Advantage Cronyism
The Weekly Standard, January 5, 2010
By: Jeffrey H. Anderson, Ph.D
If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, at least if you pay cash.
One of the many problems with funneling our nation's health-care system through our nation's political system is that it would politicize health care. The health-care bill that recently passed the Senate could hardly provide better evidence of this claim.
James Madison wrote that "history informs us of no long-lived republic which had not a senate," as such a "temperate and respectable body of citizens" is necessary to ensure an "attachment to the public good" and to prevent us from falling prey to those "stimulated by some illicit advantage." But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's conception seems to differ somewhat from Madison's. Responding to accusations that the process culminating in a 1:00 AM Sunday night (Monday morning) vote on Obamacare had degenerated into something approximating "Cash for Cloture," Reid replied, "I don't know if there is a senator that doesn't have something in this bill that was important to them. And if they don't have something in it important to them, then it doesn't speak well of them."
AMA Sells Out
Earlier in the week, the American Medical Association (AMA), the nation’s largest physician organization, declared its backing for the most recent version of Obamacare. A medical student's opinion
In "Reboot it, don't loot it" (Opinion, Wednesday), Rep. Charles Boustany Jr., Louisiana Republican and also a heart surgeon, displays effective problem-solving and communication skills that he undoubtedly acquired while spending more than a decade training as a physician. As a third-year medical student at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine, I am watching the health care reform debate carefully and believe that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could benefit from an important lesson in medical education. The Real Lessons of 1994 By: Jeffrey H. Anderson, Ph.D, Andy WickershamDecember 14, 2009 Voters punished Democrats for Hillarycare. They'll do the same for Obamacare. Obamacare's Ugly Math![]() The Weekly Standard, December 3, 2009 The Senate's $2.5 trillion bill will create higher taxes and higher premiums with little return. 'I Am Noticing that Each of Your Plans to Save Money Involves Spending Even More Money'![]() The Weekly Standard, November 23, 2009 Via Hot Air, Saturday Night Live had a remarkable opening sketch this weekend that took aim at Obama's policies from the right and was actually funny. In a press conference between Obama and Hu Jintao, the Chinese leader inquires about whether the U.S. will pay back its debt and asks, "How exactly is extending health care coverage to 30 million people going to save you money?" "I ... don't know," replies Obama. Obamacare: Buy now, pay later
The Washington Post, November 16, 2009 There is an air of absurdity to what is mistakenly called "health-care reform." Everyone knows that the United States faces massive governmental budget deficits as far as calculators can project, driven heavily by an aging population and uncontrolled health costs. As we recover slowly from a devastating recession, it's widely agreed that, though deficits should not be cut abruptly (lest the economy resume its slump), a prudent society would embark on long-term policies to control health costs, reduce government spending and curb massive future deficits. The administration estimates these at $9 trillion from 2010 to 2019. The president and all his top economic advisers proclaim the same cautionary message. |


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