Monthly Archives: February 2010

Obama, Biden, H. Clinton, & Reid defend filibuster & oppose “nuclear option”- in 2005

With Democrats looking at budget reconciliation to bypass a Senate filibuster and pass their health care “reform” bills, it’s worth noting what leading Democrat politicians said a few years ago about using procedural rules to avoid a filibuster: I think … Continue reading

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Republicans, beware the trap of ‘limited’ health reform

Writes Paul Hsieh, M.D. in Pajamas Media: Controls breed more controls. The seemingly innocuous “reform” of requiring insurers to cover all pre-existing conditions would merely set the stage for ever-tightening controls until liberal Democrats achieved their long-held dream of a … Continue reading

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How much is Medicare costing taxpayers?

Keith Hennessey reviews the disagreement between Paul Krugman (on one side) and Rep. Paul Ryan, New Gingrich, and John Goodman (on the other) about how to change Medicare so it does not bankrupt the country.  How much is Medicare spending? … Continue reading

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Cato experts live-blogging health care summit

Check out the video and live comments by Cato Institute scholars: Cato Experts Live-Blogging Health Care Summit Similar Posts: Real-time commentary on Obama’s health care speech Health care & the myth of United States’ poor life expectancy Obama care: dissecting … Continue reading

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Obama’s health care proposal: death spiral, huge implicit tax rates, mandatory insurance

First the mandatory insurance, from the Institute for Health Freedom: (Feb. 23, 2010)—President Obama’s nationalized mandatory health-insurance proposal (released yesterday, 2/22) puts American families and small-business owners under the control of Big Brother regarding health-insurance coverage decisions. The proposal requires … Continue reading

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Obama’s health care proposal: Putting politicians in control of your health care

Some reactions to president Obama’s health care reform proposal released February 22, 2010: Keith Hennessey has a summary and analysis of possible political strategies behind it: Somebody in the Administration put a lot of work into this proposal.  It is … Continue reading

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The conceit of Obama’s insurance price controls

President Obama has wants empower the federal government to forbid insurers from increasing their premiums more than the authorities allow.  Two reactions to this part of the president’s health care proposal: Don Boudreaux, Cafe Hayek on price controls: What cool … Continue reading

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Liberty vs. Newt’s “Top 10 GOP” health care ideas

Last week the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by Newt Gingrich and John Goodman titled “Ten GOP Health Ideas for Obama.”  John Goodman is a great resource on health care policy, and I read his blog regularly. But this … Continue reading

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Land O’Lakes employees happy with consumer-directed insurance

The president and CEO of Land O’Lakes says: Offering consumer-driven health plans to Land O’Lakes employees is helping to keep health care costs in check, while maintaining or improving care quality. For Land O’Lakes, this approach supports our commitment to … Continue reading

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Michael Bennet’s lame support for “public option” via reconciliation

The Denver Post reports: U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is pressing colleagues to use a procedural tool known as reconciliation to pass health-reform legislation — and to include the controversial public-insurance option in the bill. … “Much of the public identifies … Continue reading

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