REPORTING FOR DUTY
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Aug
10
Pelosi And Hoyer Lie About Socialized Medicine: Test And Exams…”Without Paying A Dime Out-Of-Pocket”
August 10, 2009 | 14 Comments
Reading the following headline on Drudge sent coffee through nostrils in this office:
Pelosi/Hoyer op-ed in Monday USATODAY calls townhall protesters 'un-American'... Developing...
Our first thought was that there must be more to this. Well, here it is:
‘Un-American’ attacks can’t derail health care debate
By Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer
We shall Fisk this now. Don’t miss the massive lie near the bottom (in red):
Americans have been waiting for nearly a century for quality, affordable health care.
Oh yeah. Medical care in America is world renowned for its lack of quality. People from every corner of the planet travel here to experience for themselves how bad it can be.
Health coverage for all was on the national agenda as early as 1912, thanks to Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose presidential run. Months after World War II came to an end in 1945, President Harry Truman called on Congress to guarantee all Americans the “right to adequate medical care and protection from the economic fears of sickness.” From President Lyndon Johnson to President Bill Clinton, to President Obama’s winning campaign on the promise of reform, there hasn’t been a more debated domestic issue than the promise of affordable health care for all.
1 : sufficient for a specific requirement <adequate taxation of goods>; also : barely sufficient or satisfactory <her first performance was merely adequate>
2 : lawfully and reasonably sufficient <adequate grounds for a lawsuit>
We believe it is healthy for such a historic effort to be subject to so much scrutiny and debate. The failure of past attempts is a reminder that health insurance reform is a defining moment in our nation’s history — it is well worth the time it takes to get it right. We are confident that we will get this right.
Too bad they didn’t think the “stimulus” package worth such deliberate “scrutiny and debate”.
Already, three House committees have passed this critical legislation and over August, the two of us will work closely with those three committees to produce one strong piece of legislation that the House will approve in September.
Without reading it.
In the meantime, as members of Congress spend time at home during August, they are talking with their constituents about reform. The dialogue between elected representatives and constituents is at the heart of our democracy and plays an integral role in assuring that the legislation we write reflects the genuine needs and concerns of the people we represent.
However, it is now evident that an ugly campaign is underway not merely to misrepresent the health insurance reform legislation, but to disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue. These tactics have included hanging in effigy one Democratic member of Congress in Maryland and protesters holding a sign displaying a tombstone with the name of another congressman in Texas, where protesters also shouted “Just say no!” drowning out those who wanted to hold a substantive discussion.
Let the facts be heard
These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades.
Health care is complex. It touches every American life. It drives our economy. People must be allowed to learn the facts.
Well, not all people. Evil racist non-progressives were locked out of the St. Louis town hall meeting while SEIU union members were ushered in the side door. All caught on tape by Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit:
The first fact is that health insurance reform will mean more patient choice. It will allow every American who likes his or her current plan to keep it. And it will free doctors and patients to make the health decisions that make the most sense, not the most profits for insurance companies.
Reform will mean stability and peace of mind for the middle class. Never again will medical bills drive Americans into bankruptcy; never again will Americans be in danger of losing coverage if they lose their jobs or if they become sick; never again will insurance companies be allowed to deny patients coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
Ahh Utopiastan. And where in the world has this promise ever been kept? Cuba? England?
Lower costs, better care
Reform will mean affordable coverage for all Americans. Our plan’s cost-lowering measures include a public health insurance option to bring competitive pressure to bear on rapidly consolidating private insurers, research on health outcomes to better inform the decisions of patients and doctors, and electronic medical records to help doctors save money by working together. For seniors, the plan closes the notorious Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” that denies drug coverage to those with between $2,700 and $6,100 per year in prescriptions.
Reform will also mean higher-quality care by promoting preventive care so health problems can be addressed before they become crises. This, too, will save money. We’ll be a much healthier country if all patients can receive regular checkups and tests, such as mammograms and diabetes exams, without paying a dime out-of-pocket.
Except of course for TONS and TONS of taxes. Other than that the whole thing is free! Absolutely free!!
This month, despite the disruptions, members of Congress will listen to their constituents back home and explain reform legislation. We are confident that our principles of affordable, quality health care will stand up to any and all critics.
Now — with Americans strongly supporting health insurance reform, with Congress reaching consensus on a plan, and with a president who ran and won on this specific promise of change — America is closer than ever to this century-deferred goal.
This fall, at long last, we must reach it.
They have such contempt for the American people.
UPDATE: Check out this flashback video posted at Michelle Malkin’s site. Perfect!
Comments
14 Comments so far
I’ll sign up – just as soon as our congresscritters accept the same system.
Nancy Pelosi has decided to be the keeper of what is Un-American. Where was she when Murtha was accusing American Servicemen of Murder?
[...] Founding Bloggers: Oh yeah. Medical care in America is world renowned for its lack of quality. People from every corner of the planet travel here to experience for themselves how bad it can be. [...]
This has been a collectivist wet dream for about a century. They have known that if they control health care, they control lives.
Nazi Pelosi and Stuny Hoyer give away the game in their piece. Health care was readily affordable, and health insurance was rarely heard of, prior to the FDR administration. Wage and price controls made bidding for workers difficult, so perks were included…like company provided health care.
Teddy Roosevelt didn’t want to “reform health insurance”…no more than these collectivists want to “reform health insurance”. They want control of the whole ball of wax, just as they always did.
That’s the big, basic lie you are being told.
Time to demand resignations from Pelosi and Hoyer. Nancy will not get much support from Dems. Obama will throw her under a BUS if enough of us demand she resign.
Um, hate to tell Pelosi and company this, but I have lived for 7 years in two countries which have state-subsidized healthcare (Australia, Singapore) and it’s not free – there are out-of-pocket expenses for office visits, doctor’s consultation fees, pharmaceuticals, other therapies, etc., etc. If you are a low income case and need hospitalization, the state-subsidized plans general consist of basic room and board — often open wards with up to 8 other people. In tropical humid Singapore, the cheapest option includes a hospital room without air conditioning (fans only)…but again, medical care is not free of charge. I will say that the quality of care overall for basic health needs is adequate — but certainly NOT “better” than in the US, and not necessarily cheaper in local currency terms for some types of treatments/procedures.
A continuation of my above post — Australia and Singapore have different classes of treatment, which (especially in Singapore) includes different qualities of doctors, facilities, treatments available, amenities available, and the cost structures per services offered are different. There is typically a direct relationship between the price you pay and the quality of room, treatment, and overall attention you get – at best it is on par with what I would expect from a medical facility or practitioner with a good reputation. At worst, it resembles a rather antiquated version of what you would receive in the US. Note that perspectives of treatment are somewhat different among healthcare practitioners trained in UK, Australia, NZ, Ireland and Asia in general — and can vary considerably from those in the US. Again, not distinctly “better” quality or necessarily cheaper. I have no experience with these systems for life-threatening, critical illness or injury, so I cannot comment in this regard.
[...] .. [...]
Let’s not call them lies, as this sounds too harsh. How ’bout massive distortions instead. That’s because Pelosi & Co are on the ropes. They are now facing two formidable adversaries – Time and Truth. The August recess will give more time for the American people to absorb the truth, namely that Obamacare can’t possibly deliver on its promise for more coverage, more quality with necessary cost controls. If he were to ram it through, we would have lower quality care and higher deficits. The public is catching on and they’re increasingly skeptical. The ‘messiah’ is an earthling after all.
http://www.MDWhistleblower.blogspot.com
[...] The Founding Bloggers points out; this might true, if you do not count the levy of Taxes that will be put on the backs of [...]
[...] Beltway, Politics Daily, Balloon Juice, YID With LID, Donklephant, Blue Crab Boulevard, Macsmind, Founding Bloggers, Scared Monkeys, Right Wing News, Think Progress, The Plum Line, Taylor Marsh, Atlas Shrugs, Don [...]
[...] Beltway, Politics Daily, Balloon Juice, YID With LID, Donklephant, Blue Crab Boulevard, Macsmind, Founding Bloggers, Scared Monkeys, Right Wing News, Think Progress, The Plum Line, Taylor Marsh, Atlas Shrugs, Don [...]
I wonder if President Obama would have wanted this type of healthcare when his youngest daughter at 6 weeks old contracted encephalitis? If he had had this healthcare he would be raising an only child now!! Wake up Americans!! Let your voice be heard. What a joke Obama’s town meeting was. Talk about cleaning up the mess…Do you really think there were any Republicans in that hall? This healthcare should be put to a referendum and the public should have the choice of choosing the healthcare provided to the Senate and Congress for the same price! Later…Carole
It seems like people are understanding what they want from the proposed health plan then getting upset over nothing.