Holidy Newsletter from Sen. Specter

I'm just going to cut and paste it.

Dear Friend,

From the cloture vote, it is now apparent that 60 Democratic Senators are in favor of comprehensive health care reform. This legislation is an important step in seeing to it that adequate health care becomes a right in America and not just a privilege.


Click below to watch my video message on healthcare

It is not the bill that I would have preferred and there is an oppuntunity [sic] to improve it in conference. I would like to see a strong, robust public option. I would like to see more clear-cut language on a woman’s right to choose. But it has many important features. It covers 31 million more Americans. It has important insurance reforms. No longer can an insurance company reject a claim because of a pre-existing condition. No longer can there be a lifetime limit on insurance coverage.

I consider the legislation similar to the Civil Rights Act of 1965. It was a very good law, but it took a preliminary legislative enactment in 1957 and another in 1964 - each an incremental step - to set the stage for what was satisfactory and adequate civil rights legislation.

It is regrettable that there is such divisive partisanship in the Senate today. When we took the cloture vote, every one of the 60 Democrats said ‘Aye,’ and every one of the 40 Republicans said ‘Nay.’ It is the same attitude that pervaded the Senate during the stimulus package which I think was indispensible to avoid a 1929 Depression. I believe that when you have thousands of people dying each year because they don’t have insurance or adequate medical care, this bill is a very significant step forward.

Have a happy and healthy holiday season.

My best,

Arlen Specter

Basically, he's saying that although this isn't the bill he would've preferred he's going to support it.  Gotta love the Senator's strong moral convictions... Hell I don't agree with it, and I don't know what's in all of the bill, but I'm going to support it since doing something is better than doing nothing.

Senate Plans to Fill America's Stockings with Coal

The senate has thought long and hard about what to get the American public for Christmas and they've settled on just filling our stockings with coal.

Meanwhile, they've bought themselves shiny new bikes.

Howard Dean: Health Care Bill "Bigger Bailout for Insurance Industry than AIG"

I'm not surprised to see Dean's warning against this bill.

Howard Dean: "We've gotten to this stage. . . in Washington. . . where passing any bill is a victory and that's a problem. . . Decisions are being made about the long term future of this country for short term political reasons and that's never a good sign. . .

There are some good thing s in this bill. The problem is we are now committed to a solution using the private insurance companies and You will be forced to buy insurance and if you don't, you will pay a fine and 27% of the money you put in will not go to your health care it'll go to CEOs who make 20 million dollars a year. . . this is a bigger bailout for the insurance industry than AIG...

I want health care reform, but the choices have been taken away from the American people. . . at this point I think this bill is not worth passing in it's current form.
Read MORE>>>

Another interesting quote was from Senator Harkin, "I plead with my progressive friends... if this bill were so bad why are 40 republicans on the hill going after it day after day after day and trying to kill it."

I'm struggling to remember which logical fallacy he just used to make his case. Regardless, I'm sure you see the folly in his statement since it basically means... If some Republicans oppose a bill therefore it's a good bill. According to his own logic, if Democrats (not even a majority is necessary) support a piece of legislation therefore the legislation is 'good'.

Wow, what's this country coming to when people like Howard Dean are warning the American public about the dangerous track our nation is going down?

Watch Howard Dean's comments on this bill on YouTube

Specter Sends Out Email Blast with hopes of Avoiding Senate Walk of Shame

Senator Specter send out an email the night of the vote to continue consideration of the "Health Care Reform" bill.

Dear Friends,

The Congress is continuing its work to try to get healthcare reform legislation, and I believe the prospects are reasonably good that we will produce a bill. I hope that the bill will have the public option - and a robust public option. We will have a cloture vote tonight and I believe that we should be able to get 60 Senators at least to agree to start the debate.

Click below to hear my take on healthcare reform

It would be my hope that my colleagues would not draw lines in the sand or stay in inflexible positions. We need to move ahead, and doing nothing is not an option. The problems of so many millions of Americans uninsured and the problems of the rising healthcare costs makes it imperative that action be taken.

I think that the bill which has been proposed is a very, very good start. It is obviously subject to amendments and some modification. But the total cost has come in at about $850 billion over 10 years and is projected to save about $130 billion to reduce the deficit. In the second decade it is projected to save even more, up to as much as $650 billion. President Obama has committed not to sign a healthcare bill which adds to the deficit, and I’m committed not to vote for a healthcare bill that adds to the deficit.

It is my hope that the bill will emerge with very strong provisions on preventative care. That includes annual examinations without additional costs and encouraging people to have the annual exams to catch many problems at their early stages, like heart disease or ailments, before they develop into debilitating and expensive chronic diseases. I disagree with the recent recommendations to cut back on mammogram screenings or pap smears. I think that early detection is vital and well worth the cost. I can tell you from my personal experience: an MRI detected a brain tumor the size of a golf ball between my skull and my brain back in 1993. It could have been a very, very serious matter had that early detection not occurred.

Healthcare reform is vital and we’re determined to get a good bill.

Sincerely,

Arlen Specter

I'm composing my response to the Senator now.

I have absolutely no reason to expect that he will retract his current position and support a sane, fiscally responsible, and NO-COST solution which will not grow the size or power of government for health care reform that the majority of Americans will support.

Dems Get Their 60 Votes

Democrats in the senate got the 60 votes they were hoping for keep their "Health Care Reform" bill viable.  They've used a few of their old tricks to rope in one wary senator.

However, Sen. Ensign doesn't believe this is the kind of 'reform' that we need.

..."It's a massive increase in government, as shown by this bill," Mr. Ensign told a reporter off the floor later, spreading his arms wide as if to encompass the stack of papers that comes in at more than a foot tall and, according to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, weighs in at more than 20 pounds.

The bill contains the word "tax" 511 times and includes 18 tax hikes, according to Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative lobby group. It uses the word "require" more than 1,000 times, the word "shall" more than 3,500 times, and talks about studies required by the bill 150 times. READ MORE>>>

House Passed Healthcare Bill: Project HELP WANTED.

The House of Representatives have passed the "Affordable Health Care for America Act" (H.R. 3962). For the most part it was a completely partisan bill. The majority of Democrats supported it (only 39 out of 258 Dems voted against it) and only one Republican voted for it. (See how they voted.)

I, like many other concerned Americans, agree that we need health care reform; however, we agree that this bill is not the way to do it. This bill failed to address some of the easiest solutions to reduce the cost of health care. Additionally, I called my congressman multiple times and received the same answer each time. Basically, it went like this: The congressman understands your concerns but he will support the bill regardless.

The last few times I called my congressman I've laid out an ultimatum stating that if he supports this bill I will work tirelessly to destroy his aspirations of a political career. On a matter of principle alone I will support any and all candidates that run for his seat.

That got me to thinking. Even though it has already passed the House we can still stop this bill.
Call your Senators! Lay down an ultimatum. If you support this bill, I will never rest until I ruin your political career.

Additionally, we need to thank the Representatives that have voted against this bill and encourage Senators that have publicly stated that they will oppose this bill.

Project HELP WANTED.
I encourage everyone that has a Representative that voted for this bill to start sending your Representative a copy of the local Help Wanted pages with a short note stating "I found some jobs that you'd be better suited for... You'll probably want to get started sending out resumes before the election in (insert year for his/her seat)." You should also start circling jobs which are considerably lower than what he/she is qualified for.

For instance, my Representative, Patrick Murphy, worked as a security guard in high school and has a law degree. Ideal jobs to circle would be administrative jobs working at law firms (i.e. paralegal, legal secretary) and security guard jobs (i.e. parking lot attendant, security guard for local hospital).

This will do two things. It will send home the message that we mean business and have every intention of ruining his/her political career and most importantly it will send a strong psychological blow.

Lastly, this will help blow off some steam and keep the USPS from going completely bankrupt.

Daily Mail: Prisoners Have Better Diet Than Hospital Patients

From the Daily Mail...

Patients in Health Service hospitals are far more likely to go hungry than criminals in jail, scientists warned yesterday.

They say frail and elderly patients do not get the help they need with meals, and nobody checks whether they get enough to eat.

Despite years of Government promises to tackle poor hospital nutrition, food still arrives cold, and patients often miss out because meal times clash with tests and operations.

Meanwhile, prisoners are enjoying carbohydrate-rich, low-fat foods which in many cases are better than they would have been eating on the outside.

The Daily Mail has been highlighting the scandal of old people not being fed properly in hospital as part of its Dignity for the Elderly campaign.

Hospital meals are often taken away untouched, because they are either unappetising or are placed out of patients' reach.

The latest figures show 242 patients died of malnutrition in NHS hospitals in 2007 - the highest toll in a decade. More than 8,000 left hospital under-nourished - double the figure when Labour came to power.

Read More>>>

This in light of the claims that "England has great medical care..."

Don't listen to the lies flying out of your politician's mouth.

Healthcare reform needs to start with tort reform, medical savings accounts, moving back toward Medical Insurance (i.e. major medical coverage)... Not with so-called Obama care, a government owned 'insurance company', or government paid coverage of "40 million uninsured".

Healthcare Emergency (now with analysis)

Alan Korwin's blog has made a special post for this health care bill. He posted some commentary and Peter "Fleckenstein's" analysis of this monstrosity.

There's much too much to post here on my blog. I recommend you go to his blog (blog.flecksoflife.com) and read the original post.

Pg 241: SEC. 1121. SUSTAINABLE GROWTH RATE REFORM Line 6-8 HC Bill – Doctors, doesn’t matter what specialty you have, you’ll all be paid the same.

Pg 429: SEC. 1233. ADVANCE CARE PLANNING CONSULTATION Lines 13-25 – The Government will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.

[NOTE: Read carefully, it doesn't have to be a doctor, it can be an undefined "physician assistant" appointed by an unelected federal bureaucrat. --Alan.]

Also check out the Liberty Counsel's compiled analysis of this bill. (http://www.liberty.edu/media/9980/attachments/healthcare_overview_obama_072909.pdf )

And LASTLY.... PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!

Call AND Visit your Senators and Congressmen while they're home for the August recess and let them know that you DO NOT support this monstrosity and if they do they'll be out of a job come next election cycle.