Dr. Obama, can I take my medicine now?

For  you idiots that elected Uh-bama and his teleprompter, WAKE UP!  The bus that is America couldn’t make the curve that the liberals have thrown it, and it has now burst through the guard rail and is hanging halfway over the cliff.  What’s worse, rather than try to pull it back, Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are at the back bumper trying to push it over.

The latest Obamanation is this health care bill which the democrats are trying to ram down our throats this week.  This will result in rationing of health care to all but the extremely rich and politically powerful (that’s what’s happening in Canada and Great Britain).  You will be forced (i.e. you will have no choice NOT to buy) to buy your “insurance” from the government.  All competing plans will be disallowed.  New medicines and procedures will no longer be developed because there will be no financial incentive to develop them.  Quality doctors will leave medical practice and be replaced by less cabable ones because of salary caps and insurance laws.  In Great Britain there are a fixed number of doctors.  To get one of those positions, a doctor must either retire or die.  You have medical interns quitting after a 20-30 year wait without ever practicing medicine because no one died or retired.  A committee will decide who gets procedures and certain kinds of health care based upon how much “utility” the state will get from you after the surgery before you die.  In other words, the older you are, the less likely you are to get needed health care because you’re more likely to die before the state can get its money’s worth (pay back) from you.  Doctors and patients from Canada, Great Britain, and pretty much any other country you can name that has socialized medicine have gone on record imploring us not to go down this road.  Of course you never hear that from the Obamedia because of their biased coverage of the Obamessiah. (See this story and its links for more on that.) WAKE UP and see that we are going down the path to becoming the next version of the Soviet Union.

Contact your representatives and senators, and several of the others, to make them hear our voice.  Once this bill passes, we won’t be able to undo it.  See the files linked below for contact information for all congressmen and senators.

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– The Loft – http://www.gopusa.com/theloft –

Dr. Obama, can I take my medicine now?

Posted By Bobby Eberle On April 27, 2009 at 7:50 am

The left-wing steamroller keeps right on rolling, squashing one American institution after another. From banks to energy to the automobile industry, Obama is squeezing the life out of the private sector and injecting government where it doesn’t belong. What’s next you ask? Health care.

Obama and the Democrats are now focusing on a massive health care bill that will put government in more control than ever before. Knowing that passage of such a bill would be a crowning achievement on the way to socialized medicine, the Democrats are now considering bypassing the traditional legislative process so that Republicans would not be able to mount a filibuster. Need an operation? Please take a number and get to the back of the line.

As noted in a FOXNews.com story, Obama and Congressional leaders are considering using a tactic known as “reconciliation” to push forward Obama’s health care plan.

The fast-track process would protect Obama’s ambitious plan to overhaul the U.S. health care system from a potential GOP filibuster and limit the Republicans’ ability to get concessions. It also would give Democrats far more control over the specifics of the health care legislation.

Under typical Senate rules, 60 votes are needed to advance a bill, but reconciliation would enable Democrats to enact the health care plan with just a simple majority and only 20 hours of debate.

In case you missed the 2006 and 2008 elections, Democrats hold majorities in the Senate and the House and, using tactics such as that described above, could pass almost any legislation. Add to that a few weak-kneed Republicans, and the situation becomes even more serious.

In a story on CNSNews.com, the leading Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, said that Obama’s health care plan would not result in “government-mandated health care rationing.” Obama currently says that he will pay for his health care “reform” plan by creating “efficiencies” in the medical system.

“There is no rationing of health care at all,” Baucus told CNSNews.com on Friday. “You choose your own doctor. You choose your own health insurance that you want to have. This is all a choice.

“What we are talking about is squeezing cost out of the system because of an emphasis on quality care, not quantity,” Baucus told CNSNews.com. “Today the emphasis in the reimbursement is quantity whether you are a doctor, or a medical equipment manufacturer, whatever you are. It’s quantity. You get paid for the number of units that you provide.

Baucus went on to say that this plan is a “whole new way of doing business,” but then added that “there may be some cuts.” Oh really!

The news story then quotes the White House’s director of the National Economic Council as saying, “Look at health care, the frequency of different procedures, whether it’s tonsillectomies or hysterectomies in different parts of the country — and what you see is that in some parts of the country procedures are done three times as frequently and there’s no benefit in terms of the health of the population.”

No benefit to the health of the population? What in the world does that even mean? I’m sure the person getting the procedure doesn’t care about the rest of the population.

Of course, the language in Obama’s plan is vague, to say the least, and Republicans are questioning where the “savings” would come from.

“If you’re going to quantify [savings] with certainty, that means you feel you’re going to ration with certainty,” said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Feb. 26.

“How do they propose to go about doing this?” asked Ryan. “Do they propose to set up a system where the government is in the nucleus of our health care system, where the government is telling providers — physicians — how to practice medicine?”

As he did with the bailout, Obama is appealing to the media by saying that he wants the health care plan to be “bipartisan.” Give me a break. Yes, he wants to work with Republicans just as long as Republicans agree with him. As noted in the FOXNews.com story, “Democrats, including Obama, have said repeatedly that they want the health care debate to be bipartisan and that the filibuster-proof terms would be used only if the GOP obstructs.” Does that sound like a bipartisan environment to you?

“Reconciliation is basically a nuclear weapon to use against the negotiators so what happens is nobody negotiates seriously because they can always go to reconciliation … tilting the playing field unfairly,” said Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, top Republican on the Budget Committee.

The Democrats do deserve credit for one thing… once given control of government (because Republicans turned away from their principles); they have absolutely no problems in pushing forward their agenda. Given the opportunity they are ramming socialism down our throats. Imagine all we could have passed with our missed opportunity.

The more government gets involved in health care, the worse the health care system becomes. That is a simple fact.

Obama Recovering After Closed Captioning ‘Mishap’

April fools?  I don’t think so.  As with all comedy, its foundations begin in truth.  If you have seen the compilation of Obama’s teleprompter speech gaffs, especially when combined with his total lack of social grace (giving the Queen of England an iPod loaded with Obama speeches and BOWING to the King of Saudi Arabia as if he were a subject, which he may be) you will agree that Obama is nothing more than an empty suit, totally devoid of CONSTRUCTIVE ideas.

by Mac Johnson (more by this author)

Posted 04/01/2009 ET
Updated 04/02/2009 ET

Bethesda, Md. — Doctors were said to be treating President Barack Obama at Bethesda Naval Hospital today for exhaustion and possible vocal cord injuries after a freak television accident occurred at the White House Tuesday evening.

Closed Captioning Counseling

According to a statement read by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, President Obama, noted for his near total dependence on the teleprompter when speaking, was leaving a practice session for an upcoming press conference when he happened upon a muted television set near the White House Briefing Room on which someone had activated the “closed captioning” function.

“Apparently, Mr. Obama mistook the captioning for his new flat screen teleprompter and began reading the text aloud,” Gibbs said. Gibbs stated that “what followed was a tragic marathon speaking session that lasted for nearly 14 hours before staff discovered Obama and disconnected the device.”

The President’s accidental filibuster was said to have included a 2-hour episode of “The Biggest Loser,” a much anticipated “Law and Order: Special Victim’s Unit,” the local evening news, and a late night paid infomercial for “natural male enhancement.” The press later described Obama’s reading of the captioning as “eloquent” (New York Times), “historic” (CNN), and “emotionally moving” (Newsweek).

This event comes on the heels of several embarrassing teleprompter gaffes by Obama, including one in which he thanked himself for being invited to the United States when he accidentally read the teleprompter text intended for the visiting Prime Minister of Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, his repeated mispronunciation of the written word “Orion” at an event for Orion Energy in Milwaukee (staff had apparently neglected to spell it phonetically on his teleprompter), a little reported campaign event in which Obama’s thoughts disappeared with his flickering teleprompter image, and a news conference in which Obama responded to complaints about his addiction to the teleprompter blocking the view of photographers by having a giant flat screen TV installed on the back wall and reading his thoughts from that.

When asked for an explanation of how such an event could occur to the President of the United States, Gibbs responded, “That’s a good question. We’re investigating now. How anyone could leave the closed captioning on like that is just inexplicable. The White House staff should know better by now.”

A source at Bethesda Naval Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the President was doing fine, but was “quite hoarse” and getting some much needed rest ever since doctors turned the screen on his heart monitor around so that he couldn’t read it anymore. “Before that he just kept saying ‘Heart rate 98, Heart rate 97, Heart rate 98…’” the source said, adding, “It was kind of weird, but since we removed that he’s been OK. Although I’d hate to see what would happen to this guy if someone accidentally left him alone in the room with the crawler on the Fox News Channel.”

Another source at the hospital commented that Obama’s dependence on the teleprompter was predictable given his earlier self-admitted addiction to his Blackberry, or “Crackberry,” as it is popularly known. “Those Blackberrys are like a gateway drug,” the source said. He added, “First you’re getting your jokes and ideas from that apparently harmless little toy, and the next thing you know, you can’t even speak like an adult unless someone feeds you your thoughts word for word on a giant television monitor hung right in front of your face. It’s sad — just sad.”

“Oh, and Happy April Fools’ Day.”

Cartoon by Brett Noel.

Mr. Johnson, a writer and medical researcher in Cambridge, Mass., is a regular contributor to HUMAN EVENTS. His column generally appears on Tuesdays. Archives and additional material can be found at www.macjohnson.com.

Special Olympics Remark Not Biggest Problem Disabled Have w/Obama

13.2% Unemployment Rate Shows Bowling Is Not Pres. Obama’s Biggest Problem With Disabled Americans

By Roy Beck, Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 10:54 AM

Pres. Obama supposedly got into hot water with disabled Americans last week when he made a joke about his bowling skills and Special Olympics to Jay Leno. But his true insult to the handicapped was his insistence last week on keeping 7 million jobs (currently held by illegal aliens) out of reach. The first-ever official unemployment rate report on the disabled tells the story (and my handicapped wife has a story, too) . . .

American adults with physical handicaps are among the worst victims of the federal government’s insistence on importing 138,000 new foreign workers each month — and of Pres. Obama’s and congressional leadership’s continued pressure for an amnesty to allow an estimated 7 million illegal aliens to permanently keep U.S. jobs.

Official unemployment for disabled Americans stands at 13.2%.

The government reported that was 59% higher than the official unemployment rate for non-disabled Americans for the same period.

You can be sure that the 13.2% gravely underestimates the lack of employment opportunities for the handicapped because that only counts the handicapped who are actively looking for a job and can’t find one. The majority of all Americans who don’t have a job are not counted in the unemployment figures because they have left the labor force entirely, either willingly or because of discouragement. You can imagine how much more quickly a person with disabilities loses the will and energy to continue futilely seeking a job and, thus, stops being counted as unemployed.

When the New York Times or the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops or any of dozens of nationally prominent leaders cry out for amnesty, they are stating their preference for hiring illegal foreign workers over disabled Americans.

A PERSONAL DISABILITY STORY

My wife Shirley has been handicapped since she had an onset of multiple sclerosis in 1974.

Shirley is fortunate to have had a good education (University of Missouri) and profession (physical therapy). As the disease took away her ability to walk and many other things, she put in an elevator and created a clinic in our home and downsized most of her patients (treating mainly babies and children). Through use of ingenuity, mechanical devices, incredible will and often the assistance of patients’ family, she continues to run a bustling pediatric therapy practice.

But even physical therapists aren’t immune from being undermined by immigration policies. Nearly every year, various Members of Congress fight to import larger quantities of foreign physical therapists rather than support expansion of U.S. PT schools to train the long backlogs of American students who are desperate to learn the profession.

My main point, however, is not about Shirley, but about her patients.

Anybody can have a child born with a disability.

When you look into the faces of the parents of Shirley’s patients — when you see the arduous devotion required of them to help their children achieve levels of self-sufficiency and personal fulfillment — you know that one of the most important goals for the end of the long effort into adulthood needs to be . . .

. . . a job.

A certain percentage of these disabled members of our national community will be fortunate like Shirley and be able to compete at a professional level. But a disproportionate number of them will need more routine jobs. Many of those jobs are disproportionately held by foreign workers — especially illegal aliens at clerk stations, in the parking garage booths, in myriad tasks that do not require much mobility.

Last week, Pres. Obama promised full inclusiveness for disabled Americans and also promised that he will work diligently this very year to keep an estimated 7 million U.S. jobs filled with illegal foreign workers. On balance, this was not good news in the pediatric physical therapy units across America.

FOREIGN LABOR ESPECIALLY DISADVANTAGES THE DISABLED

All other things being equal, do you suppose an employer is going to prefer a disabled American or a strong-bodied, young foreign worker?

It is difficult enough to first of all find jobs in which a disability does not have to prevent the worker from performing up to standard. Secondly, it is difficult for the disabled to get past many employers’ natural qualms about hiring them.

But the federal government’s immigration policies may be the greatest handicap of all that disabled Americans must surmount.

With the federal government opening massive floodgates of foreign workers since 1990, it is no surprise that the employment dreams entailed in the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 have been largely unconsummated. Pres. George H.W. Bush signed that act but also signed another bill that drastically increased the flow of foreign labor to compete with the disabled Americans trying to become fully productive members of society.

Since then, Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush and now Obama have done everything possible with immigration policies to keep disabled Americans out of the job market by pushing foreign workers in front of them in line.

OBAMA’S DISCONNECTED COMPASSIONS

Before going on Leno’s show, Pres. Obama probably was sincere in an exchange with a handicapped American man, according to the Washington Post:

During a town hall forum in Los Angeles earlier in the day, a disabled man told Obama ‘about the true renaissance that’s happening’ among people with physical disabilities, asking the president how “your disability agenda will release this emerging potential that’s currently wasted and untapped?’

‘Well, you are exactly right that we need everybody,’ Obama responded. ‘And every program that we have has to be thinking on the front end how do we make sure that it is inclusive and building into it our ability to draw on the capacities of persons with disabilities.’

Mr. Obama, when you say “every program,” you obviously do not include your immigration programs. Are your immigration programs making sure that the nation does its best to use the talents of the disabled members of our national community?

No.

And you are wrong to say that “we need everybody.” Because of your predecessors’ — and now your — immigration policies, the employers of America most definitely do NOT need our handicapped fellow citizens. The official unemployment rate makes that clear.

As usual, Pres. Obama shows no sign of understanding that foreign workers compete for jobs with Americans. He seems to regard immigration as some form of human rights, civil rights or global humanitarianism program that has no impact on the labor market.

He may be sincere in that ignorance, but that sincere ignorance is devastating to the American households who are without a job because of our immigration programs.

As a result, Mr. Obama continues to appear willing to perpetuate immigration policies that are profoundly anti-humanitarian, anti-justice and anti-mercy. He did not create them. But he is now the Change President who refuses to change these destructive policies.

SHIRLEY BEAT THE PRESIDENT’S CAMPAIGN BOWLING

With all the photos and news stories about the President’s bowling prowess the last few days, our family decided to celebrate Shirley’s birthday last night with several hours at the bowling alley.

With family holding her up, Shirley double-pumped all her own throws at the foul line. Her immediate goal was to beat Mr. Obama’s celebrated outing before the Pennsylvania Primary last year when he quit after bowling a 37 through seven frames (a pace for a 53 game). Shirley got close with a 52 the first game, fell short the second and then ended with a triumphant 87.

That was still short of the 129 that the President says he recently achieved at the White House lanes, but I’m sure Shirley would be happy to try a direct competition at the White House and to compete without a scoring handicap — as long as Mr. Obama would remove the immigration handicap from the job market for disabled Americans.