Larwyn's Linx: The Bigger Picture -- Democracy Denied

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Nation

The Bigger Picture -- Democracy Denied: RSM
'If you don't tie our hands, we will keep stealing': Hot Air
The State Can Always Alter the Terms of the Deal: Doc Zero

A Criminal Cover-up In the White House?: RWN
Pence: 'America, we can win this fight!': Red State
ID, VA take lead in opposing Obamacare: RWN

What's in the Reconciled Health Care Bill?: VIrtuous
Connolly calls police on his own constituents: BlogProf
Impeach the President?: Times

Economy

Reconciliation bill has 'several Byrd-rule violations': Hot Air
Water for Votes: BlogProf
Fun with Numbers: CBO Estimates from Wonderland: Moran

Ban the Public Sector Unions: ObjInd
Union Teacher Hangs Obama In Effigy: LegalIns
Outlawing Union Outlaws: RA Blogs

The Real CBO Score Starts To Emerge: Kesler

Climate & Energy

Global Warming on Trial: AT

Media

Democrats in the Deathmobile: Ramming Speed!: RSM
Putting out fires with a gas bag: Soccer Dad
Human Rights in Secular America: Rants

Luntz: Unabomber has higher approval ratings than Congress: GWP
An Interview With America’s Toughest Sheriff, Joe Arpaio: RWN
Our lawbreaking Congress: Times

World

The World Watches Our President Fail: Surber
Obama's Israel Ambush Backfires: PJM
A Major Demonstration Against Honor Killings in Palestine: Chesler

What Crisis?: AT
How Obama is turning America against Israel: Lasky
Biden works his magic in the Middle East: Pillage

America, The Gulliver of Nations : Charlie Foxtrot
A Middle East Without American Influence?: C&S

SciTech

Electromagnetic Pulse Devastation: The Reality: StateBrief
Schumer, Goober push Obama for biometric national ID card: CNet

Cornucopia

March insanity returns: Gormogons
Three hundred million can play that game: SondraK

Rally Saturday in DC; Code Red as Obama in Fairfax on Friday: GWP

QOTD:

"President Obama says we need national health care because Natoma Canfield of Ohio had to drop her insurance when she couldn't afford the $6,700 premiums, and now she's got cancer.

Much as I admire Obama's use of terminally ill human beings as political props, let me point out here that perhaps Natoma could have afforded insurance had she not been required by Ohio's state insurance mandates to purchase a plan that covers infertility treatments and unlimited OB/GYN visits, among other things.

It sounds like Natoma could have used a plan that covered only the basics -- you know, things like cancer." -- Ann Coulter

Obama administration unveils 'Cash for Codgers' program; aims to save billions on Medicare and Medicaid payments

As part of the federal government's efforts to rein in health care spending, the Department of Health and Human Services has instituted a generous offer to all U.S. citizens. It will pay you cold, hard cash for any seniors in your family who are 65-years old and over. Said seniors will be dispensed with humanely, in accordance with the recommendations of Ezekiel "Doctor Death" Emanuel.


In these tough economic times, what's better than solving the entitlement crisis and addressing senior health care issues -- simultaneously? It very well could be the final solution to the fiscal challenges of government-run health care.

Obamacare Protest Sign o' the Day

Hat tip: Soylent Green.

Breath of Fresh Air in N.J.: GOP Governor Chris Christie Fires Up the Cost-Cutting Chainsaw

Did you know?

• New Jersey spends $11 billion more annually than it takes in -- the largest percentage deficit in the U.S.

• New Jersey's total debt has tripled since 2002, skyrocketing from $17 billion to $51 billion. Each family of four living in New Jersey is therefore on the hook for more than $16,000.

• And in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, New Jersey's public sector added 11,300 jobs in 2009 while private enterprise hemorrhaged 121,000 jobs.

Sanity: Governor Chris Christie is amputating large portions of the budget. Because it's the only way.

• His proposed budget would slash subsidies to schools by $800 million and to cities and towns by $450 million.

• It would reduce state spending by nearly 10%.

• It would permanently cut more than 1,200 state employees.

• It would suspend payments of billions on the insanely rich public sector pension plans that can't possibly be sustained.

The only question: can we clone Chris Christie, say, 534 times for Washington?

How Do You Say "Crappy Health Care" in Canadian?

Nahanni points us to a first-person account of the Canadian health care system written by a Times of London correspondent. Visiting Quebec, a friend's young son had his leg severely slashed in a boating accident. An ambulance showed up quickly, the young lad was bandaged up, and off to the E.R. they went.

...nothing can prepare you for the yawning chasm of time that passes in Canada before the healthcare system actually does any healthcare.

It didn’t seem desperately busy. One woman had lost her face somehow — probably a bear attack — and one kid appeared to have taken rather too much ecstasy, but there were no more than a dozen people in the waiting room. And no one was gouting arterial blood all over the walls.

After a couple of hours, I asked the receptionist how long it might be before a doctor came. In a Wal-Mart, it’s quite quaint to be served by a fat, gum-chewing teenager who claims not to understand what you’re saying, but in a hospital it’s annoying. Resisting the temptation to explain that the Marquis de Montcalm lost and that it’s time to get over it, I went back to the boy’s cubicle, which he was sharing with a young Muslim couple.

A doctor came in and said to them: “You’ve had a miscarriage,” and then turned to go. Understandably, the poor girl was very upset and asked if the doctor was sure.

“Look, we’ve done a scan and there’s nothing in there,” she said, in perhaps the worst example of a bedside manner I’ve ever seen.

“Is anyone coming to look at my son?” asked my friend politely. “Quoi?” said the haughty doctor, who had suddenly forgotten how to speak English. “Je ne comprends pas.” And with that, she was gone.

At midnight, a young man who had been brought up on a diet of American music, American movies and very obviously American food, arrived to say, in French, that the doctors were changing shift and a new one would be along as soon as possible.

By then, it was one in the morning and my legs were becoming weary. This is because the hospital had no chairs for relatives and friends. It’s not a lack of funds, plainly. Because they had enough money to paint a yellow line on the road nine yards from the front door, beyond which you were able to smoke.

And they also had the cash to employ an army of people to slam the door in your face if you poked your head into the inner sanctum to ask how much longer the wait might be. Sixteen hours is apparently the norm. Unless you want a scan. Then it’s 22 months.

At about 1.30am a doctor arrived. Boy, he was a piece of work. He couldn’t have been more rude if I’d been General Wolfe. He removed the bandages like they were the packaging on a disposable razor, looked at the wound, which was horrific, and said to my friend: “Is it cash or credit card?”

This seemed odd in a country with no private care, but it turns out they charge non-Canadians precisely what they would charge the government if the patient were Céline Dion. The bill was C$300 (about £170).

The doctor vanished, but he hadn’t bothered to reapply the boy’s bandages, which meant the little lad was left with nothing to look at except his own thigh bone. An hour later, the painkillers arrived.

Seven hours after the accident, in a country widely touted to be the safest and best in the world, he applied 16 stitches that couldn’t have been less neat if he’d done them on a battlefield, with twigs...

Rumor has it that Stephen King's next novel will feature the Canadian health care system though, if Obamacare passes, the setting could easily be your local hospital.

Tom Coburn to House Democrats: If Your Votes Got Bought By Pelosi, I Will Hunt You Down, Strap You to Anthills, and Cover You With Honey

Senator Tom Coburn lays down the law.

SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: I want to send a couple of messages to my colleagues in the House.

If you voted no and [now] you vote yes, and you lose your election [in November], and you think any nomination to a federal position isn't going to be held in the Senate, I've got news for you. It's going to be held.

Number two is, if you get a deal, a parochial deal for you or your district, I've already instructed my staff and the staff of seven other senators that we will look at every appropriations bill, at every level, at every instance, and we will outline it by district, and we will associate that with the buying of your vote. So, if you think you can cut a deal now, and it not come out until after the election, I want to tell you that isn't going to happen. And be prepared to defend selling your vote in the House.

You've still got time to order a welcome-back present for your local Democrat representative.


Update: Sister Toldjah points us to this:

From The NRCC’s Code Red:

...HumanEvents.com: "Most interesting rumor from the Hill yesterday: Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) who announced his retirement from Congress has been promised the job of NASA administrator in exchange for his vote, and Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), another retiring Democrat, has been promised an appointment as U.S. Ambassador to NATO in exchange for his vote. It will be interesting to note any job announcements from this Tennessee duo post-House retirement. Both voted against passage of the House bill back in November."

Most. Ethical. Congress. Evah.

Larwyn's Linx: They aren't empowered to do violence to our Constitution

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Nation

They aren't empowered to do violence to our Constitution: Malkin
GOP to force vote on Slaughter Rule: HE
Obamacare is Tyranny, Not Legislation: AT

Whip Count, 3-17-10: Ace
Obama, Pelosi on a money-grubbing mission: Malkin
Why the Slaughter Rule Must Be Unconstitutional: RedState

Will Obamacare Lead To A New 'Anti-Fascist' Coalition?: LegalIns
Top Rules Republican: We Must Stop It: CNS

Economy

The Green Money Machine: AT
No New Medicaid Patients Accepted: Kesler
Economists blast Pelosi's job creation claims: Exam

Did Cali's Votes Get Bought With Water?: Wizbang
Obama's Trade Policy Agenda: America's First Five Year Plan: AT
No reason for economic optimism: AT

Climate & Energy

Today’s Global Warming Fear-Mongering Is Tomorrow’s Late-Night Camp TV: Driscoll
The Warmers Strike Back: Williams

Media

Shhh... Clinton-appointed Judge Impeached: RWN
New Poll: Americans Despise Obamacare: PJM
Michael McConnell Butchers the Slaughter Rule: RSM

Stop Kicking in Our Doors!: Tapscott
AP: Healthcare premiums to rise under ObamaCare: Fausta
Email from Democrat Roy Herron: InstaPundit

The Left Turning Western Civilization into Alice’s Wonderland: RWN
Obama not too busy to fill out NCAA brackets: JWF

World

Israel's New Enemy: America: Thomas
Obama has achieved the impossible in the Middle East: AT
Muslims Slaughter 12 More Christians in Nigeria and Cut Out Their Tongues: GWP

Shock: Border Fence Isn't Being Built: RWN
Slaughter on the Southern Border: Malkin
Great Moments in Somali Pirate History: Ace

Wag the Dog? U.S Preparing to Strike Iran: TAB
Netanyahu's Brother-in-Law: Obama an Anti-Semite: JWF
Cuba's Unknown Dissidents: PJM

SciTech

Google TV Should Finally Push Apple TV Beyond A “Hobby”: TechCrunch
A Puzzle: Denny

Cornucopia

Senate Performs Budget Abortion on Planned Parenthood without Explaining Alternatives: Doswell
Got to get me one of these: iOTW
“Klingon Kickback”: Kucinich To Support Health Care Bill: TNOYF

“Ride The Silky Pony”– Edwards/Hunter Video Packaging: TNOYF
They're Not Just Knocking on the Door: Wizbang

Schoolhouse Rock Slaughter Edition: How a Bill Becomes a Law

Boy: Whoa! You sure gotta climb a lot of steps to get to this Capitol Building here in Washington...

But I wonder who that sad little scrap of paper is?

I'm just a bill.
Yes, I'm only a bill.
And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.

Well, it's a long twisted story
with lots of crime and not much glory.
Secret deals and billions in pork
Hey, there's Ben Nelson, in whom you can stick a fork!

But I know I'll be a law someday
At least I hope and pray that I will,
But today I am still just a bill.

Boy: Gee, Bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and courage.

Bill: You ain't kidding, Einstein. The idea for me got started about 80 years ago when FDR had the crackpot idea that you could grant "rights" by stealing people's labor. Never mind the idea ain't even constitutional. That didn't stop the Democrats...

Constituents h'been flyin', bussin', railroadin', callin', emailin', telling their damn Congress-critters to stop with the crazy Socialist crap.

So what's their Congressman do? Lock their doors and shut off their phone systems, that's what!

But lately, I been gettin' closer than ever. Y'see, the Senate passed me by a single vote, which got Scott Brown elected Senator from Massachusetts!

Well, that freaked out the Marxists in the House that realized they'd never get another health care takeover through the Senate.

And because I'm so dang unpopular, Democrats have to figure out how to pass me without actually voting! Pretty cool, huh?

I'm just a bill
Yes I'm only a bill,
And I got as far as Capitol Hill.
Now I'm in the Rules committee
Where the head-mistress is pretty sh***y

And they're threatening and bribing
Thieving and conniving,
Just trying to get me to float
Without even havin' a vote!

Boy: Listen to those congressmen arguing! Is all that discussion and debate about you?

Bill: Sort of. They're trying to pay off as many people as they can with special deals, kickbacks, earmarks, guaranteed jobs if they get kicked out of Congress in November, you name it! And all so they don't have to vote on the real bill!

Boy: But that's not what we studied in Civics class! A bill's supposed to be passed, identically, through both chambers of Congress! That's in the Constitution!

Bill: Don't be a chucklehead. The Democrats destroyed the Constitution decades ago.

Now get lost. You bother me. And don't come back until you've got some money to grease the wheels of the legislature. Dummy.

ObamaCanard #93: Uninsured Folks Who Use Emergency Rooms for Primary Care Drive Up Costs for Everyone

How often have you read news reports like this one in the San Francisco Chronicle?

Hospital emergency departments, typically the medical providers of last resort, are becoming the only option for insured as well as uninsured people who are unable to get care elsewhere, leading to a record rise in emergency room visits over the past decade, a federal government report found...

"The uninsured have long been more frequent users of (emergency rooms). That's not new. What's new is the rise ... in frequency in visits, and that's occurring in the insured," said Dr. Stephen Pitts, author of the report and a CDC fellow who teaches emergency medicine at Emory University's School of Medicine.

Problem is, the meme is complete bunk.

As Robert J. Samuelson, writing in The Washington Post, and The New York Times' Freakonomics Blog report:

A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that the insured accounted for 83 percent of emergency-room visits, reflecting their share of the population. After Massachusetts adopted universal insurance, emergency-room use remained higher than the national average, an Urban Institute study found. More than two-fifths of visits represented non-emergencies. Of those, a majority of adult respondents to a survey said it was "more convenient" to go to the emergency room or they couldn't "get [a doctor's] appointment as soon as needed." If universal coverage makes appointments harder to get, emergency-room use may increase.

And:

...a new Slate article from Zachary Meisel and Jesse Pines offers a rosier picture of emergency room usage, and dispels several pervasive myths. They write that E.R. care represents less than 3 percent of healthcare spending, only 12 percent of E.R. visits are non-urgent, and the majority of E.R. patients are insured U.S. citizens, not uninsured, illegal immigrants. Meisel and Pines also point out that E.R. visits don’t necessarily cost more than primary care visits: “In fact, the marginal cost of treating less acute patients in the ER is lower than paying off-hours primary care doctors, as ERs are already open 24/7 to handle life-threatening emergencies.” Ultimately, Meisel and Pines believe that emergency rooms are functioning as they’re supposed to, as “an always-available resource to alleviate pain, make sure your baby is not truly ill, and patch you up after a nasty fall is vital, even if it turns out that your condition wasn’t as serious as you feared.”

Put simply, E.R.'s are functioning far better in the U.S. than in any other country.

Which is why Alan Grayson wants to destroy them. And, it would seem, kill you in the process.

In fact, the reason E.R. usage has grown is because of government-run health care. Most studies indicate that the difficulty in getting primary care appointments (especially for Medicare and Medicaid patients) has contributed to the rise in E.R. use.

So, if Democrats get their way with state-run health care for everyone, look for Emergency Rooms to resemble a DMV chock full of sick people.