During President Obama's latest health care reform campaign speech before a joint session of Congress, he pretended to throw a bone to Republicans with a weak call for "demonstration projects" on medical tort reform. Rather odd, when you consider such demonstration projects have already been done, and have been done for years.
"Whole states are demonstration projects," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas. "Texas passed tort reform in 2003 and … insurance premiums went down 30 percent. California passed tort reform and premiums went down 40 percent. Let's enact tort reform. Let's not just try that with demonstration projects. We already know it works. Let's put it into law." (link)
Tort reform with settlement caps has already been proven to be effective, both in decreasing the amounts of malpractice liability insurance paid by doctors (these are the premium decreases Rep. Smith is talking about), and in increasing the number of doctors in states with effective tort reform, particularly in areas of medical specialization. President Obama surely knows this, so holding out a carrot to Republicans by calling for demonstration projects is disingenuous. While the President is correct that tort reform is not a "silver bullet," we should be making all efforts to reduce the costs of health care, and this is one. Even if it only saves 5%, that's 5% less than we're paying now. It makes no sense not to pursue it if cost containment is the overarching goal, as the President says.
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After Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) improperly shouted out "you lie" at the President during the aforementioned Obama health care reform campaign speech, several Democrats and mainstream media members (but I repeat myself) saw it as Wilson genuinely disagreeing with the President about whether illegals would be covered under ObamaCare. Ah, I'm just kidding. They don't ever give Republicans credit for legitimate thoughts. What they really saw was what they always see when a right winger disagrees with the President – RACISM. That's the left's silver bullet.
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), said that people will put on "white hoods and ride through the countryside" if emerging racist attitudes, which he alleges are subtly supported by Rep. Wilson, are not rebuked. Wilson's racist attitudes were indeed subtle, because Wilson didn't say anything at all racist. In fact, rather than call Wilson's alleged racist attitudes subtle, why don't we call them what they really are – imaginary ? And how about we rebuke Hank Johnson for making the false accusation ? I won't hold my breath.
Deranged liberal N.Y. Times columnist Maureen Dowd said she heard "You lie, BOY" when Wilson made his remark. I suggest Ms. Dowd start immediately on a strong course of anti-psychotic medication, because she's having auditory hallucinations. I only hope Ms. Dowd's dog doesn't start telling her to kill people. The Son Of Sam had a big problem with that.
Liberal Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, who suspects racism is behind nearly everything, said of the Wilson comment, "I suspect that Obama's race leads some of his critics to feel they have permission to deny him the legitimacy, stature and common courtesy that are any president's due. I can't prove this, however."
Yes, it IS hard to prove something when there's no evidence for it, Mr. Robinson, but I notice that doesn't stop you from making the accusation. Of course, no Democrats EVER questioned the legitimacy of the Bush presidency, except for every day for 8 straight years, and no Democrat EVER treated President Bush with disrespect (lol). Robinson went on to bemoan the fact that "there's no way to compel people to search their souls for traces of conscious or unconscious racial bias." See, Republicans are so racist that THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW IT. It's unconscious on their part, like so many of Eugene Robinson's columns.
Liberals see Rep. Joe Wilson, a white male, a Republican, and a southerner, and they just can't help themselves, they jump to the conclusion that he's a racist without the slightest evidence. There's a bias at work there alright, but it isn't coming from the Republicans. It's coming from the liberals.
While I'm on this subject, why do you think media outlets like MSNBC and CNN continually point out that most of the Tea Party protesters in D.C. last weekend were white ? Why does that even matter ? It only matters to them because they are dishonestly pushing a racist element to the protests. You'd never hear MSNBC imply racism over the fact that 96% of blacks voted for Obama, yet almost nightly you hear smirking MSNBC fools like Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow talking about how so very white the Tea Party and townhall protesters are. I have news for them. There's nothing wrong with being white, just as there's nothing wrong with being of any ethnic background. This is nothing but bottom feeding demagoguery from MSNBC, and it's shameful.
Btw, when is MSNBC going to get some black hosts ? Maybe we should give Olbermoron and Madcow a dose of their own medicine and kick them off the air for a little diversity. We can replace them with people who can actually think.
If all you've got is to call people racist, based upon nothing, you ain't got a thing. You're just an idiot. I'm sick of it. If you want to know who is holding this country back from getting beyond race, I just told you who. It's the very people who are obsessed with dividing us up along racial lines for political gain. This is 2009, not 1955. We've moved on, even if so many liberals have not.
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
It never ceases to amaze me that the very people that claim to champion diversity and multicultarism are the first to attempt to divided people and attempt to turn one group against the other. Why? it has been an ongoing mystery to me but I have finallly decided toaccepthe two answersthat seemed so obvious but troubling They are either unwilling or unable to accept the premise that those that disagaree with them have arrived at their position in a logical rational manner and fall back to their feeling of superiority.. We are incapable of grasping the truth as they see it because our thinking is too clouded by our shallow and petty biases. They on the other hand have risen above such distructive thinking and claiming racism by those that do not agree is an easy and ego fullfilling practice.
2. Somewhere in their being lurks the kernel of quilt and racism. I have found the things that I most resent in others is often the very thing I am either quilty of or have to make a concerted effort not to be quilty of.
angry conserv,
You hit it on the head mister! I applaud you 100%. I too have been called a racist for speaking my mind on Obama's health care and Cap & Trade. And I'm a black woman! Any time I've given my reasons for not supporting the president, at no time have they come back with a counter-point. Instead, I was told that my color/race has nothing to do with it, I am a racist against the president. Hmmm, funny, I had no idea, for I've always embraced my black heritage.
I supposed it's okay with those who want to pay an additional 2.5% on their total [gross] income, should the government decide that [they] don't like the private health insurance that person has chosen for themselves. I guess it doesn't matter to them that we'll end up with a shortage of doctors and nurses within 15-20 years of the creation of government run health care.
Nope, none of that matters. What matters is that I must be a racist because I don't agree with his ideals.
This from a man who ( though he's a Libertarian/ independent) channels Reagan, a man who launched his bid for the White House from that hotbead of racial equality Philadelphia, Ms.
Thanks for proving my point, Tbomb.
Ashley,
If they'll even call a black woman racist against blacks, that pretty much says it all right there. Now I've heard that former President Carter even said racism is behind the opposition to Obama's policies. This nonsense makes me want to bang my head against a wall. Liberals are attempting to build a racial firewall that makes it impossible to oppose the President. It won't work.
I was at the Tea Party rally in D.C. on saturday. I talked to a lot of different people there, and I never heard one person mention Obama's race as a factor in their protest. Not one. The Tea Parties are about opposing our out of control federal government, that's all. Some speakers at the event, apparently aware of how ugly the liberal attacks would get, went out of their way to point out that this was NOT about race, to thunderous cheers from the crowd. In fact, on the day of the D.C. Tea Party protest, at the other end of the National Mall was a large black event called the National Black Family Celebration. The Tea Partiers and Black Family event attendees were walking amongst each other all day long on the Mall, and there weren't any problems at all, not that any should have been expected. The whole racist angle to the protests is a complete fabrication from the dirty minds of you-know-who. Of course, I'm not saying there's no such thing as racism in America, because that would be simple-minded. There is, but it is not the reason for the Tea Party protests. To believe that is even more simple-minded.
tort reform…..it is estimated that doctors de-fraud MEDICARE to the tune of $60 BILLION/yr. By limiting access to the courts, what kind of savings are we talking here?
isn't tort reform basically the government involving itself with healthcare? I thought that was bad.
King sez….."…..saw it as Wilson genuinely disagreeing with the President about whether illegals would be covered under ObamaCare. Ah, I'm just kidding. They don't ever give Republicans credit for legitimate thoughts." It's pretty well spelled out that illegals would not be covered under Obamacare…….so you can cross "legitimate thought" and "genuine disagreement" off the list of why Wilson called the President a liar
Just think, if the President weren't at least part black, Wilson's words would have had to be used by THEM in a different way. Why it seems to me that the man could have disagreed with Obama just as all those Dems did at the 2005 SOTU speech and still not be racist. Some of those Dems were black and still they shouted No, No and booed him.
It seems to me that all this racism talk has nothing to do with race and everything to do with politics. Ms. Harvey tried to do what so many people of her race do in disagreeing and got called racist. That indicates to me that it is a term to be used for all occasions when some people want to make others look BAD.
Oh well, we can't all be Democrats and we can't all be black and I am really glad about both those things because without them we couldn't have the kind of diversity THEY use on us. How insecure and stupid can one be to use the title of racist on anyone who fails to agree with them?
walter,
Wilson thought the provision that specified that illegals would not be covered by ObamaCare was bogus because the Democrats had voted down the enforcement measures that would insure it to be true. Right after Wilson's "you lie" comment, the Democrats reversed course and put those enforcement measures in the health care bills, thus proving Wilson correct. He called their bluff and they caved.
And pointing out the rampant Medicare fraud isn't exactly a ringing endorsement for government-run health care. It's just the opposite.
Roy asks, "How insecure and stupid can one be to use the title of racist on anyone who fails to agree with them?"
About as insecure and stupid as one can get, I'd say.
Is it just being naive….or is it denial? Hard to choose which.
Wilson obviously couldn't shout out, "You're lying n***r." I mean, right?
So, what did he do? The same thing the Tea Partiers do……openly insult an 8-months-in-office black president. The entire movement of TeaBaggers, which began 6 WEEKS after Obama was inaugurated, is meant to delegitimize, to discredit America's first black president. There wasn't enough time, after only 6 weeks, to mount a credible policies argument against Obama,……the stimulus was the only issue then. Tea Partiers became frenzied in March and April and, without doubt, racial animosity played a part in the frenzy.
Those who deny that racial animosities play a significant part in ginning up opposition to Obama are either willfuly oblivious or naive.
Carter is right.
King, it is in the bill that illegals would not be covered……..that is what Obama was talking about. The democrats nixed the republican enforcement plan…probably for good reason
Just because democrats shot down your proposal certainly gives you no right to call the President a liar.
SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: He said, quote, "The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those here illegally." And by their terms, that's a correct statement.
SYLVESTER: The amendment sponsored by Representative Dean Heller and defeated in the House Ways and Means Committee would have included verification of legal status. Democrats voted against that amendment citing privacy concerns that sensitive information would be given to insurance companies with no guarantees it would be protected.
good for the dems
Rev,
Wow. You are condemning Wilson and conservativess for things he/they DIDN'T say. That's idiotic. You can't just make stuff up and pretend it's true. If that was the standard, then lies are now the rule. If you can't understand how that's moronic, especially after 8 straight years of liberals condemning Bush for everything he said, did, or didn't do, then you are little more than a partisan dipshit.
How many substantive Obama policy issues do you want me to disagree with ? There are a slew of them, most of which I've already pointed out to you. The best description of you is ………LIAR. I wish you'd stop, and start dealing with honest issues. I'm not a racist. The Tea Partiers are not racist. The people CALLING THEM RACIST are the ones with the problem.
LIE. LIE. LIE. LIE. Pathetic.
walter,
I thought Joe Wilson was completely in the wrong to shout out "you lie" during the President's speech in front of Congress. Totally wrong. It pissed me off when I heard it. The President is entitled to respect.
But…..
If the Democrats nixed the plan for good reason, as you contend, why did they turn around and PUT THE ENFORCEMENT PLAN IN PLACE after Wilson's comments ???
Answer – Because Wilson exposed their lies.
Don't forget that Carter has a personal interest in this presidency. If things break his way, then he will no longer be the worst president in our lifetime.
King…nothing about ACORN and the funding cut? Here are some beautiful videos in case you hadn't seen the story. I know I am being a racist because I am pointing this out, but someone has to because the press sure isn't saying anything about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtTnizEnC1U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNYU9PamIZk
More…. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/another_acorn_scandal_Evy8t8IEYzAoIy5e0xJsHO
Kanye West has a song with the words " and they all fall down, yes they all fall down
Whhhooooooeeeeeeeee. We tried to warn 'em
Don't worry Dave , WimpyII has claimed that title.
King, I just thought that since you were talking about moving past the "race" issue, I would point out that one of your personal heroes, before he was busy ignoring Saddam's gassing of his own people,getting close to 300 Marines killed in Lebanon, and trading arms for hostages made the calculated decision to launch his presidential bid in a state that was the focal point of anti racial equality.
Rev, how do you from the real racist group plan to handle the ACORN thing and the way that Obama told them they would sit at the planning table with him and SEIU when he got coronated? Just wondering since I really want to see you deal with the 5th installment of the ACORN movies this evening. How will you people deal with that?
Maybe Walter could help you out if you need help.
Was this on Fox News yet?
http://www.ajc.com/news/clayton/army-reservist-beaten-in-138917.html
You are right King. It is not racism. I think this guy has pegged it correctly
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-bohrer/the-gop-is-too-crazy-to-b_b_288865.html
joe,
It looks like Congress has finally woken up to what ACORN is all about. Most of them, anyway. I'll have something on ACORN soon.
alchemist,
I don't know about that HuffPo article. I'm no big fan of the GOP myself, especially during the Bush years (though the Dems are worse), but I can find quite a bit to be upset about. These protests aren't about nothing. They're about an awful lot. A federal government $12 trillion in debt and counting, with $55 trillion or so in unfunded entitlement liabilities to start with. The massive increases in federal government spending. Then you have Obama wanting to force people to buy health insurance, Obama wanting the government to takeover health care, the tax increases needed to pay for that, the business killing cap-and-trade bill that will force everyone's utility costs to skyrocket, the unamerican EFCA, the FCC thought police wanting to drive conservative talk radio off the air, the characterizations of the Tea Party protesters as racists, bailouts of every big connected business under the sun, recession, job losses, the Dems promoting one anti-business policy after another in such an environment, enviro-nitwits actually keeping California farmers from growing food and forcing them to go broke, the unnecessary $800 billion stimulus, the Social Security scam…..I could go on and on.
If you ask me, that HuffPo writer is totally out to lunch. The people who AREN'T upset right now are the ones with the problem. They're in absolute denial. This country is on an unsustainable path, and liberals like that HuffPo guy think it's about Obama being black or the Birthers. Duh. It's an insult to everyone's intelligence. Time to wake up and smell the partisan bs.
Tbomb,
By all means, regale me with tales of Reagan's racism. I'm all ears.
You also left out the fact that your hero Obama launched his state senate career out of the home of a domestic terrorist.
King There is a lot to be upset about but do you really think the lunatics who are making all the noise – the lunatics that are ostensibly speaking for the Republican party are going to fix things. For the most part they see like people who just like to complain and rant and rave – malcontents who enjoy the fight but who will not roll up their sleeves and be part of the solution. Would you really want to see Washington run by the people wearing the "Don't Tread on Me Shirts?" It is time for the real conservatives out there to speak up and take back their party and start presenting well thought out articulate ideas that lead to solutions. You are focusing on the Huffington Post rather than the message in this piece.
King, the democrats wanted the enforcment part to be the same as in medicare and medicaid that is already in place. They already knew what they wanted BEFORE Wilson called the President a liar.
The ONLY thing Wilson exposed was his and his republican enablers stupidity……like you King
King sez….."And pointing out the rampant Medicare fraud isn't exactly a ringing endorsement for government-run health care. It's just the opposite."
isn't a ringing endorsement for doctors either……and that was my point
I'm not saying that if a doctor is able and willing to cheat medicare he would cheat his patients…..but it could happen…..of course with tort reform…..
So Reagan did not launch his pres bid from Phil. Mississippi?
Walter, I think that The Man has said that he plans to take $600 billion, or so out of Medicare the next 10 years. That must be getting all that money from those doctors since he says he will take that much from Medicare. He says he will not take any of my medical care away from me so so he must intend to take out the corruption.
Now I say he is going to take that amount of care from we old people and the corruption will stay there. You don't even see what I am talking about from your left side of the fence, huh?
Where did Jimmy Carter launch his presidential bid from? Or the Kennedys? Would you call Boston a colorblind city, Tbomb? Or Akron? Wasn't it named the most segregated city in the country at one point? What does that say about you, that you live there?
Racism by geography seems like a very useful tool.
alchemist,
I object right off the bat to your characterizations of the protesters. I know the alleged mainstream media picks out the most extremist voices among the protesters to lampoon to make you THINK we are a bunch of loons, but that is not the case. You are being manipulated. We had a massive gathering in D.C. and there was not one arrest. There was not one disturbance. Not one problem. Some extremist ranting and raving lunatics we are. For that matter, there haven't been any acts of violence from the townhall protesters, except for a few from the left. Contrast that with the left-wing anti-war protest from the Bush era at the same spot in DC., where there were 239 arrests. You didn't hear the media calling them a bunch of nuts.
I most definitely WOULD want Washington to be run by the people with the Don't Tread On Me signs, because I want Washington to be run by people who believe in the Constitution, not people who only look for ways to get around it. That goes for both parties.
And I only responded to HuffPo because YOU brought it up by linking me to it. The message contained in that article was, 'right wingers are nuts, just do what Obama wants.' No thank you.
larry,
I'd say racism by geography seems like a very useful distraction, indicative of nothing. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Reagan had lots of campaign events all across the country.
walter,
You are woefully misinformed. Illegals often get Medicaid. Illegals often get Social Security. Illegals often get all kinds of welfare program benefits, funded by taxpayers. They have access to our health care system already. They aren't turned away.
Only the enforcement provisions that the Dems voted down previously would insure they didn't get access to ObamaCare.
King sez……" Illegals often get Medicaid. Illegals often get Social Security. Illegals often get all kinds of welfare program benefits"
often?
you got a citation for that?
You wouldn't read a link if you got one. Being able to play dumb and ask foolish questions like that is most of your game.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-01-21-immigrant-healthcare_N.htm
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul269.html
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/social_security_for_illegal_aliens/
from the Congressioal Research Service
Emergency Medicaid
Emergency Medicaid may pay for the care of unauthorized aliens, nonimmigrants, and LPRs
within the first five years of arrival (or longer if the state does not exercise the option to provide
coverage for LPRs after the five years) for emergency conditions if they meet the other eligibilityrequirements of the Medicaid program.41 Specifically, aliens who are otherwise eligible for
Medicaid except for their immigration status (e.g., unauthorized aliens, nonimmigrants) may
receive “medical assistance under Title XIX of the Social Security Act … for care and emergency
services that are necessary for the treatment of an emergency medical condition (as defined in
Section 1903(v)(3) of such Act) of the alien involved and are not related to an organ transplant
procedure.”
Also from the CRS…
Some have expressed concerns that since H.R. 3200 does not contain a mechanism to verify
immigration status, the prohibitions on certain noncitizens (e.g, nonimmigrants and unauthorized aliens) receiving the credits may not be enforced. However, others note that under §142(a)(3) of
the bill, it is the responsibility of the Health Choices Commissioner (Commissioner) to administer
the “individual affordability credits under subtitle C of title II, including determination of
eligibility for such credits.” Thus, it appears, absent of a provision in the bill specifying the
verification procedure, that the Commissioner would be responsible for determining a mechanism
to verify the eligibility of noncitizens for the credits.
http://www.cis.org/articles/2009/CRS_Report_on_HR3200.pdf
That's pretty much what I said, walt.
King, you were talking about enforcement….lack of enforcement DOES NOT have anything to do with illegals getting emergency medicaid
Lack of enforcement would have EVERTHING to do with illegals being covered by ObamaCare. If there's no enforcement, many of them would be covered. That was my original point. Then I SAID illegals get all kinds of entitlement benefits already, and you asked for proof. I provided that proof, and now you are arguing with your imagination.