doctrine.

The Netherlands have a Diverse Military that celebrates sexual preferences.

General Sheehan who had his boots on the ground at the time of the curious events and suggested that the problem lay with the Dutch soldiers - who might have happened to be homosexuals.

Howls of derision cascaded down upon General Sheehan. Irish journalist Kevin Myers presented the howl-down as an example of Media Over-Lords.

What Gen Sheehan had actually told the Senate Armed Services Committee in its hearings into allowing open homosexuality in the US armed forces was largely as follows. He said that after the Cold War, European militaries had "concluded that there was no longer a need for a combat capability". The peace dividend had caused European governments to socialise their militaries, to unionise them, and to allow open homosexuality. This resulted in "a focus on peacekeeping operations because they did not believe the Germans were going to attack again or the Soviets were coming back". He then turned to events in Srebrenica, where the Dutch battalion was "understrength and poorly led". He described how Serb forces entered the town, tied Dutch soldiers to telephone poles and then massacred the Muslims.

The chairman of the committee, Carl Levin, interrupted him: "Did the Dutch leaders tell you that it was because there were gay soldiers there?"

"It was a combination. . ."

Levin interrupted him again. "Did they tell you it was because of gay soldiers, that's my question."

"They included that as part of the problem. It was the liberalisation of the military, the net effect of, basically, social engineering."

Senator Levin, who had controlled the questioning, then denounced Gen Sheehan for blaming the massacre on homosexuals. Gen Sheehan spoke again: "My comment was the liberalisation of. . ."

He was interrupted again, while the senator lectured him for stereotyping, and for suggesting that gays could be not be great fighters. "I didn't say gays weren't great fighters," protested the general. "The liberalisation of the Dutch military. . ."

He was interrupted again, and lectured once more for saying what he hadn't said. Levin thus began the destruction of the reputation of a great and patriotic marine who had served in his country at war, while Levin had stayed at home.

Never mind that you might think Gen Sheehan's arguments are poor and his opinions old-fashioned. They might very well be both. He is nonetheless entitled to be reported fairly and that didn't happen. And so everywhere he is accused of alleging that gays in the Dutch army (even more, apparently, than General Mladic) caused the massacre at Srebrenica.

This is a good example of how the media agenda works today, and it is, moreover, made altogether more sinister by the fact that its proponents are usually completely unaware of what they are doing. They are contestants in an endless "liberalism" competition, the outcome of which is for liberal thought police to seek out and magnify the possibly heretical thoughts of suspected bigots, as a prelude to their destruction: Sheehan today, and Everyman hereafter. Liberal journalism is no longer the voice of the free, but the hunting horn of the mob.

On Sunday night, Obama Care passed the House and today the jubilant Left celbrates President Obama's signing this historic document with howls of GOP Ugliness.

Mary Mitchell wrote a stupid piece about race hate in the Health Debate.

MSNBC is going flat-out with shouts about real or imagined but certainly undocumented charges of racial epithets and gay slurs hurled at Democratic Legislators. Baby Killer is a bad thing to say to people who love seeing that more babies get butchered through abortion.

We live in strange times and accept strange positions - no matter how stupid, or fabricated.

Our Post-Racial Obama Care Civil Rights Activists - Pale,or what? Honkie, if You Love Health Care!

Looks like MSNBC! Lord, Lord! The Struggle! Looks like Nancy ditched Brother Lewis once the bridge was crossed!

Mary Mitchell, Racist Dog Whistles and Telepathic Slur Hurlers!

Chicago Sun Times columnist Mary Mitchell is a mope* - Mary mopes melancholy mad on race (100%) - whitey is bad. Jesus, I hate Whitey too, Mary -Whitey, Gilbert, Beaver, Larry Mondello. You see, it is really hard to take a serious look at race with Mary Mitchell around. Mary Mitchell has devalued race coinage. Plugged nickel journalism.

Voila!

During the showdown over healthcare reform, some of the members of the Tea Party took off their masks.

Many African Americans had already suspected some of these people are more opposed to the skin color of the man in the White House than they were to the president's political ideology.So blacks were not surprised that the health-care debate went from fear-mongering to blatant obstinacy.

But this is 2010.

We have a black first family.

It was frightening to see the racist behavior -- which we thought was buried -- resurrected during this contentious battle.

Before the critical vote, House Democrats were heckled, cursed and spit on by people who were opposed to the legislation that will reform the country's health system.

Racist Tea Party Members must have been using Racist Dog Whistles and applied the standard White Racist Mental Telepathic Slur Hurl, because there is no empirical evidence whatsoever ( sound bytes/cellphone recordings/first hand accounts/police records of arrests & etc.).

Lost amid the feeding frenzy were a few simple questions that wouldn’t likely have eluded the members of a Basic Reporting class—namely:

1.Other than the claims of a few Congressmen, all from the same party and all on the receiving end of the Tea Party protests, what incontrovertible evidence do we have that any demonstrators yelled racist or anti-gay slurs?
2.Even if we can prove that one or more people in the crowd screamed such epithets, how do we know they had anything to do with the Tea Party? If they exist, has even one of them been identified? Isn’t it also possible, given the white-hot nature of the ObamaCare controversy, that protesters in favor of the bill infiltrated the crowd and shouted slurs in a Saul Alinsky-style attempt to stigmatize the Tea Party?
3.Even if we can prove that several Tea Party protesters yelled slurs, why do the actions of a few members speak for the motives of thousands more, not to mention the movement itself?
Why indeed, especially when the MSM’s First Rule of Covering Islamic Terrorism is that the actions of a few extremists never define the group as a whole?

Moreover, a YouTube video contains no apparent evidence of racial epithets aimed at the black Congressmen as they walk through a throng of Tea Party protesters. In another video of the same event, posted on Politico, columnist Ben Smith asserts that “it sounds like you can hear the n-word at the 9-second mark…though it’s not totally clear.” But even if it were clear, that still wouldn’t answer the question of who said it, which side (if any) he represents, and why we should define an entire movement or political party by the actions of one individual.
Then there’s the matter of an arrest that apparently never was. The Associated Press quoted a Cleaver staffer as saying the man who spat on the legislator was arrested, but as even The Huffington Post admits, Capitol Police say no such arrest occurred.

Unfortunately—or rather, fortunately for the mainstream media and Democrats (pardon the redundancy)—leaders of both the Republican Party and the Tea Party took the bait and did a spot-on impression of the cow in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” that actually wanted to be eaten. In so doing, they ignored the wry science fiction book’s key advice: “Don’t panic.”

Rather than coolly put off the hostile media by declining comment until the entire story (or non-story) came out, Republicans such as RNC Chairman Michael Steele and House Minority Leader John Boehner, as well as a Tea Party Express coordinator, were quick to employ terms like “reprehensible” and “isolated” and “not a reflection of the movement” in major media interviews.

But to condemn is to confirm.

Keep Mope Alive, Mary!

*
mope intr.v. moped, mop·ing, mopes
1.
a. To be gloomy or dejected.
b. To brood or sulk. See Synonyms at brood.
2. To move in a leisurely or aimless manner; dawdle.
n.
1. A person given to gloomy or dejected moods.
2. mopes Low spirits; the blues. Often used with the.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


http://bigjournalism.com/fross/2010/03/22/lefty-sop-the-elevation-of-the-particular-to-the-universal-or-tar-everyone-with-the-same-brush/

SEIU's Andy Stern Will Turn America into Greece by Christmas! Obama Care Ain't Nothing Next to This Beauty!

SEIU's Mandarin Andy Stern has all the time in the world to 'give it to America- - good and hard!


Uncle Sam, grab them ankles! Red Andy is going to take flying leap ram home (ala Obama Care) the nail in your coffin, driving President Obama's Federal Deficit Reduction Panel!

SEIU which fuels President Obama's energetic drive to make America Greece*, Portugal, Ireland, France and et. has bullied its way into Roland Burris's claim to Obama's Senate seat; Obama Care; Card Check America; control of the American Auto Industry and onto the panel that will recommend that America pay a National Sales Tax - for starters - and pay for Government Takeover of everything not nailed down.

Andy Stern, President of SEIU, make ACORN look like a Quaker Meeting House. Andy Stern and Anna Burger have spent the last five years talking to the Chinese Government. Newsweek and Time have scrubbed those stories on the internet.

Andy Stern is no union leader - he is a Marxist. He owns the nitwits on MSNBC and most other cable news outlets, print paper editorial boards and his armada of SEIU websites - Illinois Progress, here at home. Of you think Obama Care is shady, hold the phone Sally.

Wait until Andy Stern dictates America's economic policies*.

President Obama's decision to appoint his close political ally, union leader Andrew Stern, to the newly created National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform has set off a firestorm of criticism from business and conservative groups who charge he is a political radical who should be investigated for failure to register as a lobbyist.

The prestigious 18-member commission will study and recommend ways to whittle down the $12 trillion debt the federal government has amassed. Stern is one of six panelists Obama has named; the House of Representatives and the Senate will each appoint six others.

*

Reminder: The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. is probing the SEIU for possible violations of the Lobbying Disclosure Act for Stern’s frequent visits to the White House and with members of Congress in 2009.

Reminder: As head of the SEIU, Stern has groomed his own den of labor management thieves tangled in embezzelement/fiscal abuse across the country:

*Vat’s This? Hat Tip Tom Roeser!

The word’s going around Washington that Obama and the Left who have moved us to the status of a European state-controlled democracy will more than likely want to pay for it by having the National Deficit Commission…organized to come up with a strategy after this November’s election on how to cut the deficit and the debt…come up with the recommendation that the U. S. adopt the Value Added Tax or national sales tax which would be just like Europe’s. It would trigger as well-spring of revenue and allow the Left the option of presenting a good many other socialist ideas. It’s bound to be a key debate issue in 2012.


http://michellemalkin.com/2010/02/22/biggest-sign-that-white-house-deficit-panel-is-a-joke-o-wants-to-appoint-andy-stern/

Obama Care - The Birth of the Blues!

Thank you Michael Ramirez!

Hat Tip to Ane Leary and Backyard Conservative

President Obama's Polls Will Limbo Under Congress Approval Ratings

How low will President Obama's Approval Numbers Limbo?

Lower than whale poop in the Marianas Trench

Lower than a snakes belly in a wheel rut at the bottom of the New Madris Fault

Lower than MSNBC's Nielson Ratings

Lower than Hog Futures in Israel

Lower than the taxes paid by Bob Creamer

Lower than the editorial skills of the Huffington Post

Ah, but do mind the cuteness of me , Flann O'Brien was wont to say! President Obama went all in with chips that did not belong to him. Them chips is ours - the Taxpayers' Chips.

If you are not a tax-payer, or have gulped enough SEIU Kool Aid, you are as happy as a clam about Obama Care. Another urban Democrat like myself, Mike Goodwn of the New York Post writes this -(click my post title for more)

Either you believe America is different and should play a unique role in expanding individual liberty, or you believe we should trim our freedoms to fit international norms, as embodied by centralized authorities and global organizations like the United Nations.

It's clear where Obama stands.

As he said in response to a question in Europe nearly a year ago, "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I imagine that Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism and the British believe in British exceptionalism."

Though he said he was proud of his country, the answer was unmistakably no, he's not a believer. On that day and so many others -- remember his apologies and bows to foreign potentates -- he demonstrates he doesn't subscribe in the tradition of his predecessors and most of his countrymen.

His health-care obsession, with industry tentacles reaching 17 percent of the economy, reveals his vision. There is little dispute the industry has big flaws, yet Obama passed up a bipartisan chance to fix most of them.

He opted for a sweeping expansion and takeover that would put Washington in charge of every aspect, from levels of care, to cost, to mandates, to jobs and taxes.

President Obama pushed all in and will be History's Goat* - the worst President in American History he will plunge past Carter (34) and boost James Buchanan (40).


*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States

Congressman Dan Lipinski - A Heroic Statement of Principle

CONGRESSMAN LIPINSKI VOTES ‘NO’ ON SENATE HEALTH CARE BILL
(March 21, 2010) Today, Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3) released the following statement regarding his decision to vote against the Senate health care bill:

“My decision to vote against the Senate health care bill is the result of months of studying our broken health care system, developing and analyzing various proposals for reform, studying legislation, and listening closely to my constituents. I want to thank each and every one of the thousands of Third District residents who contacted me by phone, fax, email, and in person to share their views for and against the bill.



“As I have said many times, I strongly believe reform is needed to lower soaring health care costs and make insurance coverage more affordable and accessible for individuals and working families. But reform must be done right. The Senate bill does make a number of improvements to our health care system, including expanding access and reforming health insurance by doing such things as immediately banning discrimination based on pre-existing conditions for children, prohibiting lifetime coverage limits, and banning rescissions. Unfortunately, the bill also contains a number of serious flaws, and many of the good aspects could have been done without passing this massive bill. The Senate bill does not do enough to lower the skyrocketing cost of health care, cuts more than $400 billion from Medicare, is not fiscally sustainable over the long term, and breaks with the status quo by providing federal funding for abortion and abortion coverage. This bill was also marred by backroom deals that benefit pharmaceutical companies and other special interests. In the final analysis, I cannot support such a deeply flawed bill.


“Last November, after successfully fighting to make numerous improvements to the initial House health care bill, I voted to move the measure forward. I did so because I did not want to give up on reform, and because I believed we might still be able to fix the flaws in the bill before a final vote. However, I made my position very clear at the time, stating: ‘If this bill does not improve when it comes back from the Senate, I will vote against it.’ Unfortunately, the final bill is in many ways worse, not better, than the House legislation.


“To deserve the name of reform, a bill of this magnitude ought to make major progress on reducing health care costs, which continue to increase at unsustainable rates. Since 1980, overall spending on health care has risen on average at almost twice the rate of inflation, and per capita health care spending is nearly double what it was 10 years ago. Unless we address these increases, health care will continue to gobble up more and more of people’s income, and more and more of our tax dollars, until we reach a breaking point. Government subsidies alone cannot solve the problem of the increasing burden that skyrocketing health care costs impose on middle class Americans. We must change payment incentives for providers and this bill does not accomplish that.


“As the Congressional Budget Office has stated, the Senate health care bill would do little to affect the cost of premiums for those who currently get their health care through large employers. Since 70 percent of Americans who are not on Medicare are in this group, this bill fails to sufficiently reduce costs for the majority of working families in the Third District. The Senate bill also does not include several specific measures that were in the House bill that could increase competition. These include the elimination of the health insurance industry’s anti-trust exemption and a provision to begin to require health care providers to disclose their prices.


“I am also concerned that the bill’s more than $400 billion in Medicare cuts could have ramifications for seniors in my district. For instance, the Senate bill reduces Medicare reimbursements to providers – such as hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies – by over $200 billion. The Chief Actuary of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has stated that these cuts would likely result in roughly 20 percent of providers becoming unprofitable; this could lead to providers refusing to take care of seniors on Medicare. And if these cuts are going to be made to Medicare, the money should at least be put in the Medicare Trust Fund instead of being spent elsewhere as this bill does. In addition, unlike the House bill, the Senate bill does not allow the government to negotiate for lower drug prices, which I have long supported.


“I am also greatly concerned about the impact of this bill on our ballooning deficit. While the Congressional Budget Office has stated that the bill would officially reduce the deficit, close inspection of this analysis reveals serious problems. The CBO counts as deficit reduction over $70 billion in premiums that will be paid into the newly created CLASS Act. This well-intentioned program to provide long-term care for people with disabilities should be keeping this money in a trust fund to pay out future benefits instead of being spent elsewhere. And even if these premiums were kept in a trust fund, CBO states that the CLASS Act is fiscally unsustainable after two decades, when benefit payouts will significantly overwhelm the premiums coming in. Further, $29 billion in increased Social Security receipts are counted towards deficit reduction although they ought to remain in the Social Security Trust Fund.


“The bill also does not address this year’s scheduled 21 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors; when Congress votes to do this, likely later this year, it will cost over $200 billion over the next 10 years. Also, the CBO score assumes that in later years, the growth in federal subsidies would suddenly be allowed to decline, and that the tax on middle-class insurance plans – which I and many others already oppose – would be expanded. If Congress will not do these things today, why would it do so tomorrow? Taken together, these elements more than wipe out the supposed savings.


“Finally, of great concern to me and to a significant majority of my constituents, this bill changes current federal policy and provides funding for abortion. This is not acceptable. It is in direct contradiction of the Hyde Amendment, which for more than three decades has prohibited federally funded abortion. First, the bill allows federal funds to subsidize health plans in the insurance exchanges that cover abortion. For any insurance plan that receives federal subsidies and provides abortion, all participants would be required to contribute at least $1 per month that would fund abortion services, regardless of whether they want abortion coverage or not. It also opens the door for Community Health Centers receiving federal funding under the bill to use that money to pay for abortion. I do not believe the last minute effort to address these concerns through an Executive Order is sufficient because there is every indication that federal courts would strike down this order, and the order could be repealed at any time in the future.



For all of these reasons, I cannot support the health care bill. I am deeply disappointed that Congress did not develop a better bill. But whatever this bill’s fate, I will not stop fighting against special interests and for improvements to our health care system that will benefit all of the residents of the Third District. And in the days, weeks, and months ahead, I will continue working to create jobs and revive our economy.”

Congressman Dan Lipinski - The Only Man Standing!

"As I have said many times, I strongly believe reform is needed to lower soaring health care costs and make insurance coverage more affordable and accessible for individuals and working families. But reform must be done right."
Congressman Dan Lipinski ( D. 3rd District)

Congressman Dan Lipinski took a heroic stand in opposition to the horrific Senate Omnibus Bill -Obama Care. This is the most divisive and foolish monstrosity ever forced down the the throats of the American People -by the very same hypocrites who get weepy about fois gras.

Congressman Dan Lipinski earned my respect and my count on the support of every voter in my house. Congressman Lipinski stood for every voter in the 3rd District and for every American taxpayer. You will have every dunce in America railing against you - but they do not vote in the 3rd District.

Well done, Congressman! You are the only Man Standing in Illinois Democratic politics.

Kill the Bill and Save America! Dan Lipinksi, it might just be on you.

Congressman Lipinski - this is your moment - act accordingly! Vote No!

"With deep regret, but clear in our moral judgment, we are compelled to continue to urge House members to oppose the Senate bill unless these fundamental flaws are remedied. At this critical moment, we urge Representatives to take the steps necessary to ensure that health care reform respects the life and dignity of all, from conception to natural death," U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Obama Care.


Let's see what happens. Some Democratic Congressmen might restore the faith of the American People in our government by holding to the Faith that they profess.

The Obama Care Bill is bad. If it were in any way good it would have passed long ago - it's not and if by some legerdemain of Progressive Hegelian magic Obama Care passes in the the most mistrusted Congress in American History, it will be a very long and very expensive process to unscrew this hideous pooch. The America People will unscrew the Obama Care Bill, make no mistake.

The Bill is packed with Planned Parenthood set-asides and Abortion Happy language.

Dan Lipinski of Illinois has said that he will vote 'No.' Okay, let's see.

In today's gospel, Jesus quietly stooped down and wrote in the sand all the sins and transgressions of the folks who wanted to stone a woman caught in adultery to death - they "deemed" her guilty. The woman was saved. Let's see over the next few 'narrative' choked hours, if some law makers look into the sand.