A "Thank You" Note...

Wow--I received this neat email letter today from none other than Joltin' Joe Biden!

Leo --

Two weeks after it was signed into law, health insurance reform is still the talk of the town.

It's for a good reason: This was a historic accomplishment. But it wasn't easy. I remember what it's like to be a senator and take a tough stand on an issue -- confident that it's the best thing for your constituents, but equally sure that special interests will pour buckets of money into attacking you for it.

Your senators, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, took that tough stand when they supported health reform. Now, we need to provide a line of defense money can't buy: the voices of real constituents speaking out and showing their support.

That's where you come in. Do you have three minutes to jot down a quick letter to your local newspaper? If you need ideas on what to say, you can watch a quick video Organizing for America put together about how reform will benefit Minnesota.

Click here to get started.

Believe me, senators and their staff read the letters page -- because they know just how influential it can be. Your letter could make a tremendous difference.

In my conversations with my old colleagues, I made it clear that this White House was prepared to back them up -- that no barrage of partisan attack ads would go unanswered. But to follow through, I'm going to need some help from folks like you.

This legislation will put Americans in control of their own health care, rein in insurance-company abuses, and give millions of Americans access to affordable health care for the first time.

Special interests know that in the coming months, all their lies about reform will be proven false. But that won't stop them from inventing new ones and spreading attack ads.

It's just the first step, but one letter from a constituent is worth a hundred paid advertisements. So please make sure your friends and neighbors understand the benefits this law will bring to ordinary Americans -- take three minutes and write a paragraph or two now:

http://my.barackobama.com/SenateThank

Thanks,

Vice President Joe Biden

Well, shucks--that was mighty nice of ol' Joe--I mean--to offer the resources of Organizing for America to write a letter of 'thanks' to Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken for their thoughtful consideration in voting for Obamacare! It was so nice, that I thought I would take him up on his offer. So, I wrote the following LTE to the St. Cloud Times, the Star Tribune, and the Duluth Tribune, all on OFA's dime:

I am writing this letter to voice my disgust over Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar's blind passage of the behemoth health care bill that is neither about bringing down the cost of health care nor of expanding the coverage of quality health care. Already we are seeing the effects of planned layoffs at corporations who will, by virtue of the mandates of the bill, be required to lay off hundreds of workers, merely to stay in business. This, along with the proposed Value Added Tax (VAT) could not come at a worse time, and will only prolong this, the greatest recession since the 1930s. This bill was ill conceived from the onset, and it is clear that Senators Klobuchar and Franken lacked the integrity to do the right thing and to block the passage to the greatest affront to America's personal and financial liberties since before the American Revolution.

Rest assured, the voters will long remember this transgression, and Senators Klobuchar and Franken will go down in History in the Hall of One-Term Wonders.

Admittedly, It may not be the type of "thank you" letter that Joe Biden, Barack Obama and OFA had in mind, but what the heck. They were the ones that sent the invite.

Click on the link above, and have some fun, yourselves!

My Teleprompter! My Kingdom for My Teleprompter!

Obama's 2500 word, 17-minute rambling response to the question, "Is it a good idea to raise taxes right now?"

So This Is How Obama Pulled A Fast One...

But thankfully, as with many incantations, the spell only lasts so long...

Liar in Chief, Barack Hussein Obama (Hmm Hmm Hmm)

Liar in Chief, Barack Hussein Obama (Hmmm Hmmm Hmmm)



(h/t Theo Spark)

The Gipper, with a Dire Warning...

This appears to be even more true today than it was in 1961...

Erick at Red State's Call to Action...

Senate Republicans, take heed:

FIGHT

Just When You Thought Common Sense Had a Chance.

Just when you thought one might be able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The 60 votes aren't there any more.

With the Senate set to begin debate Monday on health care overhaul, the all-hands-on-deck Democratic coalition that allowed the bill to advance is fracturing already. Yet majority Democrats will need 60 votes again to finish.

Some Democratic senators say they'll jump ship from the bill without tighter restrictions on abortion coverage. Others say they'll go unless a government plan to compete with private insurance companies gets tossed overboard. Such concessions would enrage liberals, the heart and soul of the party.

Yep... Just when you can see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Just when you thought that there may be an end to the madness...

In come the RINOs to really muck things up. You see, it seems that instead of killing the bill at the onset, the GOP brainiacs in the Senate, like the proverbial dog showing a thief where the best silverware is, are trying to "improve" the bill so as to leave it less palatable to invoke a filibuster!

Erick Erickson at Red State has the gory details:

Having started from the presupposition that the health care legislation is going to pass, the GOP seems to be signaling it will work to “improve” the legislation just enough to overcome a filibuster.

The legislation has 57 votes already. The GOP does not need to offer amendments to improve the bill — they need to bring it to a vote and kill it. Preening for cameras and favorable press coverage is going to get the bill to 60 votes and a signing ceremony.

What a bunch of numb-nuts. Could the Senate GOP get any more of a tin ear? One commenter on RedState said it best, when he invoked Sam Adams:

“If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams

Indeed.

May God have mercy on our nation, for miserably squandering the gift of freedom He so graciously bestowed, giving away our children's birthright with the nonchalance of a Hennepin Avenue streetwalker.

As Ronald Reagan famously stated, freedom is only a generation away from extinction. And it appears that our generation is hellbent on making Ronald Reagan's maxim a reality.

Camille Paglia Hits It Spot On.

Camille Paglia is no conservative. In fact, Camille Paglia is no Republican. Camille Paglia is, in fact, a feminist Democrat. That’s why I found her latest piece at Salon.com so fascinating.

When I first saw the article, entitled, “Pelosi’s Victory for Women,” I thought, “Okay, here we go–another Nancy Pelosi mindless puff piece.”

The first two paragraphs certainly did not disappoint:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi scored a giant gain for feminism last weekend. In shoving her controversy-plagued healthcare reform bill to victory by a paper-thin margin, she conclusively demonstrated that a woman can be just as gritty, ruthless and arm-twisting in pursuing her agenda as anyone in the long line of fabled male speakers before her. Even a basic feminist shibboleth like abortion rights became just another card for Pelosi to deal and swap.

It was a stunningly impressive recovery for someone who seemed to be coming apart at the seams last summer, when a sputtering, rattled Pelosi struggled to deal with the nationwide insurgency of town hall protesters — reputable, concerned citizens whom she outrageously tried to tar as Nazis. Whether or not her bill survives in the Senate is immaterial: Pelosi’s hard-won, trench-warfare win sets a new standard for U.S. women politicians and is certainly well beyond anything the posturing but ineffectual Hillary Clinton has ever achieved.

Yep, just a run of the mill flaming lib, blindly singing the phrases of another flaming lib.

But the following paragraph (and thereafter) blindsided my expectations:

As for the actual content of the House healthcare bill, horrors! Where to begin? That there are serious deficiencies and injustices in the U.S. healthcare system has been obvious for decades. To bring the poor and vulnerable into the fold has been a high ideal and an urgent goal for most Democrats. But this rigid, intrusive and grotesquely expensive bill is a nightmare. Holy Hygeia, why can’t my fellow Democrats see that the creation of another huge, inefficient federal bureaucracy would slow and disrupt the delivery of basic healthcare and subject us all to a labyrinthine mass of incompetent, unaccountable petty dictators? Massively expanding the number of healthcare consumers without making due provision for the production of more healthcare providers means that we’re hurtling toward a staggering logjam of de facto rationing. Steel yourself for the deafening screams from the careerist professional class of limousine liberals when they get stranded for hours in the jammed, jostling anterooms of doctors’ offices. They’ll probably try to hire Caribbean nannies as ringers to do the waiting for them.

Read, as they say, the whole thing.

If a feminist liberal democrat like Camille Paglia gets it, are the rest of her liberal cohorts that brain-dead? Or are they merely blinded and necromanced by the promise of a socialist utopia, even if they have to destroy an entire nation to achieve it?

Do the Math.

$60 BILLION dollars in Medicare FRAUD every year, vs. $8 billion dollars in insurance profits per year.

Follow the money.

Any wonder why Obama & Company want to expand government control over your health care?

Go to Jail...Go Directly to Jail..

..and/or pay $25k if you try to opt out of Obamacare:

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) received a handwritten note Thursday from Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold confirming the penalty for failing to pay the up to $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance.

Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty, Barthold wrote on JCT letterhead. He signed it "Sincerely, Thomas A. Barthold."

The note was a follow-up to Ensign's questioning at the markup.

Hopenchange, baby!

Barack Hussein Obama: Turning manufactured crises into *real* crises since Jan 20, 2009!~

The title of this post could very well be a truth-in-advertising campaign slogan for BHO in 2012. And it continues to hold true to this very minute:

President Obama on Monday made his most detailed pitch yet for a $1-trillion overhaul of the nation's burdened healthcare system, calling it a "ticking time bomb" that threatens the nation's prosperity.

Remember when we "had to do something" when Obama and the democrats in Congress passed the "Bailout" to nowhere, saying we just *had* to act to pass an abomination of taxpayer-funded largesse that no one even took the time to read? At the very least, I gotta give the LA Times credit for reporting at least some of the truth:

The challenges of advancing major healthcare legislation were underscored Monday by a preliminary report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimated that the first major Democratic health bill -- prepared by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) -- could cost about $1 trillion over the next decade, while covering only about 16 million more people.

It appears that Senator Edward Kennedy wishes on taxpayers the same fate he dealt to Mary Jo Kopechne, but I digress. Just suffice it to say that when President Barack Hussein Obama (or any liberal democrat, for that matter) labels anything a "crisis," hold on to your wallets.

As P.J. O'Rourke famously quoted,

"If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free."

'Nuff said.

Gottwalt Pushes Through Health Care Plan

Quite an accomplishment in today's democrat-controlled state legislature:

ST. PAUL - State Rep. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud, today presented a health care reform bill (HF1865) that would improve how Minnesota provides health care coverage to low-income adults, while saving the state an estimated $100 million per year.

Gottwalt presented the Healthy Minnesota Plan (HMP) to the Health Care and Human Services Policy and Oversight Committee, which unanimously approved the bill, moving it on to the Health and Human Services Finance Division.

The HMP would cover 84,000 Minnesota adults currently on MinnesotaCare with a more generous private market benefit package, and a deductible covered mostly by the state. The plan would pay providers market rates for the health care they deliver, eliminating cost-shifting, and opening more health care access to those enrolled in the plan.

The HMP would save state administrative costs, provide greater flexibility for the enrollee, tap into savings of large private insurance pools, and fit well with other health care reform initiatives. Gottwalt described the bill as a “demonstration project that will improve care for 84,000 Minnesotans, and save the state about $200 million in the coming biennium.”

“The plan benefits consumers, providers and the state,” Gottwalt said. “Even if Minnesota were not facing a huge budget deficit, we need to explore better ways of covering more Minnesotans in a manner that is financially sustainable and engages consumers more directly. The private market can deliver better access to high quality, cost-effective health care.”

Gottwalt said Minnesota currently spends about $7,000 per year for every adult enrollee on MinnesotaCare. He said conservative estimates show the HMP will save the state more than $1,000 per adult enrollee, or about $100 million per year ($200 million per biennium).

“The savings actually grow over time,” Gottwalt said. “We think this approach could be used to provide coverage to other public enrollees, saving even more.” Given the current state budget deficit, this is seen as a sustainable way to provide coverage to people in need while saving the state significant money.

Gottwalt said the HMP generates state savings several ways, starting with tapping into larger, private insurance pools to capitalize on more efficient administrative, education and enrollee services now provided by the state.

Also, the cost to the state for covering most of the deductible under the HMP is based on actual expenditures, not a per-member-per-month capitation payment. The Healthy Minnesota Plan Account (structured as a Health Reimbursement Account or HRA) requires the state to maintain a reserve, but not full funding up front. HF1865 does not include copays, but it is structured to be flexible in addressing cost sharing issues.

The HMP offers an even greater level of benefits than currently available under MinnesotaCare, including dental, vision and pregnancy coverages. The plan provides first-dollar coverage of primary and preventive care, all the covered benefits of MinnesotaCare, and a $5 million lifetime maximum (much stronger than MinnesotaCare's $10,000 inpatient maximum).

“Instead of being denied access to care by providers who do not get paid enough from existing Minnesota public programs, these enrollees will now be considered on par with other privately insured people,” Gottwalt said. “Also, these enrollees will have a debit card with which to pay eligible expenses within the deductible. No more being shunned for lack of a cash co-payment or deductible payment. And, unlike MinnesotaCare, the Healthy Minnesota Plan major medical coverage is completely portable; it belongs to the enrollee.”

Gottwalt has often told me that there are smarter, more cost-effective ways to deliver health care to those in need. The fact that a Republican actually got a cost-effective initiative past a democrat-controlled committee in the current political climate is no easy feat.

Congratulations, Steve!

Governor Goalie: Time for a REAL SAVE!

Dear Governor,

It has often been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and nothing screams that axiom more loudly than passing legislation for no other good reason than to tell voters, "We did something."

Oftentimes, such rushes to "do something" result in the "cure" being much worse and nefarious than that which it was intended to ameliorate.

Such is the case with HF3391.

Bill sponsors have admitted they have no idea of how much this legislation will cost or how it will be funded. But outside projections have shown that the bill will bankrupt the Health Care Access Fund by 2012.

The bill create new layers of expensive government bureaucracy, allows government to seize control of our private medical information and set the stage for a government takeover of health care in Minnesota.

If you want good health care reform, look the initiative put forth by Colorado state Senator Bob Hagerdorn.

Recently, as you know, Minnesota was ranked the healthiest state in the nation, and I have no doubt that such a ranking is no accident. We have the highest access to health care.

PLEASE DON'T BOTCH IT UP!

Please veto HF3391.

Sincerely,

Leo Pusateri

(Send your own fax to the governor about this train-wreck waiting to happen by clicking here).

Steve Gottwalt on Health Care...

From a letter:

Health Care Reform Bill:

Thursday was a long day/night; for 14 hours, we debated and discussed one of the most important priorities for our state: health care reform. We considered HF 3391, Rep. Tom Huntley's bill that mandates major changes including some crafted by the Governor's Health Care Transformation Task Force.
Although we agree on the need for improvements in our health care system that focus on wellness and prevention and offer consumers more transparency about cost and quality of care, the bill takes us down the wrong road, too far and too fast.
On the whole, the package represents a massive shift toward socialized health care, based on a broad assumption that government must save us from ourselves. It leavesserious concerns and many more important questions unanswered.

What's more, we literally can't afford it! The state estimates the price tag at more than $1.23 billion -- even as our state faces a $1 billion budget deficit. The bill puts more people on taxpayer funded programs, but uses up all of the state's Health Care Access Fund, and runs out of money in 2012, at which time state law requires us to dis-enroll people from state programs. There is no plan for funding beyond 2012. That's making promises we can't keep, and that's why I voted against the bill.

CentraCare Health System wrote me a letter which I shared with lawmakers Thursday, and I'm sharing it with you because it illustrates why this bill is the wrong approach for health care reform:

"We are writing to . . . ask you not to support the bill when it is considered later this week. We do not make this request lightly. . . .We do understand that significant effort has gone into crafting this legislation, but it is our belief that the underlying process was flawed because it specifically failed to include individuals with actual experience in health care from Greater Minnesota. In addition, it has been moved through the legislative process without adequate time to
fully study the implications of many of the initiatives included in the bill. There are parts of the bill that do have merit . . . There are, however, many parts of the bill that are problematic, and we fear will destabilize health care delivery in rural Minnesota. We urge you to work to eliminate the potentially harmful aspects of the bill or, failing that, oppose adoption of the entire bill until such time as these issues can be addressed. HF 3391 includes many initiatives which we believe have been poorly designed. Many of these issues could have been addressed if health care providers, especially those from Greater Minnesota, had been allowed to participate in the design of meaningful health care reform legislation.

After careful analysis of HF 3391, we have identified the following concerns:
* Budget neutrality – which is simply not reasonable when attempting to increase the number of persons covered under MinnesotaCare.

* Creation of numerous new state commissions to collect data, design benefits sets, monitor quality and restrict access to new technologies. These commissions (and the staff that will serve them in the legislature) will add additional cost/administrative burdens to the health care system as well as the state.

* Implementation timelines that are far too short to allow thoughtful design and implementation of initiatives.

* This bill fails to address the rising cost of health care insurance in Minnesota.

* The bill requires transparency of health care providers but fails to require similar transparency from medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment manufacturers and suppliers or insurance companies. All of these are major cost drivers for providers.

Most importantly, this bill fails to address the importance of the ever increasing consumer demand for health care services as a driver of escalating health care costs. In fact, the increasing utilization of medical services is, along with cost shifting due to inadequate compensation for Medicare & Medicaid services, among the most
significant drivers of increasing health care costs for government, businesses and consumers. . . . The cost of providing Medicaid services does not go away. When the state cuts reimbursement, those costs must simply be shifted.

Minnesotans are already served by some of the most innovative, lowest cost and highest quality health care providers in the nation. Minnesota providers are recognized collectively and individually across the nation for the value they provide for Minnesotans in health care. We must not jeopardize those successes."
-[signed by the presidents of CentraCare Health System]

As a member of both Health Care and Human Services policy and finance committees in the House, the Legislative Health Care Access Commission, and Minnesota’s Rural Health Advisory Committee, I’ve been pushing for common sense, market-based reforms that preserve consumer freedom and choice, protect patient data privacy and security, and prevent a government takeover of our health system. Those are the best and most
sustainable ways to address quality, cost and access for our families and businesses.

A House-Senate conference committee, in conversation with Governor Pawlenty, will now work to develop a final bill on which we will vote in about a week. At a bare minimum, the bill must have high confidence of decreasing health care costs, and must be fiscally balanced so we can follow through on what we commit to.

Minnesota is the healthiest state in the nation, our costs are 15 percent below the national average, and our outcomes are second to none. We also have the highest percentage of population with health care coverage in the nation – nearly 94 percent. The vast majority of those without coverage are eligible for existing state programs, or have simply refused private coverage options available to them.

As I’ve pointed out before, Minnesota is in a “first-and-goal on the five yard line” situation. We need carefully planned and executed plays that move us toward the goal line, not aggressive and risky measures that threaten to get us sacked back at mid-field. I sincerely hope that is what I will be able to vote on when the bill comes back from conference committee.

Good Komrades of Minnesota...

Before reading this post, in order to get full flavor of message, please to cue the music!

Now, on to the business of the State, good Komrades!

A good source from opposition tells me that Minnesota House passed version of womb-to-tomb centralized, state-run health care!

Last night the House passed their version of the health care reform bill. While less bad than the Senate’s version (which carries with it a $40 million tax increase to pay for all kinds of programs designed to save us from ourselves), the House bill doesn’t bring us any closer to the kinds of free market reforms our health care system needs. Aside from the tax increase, the other reason why the House bill could be considered an improvement over the Senate’s version is the Senate’s creation of a politburo-style Health Care Transformation Commission. In the Senate’s bill, the HCTC would be responsible for passing judgment on and implementing new rules and regulations for hospitals and health care plans. At least the House decided not to abrogate their oversight
responsibility and require that all new rules must get legislative approval. But what the hey, right? Why not give a small, unelected body control over 1/6 of our state’s economy? What could possibly go wrong with that?

So it’s off to the conference committee for the two bills. And what comes out nobody knows.

All is coming together according to plan, dear Komrades...Note that we needed to start small, as in MinnCare; for we must boil frog slowly, dear komrades, lest it notice that it is being boiled. Then we get public used to more and more government run health care, and package it as "free!"

And now, onto total government-run health care, and we, dear komrades, are on our way to our socialist, womb-to-tomb utopia!

GOD bless Karl Marx!

Oops? Did I say God?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Minnesota #1 in health care...

When it comes to health, Minnesota is No. 1, but the Gopher state has slipped a bit when it comes to livability. That's according to CQ Press, which is out with its list of the most healthy and livable states for 2008.

Minnesota supplanted Vermont as the nation's most healthy state, marking the first time since 1999 that Minnesota has come out on top in the annual survey. In its "Health Care State Rankings 2008: Health Care Across America" survey released Wednesday, the publisher examined 21 factors such as access to health care providers, affordability of health care and the general health of the population to come up with this year's list.

We're from the government and we're here to help....NOT.

Craig Westover has a must-read article in the Pi-Press that calls proposed socialized healthcare in Minnesota what it is: A train in search of a wreck. Be sure to read the whole thing. Regarding this article, Steve Gottwalt, who voted against the measure in committee and plans to vote "no" when the measure comes to the floor, stated,

This is EXACTLY the truth (and my deep concern) about the health care reform legislation charging through the Legislature at this time (HF3391 Huntley)! Anyone who cares at all about health care MUST READ THIS!!

Unfortunately, I have it on good word that our wayward governor has signaled that he would sign this bill into law should it reach his desk. It's time to storm the Governor's office with phone calls, faxes, and emails and have him veto this measure!

If the government can't even get a simple thing like light bulbs right, how can you even begin to trust them with your health care?

Rabies on the Rise in Minnesota?

From a communication via the MN Dept. of Health...

Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 12:22 PM
To: Barbara Bishop
Subject: Minnesota Department of Health Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative Grantees 2006-2007 Update


Time-sensitive : Rabies death (#22485)

Oct 23, 2007 1:56:48 PM

Time-sensitive:Rabies death
Forward this information on to healthcare providers, clinics, and hospitals in your jurisdiction.

Minnesota's second case of human rabies in seven years has prompted state health officials to remind Minnesota residents to seek immediate medical attention if they have had contact with a bat. A man in his 40s who was exposed to a bat in north-central Minnesota in mid-August died Saturday, Oct. 20, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported today.

Officials at MDH believe the man was infected with the rabies virus after being bitten by a bat sometime in mid-August; although he reportedly felt a "needle-prick," he did not believe he was bitten because no blood was drawn. He did not seek medical care immediately following the incident.

The diagnosis of rabies was confirmed Thursday, Oct. 18, based on testing done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

MDH is working with several health care facilities where the man was given care to evaluate whether any health care workers may have been exposed to his saliva and need prophylaxis to prevent rabies infection.

Rabies in humans is rare in the U.S., with only one to three cases reported each year. The CDC confirmed three human cases in 2006.

Only four other cases have been reported in Minnesota during the past century. Previous cases occurred in 1917, 1964, 1975, and 2000; all were fatal.

"Two deaths in seven years is too many," said Ruth Lynfield, State Epidemiologist and Medical Director for Infectious Disease at MDH. "What is most saddening about these deaths is that they could have been prevented with prompt medical attention following exposure."

The number of rabies-related human deaths in the U.S. has declined from more than 100 annually in the early 1900's to one to three per year more recently. Modern day prophylaxis has proven nearly 100 percent effective at preventing the disease. However, treatment must be started before symptoms of rabies appear; once a person develops symptoms, the illness is almost always fatal.

This most recent Minnesota case underscores the importance of seeking prompt medical attention if you are bitten by or may have been exposed to an animal that could be infected with rabies, according to MDH officials.

Bat exposures pose a special problem because bat bites are difficult to see and may not be noticed. If you have any physical contact with a bat, the bat should be captured and tested for rabies and medical advice should be sought. Additionally, if a bat is found in a room with an unattended child, a sleeping person, or anyone who cannot reliably communicate what happened, the bat should be captured and tested for rabies. Most recent cases of rabies in humans in the U.S. have been due to bat bites that were not recognized or reported.

People who may have been exposed to the rabies virus are given an injection of rabies immune globulin, and five doses of rabies vaccine, given over a one-month period. Treatment is unnecessary if the suspect animal can be captured, tested, and found to be free of the virus. In the case of dogs, cats or ferrets, treatment can often be avoided if the animal is held for observation, and remains healthy for 10 days following the bite.

Dr. Joni Scheftel, State Public Health Veterinarian, is also reminding people that they should get their household pets immunized against rabies. Rabies shots are available for dogs, cats and ferrets.

People with concerns about possible exposure to rabies, or questions about the disease, can call MDH at (651) 201-5414 during normal business hours.

Mitchell Davis, Jr., Director
Office of Minority and Multicultural Health
MN Department of Health
625 N. Robert Street
St. Paul MN 55164-0975
(P) 651.201.5818
(F) 651.201.4986
mitchell.davis@health.state.mn.us

Hillarycare v. -0.1

She's at it again, folks.

MANDATORY, like it or not, national health insurance.

Stephen Parente, an economist who heads the Medical Industry Leadership Institute at the University of Minnesota, said Clinton's requirement that everyone be covered is similar to the way states require auto insurance. And, as happens with auto insurance, not everyone will comply. "Having someone (without medical insurance) costs the system more, the same way it does when you have a lot of people running around in uninsured cars," Parente said.

It figures that a pencil-necked wonk from the U. of M. would come up with that lame-brained analogy. Let's take it in list form, shall we?

1. The requirement to have auto insurance is mandated by states, not by a bloated federal bureaucracy.
2. The crux behind the State laws are to protect other drivers, not the insured. In other words, people are required to carry auto insurance to insure losses that their own actions incur on other drivers, not themselves. Policies to cover their own losses in car accidents are optional.
   
3. People have the absolute, unpenalized choice of the type of auto insurance and from which company. There is no government tax imposed on selecting a more expensive plan with superior coverage. Under Shrillary's "womb-to-tomb" plan, any employer-provided private insurance plan that covers above and beyond the national plan would be subject to income taxes (currently on those making $250k or more, but that'll change).

On top of all this,

Insurance companies would face greater regulations on premium costs.

Surprise! (NOT). Anytime government steps in and regulates the cost of anything in the market, look for A: quality of service to deteriorate; and/or B: The actual cost of the services, along with everything else with it, to go up. (Remember the wage and price freeze of the 1970s?)

About the plan,

Several aspects of her plan, or at least the way she talks about it, appear designed to shield her from some of the attacks leveled at the previous plan. She said her proposal isn't government-run and doesn't create new bureaucracies.

And just who is going to keep track of whether one has participated or not in your scheme, Hillary, if not a government-run bureaucracy?

She said the costs would be covered by rolling back portions of President Bush's tax cuts and by making the current system more efficient.

Yeah. That's right. Make things "more efficient" by slowing down the economy and productivity and the ensuing tax revenue that the economy would otherwise create.

Brilliant move, Einstein.

"These are new times and this is a new plan. When it comes to health-care reform, I believe I have the experience needed to get it done in my first term as president," she said.

Yeah. You have the experience needed to fuck with my and my family's healthcare.

And I have the experience needed to be a brain surgeon.

What a retard.

The shape of things to come? Walter Reed and the democrats' futures

From here

Democrats fume over Walter Reed scandal Sen. Charles Schumer says he fears this 'is just the tip of the iceberg.' By Noam N. Levey Times Staff Writer March 5, 2007 WASHINGTON Congressional Democrats on Sunday kept up their attacks on substandard care for injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as they prepared for hearings on the issue this week. "If it's this bad at the outpatient facilities at Walter Reed, how is it in the rest of the country?" Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on ABC's "This Week." "Walter Reed is our crown jewel."

It would seem to me that if Walter Reed is the "crown jewel" of a government-run health care system, as Schumer puts it, would it not also be the "Crown Jewel" for the democrat vision of health care for our entire nation as espoused by Hillary Clinton and others?

V.A. hospital care is socialized medicine.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't begrudge health care for our vets; and I think that those who sacrificed so much should get the best of everything.

But let's take a closer look, shall we?

The V.A. hospitals are government run health care.

By Schumer's own admission, the V.A. run health care system is a failure.

What does that portend for the political futures of a party who, outside of seeking our defeat in Iraq, have hitched their wagons to a nationalized health care system for all?

Does the fate that has befallen Walter Reed, and as Schumer put it, possibly many other government-run health care institutions, not suggest that a much larger, much more complex government-run health care system would be subject to the same fate, or worse?

The V.A.'s failures should bode fair warning to all who felt that the jury was still out as to the feasibility of and practicality of a nationalized health care system.

Case closed.

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