Time magazine covers more of the idiocy in the Senate: After Obama’s Speech, It’s Back to Wooing the Skeptics

… The controversy over Republican Rep. Joe Wilson’s shouting out “You Lie!” at the President over his claim that illegal immigrants wouldn’t benefit from health-care reform apparently sparked some reconsideration of the relevant language. “We really thought we’d resolved this question of people who are here illegally, but as we reflected on the President’s speech last night we wanted to go back and drill down again,” said Senator Kent Conrad, one of the Democrats in the talks after a meeting Thursday morning. [Senator Max] Baucus later that afternoon said the group would put in a proof of citizenship requirement to participate in the new health exchange — a move likely to inflame the left.

What would make anyone believe that there is anyway of accommodating the whackos? These complaints have nothing to do with reality, or the bills going through Congress, it is demagoguery, plain and simple The simple-minded Democrats in the Senate finance committee are just wasting time trying to deal with these non-issues. If the President of the United States can’t convince them he is a citizen of the this county, what sort of proof would be acceptable?

Once they have finished off that bit of nonsense, the same crew of EEG flatliners has decided they should tackle the “problem” of malpractice.

I guess no one has told them that 38 of the 50 states have already passed tort reform laws, and it hasn’t saved a nickel. The hot spot for medical costs is in Texas, which has had a tort reform law for years. The problem isn’t defensive medicine, it’s greed. It is also a state issue, and there had better be a compelling reason for the Federal government to start messing around with it.

From the CBS transcript of President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress:

… And that’s why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance — just as most states require you to carry auto insurance.

Excuse me, but some states require that people who choose to buy a vehicle, and choose to operate that vehicle on the public roadways buy liability insurance or post a liability bond to protect other users of those roadways in the event of an accident.

It isn’t a great analogy for what is being proposed in the personal mandate, because it has already been decided by the “powers that be” that the real analogy and solution can not be mentioned.

There are two insurance programs that are mandated by the Federal government that almost everyone is enrolled in automatically, and, surprise, one of them is a health insurance program. If he had said the apparently dreaded word “Medicare” in this context, someone might have said “what in hell are we doing creating a whole new freaking bureaucracy and screwing around, when all we have to do is open Medicare”, and that would, apparently be “terrible”.

If you don’t have the required time in the system to qualify for Medicare, there is a rate structure in place, and people do buy into Medicare after they reach age 65. Nothing needs to be created, just open Medicare and you have your “public option” up and running. People can buy Medicare coverage, just like any other health insurance, and the market can decide what happens to the other health insurance companies.

Position: 18.0 N 33.6 W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: East-Northeast [060°] near 2 mph [4 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 60 mph [95 kph].
Wind Gusts: 70 mph [110 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 105 miles [165 km].
Minimum central pressure: 998 mb ↑.

It is 650 miles [1045 km] West-Northwest of the Cape Verde Islands.

Fred is slowing down and losing power from cooler sea surface temperatures, higher wind shear, and the dryer air.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Lucrezia

Yes, I will eat your liver.

[Editor: I will give her credit for being tough. When convincing kittens to get out of my Mother’s car, normally the spray bottle is enough. A few require the SuperSoaker, but Lucrezia was unmoved until the garden hose. She is determined.]

Friday Ark

September 11^th, 2001

Richard Clarke: “Your government failed you. Those entrusted with protecting you failed you. And I failed you. We tried hard. But that doesn’t matter, because we failed. And for that failure, I would ask, once all the facts are out, for your understanding and for your forgiveness.“