U.S. News and World Report online has reported yet another "czar" position has been created. This one is to battle domestic violence against women. Joe Biden got the honor of making the announcement. As per USN&WR:
Vice President Biden announced today that Lynn Rosenthal will be the White House adviser on Violence Against Women, a new position created to work with the president and vice president on domestic violence and sexual assault issues...Rosenthal most recently served as the executive director of the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence and has focused on domestic violence issues like housing, state and local coordinated community response, federal policy, and survivor-centered advocacy.
While domestic violence in any form, whether it's men on women or women on men, is abhorrent, is this really an issue for the federal government? They're repealing the Tenth Amendment layer by layer. Jeez!!!
This list of "czars" just keeps growing at exponential rates.
There's a drug czar, a U.S. border czar, an urban czar, a regulatory czar, a stimulus accountability czar, an Iran czar, a Middle East czar, and a czar for both Afghanistan and Pakistan, which in Washington-speak has been lumped together into a policy area called Af-Pak.
There are upward of 20 such top officials, all with lengthy official titles but known in the media as czars, and next week there will be one more, when Obama appoints a czar for cyber-security who will be charged with improving the security of computer networks.
President Barack Obama recently introduced Kenneth Feinberg as America's "compensation czar." He'll oversee executive pay at firms that have taken federal bailout money. Feinberg "will have broad discretion to set the salaries and bonuses for their five most senior executives and their 20 most highly paid employees," The New York Times reported.
This is the most blatant power grab we have yet to see. And I don't foresee things getting much better. I hope I'm wrong.
This comes from worldnetdaily.com. There's too much information for me to pick out talking points, so I'm just posting the whole article. Government efficiency at its finest!!
OUTBREAK! See how government 'fixed' hazards of infectious waste Public exposed as contagious medical trash routinely trucked across America's highways Posted: June 29, 2009 9:39 pm Eastern
Contaminated needles and scalpels, bloodied bandages, body parts, unused prescription drugs, soiled hospital garments, radioactive waste and refuse tainted with infectious disease: These are only a few items that may be discarded on a curbside, abandoned in a nearby lake or piled in a dumpster headed for the local landfill.
Some say Americans are simply oblivious to the imminent risk of major hazards and contagions spreading throughout their communities at any given time.
Former Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., grew concerned about medical waste hauling after Sept. 11. He told WND that 15 years ago, the nation's hospitals incinerated much of the infectious waste on site. However, the Environmental Protection Agency mandated strict guidelines for incinerators after concerns about air pollution, forcing most hospitals to hire truck drivers to haul medical waste away.
"What happened was that most hospitals and most doctors' offices started going off site because they had no other way of treating it on site," Pombo said. "So this industry was born that picked up medical waste and took it to a centralized site. Those centralized sites are sometimes several hundred miles away from the doctor's office or the hospital where they're picking this stuff up."
Darrell Henry, executive director of the Healthcare Waste and Emergency Preparedness Coalition, expressed concerns about national safety when contagious medical waste that could be contaminated with hepatitis, tuberculosis, flu or even small pox is trucked across America's roadways.
"More than 80 percent of the hospitals in the country truck this stuff somewhere," he told WND. "They throw this stuff on the back dock and let it sit there. A truck comes and picks it up, and now it's a mobile Petri dish moving across our highways, going to be treated somewhere when you could have treated it on site and been done with it."
Biohazard bags and sharps piled into bins at medical facility (photo: Healthcare Waste and Emergency Preparedness Coalition)
While they are subject to the same background checks as other truck drivers, workers who haul infectious waste often do not have special training or licensing for dealing with contagious materials. San-I-Pak World Health Systems Vice President Arthur McCoy told WND some drivers are drug addicts who collect medical scraps and sift through the piles in search of their next high.
Trucker hauls medical waste
"A lot of times these guys have been arrested because they want to get into the medical waste and try to recover narcotics or prescription medicines," he said. "Then, after these guys are contaminated, they go to the same gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants as the rest of us. There's a lot of cross contamination."
Each year, there are numerous news reports of medical waste trucks involved in accidents on major U.S. highways. In many cases, hospital refuse and even hazardous radioactive medical waste is strewn across roads, discarded in ditches or illegally dumped on beaches and in America's communities.
Pombo said some companies charge medical facilities up to $20 per pound to haul infectious waste away.
"To save a few hundred dollars, they might throw it on the dumpster the day before trash day, and it will be hauled to the regular trash facility," he said. "It then goes through the regular transfer station with people separating out recyclables. They don't know what they're being exposed to."
McCoy said he has witnessed small clinics discarding numerous red biohazard bags in trash bins.
"I was just casually driving by a little medical complex and saw medical waste bags piling up out of a dumpster," he said. "That's how common this is. It's pretty scary."
One such example was documented in the following KVUE News report after police found hundreds of syringes near a busy shopping center in Cedar Park, Texas, in October:
Despite shocking details of the public's daily exposure to infectious waste, Henry said his major concern is about emergency preparedness. He said medical facilities must be equipped to deal with contagions during pandemics, natural disasters and national emergencies – when infection is rampant and waste haulers cannot meet hospital waste removal demands.
"In New York on Sept. 11, nothing got on or off Manhattan Island for a week," he said, "yet you had hospitals that needed sustainable operation capability to keep going."
Pombo added, "After Sept. 11 in New York City, the hospitals that had the capability of treating on site were able to treat their waste. For the ones that didn't, the stuff stacked up, and it was basically locked down. The trucks couldn't get in and out. So there were patient rooms in the hospitals that had bags and bags of contagious medical waste because they had no way to treat it."
Medical waste mixed with regular garbage (photo: HWEPC)
Pombo noted that officials had no way of controlling contagions when people were locked down during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and hospitals could have been ready with on-site waste treatment equipment.
"Their transportation system was gone," he said. "They had no way of getting anything in and out once it flooded."
Likewise, Henry said if there's an earthquake in a location like San Francisco, hospitals must keep functioning.
"They won't have to worry and wait for trucks to come pick stuff up and take it over the bridge. Last time when the Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed, they closed all the bridges for days," he said.
Pombo, Henry and McCoy are each concerned the same issues might arise in cases of bioterrorism. While contagious waste management is a subject often neglected in the news media and by lawmakers, they say the nation could be crippled in the event of such emergencies under the current system.
Following recent swine flu concerns, Henry wrote a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, warning her of the need to control infectious waste during national emergencies.
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., introduced legislation in May to set a nationwide uniform tracking system for medical waste disposal.
The Medical Waste Management Act of 2009, or HR 2552, has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. It mandates the monitoring of waste from the place of origin to disposal facilities and addresses syringe disposal procedures.
However, Henry said the legislation simply creates a paper trail for tracking purposes and doesn't encourage hospitals to destroy infectious waste on site.
"This legislation basically tells EPA to decide how it's to be treated. But I look at this and ask, are you going to let EPA decide how to do this?" Henry said. "They could screw this up. We're looking to ensure that certain on-site capabilities qualify under EPA so that in an emergency the hospitals can do this on site. EPA is just looking at putting a regulatory scheme into place, not considering the best practices for hospitals and medical waste infection control."
While certain types of pathological and pharmaceutical waste must be incinerated, affordable technologies can cleanly, safely and economically sterilize other infectious waste at each hospital – and experts say doing so would be cleaner, safer and less costly than the current alternative.
Autoclave on hospital grounds can sterilize and compact medical waste (photo: San-I-Pak)
McCoy said San-I-Pak, the world leader in on-site waste treatment systems, provides autoclaves to hospitals to sanitize and compact infectious waste so contagions never leave hospital grounds. The machines allow medical facilities to remain efficient during emergencies so they are not forced to depend on truck drivers to haul away contaminated refuse.
"In our system, the waste is automatically loaded into the autoclave from the collection carts. Nobody ever touches the material," he said. "Once the material goes into the San-I-Pak unit, it's sterilized. After it's sterilized, it discharges into a compactor and then it's comingled with the rest of the waste."
The autoclaves cost less than off-site disposal and are also capable of sterilizing hospital laundry and even disposable items such as gowns, masks and gloves under extreme circumstances.
After processing, the waste is said to be cleaner than common household garbage.
Henry said the government should focus on enabling hospitals to buy similar equipment that would help them deal with a crisis rather than mandating restrictions and paper trails on off-site disposal of infectious waste.
Pombo said most people aren't aware that infectious and potentially contagious waste is being trucked through their communities, and the subject isn't a particularly glamorous issue for lawmakers to address.
"One of the problems is that this is garbage," Pombo said. "Nobody pays a lot of attention to what comes out of that end of the facility. Until there's a major outbreak of something that gets a lot of press attention, no one will pay attention."
Here in Pennsylvania, we are anxiously awaiting next year's race for the Senate seat now held by Snarlin' Arlen Specter. Specter's likely opponent will be former Rep. Pat Toomey, who recently left the position as president of the Club for Growth, whose mission it is to drain Specter's campaign coffers before the mudslinging ever begins.
The organization's political action committee wants to contact contributors who gave money to Specter's re-election campaign before he switched parties in late April, and let them know they can ask for a refund, Politico reports.
"Senator Specter agreed to return the contributions he received before switching parties, and we want to help him make good on that commitment," said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola, a former Indiana congressman.
The Club could get donor information from the Federal Election Commission database, but the FEC has a restriction against using its published material to solicit donations.
However, the Club has asked for an FEC advisory opinion, arguing that it would not actually be soliciting money from donors but urging them to ask for a refund.
The Club for Growth advocates limited government, lower taxes, less government spending, fair-trade. It was founded in 1999 and now claims over 40,000 members.
This is such a great idea by the folks at the Club for Growth. It's about time someone learns to play the game. Holy cow!!! We may just have a conservative senator for the first time since Santorum!
Well, well, well. Check out this little tidbit from directorblue.blogspot.com. I found it just browsing around in cyberspace. Evidently, Mark Levin had a caller, "Suzanne", on his June 25th program who attended a health care conference sponsored by La Raza. This is what she had to say:
I want to tell you that last week I attended a conference on health care reform sponsored by La Raza. And I will tell you that what they had to say, Mark, is scarier than anything that's been said so far on the health care plan.
The kind of comments that were made and the notes that I took... they started the conference out by saying "America does not need health care reform, but Latino immigrants need health care reform."
And someone from Menendez' office [Ed.: Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ] promised that he would make sure that "the useless barriers of citizenship would not be in this bill" and that he would make sure that they would use keywords like "streamline"...
It was La Raza, the Childrens Defense Fund and Senator Menendez from New Jersey, a representative from his office...
...Yes [they said they would get free health care for illegal aliens], these are my notes, Mark. They actually got up and said "Latino children need health care more than whites". And then they would say things like "you must go out into your communities, use words like 'streamline', use phrases like 'all workers' and 'all families'," because they said -- and I quote -- "If the American people find out that this bill is about giving health care to non-citizens, they will rise up against it."
...One of the quotes they said was, "We want to make sure we take care of barriers like verification, but we can streamline programs to the more affluent" and, quote, "Useless treatments for the elderly can be gone because we don't need to spend money for people who are going to die anyway."
That's a direct quote from that meeting. They also said, "We are very concerned there will be an effort to include" the illegal immigrants in this argument, so "we must make sure that we focus this" to the American people that it's looking like we want "health care for everyone".
And they also said that 75% of the children who will be picked up in this will be non-citizens and that 44% of the uninsured are non-citizens and they can't possibly allow the American people to know this."
Menendez' office said that he's going to make sure that "a family of four that makes $66,000 a year or less will pay nothing at all for the new health care. And he was the one who said he was going to get rid of specifics like "citizenship status" and focus on, quote, "equity for all workers".
And he said he's going to make sure that the Latino immigrants are the focus of the health care reform.
And La Raza said if they get this, they don't even care about amnesty, because they've fixed it so that one family member can apply for all extended family members. And... Mark, if you think we have a problem with illegal immigration now, wait 'til you see the borders when this thing gets passed.
Where to start?
First of all, this just as racist as any vile rhetoric spewed by the Ku Klux Klan. "Latino children need healthcare more than whites"??? What scientific basis is there for this? If anyone out there has that information, please let me know. What about poor white children in Appalachia? They tend to live far below the poverty level than most children, but their parents don't expect to be put ahead of any other race. In fact, they tend to be proud people who do not like to ask for charity.
"If the American people find out that this bill is about giving health care to non-citizens, they will rise up against it." -- How DARE YOU!!! We, as LEGAL AMERICAN CITIZENS, have EVERY RIGHT TO KNOW ABOUT THIS!!! After all, it is our hard-earned tax dollars you are accessing while contributing NADA to the system. This is why we need the double fence along the border with army surplus land mines in between. You people disgust me!
75% of the children who will be picked up in this will be non-citizens and that 44% of the uninsured are non-citizens and they can't possibly allow the American people to know this." -- Well guess what!!! We know now, and we plan on spreading the word with our dying breaths. Hasta la vista!!!
one family member can apply for all extended family members -- They must've learned this from the "gimme" class I posted about a few weeks ago.
With the MSM so broken up about Michael Jackson and covering the White House luau, it's no wonder we haven't heard ONE WORD about this. Menendez is a shyster who seems to have attended the Barack Obama school of "Don't let the people know what we're up to".
Your mission, troops: Call or email Senator Robert Menendez at 202 224-4744, 973 645-3030 and 856 757-5353. This is treason in its classic form.
According to cnsnews.com, House Speaker Nancy "Pineapple Princess" Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry "Pinky" Reid (D-NV) will not give any of the American people one week to read any healthcare legislation up for a vote. Does this really surprise anyone?
“The issue of a public option is probably the most significant debate that we will have in the House on the legislation, as I see it now. But the bill will come forth under the regular order, and that's why the three chairmen put out the draft now,” she said. “They put out some principles earlier on. The President put out his principles. We had a month before the Memorial Day break for everyone to see what was happening there to take ideas from our members.
“So it was in the public domain, but not as a bill,” said Pelosi, continuing to respond to the question of whether she would give the public a week to review the final bill. “Now they have put out this draft which has been well received, and I'm very proud of the work. It's a well managed approach to how we go forward. And when we are ready with a draft then we will put that forth, but as I say, it will be under the regular order.”
Under regular order rules, the House can vote in three calendar days and the Senate within 48 hours after the drafts are posted out of committee. The three House committees working on the health-care plan have released what they call a “discussion draft” of the legislation. It is 850 pages long.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has produced its own 615-page draft that is missing key sections, including the section that would explain the “public option”—or government-run health insurance organization.
A final compromise versions would most likely be over 1,000 pages long. Does anyone out there truly believe that the members of Congress would be able to read this let alone the American people? It would be like me trying to read "Atlas Shrugged" before taking a comprehensive test on it 48-72 hours later. To read and understand something that large in a short period of time is about as possible as Obama producing the long-form birth certificate.
The same tactic was used by the House of Representatives on the recently-passed Waxman-Markey "Cap and Trade" bill. An amendment was inserted into the bill and made public at approximately 3 a.m. Friday morning with the final vote coming 16 hours later. The vote was supposed to have been only a mere 9 hours later, but since the Bolshevik Bitch saw she didn't have the votes she pushed the final vote back to 7 p.m. Even with seven extra hours, lawmakers did not have adequate time to read the entire bill before voting on it.
The mindset of Congressional leadership seems to be "Trust Us." They think the American people are probably too stupid to understand what these hideous bills really say, so why waste a week giving them an opportunity to read something they won't understand?
I, for one, am appalled. We are NOT stupid. In fact, we're smart enough to know that what they are doing in Congress is nothing but unethical and outrageous. But they feel no shame because they consider themselves above the rest of the American people. We, as American citizens, have EVERY RIGHT to know EXACTLY what is going into any piece of legislation. The level of arrogance is sickening.
While Pelosi, Reid, and the rest of the shysters on Capitol Hill keep playing their elitist games, the seeds of revolution continue to grow and flourish. One day, those seeds will come to complete fruition, and the American people will finally be heard.
Last night, the House of Representatives passed what is commonly called "Cap and Trade" in what was a narrow vote. Unfortunately, they did not listen to what the people wanted. They instead voted for what their lobbyists and high-roller campaign donors wanted.
Consider this a notice to ALL of you. The citizens of this country are watching and paying attention to every move you make on this piece of legislation. And, right now, we are not happy.
The bill passed in the House of Representatives last night had a 300-page amendment put in and made public at approximately 3 a.m. Eastern Time. How many representatives do you truly believe were able to read the entire bill let alone that one amendment? We citizens are not stupid. We're learning very quickly all the petty tricks used to get something the American people don't want passed. And it makes us sick. My suggestion? Read and understand the bill before you vote on it.
We out here in America don't care what letter you put after your name. We are sick and tired of all the snarky little political games played at our expense. Just because your party may have the majority, you do NOT have the right to vote against the will of the people. Should you decide to do so, we will remember. None of you have a lifetime appointment to Congress, and many of us have already vowed to see that none of those who voted "yea" last night are re-elected.
Expect to get numerous phone calls and emails from the American people. We crashed the switchboard once, and we know we can do it again. This time, don't make the same mistake your colleagues in the House did. See that for what it is: The voice of the people. If you truly believe the promises you are forever making to the people about how much you care about us, listen.
From a personal perspective, this is for Mr. McConnell (R-KY), Senate Minority Leader:
A lot of conservatives are angry with what we are now calling the Republican 8, those among our party who voted "yea". Mr. McConnell, I beg you to show the base that the ideals of the Founding Fathers are not being lost to self-serving special interests. We believe in freedom, limited government, and capitalism. We come from all walks of life: housewives, factory workers, waitresses, mechanics, doctors, lawyers... Though we may not be able to contribute thousands of dollars to a campaign, does that make our voice less important? Please show us that our party still believes in what many of the Founding Fathers risked their lives to give people they knew they would never know.
I am going to leave all members of the Senate with a quote. Please think about it; the American people are watching. I shall choose friends among men, but neither slaves nor masters. And I shall choose only such as please me, and them I shall love and respect, but neither command nor obey. And we shall join our hands when we wish, or walk alone when we so desire. -- Ayn Rand
I'm still seething over last night's passage of the Cap and Trade mess in the House of Representatives. Now, I am on a mission to see that my representative, John P. Murtha, will never occupy the seat that he has held for 18 (not a typo) terms. This is the poster boy for term limits.
Murtha represents the 12th Congressional District here in Pennsylvania, which includes Johnstown and Altoona areas. Everywhere you travel in this area, you will see many buildings and roads bearing his name. Why don't they just rename Johnstown "Murthaland"?These areas are democratic strongholds largely due to the fact that many early residents were coal miners and belonged to the union. And we know that the unions aren't in bed with Republicans nearly as often as Democrats! I'd almost venture a guess to say that if most of the people in this district had to choose between a million-dollar check or voting Democrat, they'd still be poor and unemployed.
Old Johnny Boy really raised the hackles of most Americans who really had no idea who he was when he called our brave soldiers "murderers" for the incident in Haditha. Murtha claims that innocent civilians were killed by our Marines before any facts or testimony were presented. Well, being a former Marine, you would think Jack would have a little more RESPECT for the military. Guess not. Yet he chairs the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee and, if he gets hacked off at the military, he has a lot of say as to whether or not they get funding. Isn't that special???
Even more special: Murtha's nephew, Robert C. Murtha Jr., just received a $4 million no-bid no-competition contract from the Department of Defense for his company, Murtech. What does Murtech do? Warehousing. That's it. A lot of the offices in the building are unoccupied and its reception area is unmanned. Many days, you can see only a handful of cars in the parking lot, and no trucks pull up to the 10 loading bays. One of Bobbo Murtha's contracts came through PMA, a Jack Murtha-associated lobbying group now at the center of a federal investigation for corruption in earmarking and influence peddling. Better yet....Robert C. Murtha Sr. (John's brother) runs a highly-successful lobbying group, KSA, that specializes in (drumroll please)....DEFENSE CONTRACTS FROM THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE. Nepotism at its very finest!
By the way, have you received a "Thank You" note from dear Jack for the stimulus money for the John P. Murtha-Cambria County Airport? You didn't know? Let me tell you what you kind folks have done. In the stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this year, $800,000 of that is going to be spent to pave the backup runway at Jacko's airport. Pretty cool, huh? Recently, the Washington Post had an article about the airport after a reporter visited there. On the day of the reporter's visit, four passengers lined up to catch a flight, and those passengers were outnumbered by seven security staff members and supervisors, all who wore uniforms and gloves to screen the six pieces of luggage. After all that hard work, they all got a three-hour break because no flights, private or commercial, came in or took off. During the week, three commercial flights leave the airport -- all bound for Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC. In the past decade, this airport of all airports has received $200 million in federal funds, and Murtha is credited with securing at least $150 million of that. It's been dubbed "The Airport to Nowhere".
John Murtha is definitely one of the most corrupt members of Congress, yet the people of the Johnstown area keep electing him based on his ability to bring money into the area. Nevermind that he's not creating a lot of jobs in what has been a depressed area since the coal mines shut down. He's just securing funding for already established projects that usually bear his name.
Coming from a region rich in coal and coal-mining history, I would almost think for a nanosecond that he would've voted against Cap and Trade. Then I wake up and I'm still in the nightmare known as the 12th Congressional District.
Here is the official list of how members of the House voted tonight. To those 8 Republicans: shame on you. You do NOT represent your base! To all those who voted "yea": Start looking for a new gig. The blogosphere will never let the people forget what you've done. Bank on it!
FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 477
(Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)
H R 2454 RECORDED VOTE 26-Jun-2009 7:17 PM QUESTION: On Passage BILL TITLE: American Clean Energy and Security Act
In a 219-212 vote, the Climate bill, affectionately known as Cap and Trade, passed the House just minutes ago. The bill now goes to the Senate, where analysts are predicting a tougher time getting it passed there.
It really hacks me off that the arrogant members of the House did NOT listen to the people. Capitol Hill switchboards were jammed for a large part of the day. Do you think people were saying "Pass it!"? I don't think so.
Our mission now becomes twofold. One, pressure every senator to vote it down. Second, remove every member of Congress who votes for this massive tax that will put the final nail in the coffin of the economy.
As for my representative, John Murtha, I have a message for him: I WILL DO EVERYTHING I CAN WITH MY DYING BREATH TO SEE THAT YOU ARE NOT REELECTED AND TO SUPPORT ANY CANDIDATE RUNNING AGAINST YOU!!!!
Lawmakers in six states are considering ballot initiatives on the 2010 ballot that would let the voters decide whether they want socialized federally-run health care. Let the people decide their own destiny? What a concept! You would've thought that some long-dead white guys would've come up with an idea like this.
Under Arizona's Health Care Freedom Act, which was passed by the state legislature this week, a voting initiative will be placed on the 2010 ballot that, if passed, will allow the state to opt out of any federal health care plan. Five other states -- Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota and Wyoming -- are considering similar initiatives for their 2010 ballots.
"Our health care freedoms are very much at risk by health care reforms proposed in Washington, D.C.," said Arizona state Rep. Nancy Barto, the Republican legislator who sponsored the measure. "We needed to act as a state to protect our citizens and ensure that they will always be able to buy their own health care and not be forced into a plan they don't want."
But an opponent of the bill, state Rep. Phil Lopes, says the measure has less to do with individual freedom and more to do with the protecting the status quo. "The proponents of this are saying the system we have now works and we don't want any kind of reform," the Democratic legislator said. "This flies in the face of what the public tells us they want."
Where the hell did he get that??? People from coast to coast are screaming about how they DON'T want the federal government limiting and rationing care. The only "public" Mr. Lopes, the Dems, and the MSM media are listening to are the ones who want government to coddle them from birth to death. And the liberals in Congress are doing what the hell they want, and the people be damned.
On the side note of cap-and-trade,I've commented on other blogs today that I emailed my representative this morning, but my representative is John Murtha. At least if this hideous legislation passes, my conscience will be clear knowing I did something, no matter how small.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE call or email your representatives as soon as you possibly can. That's an order, troops!
Yesterday, while waiting for my son to get done with summer school (Day 6 of 20; UGH!), I was chilling out listening to Rush. The topic, of course, was Obamascare, and one of his talking points caught my attention as something we have overlooked in our discussions about this hideous program: tort reform.
Part of the reason that health care in this country is so expensive is because of the litigious nature of some people. If a doctor is so incompetent that they amputate the wrong limb, he or she should permanently lose their license to practice. The problem lies in those who are looking to make quick money in a settlement and, along with their slimy lawyers, nitpick about every little detail.
There was a time when I was growing up where doctors were able to practice medicine very efficiently, often for little or no cost.
The family doctor we had growing up was a man of many talents. He delivered my dad, me, and my brother. He was also a certified surgeon and often performed minor surgeries in his office under local anesthesia (He cut a piece of glass out of my foot that way). When we got sick, my mother would often call the office, and nine times out of ten she spoke with the nurse, who was equally as knowledgable about medicine as Doc Cam. Ann was the one we saw most often. If you went to the office and had to see Doc Cam, you were REALLY sick. And if he referred you to someone else, you were probably on your way to the Pearly Gates. My parents often paid what they could, and Doc Cam was okay with that. In all those years, not once was litigation a thought. Even when my mom and my brother almost lost their lives during childbirth, suing Doc was not a thought.
Today, doctors have to worry about making mistakes. Yes, we are talking about what could potentially be mistakes with grave consequences (no pun intended), but at what point does the gravy train stop? The cost of health care has skyrocketed in recent years for a few reasons:
Research and Development of new drugs and procedures -- Let's face it. If you want the best medical treatment on the planet, it's going to cost for the latest cutting-edge treatments. Sorry, but it boils down to the business end of medicine.
Third-party insurance companies -- When someone is getting medical treatment and not having to pay for it entirely, they normally don't care what the cost is. Couple that with greedy doctors trying to soak the insurance companies, and you've got out-of-control costs.
Litigation costs -- It's amazing that being a doctor nowadays is going to cost you a hefty bundle of money in malpractice premiums. Also, a doctor will sometimes order unnecessary tests to cover their butts and avoid a lawsuit. This shouldn't be.
While we've all heard about the first two, I'd like to talk about the third.
As many of you know, I have two autistic kids. Their disorder, to me, is a way for God to teach me something (and He has; patience), not a free ticket through life. Many people, though, feel that their children's "disabilities" HAD to be caused by something the obstetrician did because Heaven knows that they would NEVER have a special needs child. This has led to even ADHD being blamed on a "birth injury". The doctor is in a position of settling a lawsuit or possibly losing more by fighting it. Guess what they usually do because it's cheaper. Then the malpractice premiums go up, and to recoup that cost, their fees go up. An OB/GYN in Massachusetts can pay between $75,000 and $100,000 a year for malpractice insurance. If they don't deliver babies and only stay with gynecology, the rates drop to $30,000-$50,000 a year. And it's all because of litigation by those wanting fast money from someone else.
The lawyers in today's society are just as much to blame. While they convince a client that they have an airtight case by doing a little word manipulation (define "is"), they're seeing nothing but dollar signs. The average contingency fee is between 25 and 40 percent. They have no qualms about ruining a good doctor's reputation based on a client's word if they're going to get almost half. What a bunch of unethical ghouls they are. Evidently, "shame" is something law school doesn't teach because most attorneys don't have any. Disgusting.
While I don't claim to have all the answers, I do believe there are a few things that can be done to limit needless lawsuits against medical professionals:
Allow doctors to do what they can to lower costs without compromising care -- There are those few rare doctors out there who try to keep costs down. My doctor knows I have a copay for meds, so he always gives me samples to help out. He said he'd rather save me the copay than give them to a welfare recipient. Let doctors decide where to make the cuts necessary to lower costs.
Let general practitioners have more freedom to do certain things in the office -- My doctor checked out a lump on my finger (a wart; never had one didn't know what it was) and told me to put duct tape on it. He could've sent me to a dermatologist unnecessarily, but he was confident enough in his diagnosis and treatment suggestions. The duct tape is actually working. These are the kind of doctors we need. Doctors shouldn't have to fear a lawsuit because they didn't refer a patient to a specialist.
Weed out the truly unnecessary lawsuits -- It amazes me how many people will have surgery (sometimes life-saving) and then sue the doctor because they have a scar. Sometimes, they actually win. I went to my gynecologist yesterday for a checkup. By some sick people's twisted logic, couldn't I go to an attorney and say that I was harassed because he touched my genital area? These are the venomous word games that attorneys will play with the English language. By the way, I love my gynecologist; very professional and an all-around great guy.
Weed out the truly bad doctors -- Let's face it. At one time or another, we've all run across a doctor that you look at and go "HUH?" There are some really bad doctors out there, and they need to go. They shouldn't even be cutting vegetables for a salad let alone doing surgery. Their incompetence has fueled the litigation fire, and the flames keep spreading. Blatantly gross negligence is unexcusable, and those whose lives are completely shattered by the wrong limb being amputated, the wrong organ removed, or where the result is death for what initially is a minor ailment deserve compensation.
Limit the attorney's contingency fee to 5% maximum -- While I don't feel attorneys should get anymore than what they charge by the hour, if they're going to file ridiculous lawsuits, take away the incentive.
Let doctors be the jury in cases that go to trial -- According to the Constitution, we are entitled to a jury of our peers. Well, having housewives, mechanics, and factory workers sitting on a jury where a doctor is the defendant isn't a jury of peers, is it? I say that once all the evidence and testimony are gathered, remove all personal information (use aliases) and turn it over to a team of medical experts to review and give their opinion. That would be more like it.
You file a frivolous lawsuit and lose, you pay all costs -- enough said.
Tort reform is long overdue. While many have tried to pass it before to no avail, we've got to pressure our legislators to support any tort reform measure that comes along. That would open up the free market to help lower the cost of health care. You cannot break the laws of economics and come out ahead.
I wanted to let everyone know that I'm probably not going to be posting as much in the next few days. I've come down with a nasty summer cold, and I think rest is what's going to help.
With that said, PLEASE keep stopping by in the next few days. If I'm feeling good for an hour, you know I'll be posting! But if you don't see much new material, please don't think I abandoned the mission I'm on here. I just feel really crappy.
Hope to be back up to 30% in a few days. Maybe 100% in a week or so. Take care, carry on until I get out of sick bay. You'll all be in my thoughts and prayers.
A new report reveals that there is substantial evidence that Inspector General Gerald Walpin was fired from his post where he was investigating AmeriCorps funding to avoid embarrassment for President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle.
The report is from Byron York at the Washington Examiner. On his blog, he wrote he interviewed a Republican member of the board for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the overseer for AmeriCorps, a favorite program for the Obamas.
The report said the board discussion was revolving around the St. HOPE program in California, which has been given hundreds of thousands of federal dollars and used it for, among other things, washing cars for Obama friend and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson.
The board member told York Walpin opposed an agreement that would require a return of only part of the allegedly misused money and leave Johnson open to receiving more federal dollars.
"Walpin told board members at the meeting that he wanted to issue some sort of public statement to the effect that there should be more investigation of the St. HOPE matter," York reported.
"He said, 'I feel so strongly about this that today I am going to issue a statement to the press calling for further investigation,'" the member said, York reported. "The board members all caught that."
The report said that was distressing for the board because of AmeriCorps' high profile and the fact it was a favorite program for the Obamas and was in line to receive some of the $5.7 billion from the new Serve America Act.
"In the midst of that, here was the agency's inspector general saying he might re-open an investigation into an embarrassing episode involving hundreds of thousands of mis-spent dollars and a politically prominent supporter of the president," the report said.
"We did not need any press out there on this St. HOPE matter, which was already settled," the board member told York.
Ultimately the FBI was contacted and asked to look into the St. Hope scenario, and the White House issued a statement that Walpin was confused and disoriented at the meeting and that was why he was being dismissed.
"But there is no doubt that, whatever the other reasons, the board feared that a revival of a scandal they thought was in the past would be embarrassing to the newly-prominent AmeriCorps," the report said.
At Hot Air.com, the comment was that Walpin "was anything but confused and disoriented."
"It looks from this account that Walpin did his job too well for the CNCS and the Obama administration," said the report.
On the website's forum page, one participante said, "Walpin was confused. He forgot that things now work the Chicago way."
Walpin is asking for a hearing on his dismissal and as WND reported, Sen. Charles Grassley has demanded records on Walpin's job performance and any documents related to the Corporation's dealing with Johnson and related issues.
Also as WND reported, an FBI investigation has been launched into the St. HOPE affair, now that allegations have surfaced in the Sacramento Bee from Rick Maya, former executive director with St. HOPE, suggesting a member of the charter school's board had deleted e-mails from Johnson during the federal investigation.
"All of this suggests that the purported White House mistreatment of independent inspectors general is a scandal that might have real legs," writes an editorial in the Washington Times. "As well it should."
Radio host Rush Limbaugh further accused the administration of breaking the law by firing Walpin, attributing it to "political cronyism" and declaring, "Alberto Gonzales as attorney general fired a couple of U.S. attorneys. He took hell for it. This is bigger. Inspectors general are supposed to be completely above politics."
I haven't commented on the Iranian elections because it's been covered so thoroughly and so much better than I could do. Hat tip to all those who have done so.
I found this cartoon that says it all. May God bless and give strength to those who are crying out for freedom.
From worldnetdaily.com comes this story about a Saudi academy in Virginia.
WARNING: Duct tape required for this story!!!
HOMELAND INSECURITY Virginians oppose 'terrorist' school expansion Foes file complaint after county sponsors dinner for Saudi academy Posted: June 23, 2009 9:44 pm Eastern
A coalition opposing the expansion of the radical Islamic Saudi Academy in Fairfax County, Va., has filed a conflict-of-interest complaint with the Virginia state attorney general over the county government's role in distributing invitations to an Islamic dinner.
Invitations to the free dinner – which is billed as, "Understanding Islam Conference: A Symposium to Promote Peace, Harmony, Understanding and Cultural Diversity" – were distributed by e-mail to county residents by Fairfax County official Sandra S. Chisholm, community interfaith liaison for the Department of Systems Management for Human Services.
Local citizens trying to block the expansion of the Saudi academy, which they say is a "breeding ground" for terrorists, complain that the conference reveals the county's bias in the fight.
The county planning board already has approved the expansion plans for the school, which is controlled and funded by the Saudi Embassy. And the country board of supervisors is expected to uphold the ruling.
"The Fairfax County government no longer pretends to be fair and impartial in its dealings with residents who oppose the railroading of the ISA expansion through its offices," said James Lafferty, chairman of the Virginia Anti-Shariah Task Force, or VAST. "This is an outrageous effort to stack the deck against the protesting county residents just weeks before the vote on the massive ISA expansion."
The vote is scheduled for July 13.
He says the county-sponsored Islamic dinner also raises constitutional questions about "separation of church and state."
"No church or synagogue ever got such preferential treatment from the county government," Lafferty argued.
In its letter to state officials in Richmond, VAST charges that the Fairfax County government became a partner in an event which was designed to "gloss over community concerns generated by the many problems and questionable activities associated with the radical 'academy.'"
VAST asks for a full investigation of the county's role in promoting "a very sectarian pep rally for Islam."
"We believe the county government is no longer impartial in carrying out its duties. And some citizens, depending on their religious affiliation, can expect a more favorable outcome from the county's regulatory agencies at the expense of the public trust," the letter says. "We believe this questionable action and others related to the county government's treatment of the Islamic Saudi Academy suggest the strong possibility of systemic corruption in Fairfax County's government."
At the recent planning board hearing, some 600 Muslims turned out to rally behind the Saudi academy and drown out VAST protesters. A Muslim engineer employed by the county testified on behalf of the academy.
The Saudi school's alumni include Omar Abu Ali, an al-Qaida operative convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush. Ali graduated valedictorian, and the school proudly published another superlative for him in its yearbook: "Voted Most Likely to be a Martyr," a caption under his photo read.
A couple of other academy graduates were arrested in Israel for plotting terrorism.
What's more, the U.S. government has cited the school for using textbooks promoting hate and violence against Jews and Christians. Dawood Abdulrahman, head of the Islamic Studies Department at the academy, maintains that the school recently revised it textbooks to show more tolerance, including removing all references to "jihad."
Abdularahman is an executive board member of Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center, the radical Fairfax County mosque that assisted at least two of the Saudi hijackers before they slammed a plane into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. The phone number for the mosque was found in the address book of one of the senior al-Qaida planners of the attacks, who was in Germany at the time.
The hijackers stayed in an apartment complex just across a highway from the Alexandria, Va., campus of the Saudi academy.
The academy's former comptroller, Ismail Elbarasse, was arrested after 9/11 for allegedly casing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland for a possible terrorist attack. Elbarasse is a founding member of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque.
The ACLU won't hesitate to start screaming like a girl when a student wants to say grace at lunch. Pretty silent over this, eh? What a bunch of frickin' hypocrites!!!
Want to know the secret to making $70,000 or more a year for doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING? Get your teaching license and get hired by the New York City School District. This is like the Job Bank program the UAW already has in place. Union contracts have stipulations saying that a teacher must be kept on the dole while awaiting disciplinary actions, no matter what. Here's what's going on.
700 teachers within the NYC school system are currently receiving full salary and benefits for playing Scrabble, surfing the net, sleeping, or just staring at the wall; whatever they want to do. They have been accused of offenses from insubordination to sexual misconduct, and they sit in what are called the "rubber rooms" of the school district while they wait for disciplinary hearings. That can sometimes take years.
"You just basically sit there for eight hours," said Orlando Ramos, who spent seven months in a rubber room, officially known as a temporary reassignment center, in 2004-05. "I saw several near-fights. `This is my seat.' `I've been sitting here for six months.' That sort of thing."
Isn't this great?? While the economy is going belly up largely in part due to socialist experiments and policies, these teachers can get their graduate degrees, write novels, or plan vacations and get paid for it by the taxpayers. Did I mention that they still get the summers and weekends off? Yep. Gotta love that teachers' union!!!
I am not slamming the teachers. They have gone into a career that I know I couldn't do, and a lot of them work in real war zones. It's the union I'm slamming.
Let's take a hypothetical situation. A group of conservative bloggers, led by a blackandgoldfan and her trusty sidekicks, get together and decide they want Obama to back off from restriction of free speech. Said group goes to Dear Leader and says, "You give us what we want, or we're going to post your REAL birth certificate!" That group would be jailed for extortion, wouldn't they? Well, the unions of this country are no different. Give them what they want, and they'll go away. Tell them to screw off, and they'll get you and your little dog, too.
It's time that unions get a history lesson. Most notably, the history lesson of Dutch the Great and the Air Traffic Controllers.
Is it me, or is there a lack of common sense here?
According to foxnews.com, Latino leaders are calling on illegal immigrants to boycott the census citing that being counted but not represented is unfair.
Why the hell are they being counted to begin with? The purpose of the census is to get an accurate count of AMERICAN CITIZENS to gerrymander Congressional seats. To count illegal immigrants only serves one purpose: To bolster population counts in what are normally Democratic strongholds. Thanks ACORN!! Oops...I mean COI (Communist Obama Idealogs).
"It doesn't make any sense, in some way it is immoral that we are counting 12 million undocumented immigrants who have no benefit at all financially speaking," said Rev. Miguel Rivera, president of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders.
No financial benefit??? How about the illegals who fill our emergency rooms and get their bills paid by the American taxpayer? Or how about the illegals who fill our prisons and are cared for by the American taxpayer instead of being deported? The burden on our system by illegal immigrants is what's immoral, Rev. Rivera.
I'm not going to go into the reasons why we need to address illegal immigration. I posted on this yesterday, and I don't want to be redundant. Maybe Rev. Rivera needs to read it.
In California on July 13, 2009, a judge is set to rule on a motion questioning Obama's eligibility to serve as President. The plaintiffs' attorney, Orly Taitz, says the commander-in-chief is in default.
The announcement came from U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who said: "Before the court is a motion by plaintiffs for reconsideration of order to show cause or in the alternative to certify question for appeal. Court sets this matter for hearing on July 13, 2009 at 8:30a.m. in Courtroom 9D. Plaintiffs are directed to make every effort possible to ensure that all remaining defendants are aware of the hearing and provide documentation that the individual receiving service is authorized to accept on defendants' behalf."
The case was filed on behalf of former U.S. Ambassador Alan Keyes, also a contestant in the 2008 presidential race in California, and others. Taitz said the case might have been confused with another Keyes vs. Obama case filed in that state's court system, which was thrown out and now is on appeal.
"I will be asking for the release of his vital records," she said.
"The latest argument by the judge says that I was supposed to serve Obama by a certain Rule-4I. My argument is that it wasn't applicable, as I served him as an individual, on inauguration day, for his action before he became the president. He does not qualify to get governmental representation, meaning he has to pick (up) the tab," she explained.
"He defaulted, and in default I can demand production of the documents to show his fitness for the position," she wrote.
"The documents that I am requesting are the original (birth certificate), school records, passport records and immigration records."
Taitz was born in Moldova, which used to be part of the old Soviet Union. Recalling her life under a communist regime, she told World Net Daily she is determined to do her part to stop America from following in the all-too-familiar footsteps of her former homeland.
She has likened not only the U.S. judiciary to the old Soviet Union establishment because of its unwillingness to resolve the dispute, but she's accused members of the media of becoming like the Soviet press, because they push for Obama's agenda.
She's lived it once, and it appears she sees what the rest of us do.
Recently, I did a couple of posts concerning the firings of three Inspectors General. The first, Gerald Walpin, was fired after filing two reports showing misappropriation of AmeriCorps funds by an academy run by former NBA player Kevin Johnson, an avid Obama supporter. Shortly thereafter, two more Inspectors General, Neil Barofsky and Judith Gwynne, were fired for also doing their jobs. Walpin has now called for a Congressional hearing into his firing, according to worldnetdaily.com.
"The best way to handle that – aside from President Obama admitting that he made a mistake – is to have a congressional hearing so that all facts can be put out for the public to see," Walpin said.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., have already sent letters to the administration, demanding facts, records and explanations for its questionable dealings with the inspectors general. But Walpin believes only a congressional hearing will reveal the whole story.
Sen. Grassley's investigations and the subsequent media coverage have already brought to light several suspicious circumstances surrounding the controversy that some have labeled "Walpingate":
* Prior to his dismissal, Walpin had been calling for action against Kevin Johnson's St. HOPE Academy, which, it has been learned, misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars in AmeriCorps funds. Johnson, a former NBA star, was an outspoken celebrity supporter for the Obama campaign.
* Even closer to his dismissal, Walpin filed a report critical of what he called "the largest" AmeriCorps project authorized by the Corporation for National and Community Service – a fellows program at the City University of New York – with a price tag, he estimated, of over $80 million. Calling such a large program waste, the Washington Times opined, could not have sat well with the Corporation's chairman, Alan Solomont, who contributed more than $800,000 to Obama's campaign and inauguration.
* The CNCS (Corporation for National and Community Service) is also expected to welcome this week a new senior adviser, Jackie Norris, who since January has been serving as chief of staff for Michelle Obama.
"I am very concerned about the appearance that the IG's communication with my office about this matter may have contributed to his removal," wrote Grassley, referring to the reports Walpin had filed with Congress over the Johnson and CUNY cases. "Inspectors general have a statutory duty to report to Congress. Intimidation or retaliation against those who freely communicate their concerns to members of the House and Senate cannot be tolerated."
Also as WND reported, an FBI investigation has been launched into the St. HOPE affair, now that allegations have surfaced in the Sacramento Bee from Rick Maya, former executive director with St. HOPE, suggesting a member of the charter school's board had deleted e-mails from Johnson during the federal investigation.
"All of this suggests that the purported White House mistreatment of independent inspectors general is a scandal that might have real legs," writes an editorial in the Washington Times. "As well it should."
Amen. The Dems were all up in arms when Bush fired a few federal attorneys (Clinton fired 99 out of 100), but they have remained eerily silent on this issue. Why? Because Dear Leader is up to his eyeballs in this crap. Let's hope someone in Congress has the stones to not let go of this.
This is a GREAT idea!! Hats off to the brainchild of this one. From worldnetdaily.com:
A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA Wee the people: Port-a-potty named for Pelosi Tea partiers dedicate new thrones to Washington's 'imperial' leaders Posted: June 22, 2009 8:55 pm Eastern
Enthusiastic tea partiers in Virginia have decided to give "imperial leaders" in Washington a seat of power they believe they truly deserve – a portable toilet throne.
Tea party organizer Karen Miner Hurd told WND her group is expecting between 3,000 and 5,000 people at the upcoming June 26 protest at Chesapeake City Park in Chesapeake, Va. While she is excited about the turnout, Hurd has a predicament: She must raise funds for 30 portable toilets on a shoe-string budget.
"How do you tell people you need money for bathrooms?" she asked. "Does that excite or inspire anybody? Not very much."
So Hurd asked taxpayers to sponsor commodes and name them with their least favorite politicians.
"It started growing, and once people started seeing the list of people who were named, I got more and more requests," she said. "People started to love it."
At a June 16 tea party, the group loaded 10 portable johns into trucks and paraded them through three cities – complete with names of politicians who they believe are trying to flush the nation down the toilet.
ACORN john (Always Cr-ppy, Offensive, Rotten, Noxious)
I.R.S. john – Eliminate it!
"Porky Little Projects" john
Royal Pain in the Tax
Office of Tim Geitner's Accountant
Harry Reid's Throne
Eric "toilet paper" Holder
Marxist Government Think Tank
Federal Depository
"The names are of people who have horribly abused taxpayer money or people who have betrayed us. We have some Republicans listed," Hurd said. "Some people like Nancy Waters, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and the Murtha john and the Kerry john were pretty self-evident, we felt."
Hurd said the campaign has chosen not to use references to President Obama.
"We were very careful about that. We don't even mention him remotely," she said. "He is the president, and we respect the office."
The following video is of a similar but smaller parade held on June 12 in Armada. The toilets are taken to tea parties to accommodate thousands of protesters.
And how can politicians avoid having their names plastered on a toilet and paraded through town?
"For those interested in avoiding being on the 'honor' roll on the Don't Flush U.S. site, you can do so by promoting free enterprise, staying within the boundaries of the Constitution, self-limiting your political career by not running for eternal office, avoiding excessive regulation of liberties, exercising good governance, going on a permanent pork-fast, and using common sense," the group's website states.
"Abolishing the I.R.S. and repealing the 16th Amendment will provide permanent immunity from ever being nominated for a throne."
Hurd says she is simply giving taxpayers an outlet for their frustrations with government.
"They are all acting like kings and queens in D.C., and we just thought we would make it official and give them a throne," she said. "Every time you go, you can send a message."
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Contaminated needles and scalpels, bloodied bandages, body parts, unused prescription drugs, soiled hospital garments, radioactive waste and refuse tainted with infectious disease: These are only a few items that may be discarded on a curbside, abandoned in a nearby lake or piled in a dumpster headed for the local landfill. 
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Enthusiastic tea partiers in Virginia have decided to give "imperial leaders" in Washington a seat of power they believe they truly deserve – a portable toilet throne. 
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