Huckabee: ObamaCare would have abandoned Kennedy

Sorry josef in the world of “what if” all speculations are created equal. “What if ” the moon were made of green cheese is just as specious as any posted at 10:34 for the simple fact it is speculation.

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There is a reason why Jay does not provide Huckabee’s actual quote: it doesn’t support the notion that Huckabee claimed that “ObamaCare would have abandoned Kennedy”.

Here is what Huckabee actually said and Bookman grossly distorted:

““Proponents deny that the bill would devalue older people’s lives, or encourage them to accept less care to save money. But it was President Obama himself who suggested that seniors who don’t have as long to live might want to just consider taking a pain pill instead of getting an expensive operation to cure them,” Huckabee said.

“Yet when Senator Kennedy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at 77, did he give up on life and go home to take pain pills and die, of course not,” the former Republican governor said. “He freely did what most of us would do. He chose an expensive operation and painful follow up treatments.”

He used Kennedy’s experience as an example of the efficacy of our current health care system. He says nothing close to what Jay claims.

Jay cuts and pastes longer snippets of articles all of the time. It is obvious why he chose to make this excerpt so short.

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Yup. For all the Republican efforts at Kennedy myth making it is forgotten that in 1993, he was the chairperson of the health committee in the Senate and he advised the Democrats to not worry about bipartisanship, not to even attempt to include the Republicans because their was no health reform legislation they would go along with anyway, and any bill that had even a single Republicans fingerprint on it would be watered down to uselessness.

Which is why only a bill with a public option will be of any use. Anything else is simply giving away a trillion dollars to the existing health industry without doing anything to control costs. The trillion will be eaten up in a third of the time it is allocated for by executive compensation and bonuses.

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What’s knee-jerking to some, is just a response to a pathetic list of false statements to others Josef.

Actually Josef, every one of the shallow and false claims in the plaguerized article–that should have been referenced can easily be refuted, and they are a desparate clining at straws.
As a language master, I don’t know if you’ve been to Austria but the Austrians speak their own inflection of Bavarian German and a gamut of dialects that modify German (Österreichisches Deutsch, Austrian Standard German).

From wiki:

As German is a pluricentric language, Austrian German is another standard variety in addition to the German spoken in Germany. Much like the relationship between American and British English, Austrian German is simply another standard form of the German language.

The other parts of that ridiculous petty criticism of Obama are laughable, and some of the statements are explicitly false statements. The only way Obama hasn’t aided midwest flood zones, is that he was unable to stop the rain and the floods in the first place. The allegation that Obama doesn’t know how to spell advice is laughable, because the original note doesn’t have a clearcut “s” anyway, and I don’t think Masala wants to get into a vocabularly, writing, or spelling contest with any Obama, including the youngest child from what I’ve seen.

As to bowing to Arabs, no conduct is more reprehensible than the Bush NSA, CIA, and FBI’s facilitating the burning of several thousand Americans because their egos stopped the ordered placement of many of the 911 conspirators, including the pilot from being on the watch list where it was originally ordered. Jim Bamford does an excellent job of documenting the many Bush screwups and nailing the NSA and CIA to the wall over 911 going far beyond the Comission. After trying to block publication of his book, and the ones before it, NSA and CIA threw a book signing party for Bamford. Go figure.
Bush did a lot of hand holding and coddling of the Saudi Royal family, including Prince Bandar Bin Sultan and was a great help in aiding Saudi charities who finaced 911. He also panicked when g informed the USA was under attack on its soil by reading to school children, then flying around the country literally and hiding.

It’s amusing to see the Repubo who wanted English as a Second language Palin and English as a Second language Bush to be President, criticizing Obama’s speaking ability. Obama has given more spontaneous off the cuff off the prompter press conferences, and interviews with reporters from every network, in 7.5 months than Bush gave during his entire 8 years. Bush had good reason to be afriad of answering questions, and understood few of the questions he took. He allowed his Presidency to be run by Cheney and Aoddington until the last few months and now Cheney is lashing out like an old man with a child’s brain because he couldn’t have his way.

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Just like anything else Obozo touches, the White Sux are getting mauled, once again.

But how would he know, sitting out there at Komuniski Field?

Why can’t this klown cheer for the Kenyan Nationals or some place closer to home?

freak

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That 10:34 was very well written. Luntzian in tune.

We’re gonna get the Teddy Bill.

Chess.vs. Chutes N’ Ladders

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“As Kennedy often stated, his goal was to make sure that every American gets as good health care that he, as a wealthy man, can afford.”

And do we all get to live in the same size house he does as well? Eat the same foods? Fly on private jets and sail on yachts like Kennedy did? How noble of him for having such wonderful wishes for the rest of us.

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Nj –

“Hucksterabee and the other Republicans use Kennedy as an example of how good the current health care system is….leaving out the most critical part of the sentence “for the rich””

Actually, that’s not true at all. Huckabee actually says:

“But, he said a “better way to honor Ted Kennedy would be if every American has access to the latest private health care as good as what senators receive.”

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From wiki:

“As German is a pluricentric language, Austrian German is another standard variety in addition to the German spoken in Germany. Much like the relationship between American and British English, Austrian German is simply another standard form of the German language.”

The other parts of that ridiculous petty criticism of Obama are laughable, and some of the statements are explicitly false statements. The only way Obama hasn’t aided midwest flood zones, is that he was unable to stop the rain and the floods in the first place. The allegation that Obama doesn’t know how to spell advice is laughable, because the original note doesn’t have a clearcut “s” anyway, and I don’t think Masala wants to get into a vocabularly, writing, or spelling contest with any Obama, including the youngest child from what I’ve seen.

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jconservative

August 29th, 2009
1:35 pm

Ain’t that the way it’s supposed to work?

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josef

And here I was just thinkin’ that you haven’t been moderated in any of our conversations since your return. I should have banished that thought—so you can blame this one on me.

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midori
“How in the world do you correlate the two?”
As one and the same…

Kamchak–these are embarrassments that the current POTUS HAS done…As you know, I gleefully joined in the Bush bashing for his gaffes and faux pas, given my love of the ridiculous, but sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Otherwise we’re about as “fair and balanced” as O’Reilley or Olbermann.

LET’S SEE IF IT WAS THE MISSPELLING

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White welcher, your ChiSox look like a AA team.

But then that is really no different than virtually all of the past 92 years is it?

That the Uppity Muslim Sans Birth Certificate has put the latest jinx on them is still pretty funny though…

Mrs. G, re your 2:20,

When Obama lies/deceives/cooks the book and then squashes all differing voices to go ahead with a needless, botched and invasion and occupation of the wrong country – that just happen to cost nearly 4500 American lives, 35,000+ casualties, many horrifically and spend/waste untold trillions of dollars – then there will be some over-riding comparison to the otherwise valid points made by the newly enraged.

The only silver lining is that that deadly buffoon has caused the GOP to go into a prolonged death spiral…

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Actually, Bruno, Kennedy fought for a single payer system, for 30 years, and his bill has been submitted to the Senate which includes a robust public option.ed. from his committee. Dodd presided over its markup which is finish

It says nothing about houses, food, jets, and yachts. You must be confusing what insurance executives have in abundance paid for by cutting 12 million Americans after their premiums were fully paid when they got significantly sick.

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Well, K*chak, it WAS you. Midori was the other part of the post and SHE got through. There is a comment in said post about my love of the ridiculous…heh, heh, Jaybird, on the ball ain’t we…

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Ye whose name I dare not mention: my 2:37 got held up to!! Whee-doggies as Jed would say…

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AmVet:

As it pertains to politicians in general, I would tend to agree. As it pertains to an individual’s acquiescence during a family’s loss? That’s what I was seeking to address.

I have seen little acquiescence from the left when the death of a conservative has occurred.

When Kennedy’s brain tumor was found, I remember wishing him well online. While I may not have liked the man, I wished him no harm. I actually acknowledged that he was a worthy foe and that the senate would not be the same without him.

After having witnessed the freedom of liberals to attack conservatives, not only during a prolonged illness but also upon death, I’m now taking a page from their playbook. I’m now free to do the same when it comes to Teddy. No amount of criticism will dissuade me from my new-found course of action. They have taught me well.

Upon Reagan’s death, the (D)Undergrounders were eager to exhibit their liberal compassion with comments such as these:

I just uncorked some wine that Ive laid up for special occasions, so as to celebrate.

Where do I go to pi$$ on his grave?

THAT ^^^ is the face of liberalism in all its splendor.

On the rare occasion that I’m here, I intend to emulate what I’ve come to disdain in them.

I will simply have to contend with my mother-in-law’s gentle voice ringing in my ears. “@@, two wrongs do not may things right.”

True! but it’s of no value when going toe to toe with liberals.

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Let’s try this with liberals’ words omitted. It’s either their words or mine that have been thrown into moderation.

AmVet:

As it pertains to politicians in general, I would tend to agree. As it pertains to an individual’s acquiescence during a family’s loss? That’s what I was seeking to address.

I have seen little acquiescence from the rabid left when the death of a conservative has occurred.

When Kennedy’s brain tumor was found, I remember wishing him well online. While I may not have liked the man, I wished him no harm. I actually acknowledged that he was a worthy foe and that the senate would not be the same without him.

After having witnessed the freedom of liberals to attack conservatives, not only during a prolonged illness but also upon death, I’m now taking a page from their playbook. I’m now free to do the same when it comes to Teddy. No amount of criticism will dissuade me from my new-found course of action. They have taught me well.

Upon Reagan’s death, the (D)Undergrounders were eager to exhibit their liberal compassion with comments such as these:

I just uncorked some wine that Ive laid up for special occasions, so as to celebrate.

True! but it’s of no value when going toe to toe with liberals, Mom.

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josef

Andy proved several months ago that r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s usually wont go through

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Josef,

it was idiotic the first time you posted it.

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KAMCH*K–

“Andy proved several months ago that r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s usually wont go through.”

I needed that but the computer screen didn’t. Coffee all over! (No, Dusty, none of the grape just yet, day off or no!)

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josef

Yeah, the irony wasn’t lost on me either.

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“And, look, let’s not go throwing dispersion on someone else’s command of the language. Yours is far from perfect–as is mine.”

Reform may want to start by learning how to spell the word “plagiarize”.

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@@

“Well, looks like it was the vile comments of liberals that was moderated.”

Do I resemble that remark? Are you and midori in cahoots? K*mchak, can I try on these shoes?

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First, Ted K was a fat drunk murderer anyway http://frontpage.americandaughter.com/?tag=mary-jo-kopechne. The diver on the scene testified that if the fat bastard had even tried, Mary Jo would have lived. Second, what Huck is saying is true. Third, where in the US Constitution is it allowed the government can make you purchase anything, much less healthcare?

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K*mchak, can I try on these shoes?

(sigh)Yes josef, but at this rate Imelda Marcos wont have nuthin’ on you.

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Jokerman,

George always fails at that.

Reminds me so much of another George who is a perpetual failure.

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Correction- 3GB of RAM installed, the maximum amount my system will recognize.

I tried talking and bargaining with Firefox and, as usual, got nowhere.

Time to see what brute force does for it’s little problem.

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josef:

How would I know? I haven’t been given the opportunity to read your post.

Just so you know….I’m not here to play footsie in flip-flops anymore.

No one is more pleased than my husband. For the entirety of our marriage he has tried to oust what remained of my liberal persuasions. He has ALWAYS argued that they were evil and destructive. That their policies were misguided and unworthy of respect.

After countless years spent here and with the help of the AJC’s liberal contributors, I’m now in TOTAL agreement with him — on this point at least. He’s actually celebrating the death of my liberal tendencies. I, on the other hand, am grieving the loss.

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How incestuous is this-

Bookman says it well on odious “black agenda” memo

4:13 pm August 28, 2009, by Queen Pinko

What a rough job this is, cut and paste your colleague’s cut and paste and fawn over it.

ew

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@@

It’s been released. And thanks for clearing that up. Playing footsie in flip-flops? I like that one!

Bruno–thanks. I do try and keep a civil tongue in my head and don’t think that just because that’s the way I see it that it’s the gospel…

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Kamch*k–point taken. It’s not a rhetorical device I am very fond of either in that it opens the nyanh nyah playing field and really accomplishes very little in the long run.

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From Bruno: Gotta run, but I’m STILL waiting for even ONE liberal to make a case to me as to why medical care should be a shared expense rather than an individual expense.

No you’re not; I’ve done it for you countless times.

The underinsured are getting screwed by insurance companies. And medical care is a shared expense profoundly because the insurance companies jack up everyone’s rates and deductibles when they are insured, and cance you if you get a significant illeness.

It’s really amusing that the repubos focus on the uninsured, where access to care early on in an illness saves taxpayer’s who help fund charity hospitals like Grady considerable expense. It’s amusing that people like Bruno act as if there is no problem whatsoever with the 85% who are underinsured, find their premiums going up every year along with their dedcutibles, and who move weekly into the uninsured category when their employers drop providing health care benefits because the premiums become too expensive.

I’ve made the case Bruno that insurance companies are scrweing people and for that reason alone I want a public option. I’ve had the personal experience for years that all docs have of playing the game where no matter how well you code, document, and justify the claim you file as perfectly appropriate care and test, you file,many claims are denied and you have to waste your time to get paid by going through the kabuki of whipping insurance companies.

I’ve documented profusely when you’ve been on here several reasons for a public option and health care reform. And it continues to amuse me that you believe that you are going to pay more for a choice than you are paying now for two insurance companies that dominate 94% of the market.

You work for insurance, Pharma, hospital or their lobbyists Bruno?

I’ve documented profusely that Medicare Part D needs to be allowed to competitively bid just like any hospital where you receive care in Georgia.

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Bruno–but I would like to know how he got the Umlaut.

LOL why not ask me Joseph? I don’t channel “Bruno.”

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Robert Schindler, Terry Schiavo’s dad passed away today.

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The debate over the effectiveness of subjecting detainees to psychological and physical pressure is in some ways irresolvable, because it is impossible to know whether less coercive methods would have achieved the same result. But for defenders of waterboarding, the evidence is clear: Mohammed cooperated, and to an extraordinary extent, only when his spirit was broken in the month after his capture March 1, 2003, as the inspector general’s report and other documents released this week indicate.

“What do you think changed KSM’s mind?” one former senior intelligence official said this week after being asked about the effect of waterboarding. “Of course it began with that.”

Now he sings like a pigeon.

And notice who’s upset about it.

Our enemies, the dimocrats.

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josef nix

Shallow, yes, but false, no. My German is the Austrian dialect. And, look, let’s not go throwing dispersion on someone else’s command of the language. Yours is far from perfect–as is mine.

I pasted the umlat from wiki and I cited wiki–article on Austrian dialects and mods of German which made Obama technically correct. That article from Slate was a parody of criticisms of Obama in reality.

Many of the symbols that Bruno wants, and you might want are easily pasted from within Windows and Mac has a counterpart. On a Windows box, just type “charmap” lose the quotes in the run box (Win key + r) and scroll around. Charmap has an umlaut, assorted diacritical marks, and about 600 other symbols that don’t make foreign language keyboards necessary much of the time.

I’ve said many times my keyboard on my notebook doesn’t allw touch adjustment and it’s too sensitive. That accounts for almost all the typos you see, not mispellings. However, I did mispell plagiarize.

As to criticism of Bush’s (any one in the family language or Palin’s I’m quite comfortable matching my command of the language with theirs, including my vocabulary. If I thought I was anywhere near the ballpark of stupidity that Bush and Palin reside in, I’d find a fast way to put my cerebellum on the ceiling.

I spent a reasonable amount of time reading to shape my command of the language, and the incurious Sarah and George W. have not.

How’s this Josef– Palin and Bush have such an atrocious comand of the language that English clearly must be a second language for them.

And Joseph, but also, and so, you betcha, goshdarnit:

Palin and Couric Part II

(”Ah’ll try to find ya somethin’ and bring it to ya”) But she never did find Couric something to bring to her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg6hF0nShQ

If you’re feeling down, and want a smile, just google or Bing Palin’s interview with Couric Part II. There is no dog on my street that isn’t exponentially more articulate, and who doesn’t have a much better vocabulary or as you put it “command of the language” if you mean English.

Palin’s stream of consciousness is an attention deficit component of her untreated Borderline Personality. Google or bing the term along with John Gunderson and the McLean Hospital.

Why doesn’t ole Sarah use contractions, Josef? LOL upon LOL and aspersion upon aspersion. Makes me laugh every time.

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In a cooing paean to the senator on a cringe-makingly obsequious edition of NPR’s “Diane Rehm Show,” Edward Klein of Newsweek fondly recalled that one of Ted’s “favorite topics of humor was, indeed, Chappaquiddick itself. He would ask people, ‘Have you heard any new jokes about Chappaquiddick?’”

Just run the numbers for a moment, no doubt as Mary Jo Kopechne desperately clung to her little air pocket for five hours she also hoped that Kennedy would return with help for her. Five hours. When do you think she realize that he wasn’t coming back and that she was left, alone, to her agonizing fate?

Waterboarding? Really?

It makes me sick and I’ll leave it at that.

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Well, josef,

You running around with umlauts and @@ snapping her flip flops, I think it is time for me to go eat my goodly grill salad. But I must thank you for the lovely Masefield.. Ah the sea, the sea. So I was going to send you my dear favorite Sydney Lanier but got all involved in family chat and give.

Now, stay away from that grape gravy ’til I get back That stuff will kill ya! And who wants healthcare (the dreaded word) these days. I tell you. It’s enough to make you sick.

Off to salad SEELLLLect!!

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jjosef,
PS…
Would you please speak to yogamom, She’s lost it and you know how to handle children. Cheers!

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RW–no, but K’chak and I have a running joke that I wind up at the top of the page with my most inane and seemingly unrelated comments. The first word in midori’s post was my name…

Thanks everyone for the lessons on the diacritical marks and blogging. I’m still new at this. Me and Word have reached an understanding insofar as my daily work is concerned…took a while. I’m definitely an idiot when it comes to the computer age!

Y’all will forgive me if I’m a bit off right now. I made the mistake of rechecking the “memo” thread downstairs.

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“Why is it that cutting out the middle man works in all corporations except healthcare?”

And you know, yogamom, that’s what smart consumers do when they use medical care as well–they pay cash and negotiate the prices. The biggest problem in our health care system is not too little insurance, it’s the MISUSE of insurance which has led to the prices going through the ceiling since consumerism is left out of the process. The purpose of insurance is to protect against rare, catastrophic loss. If everyone purchased catastrophic health insurance ONLY, and paid cash for routine medical care, the prices would come down overnight, as well as the unnecessary duplication of services that is so common (Sorry, Ms. Smith, we need to take our OWN x-rays, MRI, etc.).

What DOESN”T work is cutting out the middle man by asking the government to do the job. See my above comments about Medicare and Medicaid.

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Well this was interesting:

“How much of the time do you think you can trust the government in Washington to do what is right — just about always, most of the time, or only some of the time?”

The first poll taken in which this question was asked after Ronald Reagan assumed office found that 51 percent trusted the government in Washington to do the right thing just about always or most of the time. For George H.W. Bush, it was 44 percent, and for George W. Bush it was 55 percent. Now compare that with the Democrats. In Jimmy Carter’s first poll, it was 35 percent. In Bill Clinton’s, it was 24 percent, and for Barack Obama’s, it was only 20 percent. (It should be noted that the first poll conducted during George W. Bush’s presidency came on the heels of 9/11.)

That said, it stands to reason that many people probably don’t trust Washington on health care reform because, right now at least, they just don’t trust Washington.

OH MAN!!! did the dems blow it big time in this most recent playoff game. The spectators are on strike. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving team of incompetents. Even if the economy turns, unemployment will remain steadfast…future generations are beginning to resent the fact that Obama’s debt will be their burden.

I just don’t see Americans forgetting the contempt oozing from Obama’s WH. The massive takeover of everything that’s not nailed down.

Overreaching! It’s what dems do.

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Bruno: would you relegate smokers and asbestos workers to bad air, and cancer victims to live near a toxic waste dump, so they don’t use the resources that are available to others?

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Regarding, “How much of the time do you think you can trust the government in Washington to do what is right — just about always, most of the time, or only some of the time?”, I’m amazed any of those men polled above about 10%, but that shows you how gullible the American people are.

“The massive takeover of everything that’s not nailed down.”

Extensively caused by a massive, long running corporate crime wave.

That NOBODY, Democrat, Republican, or MSM even want to know about, much less mention.

But that little episode last September sure put it on a lot of American’s radars.

Sadly Obama is not going to touch this corporate destruction of capitalism and/or seeking economic justice with a 3.048 meter pole…

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There are literally tens of thousands of sites for characters, etc. and fonts on the web, but Windows has a built in character map (charmap in the run box or above the start button) Vista or Win 7 box. Character Map has been in Windows since Windows 95.

On a Mac OS X box Go to System Preferences> International > Input Menu. Select in that all the layouts you want to use (e.g. US, Italian PRO), and select “Character Palette”. Then you will see a small flag on your menubar to indicate your keyboard layout> scrolling down from the flag you will see charachter palette>click.

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In reality if Kennedy had been an average guy in the current insurance milieu, he’d be dropped when he filed a claim for Tx for a Glioblastoma IV, or his wife filed a claim for breast cancer by the current insurance monopoly. I see it happen every day.

I don’t know what Obama is proposing because he hasn’t defined it. I’d like to see you define Obama’s plan Pogo, because no one I know can. It’s a secret.

In the House Bill reported by Waxman’s committee, or by Kennedy’s former Committee now chaired by Dodd, Kennedy would receive comparable care for his Glio IV that he got.

I find it intriguing that Pogo is referring to “the bill Pelosi and her bunch” put together.

There are currently FOUR bills reported. 3 are from the House where Pelosi is speaker.ONE is from Kennedy’s former committee–now chaired by Chris Dodd. She does not serve on any committee, so she doesn’t have a bill per se. She is fully in support of a public option, and over 60 people have now signed a pledge not to vote out a bill that does not have a public option which will insure that the egregious insurance companies have competition that they are afraid of, and Repubos fear because in Congress they’re heavily paid by insurnace companies. I don’t know who pays the Repubos here–I think they get their info from the same place Palin and Katy Abram get theirs.

What would be truly amusing would be for Dr. Pogo to explain to me how any bill Pelosi promotes would do anything whatsoever to kill Kennedy if he were an ordinary guy needing cancer treatment. I can easily explain what I see every day when a patient has cancer; they get immediately canceled most of the time when their cancer requires chemo and radiation as did Kennedy’s Glioblastoma IV.

I’m waiting with bated breath to have Dr. Pogo explain to me the dynamics of insurance coverage in today’s medical milieu in the USA. Bring it.

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I know what a Medicare Donut is. It’s the amount of money seniors on Medicare pay out of pocket under Medicare Part D for their medications. It’s a clusterfaux conceived by Repubos under Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist because the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies bought said donut with very heavy contributions to Repubos and now the Blue Dogs that Emanuel financed into the House and Senate who won by narrow margins.

Frist is the thoracic surgeon from Vandy, who stupidly Dx’d Terri Schiavo’s from the Senate Floor as rehab material 15 years after Schiavo’s MRI showed no significant brain material. Frist has no training in neurology beyond the superficial amount he got in med school and he never saw Schiavo or her MRIs)
Under the defined standard benefit package, there is a gap in coverage between the initial coverage limit and the catastrophic coverage threshold. Within this gap, the beneficiary pays 100% of the cost of prescription drugs before catastrophic coverage kicks in. Many seniors can’t afford this amount.

It’s what Rep. Henry Waxman in the House is trying to abolish and his predecessor Billy Tauzin who chaired the same committee has tried to negotiate with the Senate Finance Six to insure that Medicare patients will pay med costs out of pocket like they do right now and pharmaceutical companies have bribed the Senate Finance Six with millions of dollars over the last few years to insure that they don’t allow competitive bidding for Medicare Part D the way Emory Health Care and Piedmont Hospital competitively bid for their medications.

CMS uses the euphemism “coverage gap.”

Waxman Takes on Drug Makers Over Medicare
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/health/policy/26dual.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=waxman&st=cse

The Donut is a repubo conceived failure. It’s remedy is found in the four bills reported out 3 from the House and one from the Senate. There will be no remedy in the Senate Finance’s bill because their six negotiators are on retainer from the insurance and pharmaceutical companies the way a wealthy john puts the Bunny Ranch girls on retainer.

The donut can be abolished under the current Repubo plan now in existance by paying astranomical premiums proferred by the insurance companies to cover the exponentially rising cost of prescription drugs. Last week, BCBS raised these premiums and deductibles in Michigan by 22% which is typical.

Currently insurancei companies drop 430 Georgians per day who get significant illnesses, many of them cancers, because the business model is to collect the premiums and drop the patients when they have claims. It is a business model successfully deployed by Boss Tweed and Al Capone. Tony Soprano also illustrated the way it works.

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I covered ERs (mostly tertiary hospitals with 500-700 patients) for my first eight years of practice.. We saw a considerable percentage of elderly patients. We saw a number of patients whose lack of access to primary care caused them to present in the ER with illness that had progressed considerably. Many of them could not walk and were brought to the ER with pulmonary functions, blood sugars, urine ketones, out of whack and cardiac instability because they had not gotten access to care previously.

I did not see one patient of any age come to the ER because they were “lonely.” The ER is not intended for chronic care, as George Bush (no medical training there) said it was. And in my experience, I don’t know of any office that has an average wait as long as a busy ER when the patient is triaged as not critical.

I don’t know what planet whoever originated the idea that elderly patients seek ER care because they are lonely comes from, but I’m pretty sure Katy Abram is a fellow citizen there.

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Josef…elsewhere.

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