The CEO and Co-founder of Whole Foods, John Mackey, today offered ‘the Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare.’ It is subtitled: “Eight things we can do to improve health care without adding to the deficit.” I’ll go for that! It is an interesting and excellent alternative to the 1000+ pages of mandates, caveats and controls drummed up in the back rooms of Congress.
The Whole Foods Plan comes with a quotation from Margaret Thatcher which encourages me even more.
“The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”
Obama’s New Hampshire Pep Rally was a farce. The bipartisan hand-picked audience was filmed as they emerged from union buses, and when they broke out in a chant of “Yes we can! Yes We can! Yes we can! at the end of the president’s opening remarks. He then went on to demonstrate that he is unfamiliar with what is actually in the bill, and to make a number of misleading and false statements about the legislation working its way through Congress.
He has said repeatedly that “Under the reform we’re proposing, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” The purpose of the public option is to move Americans out of their private coverage and into government run health care. The non-partisan Lewin Group has confirmed that the House bill, H.R. 3200, will move about 88.1 million workers from their current private employer-sponsored health plan into the public plan.
“We have the AARP on board because they know this is a good deal for our seniors.” False. The AARP released a statement yesterday directly contradicting the president. “While the President was correct that AARP will not endorse a health care reform bill that would reduce Medicare benefits, indications that we have endorsed any of the major health care reform bills currently under consideration in Congress are inaccurate.”
“I just want to be clear again: Seniors who are listening here, this does not affect your benefits. This is not money going to you to pay for your benefits; this is money that is subsidizing folks who don’t need it.” Like doctors, hospitals and service providers. Many older Americans are having trouble finding a primary-care doctor who will treat them. ObamaCare plans to cut $485 billion from reimbursement for care providers. They also plan to kill the Medicare Advantage program which is extremely popular with seniors. It covers all the traditional Medicare benefits and much more. 22% of Medicare patients (10.5 million seniors) are currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage programs.
“I said I won’t sign a bill that adds to the deficit or the national debt. Okay? So this will have to be paid for.” The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that the House bill will increase the budget deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years, and another trillion over the 2nd decade. Costs will go up at 8% a year while revenues will increase at only 5%. The Senate has not yet figured out how to pay for their bill. They keep talking about taxing “the rich” but
This is just some of the misinformation and falsehoods that came from the President’s “Town Hall”meeting yesterday. Attempts to discredit doctors, suggest that they do unnecessary tonsillectomies when a pill would do, and discredit the pharmaceutical companies who invest so much in bringing life-saving and life-extending medicines to market are unseemly, and unworthy of being used to sway voters.
American citizens have every right to confront their representatives, to be angry, to demand to be heard. To call them “brownshirts” as Brian Baird (D-WA) did, claim they are un-American as Nancy Pelosi (D-SF) did is an outrageous assertion by representatives who have clearly forgotten the first amendment and their constitutional oath.
Democrats are trying to demonize the health insurance companies, claiming that they deny claims, drive people into bankruptcy, cheat people and squeeze out too much profit. Executives are supposedly vastly overpaid. CEOs of most major companies are elected after vast experience at all levels of corporate endeavor, when they have proved their expertise and seem to deserve promotion. Most politicians cannot make the same claim either to expertise or experience. The demonized insurance companies operate on a 3.3% profit margin, and for-profit hospitals have a 3% profit margin.
I have never met anyone who has had their claim denied or been treated badly by a health insurance company. My experience has always been positive, but I can speak only for myself. The Democrats are attempting to create a villain to distract attention from their efforts to avoid meeting with their constituents or listening to objections to their planned legislation. And for the White House to suggest that those who disagree with the President should be turned in, is something new and appalling.
The Obama administration announced some time ago that they planned to spend $80 million to sell the President’s health care plan. Advertisments are appearing on Craig’s List all over the country offering $10-$15 an hour for helping to sell the plan. George Soros has just donated another $50 million to the cause, so Democrats are very determined to force this plan on the American people who, according to the polls, do not want it. The pharmaceutical lobbies, in backroom meetings with the Obama administration, have agreed to cut their prices by $80 billion over 10 years, in exchange for a promise that they will not be asked to cut further. They have also agreed to sponsor pro-ObamaCare television ads for $1.5 million.
The angriest people and those most in evidence at town-hall meetings seem to be the older folks who — Democrats should be reminded — always, always vote.
American Elephants 