Freedom Line Blog

In this week’s Freedom Minute, CFIF’s Renee Giachino reminds the politicians in Washington that America deserves the truth about health care reform legislation.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who has chosen not to run for a third term, may or may not decide to run for President.  While articulate and attractive, Pawlenty needs what all politicians need who have not long lived on the national political stage – name identification and recognition in his own party.

So what do those geniuses at the Democratic National Committee do?   Well, they’ve got this new “Call ’em Out” program, the purpose of which seems to be to attack people who have criticized ObamaCare.  Their first target?  Tim Pawlenty.

Hey, Maude, the Dems are attacking someone named Tim Pawlenty.

Yeah, Harvey, Tim Pawlenty opposes ObamaCare.

Well, don’t we oppose ObamaCare, Maude?

Of course we do, Harvey.  Most Americans do.

Well, that Pawlenty fellow seems okay by me.  Maybe we could have him over here for one of those coffees, introduce him to the neighbors, give him some money or something.  Good to know he’s one of us.

The bill contains 204 instances of the word tax(es), 36 occurrences of the word fine(s), 26 instances of the word shall, and 69 occurrences of the word must.  This version of the visualization omits the “current law” language in the bill.

Click here for the full visualization.

According to a new IBD/TIPP survey of 1,376 randomly selected practicing physicians from across the country, a whopping 45% of doctors “would consider leaving their practice or taking an early retirement” if the health care “reform” plan being pushed by Congress and the President passes.

Here are some other highlights of the survey, according to Investors Business Daily:

• Two-thirds, or 65%, of doctors say they oppose the proposed government expansion plan. This contradicts the administration’s claims that doctors are part of an “unprecedented coalition” supporting a medical overhaul.

• More than seven in 10 doctors, or 71% — the most lopsided response in the poll — answered “no” when asked if they believed “the government can cover 47 million more people and that it will cost less money and the quality of care will be better.”

Here is a nifty visualization (by frequency of words) of Senator Baucus’ “America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009.”

Yes, the U.S. health care system has its flaws.  The cost, payment by third parties, government involvement, and defensive medicine are all factors that limit access and drive up costs.  But, with the slice of capitalism that still exists in our system, money will always allow patients to receive care in a timely fashion.

In Canada, the government runs the single-payer system and determines what procedures are covered and who receives care.  Fortunately, capitalism still exists across the border and a firm has started to make money off of long waiting lines.

Yes, one stop to Timely Medical can drastically reduce your waiting time and allow you to leave the rationing to the bureaucrats.  One has to wonder if such a company will exist here if the U.S. goes the single-payer route.

Senator Olympia Snowe, one of three Republicans who have been negotiating with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus on a health care reform compromise, is urging the President to take the public health insurance option “off the table.”  On CBS’s Face the Nation yesterday, Snowe said Obama “should take it off the table.”

In addition, Senator Susan Collins is out there claiming that she wouldn’t even support a “trigger” for the “public option,” an idea floated by Democrats last week.  Collins correctly argues, “The problem with the trigger is it just delays the public option.”

Senate Democrats have been courting both Senators in an effort to pass a bipartisan bill – something that will be next to impossible without Snowe and Collin’s support.  Without any Republican support, Democrats may have to resort to the nuclear option of the health care debate, which is to use budget reconciliation rules, if they insist on a public option as part of a final package.   Budget reconciliation would only require 51 votes for passage. 

Following the taxpayer uproar, including the protests over the weekend, they may want to think twice about that.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives plan to pass a resolution censuring Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) for saying “you lie” during the President’s ObamaCare live infomercial Wednesday night, and refusing to apologize on the floor of the House, even though he has apologized to the President.

We assume that this censure will follow that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for calling Town Hall protesters “Nazis” and that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for saying that the CIA lies to Congress all the time.

Too bad there won’t be enough time left that day to deal with the people’s business.  How large is the deficit now?

Here’s a great video from our friends at Americans for Tax Reform:

The first surprising quote came from the opening line of his remarks.  “I’m not the first President to take up this cause but I am determined to be the last.”  Really?!?  Mr. President, do you really think that passing a 1017-page bill will end all of our health care problems?  Have you seen the Prime Minister’s Question Hour on C-SPAN?  Do you realize they still have debates over health care in other single-payer countries?  Only their debates focus on people dying in hospitals because the government won’t pay for procedures, and they die waiting.  Passing your bill will assuredly not make you the last President to take up the cause of health care, especially with trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities.

Also, the President claimed, “I will not sign a plan that adds one dollar to our deficits either now or in the future.”  We hope you live up to that promise because the current version of the House bill will add to our deficits.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, it will add at least $239 billion over the next ten years, and this is a conservative deficit projection according to some experts.

Of course, the deficit is only one piece of the health care puzzle.  Cutting costs and confronting over $50 trillion in unfunded liabilities should also be addressed, but the President only promised that he would not touch Medicare.  There is simply no way the President can promise health care for all without drastically raising taxes or adding trillions more to our national debt.

What was left unsaid last night was how the President plans to give consumers more control over their health care.  The bill that the President is likely to sign instead gives 53 new government agencies control over health care, not patients and doctors.

During his speech to a joint session of Congress this evening, President Obama will again endorse the idea of a government-run public health insurance option.  This, according to some staffers in Congress and despite the public outrage against it.

In doing so, many insiders have hinted that while Obama will make a soft endorsement of the controversial provision, he is also likely the hedge his bets to leave open the possibility for further negotiations with Congressional moderates. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the other hand continues to insist that a public health insurance option must be part of any final bill in order for it to pass in the House of Representatives.  Pelosi continues to get a lot of heat from progressives in her caucus (as many as 100 of them), who claim they will vote “No” on any bill that doesn’t include the government-run public option.

After a heated August recess on the health care issue, the Kabuki Dance that the President performs tonight should be interesting.  As Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, stated this morning, “The American people have spoken. Tonight we’ll see if Washington is listening.”

We’re not holding our breaths.

During the August recess, at least 23 House Democrats pledged opposition to the health care reform bill being pushed by House Leadership, including Nancy Pelosi.   If 16 more Dems join the 23 already opposed to the legislation — assuming all Republican remain united against the plan — Pelosi won’t have enough votes to pass it. 

The bill’s price tag and opposition to the government-run public option are among the reasons moderate Democrats have indicated they will vote “No.”   But as many as 100 members of Pelosi’s caucus have suggested they will not for for a bill that doesn’t include the so-called “public option.” 

Below is the list of 23 House Dems opposed to the legislation as compiled by The Hill:

John Adler (N.J.)
Jason Altmire  (Pa.)
John Barrow  (Ga.)
Dan Boren (Okla.)
Rick Boucher  (Va.)
Allen Boyd (Fla.)
Bobby Bright (Ala.)
Travis Childers (Miss.)
Jim Costa (Calif.)
Henry Cuellar  (Texas)
Parker Griffith (Ala.)
Frank Kratovil (Md.)
Betsy Markey (Colo.)
Eric Massa (N.Y.) — Doesn’t believe the public option in the current legislation is strong enough
Jim Matheson (Utah)
Charlie Melancon (La.)
Walt Minnick (Idaho)
Tom Perriello (Va.)
Earl Pomeroy (N.D.)
Heath Shuler (N.C.)
Bart Stupak (Mich.)
John Tanner (Tenn.)
Gene Taylor (Miss.)

From FoxNews.com:

Families who fail to get health insurance could be fined up to $3,800 under a health care reform plan proposed by a top Senate negotiator. 

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee is leading talks among the “Gang of Six” senators to hammer out a bipartisan compromise, offered what he described on Tuesday as a “framework” and not a “final product.” 

But the detailed proposal comes just days ahead of a self-imposed Sept. 15 deadline for such a deal. Baucus is pushing his committee members hard to hammer out a bill, and those details come as strong suggestions. 

The framework, a copy of which was obtained by FOX News, includes what amounts to a no-choice option. It would make health insurance mandatory, like auto insurance. 

Read the full article here.

From Ronald Bailey at Reason and the Cato Institute:

So how does health-status insurance work? As Cochrane [Cato Institute Scholar] explains, ‘Market-based lifetime health insurance has two components: medical insurance and health-status insurance. Medical insurance covers your medical expenses in the current year, minus deductibles and copayments. Health-status insurance covers the risk that your medical premiums will rise.’ Cochrane offers the example of a 25-year-old who will likely incur $2,000 in medical expenses in a year. His medical policy component would thus cost about $2,000 per year, plus administrative fees and profit. For purposes of illustration, Cochrane then assumes the 25-year-old has a 1 percent risk of developing a chronic medical condition that would increase his average medical expenses to $10,000 per year. In that case, he would be able to buy medical insurance for $10,000 per year—which is a big financial hit. That’s where health-status insurance comes in: It insures that you can be insured in the future.”

From Politico:

President Barack Obama will address a joint session of Congress on health care reform in prime time on Wednesday, Sept. 9, a senior official tells POLITICO.

Obama will receive House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at the White House the day before for a previously scheduled sit-down.

The last time a president addressed a joint session of Congress that wasn’t a State of the Union, or the traditional first address by a new president, was Sept. 20, 2001, when President George W. Bush spoke on the war on terrorism following the 9/11 attacks. …

Read the full story here.

It appears that Representative Norm Dicks (D-WA) had his hands full with his latest town hall.  About 800 people attended the event, which focused mainly on health care and immigration.  Here is a brief snippet:

A Sequim woman seemed to speak for many opposed to government-run healthcare for everyone. ‘A government big enough to give everything you want is big enough to take everything you have,’ she said to loud applause.

Here is the full story.

How opposed is Senator Charles Grassley to the current version of health care reform being debated in Congress?  So much so that he’s raising money based on his opposition to Obamacare.

Senator Grassley, once a leader in bipartisan talks, is now raising money and protecting his right flank by informing his constituents that the current version of the Obamacare would “turn over control of your health care decisions to a federal bureaucrat.”

Although there is no doubt that our health care system needs reform, Grassley’s revelation comes as somewhat welcome news, because it has been reported that Democrats are seeking to bypass traditional Senate rules and force “reform” through budget reconciliation, a process that does not require 60 votes.

However, Senator Judd Gregg, one-time Obama administration advocate, is now leading the fight against these tactics.

In last week’s Freedom Minute, CFIF’s Renee Giachino reads several provisions in H.R. 3200, the House health care reform bill, and asks you to decide whether it’s the right prescription for America.