10 of the Nuttiest Statements Elected Officials Have Made in the Health Care Battle

News Type: Opinion — Seeded on Sat Nov 7, 2009 8:27 AM EST

Article Source: AlterNet.org

politics, us, obama, barack-obama, democrats, republicans, republican, white-house, gop, health-care, healthcare

Wild, over-the-top rhetoric and bizarre conspiracy theories about health reform aren't just coming from the right-wing blogs and talk-radio loudmouths.

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{"commentId":10539090,"authorDomain":"btco"}

btco

6. Health Care Reform Is Just Like Terrorism, but Far Worse!

North Carolina's Foxx is the gift that just never stops giving!

Just this week, after having sworn that the status quo was just peachy, Foxx said that reform, on the other hand, would be just like an ax-murderer crawling into the room of a small, defenseless child in the dark of night, only much scarier.

My personal favorite.....yep these so called well informed members of Congress are dumber than a box of rocks sometimes.

{"commentId":10539090,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"btco"}

8 votes

#1 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 8:29 AM EST

{"commentId":10539908,"authorDomain":"ungerbn"}

Brandon-801865

I just read the article.

Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats sincerely live in a world of science fiction.

{"commentId":10539908,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"ungerbn"}

9 votes

#1.1 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 9:48 AM EST

{"commentId":10550212,"authorDomain":"eriqalan"}

eriq samson

Only ten ... I would feel too limited by that number; thousands would be closer

{"commentId":10550212,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"eriqalan"}

2 votes

#1.2 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 9:25 PM EST

{"commentId":10539367,"authorDomain":"btco"}

btco

1 in 3 Americans trust congressional Republicans to deal with our health care mess and 4 percent of the electorate has a "great deal" of confidence in them on the issue.

{"commentId":10539367,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"btco"}

6 votes

#2 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 8:57 AM EST

{"commentId":10539543,"authorDomain":"ispeedtoo"}

Paul Lucero

This would be funny except for the fact that regarless of you political standing the math works. So focus on the Facts.

This National health program will cost somebody in America a lot more money than the Congress Brain trust is stating today.

By example:

Here's one egregious example: Over four years ending in 2008, a high school dropout in Miami with a laptop computer was able to single-handedly cheat Medicare out of $105 million by electronically submitting 140,000 fraudulent claims for equipment and services. With that sort of abuse endemic in federal health programs, do we really want to expand them further?

Another spending pathology is cost overruns. Highway construction, defense procurement, and other federal spending projects often cost far more than budgeted. For example, Boston's Big Dig highway project - which was mainly funded by federal taxpayers - was overwhelmed by poor management and ended up costing five times more than promised.

Cost overruns have also plagued federal health programs. When Medicare's Part A was launched in 1965, it was projected to cost $9 billion by 1990, but ended up costing $67 billion. When Medicare's home-care benefit was added in 1988, it was projected to cost $4 billion in 1993, but ended up costing $10 billion.

Epic Fail in 2009

{"commentId":10539543,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"ispeedtoo"}

1 vote

#3 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 9:14 AM EST

{"commentId":10539613,"authorDomain":"btco"}

btco

Cost overruns have also plagued federal health programs. When Medicare's Part A was launched in 1965,

The Pres at the time deliberately withheld numbers that showed the true cost. Not a good example.

Yeah, nothing the government does is perfect, NEITHER is private. It is all touched by Human beings and we are not anywhere near perfect. Find a new argument.

{"commentId":10539613,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"btco"}

9 votes

#3.1 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 9:21 AM EST

{"commentId":10539707,"authorDomain":"wood-s"}

trex-138069

Paul, under the existing health-care "system" in the United States, we pay more than twice as much per person as in most European countries, yet the quality of our health care is ranked 37th in the world. We pay more for less. How is that fiscally responsible? The fact is that private enterprise does some things well, but health care isn't one of them. Rationing and denying care are built into the business model of for-profit insurance. There are death panels, they're in business right now, except that we call them "insurance adjusters." And as for the people who have no insurance, and who therefore have to get their care from emergency rooms, that is the most expensive and inefficient way to deliver care, and it costs all of us. It's a tax for all practical purposes, even if the costs are hidden in our medical bills.

{"commentId":10539707,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"wood-s"}

9 votes

#3.2 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 9:31 AM EST

{"commentId":10539796,"authorDomain":"ispeedtoo"}

Paul Lucero

I lived in England, Germany, Italy and Switzerland!

We have better and more available health care here!

{"commentId":10539796,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"ispeedtoo"}

2 votes

#3.3 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 9:39 AM EST

{"commentId":10540037,"authorDomain":"rchristm"}

Ron Christman

Paul, Please tell that to the millions of uninsured or underinsured in this country. I too, lived abroad and I never saw the problems there that I see here virtually every day.

{"commentId":10540037,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"rchristm"}

11 votes

#3.4 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 9:57 AM EST

{"commentId":10540352,"authorDomain":"wood-s"}

trex-138069

A conservative friend of mine who needs to take daily heart meds lost his pills while traveling in France. A local pharmacy e-mailed his doctor at home and had the replacement prescription for him in 24 hours for a whopping 35 Euros. Even my Republican friend was impressed by that!

{"commentId":10540352,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"wood-s"}

10 votes

#3.5 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 10:23 AM EST

{"commentId":10541195,"authorDomain":"curiousg"}

CuriousG

Paul Lucero,

We have better and more available health care here!

Please share your definition of better and more available with us sowe can better understand your frame of reference.

There is not a single major medical outcome measure where the US is at, or even near, the top of the list of ALL other countries. How can you claim what we have is better?

Please try and remember, this debate is about all Americans and not any individual situation.

{"commentId":10541195,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"curiousg"}

12 votes

#3.6 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 11:30 AM EST

{"commentId":10541731,"authorDomain":"mwilsonm1"}

themman

Paul, under the existing health-care "system" in the United States, we pay more than twice as much per person as in most European countries, yet the quality of our health care is ranked 37th in the world.

http://smartgirlnation.com/2009/06/popular-ranking-unfairly-misrepresents-the-us-health-care-system/

{"commentId":10541731,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"mwilsonm1"}

2 votes

#3.7 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 12:12 PM EST

{"commentId":10541828,"authorDomain":"stone5150"}

Stone5150

Let’s be perfectly clear about this, the United States Health Care is second to none! Ask the tens of thousands of patients who travel internationally to the US every year for their health care. As an example of the quality of health care delivered in the US, Americans have a higher survival rate than any other country on earth for 13 of 16 of the most common cancers. Perhaps that is why Belinda Stronach, former liberal member of the Canadian Parliament and Cabinet member (one of the health care systems touted as “superior” to the US) abandoned the Canadian Health Care system to undergo her cancer treatment in California.¹

She probably went to the Mayo Clinic or one of the few shining examples of health care in the world. Also it sounds like her job is one that pays enough to afford actually good health care anywhere she wants to go, unlike most of the rest of us. I imagine she never waited in line for emergency treatment in a typical US hospital where the wait is 30 minutes for stuff like heart attacks.

I personally have never made it out of an emergency room in under 3 hours. That doesn't even account for the 2 -3 hours I regularly wait to see my regular doctor and the $60 (on top of the $15 co-pay) bill I get for 2 minutes of almost no care care and the $90 antibiotic I get, which my Mexican friend tells me cost $2 there.

{"commentId":10541828,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"stone5150"}

5 votes

#3.8 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 12:20 PM EST

{"commentId":10542547,"authorDomain":"curiousg"}

CuriousG

themman,

For arguments sake, let's ignore the WHO rankings. Can you provide us with a few examples of specific generally recognized health outcome measures where the US is at, or near, the top of the list?

The only one I'm aware of is the cancer survival rate. I'd love to be proven wrong and discover that our current system is actually producing better results than the data I've seen show.

We absolutely have some of the best medical technology, doctors, research facilities, schools, and treatments, available anywhere in the world. However, access to all of that at an affordable price for all Americans, continues to elude us. The debates isn't about the quality of care, it's about access and affordability of that care.

In my mind, we must change our measures of success from profit to effectiveness of care per dollar spent.

In business, there's a well known axiom, you can't improve what you don't measure and you can't measure what you don't track. We currently do not track, publicly, the effectiveness of our national health care.

{"commentId":10542547,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"curiousg"}

8 votes

#3.9 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 1:10 PM EST

{"commentId":10542863,"authorDomain":"curiousg"}

CuriousG

themman,

Here is one graphic showing some of the outcome measures I'm talking about.

http://awesome.good.is/transparency/web/0910/world-health/flash.html

Please prove any of this data wrong. I really do want to know that we're getting more for our money than these statistics show.

{"commentId":10542863,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"curiousg"}

5 votes

#3.10 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 1:29 PM EST

{"commentId":10539656,"authorDomain":"dbv5039"}

Dave-661352

Paul------The fraudulent claims and over-budget costs you cite are common knowledge. A question of interest is......what would be the result if the programs mentioned didn't exist at all? Would society be better off? Is there no way to prevent or, at least, reduce these abuses? Doesn't having these programs still better society more than hurt it?

{"commentId":10539656,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"dbv5039"}

5 votes

#4 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 9:26 AM EST

{"commentId":10539812,"authorDomain":"ispeedtoo"}

Paul Lucero

You do not have the money to pay fot this and neither for I!

{"commentId":10539812,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"ispeedtoo"}

#4.1 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 9:40 AM EST

{"commentId":10540104,"authorDomain":"btco"}

btco

Paul - We do have the money. Find a new NO

{"commentId":10540104,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"btco"}

6 votes

#4.2 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 10:03 AM EST

{"commentId":10541484,"authorDomain":"curiousg"}

CuriousG

If we were able to bring our health care spending inline with the rest of the industrialized world, say down to around 12% of GDP instead of our current 17.6% of GDP, we could pay for it with money left over.

This is what we need to be looking at. Why is it all these other countries are able to cover more of their population, get better outcomes, and spend less that we do?

When we have answers to those questions, we'll know what we need to do to improve our own health care delivery and payment system.

{"commentId":10541484,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"curiousg"}

7 votes

#4.3 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 11:52 AM EST

{"commentId":10542424,"authorDomain":"kj031056-1"}

kj031056-1

As Rep. Dennis Kuchinich says "We can always find money for wars, but we can't find money for healthcare"......Why is that?

{"commentId":10542424,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"kj031056-1"}

6 votes

#4.4 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 1:01 PM EST

{"commentId":10542910,"authorDomain":"curiousg"}

CuriousG

That's an excellent question that bears repeating, over, and over.

"We can always find money for wars, but we can't find money for health care"...

...Why is that?

Can anyone answer this simple question?

{"commentId":10542910,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"curiousg"}

6 votes

#4.5 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 1:32 PM EST

{"commentId":10540770,"authorDomain":"stone5150"}

Stone5150

My favorite quote is the one I saw on the Daily Show the other day, unfortunately I can't find it right now, but it was something a congressman said like "An Amish man called my office and complained about the public option". Seriously, an Amish guy called you?

{"commentId":10540770,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"stone5150"}

9 votes

#5 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 10:58 AM EST

{"commentId":10542401,"authorDomain":"kj031056-1"}

kj031056-1

I chuckled when JS said that too! God, he just nails it and his GB impersonation was great too!

{"commentId":10542401,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"kj031056-1"}

5 votes

#5.1 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 1:00 PM EST

{"commentId":10540886,"authorDomain":"wood-s"}

trex-138069

What I'd like to know is how they managed to narrow it down to just ten. It would be hard to pick the 10 nuttiest claims from Bachmann alone.

{"commentId":10540886,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"wood-s"}

7 votes

#6 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 11:08 AM EST

{"commentId":10541509,"authorDomain":"curiousg"}

CuriousG

We'd clog up the internet pipes if we listed all of them!

{"commentId":10541509,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"curiousg"}

6 votes

#6.1 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 11:54 AM EST

{"commentId":10540981,"authorDomain":"marxfan123"}

Eamonn-1019078

Do I take that the GOP thinks it's UN-American to have health reform. I read the article and have come to the conclusion that the best nuts this Fall are in congress?.Oh by the way Paul Lucero I lived in the UK all my life till 2 years ago and I could fill up pages of how the health care system kept me and my family healthy through decent health care.

{"commentId":10540981,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"marxfan123"}

7 votes

#7 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 11:15 AM EST

{"commentId":10541707,"authorDomain":"time5428"}

steven-791492

Thanks for the recap. As thinking Americans we can laugh at it, but so many take this crap as gospel.

{"commentId":10541707,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"time5428"}

7 votes

#8 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 12:10 PM EST

{"commentId":10542930,"authorDomain":"curiousg"}

CuriousG

Laughter is frequently the only medicine we can take to ease our pain.

Peace and Health
G

{"commentId":10542930,"threadId":"718977","contentId":"3471474","authorDomain":"curiousg"}

7 votes

#8.1 - Sat Nov 7, 2009 1:33 PM EST

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"718977","isPrivate":false}

BTCO

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10 of the Nuttiest Statements Elected Officials Have Made in the Health Care Battle

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