Previously: Prelude Act I Act II During Act II, the Health Care Summit, Representative Joe Barton articulated the principles that have guided Republicans’ response to the Democrats’ massive health insurance and health care regulation bills: I do think, though, that there is a fundamental difference in the vision that you and your friends on the […]
The so-called bipartisan summit took all day and, after the first hour, anesthetized the TV audience. It didn’t turn out the way President Obama and the Democrats had hoped. The Republican leaders, starting with a very articulate Senator Lamar Alexander were obviously better organized and in better command of the facts than Nancy Pelosi or […]
This week, President Obama and the Democrats are producing a five-day Health Care Melodrama. Liberty Works will provide updates as each act and scene unfolds. First installment in this series: Prelude Last year the House and Senate each passed a version of ObamaCare. This morning the Obama version of ObamaCare was posted on the White […]
Speaking of his dream of government run health care President Obama bellowed to a town hall meeting today: There are things that have to be done. We can not keep putting this off. But back in Washington the Political-media establishment was obviously exhausted from a year of exertions and produced no support for the President. […]
Whether we like it or not, we are in a political war to determine what ideology will prevail in the future of America. Will it be the ideology of liberty? Or will it be the ideology of authoritarian control by a self-appointed elite? Last night the authoritarian side lost a battle. But the war is […]
Until Friday night Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska claimed to be withholding his Yes vote on the Senate Health Care bill until it included language that would prohibit federal funding of abortion. In the end the abortion language turned out to be several pages of tortured, incomprehensible language that does allow public funding of […]
The health care bills now pending in congress require insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions. In the industry this is called “guaranteed issue.” To a large extent guaranteed issue is already in effect. A 1996 federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), requires guaranteed issue for employee groups. Several states […]
For those unfamiliar with the arcane customs of the Senate, any Senator can ask that the Senate take some action, such as amending a bill by “unanimous consent.” The presiding Chairman asks if there are any objections. If no Senator voices objection, the amendment passes. If one or more Senators object, indicating consent is not […]
Our previous analysis of the chaotic Senate health care process noted the obvious: It’s simply impossible to believe that Congress has the wisdom to create, in 2,000 pages, the best possible system of health insurance and medical services delivery. Even if one is blinded by faith and believes an elite dozen can huddle in a […]
Senator and contributing author of the Senate version of ObamaCare, Max Baucus took to the Senate floor Wednesday and asserted, This bill does not increase government. So far, Liberty Works has identified 55 new commissions, demonstrations, councils, programs and bureaucracies in the latest Senate bill: 1. Sec. 1321. State flexibility in operation and enforcement of […]
