HarvestNET.org

[JeffJ]

Obama comes to Cleveland and a local writer
gives his take on things:

Obama brings his health care hustle to Cleveland -- Kevin O'Brien
by Kevin O'Brien, The Plain Dealer
Thursday July 23, 2009, 4:11 AM

It's your lucky day, Cleveland.

Dr. Obama's Traveling Medicine Show is in town.

Step right up, folks. Press in close around the wagon and hear the good doctor pronounce with preternatural poise on the prodigiously potent properties of his potion, a panacea so powerful that he predicts -- nay, promises! -- that it will prevail even over the laws of economics.

But only if you believe.

My dear people, Dr. Obama doesn't want your money. Oh, no. Not today.

What he wants today, ladies and gentlemen, is your trust. What he needs today is your faith.

And it must be today.

So put down your calculators, your gloomy Congressional Budget Office reports, your just-released public opinion polls that indicate spreading doubts about this miracle remedy for all things that ail you and the country.

If you have any misgivings of your own, please, please just wash them down with a long, comforting swallow of Dr. Obama's magical elixir.

Let go of your fears, friends. Trust. Believe. Now. We really do need to move this along.

The longer it takes to get this thing through Congress, the greater the likelihood that someone will read it, and we won't get through at all.

And then, as Dr. Obama made quite clear in his radio address last Saturday, the chance to fix health care in America might be lost "for generations."

Yes, generations. It's now or almost never, because . . . um . . . well . . . because he says so.

Now, some of you are bound to notice that the bot tle that contains Dr. Obama's enchanted brew lists no ingredients.

That's because no one -- not even Dr. Obama -- really knows what's in it. His helpers in the House and the Senate are constantly adding their own pinch of this and dash of that to the recipe. But you can trust that it's good.

On top of that, you've got his cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-not-hire-lobbyists-for-White-House-jobs promise: "I will not sign on to any health plan that adds to our deficits over the next decade."

Forget that Congressional Budget Office piffle about increasing the deficit by $239 billion over the next 10 years.

Dr. Obama absolutely, positively would not sign such a bill. Well, not on purpose, anyway. (Hey, not everyone is a label reader.)

"This is an issue that affects the health and financial well-being of every single American," he says -- as well as close to 20 percent of the U.S. economy. Can you think of a stronger argument in favor a rush job?

"I don't believe that government can or should run health care," he says. Nor, we know, does he believe that government should run automobile companies or pretty much the entire finance sector of American business. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and surely the government will give the private sector all of its toys back the moment it can be trusted with them. You can take that to the temporarily government-owned bank.

"If you like your doctor, you keep your doctor," he says. "If you like your current insurance, you keep that insurance. Period, end of story."

And his helpers in the federal bureaucracy will make sure that your doctor and your insurer take their medicine, too. Right up until the day they become your handyman and your gardener.

"This is about a health care system that is breaking America's families, breaking America's businesses, and breaking America's economy," he says, and that's no scare tactic. Dr. Obama would never stoop to that.

He's just trying to break through the stubborn satisfaction of the 83 to 89 percent of you who keep telling pollsters you like your own health care as it is.

"No more yearly caps or lifetime caps; no more denying people care because of pre-existing conditions; and no more dropping people from a plan when they get too sick," he says.

But no more "unnecessary spending," either. "Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the pain pill." To some of you, that might sound like a lifetime cap, or a denial of care, or dropping from the plan someone who is too sick.

But it's not, because . . . um . . . well . . . because he says so.

That's where the faith comes in, see? You've just got to trust that if you put your life in the hands of the government, the government will take care of you.

Feeling better already, aren't you? And you haven't even had a taste of it yet.

[BornOutOfSeason]

Please go to the Fred Thomson show and hear the 8 minute interview with Betsy McCaughley who talks about the proposed bill which would require everyone on Medicare to have a mandatory interview every five years giving them information on how to end their lives...

There is more. It gets worse. You owe it to yourself to hear this interview.

boos
_________________
Love the Lord your God

[Teri]

BOOS, so the Liberals Gone Wild show is thinking of euthanasia too, and not just tax-payer funded abortion? Well, why not, right? I'll find the Fred Thompson interview to get my scare later. Right now I can't help but inject some good natured levity into this crazy situation. So if anyone else wants a good chuckle, check out this Japanese Action figure site. Apparently you can get your very own Obama Action Figure. And then pump him up with light sabers, machine guns, microphones...

http://gamu-toys.info/sonota/sw/obama/obama.html

Seriously, JeffJ I loved the writing of the article. It's a mad, mad, mad world. That's as serious as I'm gonna get in this post.

-Teri
_________________
"The church is never a place, but always a people; never a fold but always a flock; never a building but always a believing assembly. The church is you who pray, not where you pray."
-Anonymous
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[Teri]

Something more serious:

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National Health Care Plan Compared to TennCare-John Dunn
FOX 17 News By: John Dunn

The healthcare debate in Washington is a hot topic in Middle Tennessee.

Some say it is time to push the plan forward, while others say this brings up some bad memories.

They are ideas that are very familiar here in Tennessee, saving money, and expanding coverage.

Congressman Marsha Blackburn says it also sounds a lot like TennCare, which she says nearly bankrupted the state.

It is more argument against this hotly debated plan.

Congressman Marsha Blackburn says Tennessee learned the hard way. Now she wants the entire country to learn from us.

It was going to be a $2 billion program and after a few years it became an $8 billion program, says Rep. Blackburn, R-7th District.

Blackburn says there is a troubling parallel between TennCare and the health care reform the Obama Administration supports.

The cost really escalated. We got to one point when it was using every new dollar of revenue that came into the state, says Rep. Blackburn

It is why she calls President Obama's plan TennCare on a larger scale that could have the same type of negative results, with an every-growing pricetag.

"We didn't save money, it wasn't deficit neutral. It nearly bankrupted the state, and when you're talking about a 1.5 trillion dollar program, my fear is that this is going to end up being a 6 or 7 trillion dollar program, says Blackburn.

"To wait and delay this till next year is not the answer," says Tony Garr with the Tennessee Healthcare Campaign.

Tony Garr leads the Tennessee Healthcare Campaign, and he says regardless, the current system in America is broken.

He believes this reform is about health care costs, and making sure every American is covered.

"What we're talking about is not a government run system, we're talking about a government regulated, says Garr.

Garr maintains to do nothing would be the biggest mistake. He says it could double insurance premiums over the next ten years, and creating millions more uninsured Americans.

"Maybe if we took the health insurance away from every Congressmen they would take it more personal, and they would then realize the urgency of doing something," says Garr.

Congressman Blackburn says the Obama Administration should be well aware of the TennCare program.

The presidents new health care czar, Nancy-Ann Deparle, served as Human Services Commissioner in Tennessee.

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_________________
"The church is never a place, but always a people; never a fold but always a flock; never a building but always a believing assembly. The church is you who pray, not where you pray."
-Anonymous
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[BornOutOfSeason]

I am not familiar with TennCare, but it doesn't seem as scary as me going to a doctor in my 70's and him telling me I've lived my productive years and it's now time for me to "check out"!

I don't hear anybody talking about that scenario in the bill.

boos
_________________
Love the Lord your God

[Teri]

BOOS, I couldn't find the audio with Betsy McCoughey at the Fred Thompson show website, but I found it at youtube:

Obama's Health Care Atrocity

It says to visit http://www.defendyourhealthcare.us for more on Betsy McCoughey and her articles.

Pretty stunning stuff.

-Teri
_________________
"The church is never a place, but always a people; never a fold but always a flock; never a building but always a believing assembly. The church is you who pray, not where you pray."
-Anonymous
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[BornOutOfSeason]

Thank you, Teri, for posting the You Tube video, actually an audio. I didn't know it existed, but as shocking as its contents are I am not surprised.

boos
_________________
Love the Lord your God

[rearl]

Wow. Can't wait until I get older. :-/

[Teri]

BOOS, I found a little information for you (and all others). Someone I know kindly sent me the link to a homegrown columnist, Mike Adams. He says he has read the first 500 pages of this health care bill that was passed from the House. It is an open letter to President Obama, and starts out this way:

Quote:

Dear Mr. Obama (info@barackobama.com): I’m sick right now with a bad case of poison ivy. I’m not telling you this because I want the government’s help. I’m telling you I’m sick because it explains why I have been sitting at home for days and, therefore, have had time to read the first 500 pages of the new health care bill. I had no intention of reading the health care bill until a friend of mine – in his second year of medical school – sent me a list of statements about the bill. These statements have been floating around the internet so you may have seen them. After I read the bill, I concluded that the majority of the statements seemed correct. I’ve rephrased many of these statements and put them in the form of several dozen true/false statements. I would like for you to take the time to answer these questions for two reasons. First, I’ve spent a lot of time reading the health care bill. Second, and more importantly, the U.S. Congress has not spent much time reading the bill.

Then the letter continues with questions. This is the rest of part one:

Quote:

On Page 22, I saw some language, which suggested that the bill mandates audits of all employers that choose to self-insure. Can you tell me whether that is a) True or b) False? On Page 29, I saw what appeared to be an admission that health care will be rationed under this new plan. Can you tell me whether that is a) True or b) False? On Page 30, I discovered that a government committee will be established to decide what treatments and benefits I get. However, unlike an insurer, I see no evidence that there will be a process to appeal their decisions. Can you tell me whether that is a) True or b) False? On Page 50, I read some non-discrimination language, which seems to suggest that all non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free health care services. Can you tell me whether that is a) True or b) False? On Page 59, I saw some language suggesting that the federal government will have access to all individual bank accounts for health-related electronic funds transfers. Can you tell me whether that is a) True or b) False? On Page 124, I learned that no private company can sue the government for price-fixing. Furthermore, no "judicial review" is permitted against a complete government monopoly. Can you tell me whether that is a) True or b) False? On Page 127, I read that the government will now set wages for physicians. Can you tell me whether that is a) True or b) False? On Page 149, couched in esoteric “contribution” language, it looks like any employer with a payroll of $400,000 or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll as a penalty. This penalty would go a long way towards destroying the private system. It would also seem to violate your campaign promises – specifically those you made during debates I watched. If I read this correctly, it appears you looked me – via the camera – in the eye and lied. So, Barry, can you tell me whether that is a) True or b) False?

Part two can be found at
http://townhall.com/columnists/MikeAdams/2009/08/05/a...or_barry?page=2

What you are talking about is on page 429:

Quote:

On Page 429 things get very disturbing unless, of course, I am reading this wrong. It appears that an advance care planning consultation will be used to dictate treatment as a patient's health deteriorates. This can include an order for end-of-life plans – specifically, an order from the government. Can you tell me whether that is a) True or b) False?

Pretty alarming stuff.

-Teri
_________________
"The church is never a place, but always a people; never a fold but always a flock; never a building but always a believing assembly. The church is you who pray, not where you pray."
-Anonymous
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[ketlin narris]

_________________
Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness -- Terry Pratchett

“The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.”
-- George Carlin