In the House, a medical liability debate

How not to deal with inconvenient information
HOW NOT TO DEAL WITH INCONVENIENT INFORMATION.... House Republicans spent two years insisting that, if elected, they'd lower the Deficit (that they created when they were in the majority). And now that they're in the majority, the House GOP's first order of business is a Health Care vote that would add $230 billion to the deficit. "But wait," Republicans argue, "we can explain." As the GOP sees it, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office thinks the Affordable Care Act would reduce the def...

Rhetoric, toned-down
The post-Giffords re-tweak of political language has begun: As evidence of a slight rhetorical shift, House Speaker John Boehner abandoned labeling the current Health Care law as "job killing," and instead called it "job crushing" and "job destroying" in a new message posted on his webpage. "Repealing the job crushing Health Care law is critical to boosting Small Business Job Creation and growing The Economy," Boehner wrote in the post. Boehner also sai...

Obama health care reform: Is it really 'job killing'?
More than a year’s worth of GOP scare tactics about Health Care reform now appear to be unfounded, partisan politics. There were no Death Panels, as Sarah Palin claimed. It is not a ‘job killing’ bill, as House Speaker, John Boehner claims. In reality, Health Care reform will actually create jobs in the Health Care industry. Furthermore, Congressional Budget Office data finds that Obama care will reduce the federal Deficit. Politico reports health Insurance Industry insiders ar...

Why won't Christie join any anti-HCR lawsuit?
Twenty-five States are now suing the Federal Government to have the healthcare-reform law repealed. But New Jersey is not one of them. Last week, the newly-elected Governors of Ohio, Oklahoma, Maine, and Wisconsin added their States to the 21 others that are already suing the government. Specifically, Say Anything Blog reports that: Governors John Kasich (Ohio) and Scott Walker (Wisconsin), and Attorney General William Schneider (Maine), have all announced that they are joining the vast mult-Sta...

House GOP targeting key health reform component, the medical loss ratio
The House GOP knows that while they have enough members to vote to Repeal the Affordable Care Act this week, the effort dies in the Senate. Even if it could get through the Senate, it would be vetoed by President Obama. So they're working on individual pieces to chip away at the provisions of the bill, including a critical one that went into effect January 1: requiring that insurers spend at least 80 percent of the premium dollars they take in on actual health services, rather than overhead or ...

Ten benefits Americans will lose if health care reform is repealed
This week the Republicans in the House of Representatives are expected to vote on a bill that would Repeal all of the Health Care reform package passed last year by the Democrats.  The Republicans have offered nothing to replace the Affordable Care Act, saying they will instead figure out new solutions in the coming months.  While the prospects for Repeal grow much dimmer in the Senate, anything that passes out of the House at least has to be considered seriously.  In addition, Re...

Liberals are winning the healthcare debate
Bad news for Conservatives and Republicans in the new AP healthcare poll, which has the following results: Number of voters who favor stronger healthcare laws that do more: 43 percent. Number who favor Repeal: only 26 percent. Number who favor the current law: 19 percent. Number who favor a healthcare law that does less: 10 percent. In short, 62 percent favor either the current law or a new law that is more to the liking of liberals, while only 36 percent favor repea

Bioactive Compounds in Berries Can Reduce High Blood Pressure
© gapersblock.com Eating blueberries can guard against high Blood Pressure, according to new research by the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Harvard University. High blood pressure - or hypertension - is one of the major Cardiovascular Diseases worldwide. It leads to stroke and Heart Disease and costs more than $300 billion each year. Around a quarter of the adult population is affected globally - including 10 million people in the UK and one in three US adults. Published next month...

Picking apart Obamacare
I admit to a love-hate relationship with the subject of Healthcare Reform. Back when I was a naive liberal I waved around the words Universal Healthcare quite a bit, and with good reason. Going Uninsured in this country is a recipe for disaster, and there are indeed people who fall between the cracks in the healthcare status quo. Typically these are people who are either just a little too old to get good private Insurance, or who are just a little too well-to-do to qualify for Medicaid - but sti...

Public Health Care Reform Opposition Withers
Opposition to the law remains strongest among Republicans: 71% say they are against it, compared with 35% of Independents and 19% of Democrats. Republicans won control of the House partly on their promise to Repeal what they call "ObamaCare." But as the House prepares to vote on Repeal this week, public support for that has flagged. Only about 1 in 4 respondents said they wanted to do away with the law completely. Even among Republicans, Repeal draws markedly less support than it did a few week...

Paul Krugman: The War on Logic
What's really behind the GOP's opposition to Health Care reform?: The War on Logic, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: ...We are, I believe, witnessing something new in American politics..., the G.O.P. ... war on logic. So, about that...: this week the House is expected to pass H.R. 2, the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act — its actual name. But Republicans have a small problem: they claim to care about Budget Deficits, yet the Congressional Budget Office says that re...

The GOP Bill To Cut Medicare is Past Due
We are, I believe, witnessing something new in American politics. Last year, looking at claims that we can cut taxes, avoid cuts to any popular program and still balance the Budget, I observed that Republicans seemed to have lost interest in the War on Terror and shifted focus to the war on arithmetic. But now the G.O.P. has moved on to an even bigger project: the war on logic. So, about that nonsense: this week the House is expected to pass H.R. 2, the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law...

Austerity for whom?
In new report entitled State of the Dream 2011, progressive group United for a Fair Economy answers an important question: Who, exactly, will be impacted by the "Fiscal Responsibility" agenda this year that both parties have called for? The questions I put before you are these: If these policies have disproportionate effect on People of Color, are they Racist policies? If they are Racist policies, and should President Obama approves of these policies, what are we to conclude? I'll tackle the fi...

Health care repeal really is a bad idea
Health Care Repeal REALLY IS A BAD IDEA.... House Republicans did the right thing in the wake of the Tucson shootings, delaying floor action on their push to repeal the entirety of the Affordable Care Act. GOP leaders will renew their efforts this week, with a floor vote expected on Tuesday. The "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act" -- yes, that's actually the real-life, ridiculous name Republicans gave their Legislation -- is expected to pass fairly easily given the GOP majority in ...

Health Care and the New Civility
President Obama’s call for “a more civil and honest public discourse” will get its first test much sooner than we expected. Having properly postponed all legislative action last week out of respect for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other Victims of the Tucson shootings, the House Republican leadership decided it could abide no further delay in a vote on its “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.” And so, as a spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Canto...

The New Civility
Washington—President Obama’s call for “a more civil and honest public discourse” will get its first test much sooner than we expected. Having properly postponed all legislative action last week out of respect for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other Victims of the Tucson shootings, the House Republican leadership decided it could abide no further delay in a vote on its “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.” And so, as a spokesman for House Majority...

Jim Worth: An Unhealthy Debate: Again
The Repeal of the Healthcare Bill will add $230 billion to the Deficit! House Republicans are threatening to repeal the HealthCare Bill--and replace it! At the end of their first week in office the new majority will, as they've promised in their Pledge to America, vote to repeal ObamaCare--the Healthcare Bill that took a long and difficult year to pass. Unfortunately, what finally emerged was a weakened Compromise; a skeleton of real reform, forced upon the American People by the Obstructionis...

Public support for health care repeal plummets: AP poll
A survey by Gallup found that on Jan. 7, one day before the shootings, Americans supported Repeal by a margin of 46 to 40 percent. But the nation remains deeply divided over the law. Overall, 40 percent in the AP-GfK poll said they support it, while 41 percent were less than pleased, some of whom thought it doesn't go far enough. The shift in Public Opinion doesn't appear likely to sway the outcome of a Repeal vote slated for this week. The GOP bill, titled "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care...

Would More Education Reduce Unemployment and Income Inequality
Some people argue that education is the answer to some of the big current problems the U.S. economy faces. Want to fix the Unemployment problem? That's easy: just provide additional educational opportunities for those having difficulty finding jobs. Want to lessen Income Inequality? That's easy too: if more people have college degrees, they'll qualify for higher wage work. While these arguments appear to make sense, looking at the data over the past several decades provides the opposite answer: ...

Correcting misconceptions about the H-2B program
Mr. Ross Eisenbrey’s recent blog post “Immigration rule fight pits Chamber of Commerce against U.S. workers” included several misconceptions about the H-2B program that may be responsible for his erroneous conclusions about the H-2B program and U.S. Chamber's position on immigration. He states that the Bush Administration changed the way prevailing wages were calculated, in order to lower required wage levels for immigration sponsorship. In fact, back in 1998, under a Democratic Administ

This Week in Congress
In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Democratic Whip: First Vote of the Week: Tuesday 6:30 p.m. Last Vote Predicted: Thursday 12:00 p.m. MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 2011 On Monday, the House is not in session. TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2011 On Tuesday, the House will meet at 2:00 p.m. for legislative business with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. Suspensions (2 Bills) S.Con.Res. 2 - A concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for an event marking the 50th anniversary ...

This Week in Congress
In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Democratic Whip: First Vote of the Week: Tuesday 6:30 p.m. Last Vote Predicted: Thursday 12:00 p.m. MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 2011 On Monday, the House is not in session. TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2011 On Tuesday, the House will meet at 2:00 p.m. for legislative business with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. Suspensions (2 Bills) S.Con.Res. 2 - A concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for an event marking the 50th anniversary ...

Boehner's new word choice
Washington (CNN) - As evidence of a slight rhetorical shift, House Speaker John Boehner abandoned labeling the current Health Care law as "job killing," and instead called it "job crushing" and "job destroying" in a new message posted on his webpage. "Repealing the job crushing Health Care law is critical to boosting Small Business Job Creation and growing The Economy," Boehner wrote in the post. Boehner also said "job destroying" in his closing remarks at the GOP retreat Saturday. After suspend...

Kirsten Gillibrand on The View: Harry Reid Is an Extraordinary Man
New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand knows how to pay people back: After Reid called her the Senate's "Hottest member," she told The View today that she wasn't offended. "He was trying to be sweet," she said. "Harry Reid is an extraordinary man." She went on to credit Reid for a legislative victory to which she herself had been given much credit. "On 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', it was Harry Reid who very early on wrote a letter to the president and said we want you to Repeal 'don't ask, don't tell...

Top Priority For Republicans: Cutting Federal Spending
After a retreat for Republicans in the House of Representatives to set their ideas for the upcoming legislative session, new Speaker of the House John Boehner noted that the Democrats have been on a "job-destroying Spending Spree that has left us with nothing but historic Unemployment and the most Debt in U.S. History." What might seem confusing to many Americans is that while Republicans have continued to stay on message, they have already created exemptions from their plan to reduce federal Spending, n