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House health bill event closed to public

House health-bill event closed to public - Washington Times (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/29/house-democratic-bill-ceremony-closed-public/)

By Kara Rowland

House Democrats blocked the public from attending the unveiling ceremony of their health-care bill Thursday morning, allowing only pre-approved visitors whose names appeared on lists to enter the event at the West side of the Capitol.

The audience at the crowded press conference included Hill staffers, union workers, health care providers and students, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who thanked them for attending.

Mrs. Pelosi and other Democratic leaders announced the chamber's long-awaited version of a health care overhaul, which would expand insurance coverage to 36 million uninsured Americans, costing less than $900 billion over 10 years.

The West side of the Capitol - the area where President Barack Obama was inaugurated - is traditionally open to the public. But the entrances were blocked off Thursday morning by metal fences, with Capitol police officers standing next to staff members holding clipboards with lists of approved attendees.

• YouTube video: zPMUJ6PPHJg

Reporters with press badges were able to get in.

Democrats repeatedly touted the openness of the development of their health care bill, which House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called "the most deliberative, transparent and open process" he had seen in his career on Capitol Hill.

A video posted on YouTube by Minority Whip Eric Cantor's office depicted a Republican staffer attempting to attend the press conference and being turned away by a police officer

I don't really know anything about this, is this Health Bill something I should support or not?

I heard something about if you don't have health insurance you could be fined? WTF is that going to do? If people don't have jobs to pay for insurance, how the he!! are they going to pay a fine??:confused5:

There's a bunch of different versions out there. The basic thought is the Government wants to tackle the idea of expensive health care and people not covered by insurance.

Instead of reforming malpractice lawsuit laws or tackling the billions spent in fraud every year, the idea is to make a huge new government agency to provide insurance for everyone.

It will cost about 900 trillion, which the Government says is free. Then we'll be 900 trillion more in debt, spending ten bucks on a gallon of milk because the dollar won't be worth crap, and we'll still have problems with baseless malpractice suites and fraud.

If this makes no sense to you, that means you're a racist and want children to die.

Instead of reforming malpractice lawsuit laws or tackling the billions spent in fraud every year, the idea is to make a huge new government agency to provide insurance for everyone.



Section 2531, entitled “Medical Liability Alternatives,” establishes an incentive program for states to adopt and implement alternatives to medical liability litigation. [But]…… a state is not eligible for the incentive payments if that state puts a law on the books that limits attorneys’ fees or imposes caps on damages.

Big Government Blog Archive Pelosi Health Care Bill Blows a Kiss to Trial Lawyers (http://biggovernment.com/2009/10/30/pelosi-health-care-bill-blows-a-kiss-to-trial-lawyers/#more-23042)

That pretty much answers the issue of reforming malpractice laws, doesn't it?

The government can't do anything efficiently. I read once that at least 40% of the money of any government program always goes to administrative costs. And having spent my entire adult life working for them, I believe it.

I don't really know anything about this, is this Health Bill something I should support or not?

I heard something about if you don't have health insurance you could be fined? WTF is that going to do? If people don't have jobs to pay for insurance, how the he!! are they going to pay a fine??:confused5:

Please do the rest of us a favor.

Nothing personal, but if you can't be informed, please don't vote.

I reiterate, nothing personal. :)

There's a bunch of different versions out there. The basic thought is the Government wants to tackle the idea of expensive health care and people not covered by insurance.

Instead of reforming malpractice lawsuit laws or tackling the billions spent in fraud every year, the idea is to make a huge new government agency to provide insurance for everyone.

It will cost about 900 trillion, which the Government says is free. Then we'll be 900 trillion more in debt, spending ten bucks on a gallon of milk because the dollar won't be worth crap, and we'll still have problems with baseless malpractice suites and fraud.

If this makes no sense to you, that means you're a racist and want children to die.

Yep, the thing their going to push this new huge government plan through with is their statistic that it will actually only cover 2% of Americans as it is currently written...there are no guarantees that they won't re-write it, and in fact i suspect that's the plan all along, because it's clear the american public doesn't want this, so they'll pass the base of it now under the guise of it not being anything important, and then modify it later to take over the whole industry and create socialized medicine, they'll probably deflect responsibility by making it so radically changing the program isn't done by senate vote, but by some 'health' czar, that way we can't vote them out for creating socialized medicine, in fact they'll be able to complain about it on the news, like they didn't set it up that way all along.
and the neat thing, is once we have socialized medicine, they'll tax you for being fat (on a height weight chart, not having anything to do with bodyfat that's actually already in the bill, so all you weight lifters are technically morbidly obese) i'm sure they'll tax the hell out of smokers, and it won't be long until nearly all forms of risky behavior are taxed via the health care system for the benefit of society as a whole. or maybe i'm getting ahead of my government and your not supposed to know that, i meant, your free, your free, your free....(for a min).

and the neat thing, is once we have socialized medicine, they'll tax you for being fat (on a height weight chart, not having anything to do with bodyfat that's actually already in the bill, so all you weight lifters are technically morbidly obese) i'm sure they'll tax the hell out of smokers, and it won't be long until nearly all forms of risky behavior are taxed via the health care system for the benefit of society as a whole.

Holy Crap!!! I was just thinking about this the other day. I didn't catch the whole story but there was some new rule coming out about putting the number of calories on vending machines. I know you're not a Beck fan, but they were joking about people who would actually be concerned about their health and buying food from a vending machine.

They have talked about soda tax, fast food tax and all these other taxes, I think you're dead right on this one. They are going to transform health care into an excuse to find more ways to tax everyone.

Anytime a new study comes out about something being bad for your health, watch for the new tax. There are going to be higher taxes on coffee, alcohol, fast food, restaurants or anything else in life they feel will bring in income.

I think I'm going to :crying:

I know you're not a Beck fan, but they were joking about people who would actually be concerned about their health and buying food from a vending machine.



That's whole fallacy of trying to legislate good sense. The people that eat that **** don't care one iota about how many calories, etc. are in them. A number of years ago, Portland passed an ordinance requiring fast food places to post calories and fat on their menus. I seriously doubt McDonald's lost any significant sales of Big Macs as a result. It's no secret that the food in those places aren't good for you, but as long as people want to eat it, they will, taxed or not.

They already tax the hell out of cigarettes to the point the cost is ridiculous and people still pick up the habit. Taxing sodas, fat people or anything else isn't going to do a thing to change peoples' dietary habits and improve the overall health of the populace. It's just another vice tax.

I'm no health nut by any stretch, but I do avoid fast food and as my metabolism has slowed down over the years, I've had to reduce the intake of food, which I hate. But there is no tax or anything short of prohibition going to stop people from buying the 64 oz. cups of soda ( I can't imagine drinking that much). People do what makes them feel good and nothing is going to stop them, whether it's eat a double whopper or shoot heroin....

Well and when i was in the military i had a battle buddie we called Doc, not only was he stout, he had heart big time. they kicked him out because his 'measurements' were not in proportion to what they should be, he wasn't fat, he could pass the PT test, he just couldn't pass a measurement tape test that had a confirmed scientific margin or error more than that number that could get you kicked out even if you were so skinny you would be considered medically to skinny to be healthy, he had no problems lifting me up on his shoulders and carrying my 235 lbs body a mile at a 50/50 run walk pace, and he'd tell you jokes while he was doing it. he's out but some fat 5'2" slob with a 25% body fat percentage with lucky genetics for measurements on a tape measure was in no problems. i hear the air force is even heavier invested in this tape measure BS?
if you go by the height and weight chart that is published by the government, i used to be a pretty high level american rugby player, with less than 8% body fat, a mean lean 6'3" 265 lbs, doing things in the weight room that drew crowds, that chart would have shown me as not only obese but 'morbidly obese'.
the people who made these two programs are (if the bill passes) going to be the people who get to tell my insurance company if they are allowed to charge me more because of my weight (not fat - WEIGHT).
but yes i see a lot of problems stemming from this public option, i don't see what was wrong with opening up competition between interstate health insurance companies, and fixing this bulls@!t medical lawsuits thing that are pushing some of our better doctors to mexico to practice.
why do we need a public option, because the system is broken and instead of fixing the current system or even trying, we've decided to create a program that could significantly effect personal liberties at some very near point in the future, something that should be reserved as a last resort. but i will admit they are pulling off this whole universally unwanted public option with such finesse that they can deny any involvement when the new health czar changes the program so significantly that to not take the public option would result in significant financial hardships for anyone 'resisting'. they've got their asses covered good.
i wish there was some statistic in the news that said how many times the words 'to be determined by the department of health and human services' appears in this document, but i assure you from what i've seen the document is littered with this phrase that will make any need to vote any future huge changes in so that no one in congress has to take the blame for doing something no one wants.

you really want the same government that experiments on it's own soldiers without their permission to run your healthcare?

the same government that's got a problem with using stem cells that would otherwise be thrown out to save lives, to be in charge of how we spend our research dollars by determining who gets paid how much because they have all the bargaining power?

long rant but after five years in the army (reserve/active) i'm not to excited about the prospect of the same types of people any more involved in my life than they already are.

:iagree: With just about everything you said.

I've known people who well within the height/weight ratio that were Pillsbury Doughboys with 20%+ body fat and guys like you say, heavy with with less than 12%.

My first FTO was about 6-2, 180 lbs, smoked like a chimney, ate nothing but junk food (at least at work) and died at the ripe old age of 61. But by God, he was well within the height/weight charts......

I agree about the stem cells although I bet a lot of people here don't. The problem with our government is that there is no middle ground. To me, the extremes of either parties are dangerous. The politically central people are always ignored.