Why the Uncertainty in ObamaCare is Bad for our Economy

This week marks the anniversary of the passing of ObamaCare, and next week the Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments about it and might decide to repeal the bill. As a small business owner I can explain how the bill is hurting the economy.

Let's look at the big picture. Profits are up throughout the economy, however employment and the GDP are lagging, to say the least. US corporations are sitting on record amounts of cash, but they're not expanding and they're not hiring. Wondering why? It's because of the uncertainty. Nobody knows what new regulations and mandates are coming in the next years, or even months. Businesses are looking at 2-3 years forecasts before making any significant decision, and uncertainty about Government intervention is incredibly high. If a businesses decides to grow, of course it needs to hire more people, but does anyone know what new workplace regulations are to be expected? What new taxes or mandates are coming?

And the biggest unknown of all is ObamaCare, which will massively affect everyone once it starts being implemented in 2014. Speaker Nancy Pelosi told us we have to pass the bill so we know what's in it. Two years have passed and we still don't know what's in it. The language is so twisted that noone can figure it out. One example in recent weeks is the debate over contraception. The media diverted the attention and made it all about abortion rights, religion and the new meme, "women's health". The issue has nothing to do with any of these. It's not about "access to health care", since there's currently no restriction on buying birth control pills, and you can even get them for free from Planned Parenthood. It's all about the Government mandating businesses and taxpayers to pay for someone's birth control pills. New regulations just found in ObamaCare say that contraception pills should be provided for free. But nothing is actually free. If you have insurance from your employer, the employer pays for it (or more precisely, the employees who don't need it pay, since health insurance costs are built into the total compensation package). If you get insured through some Government program or subsidy, the taxpayers are forced to pay for it. (And by "taxpayers" I mean the 50.5% of the population that, according to IRS, pays federal taxes; I assume that if you really can't afford $20/month for birth control pills, then you fall into the other 49.5%).

So we saw what a scandal this minor problem created. If birth control is considered an essential women's health issue (by the way, when was pregnancy classified as a disease?), then a Government agency deciding that food is very important for your health is not that far fetched. Can anyone be sure that, through ObamaCare, companies won't be mandated to pay for their employees' nutrition? Or to offer an allowance for heating costs, since I'm sure it's easy to conclude that extreme cold and freezing is a serious health issue?

It's easy to see why businesses are reluctant to hire people, even though they have the resources. And for small businesses, which make up an overwhelming percentage of our economy, it's even riskier. Big businesses can afford layoffs, but for a small business, the increase in unemployment insurance costs after new crippling mandates force a few layoffs can be devastating. For most business owners like myself, it's much safer to just hang on and try to survive. And hope for a smart and Constitutional decision from the Supreme Court in the following weeks.

Mike Halfacre on Health Care

By Mike Halfacre

With the election of Republican Scott Brown to the Senate from the bluest of blue states- Massachusetts- the healthcare debate will change in Washington DC. Brown specifically campaigned as the 41st vote against the healthcare bill being considered in the Senate and the voters of Massachusetts elected him.
More than that, Brown’s election became a rallying point for people all over the United States who saw his election as a way to tell Washington that they weren’t buying what Congressional Democrats were selling on healthcare legislation. Money and manpower poured into the Brown campaign in the closing weeks of the election from all over the country. The message from voters to Congress is now clear: ignore us at your peril in 2010.

The President and Congressional leaders should take this opportunity to refocus the healthcare debate. There is an old saying: you don’t kill a fly with a sledgehammer. Clearly there are reforms which should be made to the healthcare system; the question is whether to take a market based approach or a one-size-fits-all, centrally planned government approach. I would argue forcefully for the former, and it seems as though the majority of Americans who say they oppose the current healthcare bill agree.

The United States has a health insurance problem, moreso than a healthcare problem. In most cases, the employer owns the insurance policy, and patients are completely disconnected from the actual cost of their healthcare. Would you give your credit card to someone you didn’t know and ask them to go food shopping for you- and not ask to see the receipt? Of course not. They’d have no incentive to shop for a good deal and might even buy things you didn’t want.

Yet this is exactly what happens every day in healthcare: you pay your $20 co-pay with no idea of what you’re paying for. It only costs you 20 bucks, so you don’t object, and your doctor knows that more than likely he’ll be paid for whatever procedures or tests he performs. Neither patient nor medical provider has proper incentives to increase healthcare quality and/or decrease its costs.

Your policy also covers a whole host of things that you may not want or need, yet you are forced to pay for them. If your cable TV company told you that in order to subscribe you had to pay for HBO, Cinemax, and Starz, whether you wanted to or not, you’d think they were crazy.
True health insurance reform requires implementing a “patient-centered” approach which will give the proper incentives, responsibilities and choices to both patient and healthcare provider.

We can do this in the following ways:

1) Encourage individual ownership of insurance policies-The current tax rules that allow employers to own our insurance and receive the tax benefit for it, should instead provide those deductions to individuals. Businesses would then be free to pay a large portion of the money they save on an employee’s healthcare back to the employee in salary or other benefits of equal value.

2) Encourage Health Savings Accounts- These accounts empower individuals to monitor their health care costs and create incentives for individuals to use only those services that are necessary.

3) Allow interstate purchasing of insurance. Some states have more affordable health insurance because they have fewer bells and whistles. Consumers should be able to decide which benefits they need and what prices they are willing to pay.

4) Reduce the number of mandated benefits that insurers are required to cover- Let consumers choose and price their own benefits. This also will increase individual responsibility and “connectedness” to their healthcare.

5) Reallocate the majority of Medicaid spending into simple vouchers for low-income individuals to purchase their own insurance- An income based voucher program would eliminate the massive bureaucracy needed to sustain the current, soon to be bankrupt (within 10 years) Medicaid system.

I believe these 5 policy recommendations would unleash the power of the free market on our healthcare system and dramatically drive down the costs of health insurance. Those reduced costs would then make it more attractive to younger people, many of whom currently find the cost of health insurance prohibitive, to buy insurance. Enlarging of the risk pool with younger (read: healthier) people would spread costs over a larger base, thereby further lowering healthcare costs. For once we could see a spiral downward in healthcare costs instead of upward, and it would be done through free market incentives, rather than the government trampling our rights by forcing us to buy health insurance- or else.

Whether through polls or recent elections, the American people have consistently and clearly shown they want Congress to re-think their approach on healthcare reform. Ignore them at your peril.

Sen. Baucus (Dem - Montana) Drunk on Senate Floor

Sen. Max Baucus (Dem - Montana) is one of the main authors of the horrendous health care bill. It's a disgrace he had to go drunk on the Senate floor and defend it. Or was he trying to honor the memory of one of the pioneers of Government healthcare - Ted Kennedy?

Government is Denying Twice As Many Claims as Most Private Insurers

How many times have you heard the complaints that the evil medical insurance corporations are denying claims and leave people to die? And even more, that we need the Government to step in, and fix this problem? So you think that once Government takes over healthcare, you'll have a less chance of having your claim denied? Let's look at some facts.

The American Medical Association is publishing reports on health insurers' performance, split by lots of criteria. I'm looking at their report card for 2008 and I went to Page 5, which summarizes claim denials:

Payer	Count of Records	Denied Records	Percent Of Claim Lines Denied
Aetna	637,239	43,317	6.80%
Anthem	250,070	11,546	4.62%
CIGNA	263,728	9,060	3.44%
Coventry	40,487	590	2.88%
Health Net	4,975	193	3.88%
Humana	143,026	4,142	2.90%
Medicare	6,938,431	475,566	6.85%
UHC	1,127,691	30,177	2.68%

Interesting, isn't it? Medicare (the Government) has the highest percentage of claim denials. And if you exclude Aetna, the Government is denying about twice as many claims as all the other evil private insurers!

But go ahead people, drink the Kool Aid, and keep dreaming that Government-run healthcare will mean your treatment will be more likely approved. As facts shown, you'll be twice as likely to be DENIED!

Thank you Mike Proto for finding this information!

Rush Holt's Middletown Townhall According to Col. Rash

Col. Manly Rash had a series of postings that provide the best view of Rush Holt's Middletown townhall on Aug 26th, both inside and outside.

The Rush to Dissemble - Part 1 presents the atmosphere outside, before the townhall, as well as inside, shortly before Holt's appearance. In the 2nd clip, about 1:15 in, you can see my 2 friends from Middletown taking a stand against liberals who called us "a nation of a-holes".






The Rush to Dissemble - Part 2 describes Rush Holt's speech as well as his first answers. Holt didn't want anybody from the audience to be heard, he had them write down questions, and he chose which ones to answer, and how to read them so they fit him better. But if you listen to him, he doesn't do a very convincing job.








The Rush to Dissemble - Part 3 is the conclusion of the Q&A session. About 6:15 into the clip you can see my friend again who didn't like Holt's idea of not having a dialogue with the constituents. He stood up and asked a simple business question, but Rush Holt obviously doesn't understand business in our country.

The Democrats are Actually Astroturfing

You probably heard Pelosi and her minions accusing the Republicans of astroturfing at all the townhall protests (meaning it's not a grassroots movement, just plants organized by high-ranking officials).

Anybody who's been at this week's Monmouth County protests got a very clear picture of what's going on. Protesters (Republicans or not) came completely disorganized, individuals getting together because they disagree with Obama's plans. There was no involvement of any Republican organization, township, county or state, except for a few Tea Party groups. On the other side, you had a handful of well organized groups, armed with literature and signs, members of OFA. OFA is not Acorn or MoveOn, it's not a proxy for Obama, it's his own organization. OFA's website is barackobama.com. You didn't have to ready the signs to see on whose side everybody was. If it was a hand-written sign, they were against socialized healthcare. If they had a profesionally printed one, they were for it. Also, while most of the protesters spoke freely (or read hand-written notes), ALL Obama supporters read from a printed statement.

So both at Frank Pallone's and Rush Holt's townhall meetings, Democrats were organized by the OFA from Washington (or is it Chicago?). They didn't even involve the county or state Democrats, because they weren't worried about a grassroots movement. It was all astroturfing. Vic Scudiery's organization was completely absent from both townhalls. At Pallone's, Democrat freeholder Amy Mallet wasn't even invited in, she was sent to the back of the line.

And this is not only in New Jersey. You might be familiar with Tim Bishop's townhall in NY, where grasroots protesters were faced by CWA union members in uniform, bused in from all over the state. When a Dem tells you that the protests are astroturfing, just ask for a specific example, because they can't give you any.

More on the Pallone Townhall, With Videos

First of all, my friend Art was inside with the first group and here is his article. Tommy DeSeno also has a good report from the first session.

Again, I'm amazed at how many people showed up to oppose government-run healthcare. And I wonder, who was voting for this guy so far? Although Pallone's group seemed well-organized, there was no county Democrat involvement in the event, and no state participation as well. All the people writing questions, handing out signs and literature (who were very polite and civilized... to be expected when you're outnumbered 20-to-1) introduced themselves as representing Organizing For America. OFA's website is barackobama.com and they're Obama's field team for pushing his socialist legislation. So this had nothing to do with Pallone's local campaign and his grassroots supporters, it was organized from DC (or Chicago?)

Anyway, it was a good exercise in democracy. People were very civilized, there were no incidents, no shouting at each other, no loud arguments. We stayed in line for 2 hours, democrats and republicans, and we got along well, showing that this is not a personal matter, it's all about the issues.

Now back to the inside. As I said, a lot of people were cranky after waiting for so long. There was especially this group in the back corner who had some very funny remarks. Anytime a welfare recipient would come forward to read a statement praising Pallone, or praising the wonderful healthcare that China has (yes, there was a guy who said that), they'd shout "Get a job!". When Pallone said he supports federal funding for abortion, they yelles "Pelosi should've been aborted!". And when Pallone said that illegal immigrants, while not covered by his bill, deserve to receive free medical care, there was an outcry, and chants of "Send them home!".

But kudos to Pallone for standing up there through three sessions against a hostile crowd. Like one speaker said, he had a lot of guts to come in front of the voters, after the kind of bills he claims he wrote (healthcare, cap&trade).

Finally, here are some videos I took during the townhall meeting:

A constituent challenges Pallone to admit that the bill is all about Government controlling our lives:



A long-time Democrat voter tells Pallone that, due to the irresponsible spending he's supporting, he will not vote for him anymore:



A constituent asks Pallone how can government run healthcare, when Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are bankrupt. Pallone responds that Medicare and Medicaid are going very well.



A voter asks Pallone if he read the Cap&Trade bill and he answers he actually wrote it. Then the Congressman is challenged to answer why America is paying for Brazil to drill off its coast, but won't allow drilling here. Pallone can't answer this.

Frank Pallone Townhall in Red Bank

Today I went to Rep Frank Pallone's (D-NJ6) townhall meeting at the Red Bank Middle School. I was hoping to see at least 100 opponents, and to have the opportunity to ask him some uncomfortable question, but what I found there exceeeded all my expectations.

There were around 1,500 people for the meeting, and I think only about 100 of them were Pallone supporters. Everybody else was against him, socialism and government-run healthcare. It was a very interesting event, and although he didn't really answer any question, nor did I hear anything I didn't know, it really showed the support that Obama's plans have in Monmouth County.

The meeting was starting at 7pm, and I was quite late, got there at 6:15pm, after spending at least 10 minutes looking for parking. There was a huge line, already hundreds of people, snaking around the school grounds, out to the streets, coming back on sidewalk. And as we moved forward, the end of the line was moving farther and farther away. First thing I noticed was how many anti-socialist signs there were out there. The organizers were handing out supporting signs, and here's the thing: You probably know how Pelosi, Obama and the media says that townhall protests are highly organized by various groups? Well, ALL protesting signs were hand-written on sheets of paper. At the same time, there were NO hand-written supporting sign, they were all profesionally printed posters. Talk about who represents the grassroots...

Since the auditorium could seat only 500 people, they said they'll take 500 people at a time, then empty the building, take the next group... And I didn't make the first cut, so I waited about 2 hours to get in. Wasn't really boring, had a lot of nice people around to talk to. When we finally got in, around 8:30, it was obvious where's the majority. There weren't more than 20 people who were supporting Pallone. The crowd was loud, and often rowdy, maybe due to waiting standing up for so long.

First Mayor Pat Menna said a few words... Which nobody heard because we were still noisy. There was especially a very funny group back into the corner who kept jeering everybody, and they told Menna to "go get a job". When he said he's a lawyer they repeated "get a real job!" Then Frank Pallone had a very short opening statement, and he said right from the beginning that he's on the Health Subcommittee, and he crafted the bill. At that point, 480 errupted in booing, while the other 20 applauded.

The way the townhall meeting proceeded was this: There would be a question, or just a statement from an opponent. The crowd would cheer, applaud, even explode in a standing ovation. Pallone would either ask for the next question, mumble something avoiding a direct answer, or say "I wrote the bill, it's not true". Of course he'd be booed every time, but he'd avoid having to lie any more. There were very specific things that were asked from him, and he'd say it's not true, while the people would chant "Li-ar, Li-ar". Other very popular chants were "Vote him out!" or "Just say no!".

There were also a few questions from his supporters. Like someone said, 95% of the people were against him, and the other 5% were bused in. And they seemed to have brought only people in wheelchairs, thinking they'd avoid being booed off. Well, the crowd just didn't buy that, and jeered them, and it wasn't disrespectful to their disability, but to the organizers' attitude. Every supporter who got to the mike read a printed statement. They didn't even ask canned question, they were praising Pallone, Obama and Congress. Which doesn't mean Pallone didn't throw one of them under the bus, by mistake. It was the only supporter who didn't read a script, and she said her prescription drug costs $100k. Pallone asked "And you're not covered by Medicare" "Err... yes, I am, both Medicare and private" "And your drug is covered by Plan D?" "Errr... no... my private insurance pays, Medicare is a backup" "But I assume your still pay a lot. How much are your out-of-pocket expenses" "Errr... errrr.. I actually don't pay anything out of the pocket" "OK then, next question?". A lot of these people were just praising Pallone, reading poetry and quoting JFK, and they got booed to the point where Pallone signaled to his stuff to cut them out. Oh, and it was this Obama mama, who for some reason kept making obscene signs at me, who was obviously high, and said how much she loves Pallone and Obama and asked them to stick this bill up our a$$es.

So there's want really much that we heard from Pallone. He said he strongly supports federal funding for abortions. He got pressured into admitting that in NJ there's no discrimination for pre-existing conditions. He went further to admit that's the case in most states. Upon furtther questioning, he said that well, in Alabama you can be discriminated if you make $10k/year, and Medicare wouldn't pick up your bill.

Pallone also claimed that ObamaCare would be budget neutral. He said it will cost only 1 trillion, no big deal (although the CBO says it will be closer to 2 trillions), and that half of it is paid by new taxes, while the other half is covered by savings already made by the Federal government. Excuse me??? The government saved 500 billions and hid the money away? You mean we've saved enough money to lower the deficit by half a trillion, and nobody told us? Nobody bout this BS, there were like 3 minutes of booing.

Also when asked about the constitutionality of this bill, he said it's under the "public welfare" cause, but this is a longer discussion and I'll write a separate posting about it, since it's completely false. But the most we heard were the opponents' statements, from explaining how "successful" government-run healthcare is in other countries, to claiming that all this is just about the government controlling more and more of our lives. And the biggest results is that Pallone could see that his constituents are 95% against him. I don't expect him to change his mind on the bill, but I'm sure that many other Congressmen who just got elected on very narrow margins, riding the Obama wave, are gonna listen to "We the people".

Tomorrow in Middletown, we should let Rush Holt hear the same thing. Like here, there shouldn't be any discrimination at the entrance between supporters and opponents, signs were allowed inside here as long as there were no sticks.

I only have a few pictures of the crowd to include here, and I'll post a few clips to YouTube in a few days.

Pallone Townhall Preview: A Report from Piscataway

My friend Joe Schilp attended Frank Pallone's Monday townhall in Piscataway. Here's his story from the event:

This evening I had the distinct pleasure of attending the townhall meeting of my Congressman, Frank Pallone, Esq. The event was scheduled to go from 7pm to 9pm at the Piscataway Municipal Building, which is a very small building that holds about 100 people.

I arrived at 6pm to queue up and was stunned to see a Coach USA bus pulling out of the parking lot; that's right, folks, while the president, Congress and media claim that angry right-wing mobs are organized and taking over these events, the people I saw bused in were carrying professionally printed Pro-healthcare signs complete with the Obama logo on them.

So I parked and got on line with about 75 people in front of me.

The main topic of the forum was expected to be healthcare, though any topic could be discussed. The doors opened at 6:55 and people began filing in. At 7:15, the meeting began. (How can a gov't that cannot even start a simple meeting on time be trusted with healthcare?)

First to speak was Piscataway's illustrious mayor, my opponent in last year's election, Brian Wahler. The very first words that came out of Wahler's mouth, I kid you not, were that the "rules of engagement are as follows." That's right, he started the evening using war terminology. Rules of engagement? UGH! Then he proceeded to announce that we'd get an hour, the room would be evacuated, and the people still outside would be allowed in to get an hour.

Wahler talked for 5 minutes, then bragged about putting solar panels on the senior housing building. The funny thing is that almost a year ago to this very date, Wahler ridiculed my campaign promise to investigate the installation of solar panels on township buildings because "that would void the warantty on the roofs of all the buildings." Hooo-boy.

Anyhow, Pallone took the mic at 7:20 and spoke for exactly 13 minutes before opening the meeting to a Q & A. His staff announced that they'd randomly select people starting in the front of the room and work their way toward the back. Obviously, not everyone would get a chance to speak. Since the first people to enter were the bused people, 5 of the first 6 people who spoke were pro-gov't healthcare. But as the mic worked it's way to the back, 6 of the next 10 people were against it. In all, just 17 people got to ask questions.

Some of my favorite Pallone quotes of the evening were:

"We, federal employees, would be treated just like Wal-Mart (employees)," response to a question is Congress would take the same healthcare as the rest of us. This statement was met with hearty laughter.

"I always vote to have government funding of abortion." That's right, folks, he's proud to spend your hard-earned money paying to kill babies.

"I support Nancy Pelosi. Actually, Nancy is one of my favorite people."

Anyhow, I did not get a chance to speak on mic, but I did approach Pallone when my group was leaving I told him that the spending had to stop, that $9 trillion in deficit is irresponsible, that the auto bailouts failed horrendously and that all these taxes take away my ability to create jobs. He had no response, choosing to turn away to take a picture with a supporter.

I then left to see at least 300 people queued-up outside and I knew that at least half of them would not even get in the door.

If you are going to see him tomorrow, know this, they will try to take your name on a sign-up sheet; I chose not to sign-up. Get there early. Grab a pro-Obama sign even if you are not a supporter as it may help you get the microphone and people will be there handing them out. And say hello to Col. Rash. He was there this evening and, I suspect, will be in Red Bank tomorrow.

Monmouth GOP Calls on Citizens to Speak Out Against Frank Pallone's Bad Medicine for America

Today Monmouth County Republican Chairman Joseph Oxley called on 6th Congressional District residents to speak out against Congressman Frank Pallone’s plan to raise taxes while cutting health care services for Americans.

“In a televised interview, Frank Pallone recently revealed his and the liberal Democrats’ plan for healthcare of higher taxes and cuts to doctors, nurses and hospitals,” said Oxley. “Frank Pallone is out of touch with New Jersey families. He wants us to pay more for less coverage. It’s vital that citizens speak out against this disastrous scheme for the American healthcare system.”

Frank Pallone is holding a town hall meeting tonight at the Piscataway Municipal Building, 455 Hoes Lane from 7:00 pm to 9:00pm, and another town hall meeting tomorrow, Tuesday August 25th, at the Red Bank Middle School, 101 Harding Road, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

The Monmouth County Republicans recently launched an internet video criticizing Pallone’s position and urging citizens to let their voices be heard.

Comments and Questions about the Health Care Bill

As we're beginning a busy week of protesting ObamaCare in Monmouth County, we should be ready to ask our representatives (Frank Pallone and Rush Holt) specific questions about the content of this bill. Fortunately, someone took extra time to compile everything into a documents that you can download here.

Here is a brief selection of questions that should be asked:

Will you cancel your government provided Congressional health care program and sign up for this new health care plan that you are going to force on the rest of America? A simple one word answer would be appreciated – Yes or No

How can we afford such a huge debt increase, and it’s impact on the US Dollar, stock market and economy?

Do you believe that HR3200 will help or hurt New Jersey’s pharmaceutical industry, and New Jersey’s unemployment rate?

Why did Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee vote against the Deal Amendment that would have prevented health care benefits being delivered to illegal aliens

Will the “end of life” counseling in HR 3200 encourage Seniors to refuse life-prolong medical procedures?

Can you explain the purpose of the “end of life counseling” and walk us through how it will work?

Under what circumstances can the government order, or ‘recommend’ an “end of life plan”?

What will you do to protect small business struggling in this recession from further taxation?

Why have you failed to include tort reform in the health care bill? Do you support medical malpractice tort reform?

Do you support revoking government restrictions that currently do not allow purchasing insurance across states?

Why are you trying to legislate health care system like a failed socialist Canadian health care system?

Have you read HR3200 in its entirety?

Can you guarantee that nothing in HR3200 will prevent us from keeping our current insurance plan as it is, today, five years from now, ten years from now, and beyond, even if our employer changes plans under some requirement of the bill?

Does giving Government the right to electronically access bank accounts violate privacy acts? Government employee access to personal info is a violation of HIPPA + other laws?

Healthcare Reform According to Whole Foods

Last week, John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal titled The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare. It's one of the best articles on what's wrong with Obama's plan, and we should actually do to improve health care insurance. But the liberal enviro-nuts who usually shop at Whole Foods were outraged that their leader dared question Obama's heavenly vision, and started to protest Whole Foods, picket it and so forth.

The article is worth reading in its entirety, here's in brief Mr. Mackey's eight suggested reforms:

• Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs)
• Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits
• Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines
• Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover
• Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year
• Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost
• Enact Medicare reform
• Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program

Frank Pallone Townhall on in Red Bank

Frank Pallone is holding a Townhall meeting at the Red Bank Middle School, 101 Harding Road, on Tuesday, Aug 25, between 7-9PM. (note the location change)

Bring questions in case we get inside or protest signs for outside. And let make sure we spread the word so people concerned about their healthcare, taxes and spending know to come and ask their representative's opinion.

At the same time, there will be a rally by a group called "Students for Healthcare Reform", organized by John McCarthy, a recent graduate of the Red Bank Catholic HS.

Fair Haven Mayor Halfacre to Host "Open to All Townhall" on Obama Healthcare Reform

Fair Haven Mayor Michael Halfacre announced today that he will be hosting an "Open to All Townhall" meeting on Wednesday August 26th at 5:30 pm at the Middletown Arts Center to discuss the controversial healthcare reforms being debated throughout the country. Congressman Rush Holt is scheduled to hold a townhall meeting the same evening at 7:00 pm inside the Arts Center. Mayor Halfacre's forum will be held outside the Arts Center, before the Holt gathering, weather permitting.

Halfacre said his event was designed make sure that people who oppose Obamacare get a chance to speak their minds.

"After the initial blowback of the first townhalls, you now have lawmakers intentionally scheduling these meetings in small rooms, you have lawmakers packing the room with supporters bused in from outside the district to ensure that everyday people aren't given their full chance to speak. I want to make sure that people have a chance to speak their minds without worrying whether or not they get into Rush Holt's meeting, or depending on Holt staffers to call on them."

Halfacre, who is running against Holt in 2010 for Holt's 12th Congressional District seat, said he would say a few words at the beginning of the program and then open up the floor to questions or people who simply wanted to make statements about Obamacare.

"We'll have a copy of the bill there, sitting on a table. I'll be glad to answer anyone's questions about the bill as best I can, and if there are people who support the single-payer or the public option, they'll get a chance to speak too. That's why we're calling it Open to All. We want to have a dialogue, not a cheerleading session, and we don't want anyone shut out.

Halfacre said he expected the gathering to be passionate but civil.

"There is a tremendous amount of dissatisfaction out there, not only over healthcare reform, but the general direction the country has taken on a number of issues. People are starting to have serious buyer's remorse with President Obama. I am hopeful that this townhall will give people an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction in a forceful but civil way and let our elected officials know that there is significant opposition to the government taking over one-sixth of the economy and intruding into people's personal health decisions."

The meeting will take place on the side of the Middletown Arts Center adjacent to the 9/11 Memorial, across from the Middletown train station. Light refreshments will be served.

Scary Stuff in the Healthcare Bill

I'm sure only a handful of Congressmen actually read the healthcare bill. Same is to be said about the about 40% of the Americans who support the bill. They all took the blue pill that Obama gave them, and don't really care about what's inside. But if you peek inside the bill, you have all the reasons to be scared, because it means the end of freedom as you know it.

You can read the bill here, here is some stuff that you'll find inside, courtesy of Robert Wenzel from the FreeRepublic:


Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!

Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits u get

Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill - YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!

Pg 42 of HC Bill - The Health Choices Commissioner will choose UR HC Benefits 4 you. U have no choice!

PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill - HC will be provided 2 ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise

Pg 58HC Bill - Govt will have real-time access 2 individs finances & a National ID Healthcard will b issued!

Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access 2 ur banks accts 4 elect. funds transfer

PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan 4 retirees and their families in Unions & community orgs (ACORN).

Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange 2 bring priv HC plans under Govt control.

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration ur Healthcare!

PG 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill - Govt mandates linguistic approp svcs. Example - Translation 4 illegal aliens

Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps 2 sign up indiv. for Govt HC plan

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs of Ben Levels 4 Plans. #AARP members - U Health care WILL b rationed

pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt Monop

pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill - Doctors/ #AMA - The Govt will tell YOU what u can make.

Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into pub opt plan. NO CHOICE

Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay 4 HC 4 part time employees AND their families.

Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Emplyr w payroll 400k & above who does not prov. pub opt. pays 8% tax on all payroll

pg 150 Lines 9-13 Biz w payroll btw 251k & 400k who doesnt prov. pub. opt pays 2-6% tax on all payroll

Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesnt have acceptable HC accrdng 2 Govt will be taxed 2.5% of inc

Pg 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from indiv. taxes. (Americans will pay)

Pg 195 HC Bill -officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access 2 ALL Americans finan/pers recs

PG 203 Line 14-15 HC - "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax" Yes, it says that

Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Govt will reduce physician svcs 4 Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor affected

Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill - Doctors, doesnt matter what specialty u have, you'll all be paid the same

PG 253 Line 10-18 Govt sets value of Dr's time, prof judg, etc. Literally value of humans.

PG 265 Sec 1131 Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries

PG 268 Sec 1141 Fed Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs

PG 272 SEC. 1145. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151 The Govt will penalize hospitals 4 what Govt deems preventable readmissions.

Pg 298 Lines 9-11 Drs, treat a patient during initial admiss that results in a readmiss-Govt will penalize u.

Pg 317 L 13-20 OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Drs. what/how much they can own.

Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating hospitals cannot expand

pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have oppt to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can u say ACORN?!!

Pg335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 - Govt mandates estab. of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing

Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Govt has authority 2 disqual Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing peeps in2 Govt plan

Pg 354 Sec 1177 - Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs ppl! WTF. My sis has down syndrome!!

Pg 379 Sec 1191 Govt creates more bureaucracy - Telehealth Advisory Cmtte. Can u say HC by phone?

PG 425 Lines 4-12 Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life

Pg 425 Lines 17-19 Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!

PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Govt provides apprvd list of end of life resources, guiding u in death

PG 427 Lines 15-24 Govt mandates program 4 orders 4 end of life. The Govt has a say in how ur life ends

PG 429 Lines 10-12 "adv. care consultation" may incl an ORDER 4 end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOV

Pg 429 Lines 13-25 - The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.

PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Govt will decide what level of treatment u will have at end of life

PG 489 Sec 1308 The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt in2 ur marriage

Pg 494-498 Govt will cover Mental Health Svcs including defining, creating, rationing those svcs

Healthcare Information - Your Future Health Depends on This

I received this message from Dorothy Albala, VP of the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce:

Code Blue: Get your Clients Involved in the Health Care Debate

For this week's Operation Shout, we are asking you to get your clients involved! As you know, comprehensive health care reform reaches far beyond insurance agents, brokers and consultants, and it is important for members of Congress to hear from everyone.

We have created three different client Operation Shouts that you can forward to your clients to get them involved. The first letter is to voice their concerns about a government-run public plan option. The second letter is to tell Congress that they think employers should be able to continue to decide what health benefits they can afford to provide to their employees. And the final letter is for them to urge their members of Congress to allow Americans to truly keep their current health insurance coverage.

Along with this week's Operation Shout letters, we will also be providing a client version of the Washington Update. Tomorrow when you receive the Washington Update, look for the client version attached as a Word document so that you can edit it yourself and send it out to your clients.

Thank you for all of your support during these Operation Shouts!

Natasha Richardson - A Victim of the Wonderful Socialized Canadian Healthcare?

This is one way to look at it. As AP reports:

Questions are arising over whether a medical helicopter might have been able to save actress Natasha Richardson.

The province of Quebec lacks a medical helicopter system, common in the United States and other parts of Canada, to airlift stricken patients to major trauma centers. Montreal's top head trauma doctor said Friday that may have played a role in Richardson's death.

While Richardson's initial refusal of medical treatment cost her two hours, she also had to be driven to two hospitals. She didn't arrive at a specialized hospital in Montreal until about four hours after the second 911 call from her hotel room at the resort.

So, my fellow Americans, this is what Obama wants for you, a state-run healthcare system where you spend hours in critical condition before the Government can take you to a hospital. As a comparison, I've seen med-evac choppers at small ski areas like Hunter or Windham arriving before the injured person was even brought down the slopes.

The Stimulus Bill Puts Your Health at Risk

Anybody who reads the Stimulus bill in detail should be really concerned about his or her health. Betsy McCaughey from Bloomberg read it and has a good summary. Here are a few of her points:

One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. Hospitals and doctors that are not “meaningful users” of the new system will face penalties. “Meaningful user” isn’t defined in the bill.

The stimulus bill calls [for a] Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. [Tom Daschle] praises Europeans for being more willing to accept “hopeless diagnoses” and “forgo experimental treatments,” and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system. Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.

The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle’s book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis. In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye.

Healthcare spending with other people's money

Prof Mark Perry found a very good explanation to the rising healthcare costs

According to Dr. David Gratzer of the Manhattan Institute, in 1960 about half of health-care expenditures were directly controlled by consumers. Today, it is about 15%. Over the same period in which consumers have relinquished control, per-capita health-care spending has quintupled and costs have skyrocketed.

He then suggests the following example:

Now imagine how your spending on food, travel, clothing, automobiles, cell phone plans, housing, etc. would change if you only paid 15% of the total cost out-of-pocket.
1. You'd eat a lot better, and so would your dog, e.g. you'd both eat a lot more steak.
2. You'd always travel first-class.
3. You'd get a Jaguar instead of a Ford Focus, or you'd get 2 Ford Focuses instead of one.
4. You'd get 2,000 minute per month plan, instead of a 500 minute plan.
What would happen to the prices of food, cars, etc.? Up, Up, Up.

And another interesting quote from PJ O'Rourke: If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see how much it costs when it is free.

More on Sicko: The Difference Between Health Care and Health Insurance

Dirty Harry at Libertas explains very clearly the biggest mistake Michael Moore is making in his latest movie, Sicko: not realizing the difference between health care and health insurance. Here's what he says:

No one in this country is without healthcare. No one in this country lacks healthcare. No one in this country is without access to healthcare. Anyone who wants healthcare in America can get it at any time. What people lack is health insurance. The difference between lacking healthcare and lacking health insurance is a profound one. If you don’t have insurance you can still get healthcare, you just have to pay for it yourself. If you can’t afford the $60,000 to have your finger re-attached, you can make payments.

I’ve had periods of my life where I’ve gone without health insurance. It was my own choice because I felt there was no way I would rack up yearly medical expenses that even came close to the policy costs. I’ve gone years with only a catastrophic insurance plan that had a $5,000 deductible and only cost $60 a month. It saved me a fortune but was there in the event the unforseen happened.

Contrary to popular belief Canada doesn’t have universal healthcare. What Canada has is universal health insurance. It can take years to get treated in Canada. That’s not healthcare. In Canada you’re insured by the state but can’t get treated. In America you can get treated but may have to pay yourself.

Which would you prefer?