LEGALIZED EXTORTION aka HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION

[Harry Riley]

Patriots,

America is being mourned the world-over this day...nations around the globe that held America as the great hope of freedom, liberty, justice, and the model for every human being to aspire has been doused by a greedy, power-hungry partisan political apparatus.

Over 233 years of sacrifice for the ideal that we have a federal government "for all the people" has been shattered under the disguise of healthcare. Our warriors by the hundreds of thousands have sacrificed, bled and died for all of America, not just part of America, not just for a few States, nor has America ever asked a few States to pick up the burden of freedom for the entire United States.

A few dishonorable Senators have milked the American people for their own selfish agenda, penalizing the bulk of America to fund special programs within selected States at the expense of citizens of other States. You can read what is evident at this point in the information below...but this is only the beginning of understanding the damage and cost to freedom included in the Senate and House of Representatives healthcare legislation.

I personally condemn, reject, and abhor the selfish action of Senator Bill Nelson, my Senator from Florida, for his despicable action in pursuing special favor for Florida at the expense of the remaining 49 US States.

Whatever happened to "E Pluribus Unum"?

Harry Riley, COL, USA, Ret


Here's some of the "perks" that wavering, unprincipled Senators received as bribes to vote for the Senate healthcare legislation. They must be held accountable with severe repercussions...America must put right ahead of personal gain, otherwise the "United" States of America is gone.


The payoffs ("Bribes") with your money from National Review online:

Sen. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.):

—$1.2 billion over ten years for a permanent exemption from Nebraska's share of the Medicaid expansion. The only state so exempted under the bill.

—Exemption for Nebraska from an excise tax on non-profit insurers.

Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.)

—Exemption from the non-profit excise tax for Michigan insurers. Michigan and Nebraska were the only two states so exempted.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.)

—$10 billion for "community health centers".

—Protections from cuts to Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in Vermont.

—$250 million over six years in expanded federal Medicaid funding.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D., La.)

—$300 million increase in Medicaid funding in Louisiana.

Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.), Sen. Paul Kirk (D., Mass).

—Three years of expanded federal Medicaid funding.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.), Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.), Sen. Bill Nelson (D., Fla.)

—Special treatment for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

Sen. Daniel Inouye (D., Hawaii), Sen. Daniel Akaka (D., Hawaii)

---billions in new funding for something called “Disproportionate Share Hospital” (DSH) payments (financed, in large part, by $18.5 billion in cuts to DSH payments in other states).

Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.), Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.), Sen. Kent Conrad (D., N.D.), Sen. Byron Dorgan (D., N.D.), Sen. Tim Johnson (D., S.D.)

—Higher federal Medicare reimbursement rates for low-population “frontier” states (also qualifying under the bill’s definition of frontier states are Utah and Wyoming, represented in the Senate by Republicans).

[Ross Wolf]

In a post last week I addressed Citizens filing Qui Tam Law Suits against ACORN. However, after reading Mr. Riley’s article that exposes how the Health Care Bill will force certain States to fund at their expense “special programs” for other states, Citizens might file Qui Tam suits on behalf of damaged State Governments, against States that benefited, to recover lost funds.

To reiterate: Qui Tam lawsuits are filed on behalf of a government by private Citizens for false claims or fraud. Qui Tam suits are brought under the False Claims Act. A Citizen filing a Qui Tam lawsuit is referred to as a “relator.” The “relator” need not personally be injured by a defendant’s behavior. A “relator” might recover up to 30% of the government’s total recovery in addition to civil penalties; that can amount to millions of dollars, as prior Qui Tam verdicts and settlements have been hundreds of millions of dollars. An attorney may participate with plaintiffs in that recovery. Importantly to initiate a Qui Tam Action the information Citizens might discover via rewards and other sources has to be (unknown) to the public, for example discovering State Government officials committed Fraud when making agreements with Senators to facilitate their State getting taxpayer money for “special programs” at the expense of Citizens in other States.

Qui Tam: Rewards have been used to extract important information “unknown” to the public.” Prudently before any information is accepted before or after a Reward has been made, an appropriate attorney should be located to stand between the “receiver of information” and the “person offering information.” That way the receiver’s attorney may evaluate the information before committing a receiver to pay for it in some manner. The receiver’s attorney might also negotiate a “written agreement” with providers of certain information, including the amount of Reward to be paid if any, e.g., based on the value and use of provided information, before or after a successful Qui Tam action. Sometimes corrupt people will show up offering false or misleading information, to steer potential Qui Tam plaintiffs the wrong direction. That should be expected. That is another reason why potential Qui Tam plaintiffs should in the beginning bring under their wing a sharp attorney who might participant in the lawsuit. In prior big Qui Tam suits against corporations critical evidence has been provided by persons who worked for the corporations being sued. You just never know where the most valuable information might come from.

[Bill Dent]

I find everything about this proposed healthcare bill reprehensive. It is not that the system needs reform, I think everyone sees the need for this. The problem is the method the Congress used to produce two different bills, There may be a way to reconcile them but I do not think the American people will accept either or a compilation based on the lack of real tort reform. Government has proved to be a poor manager at best in every social program. One would think that the misuse and coruption in current programs would be eliminated before any new healthcare is adopted- but that makes too much sence. I see this proposal as the last straw should it pass or fail- The takers/freeloaders will rise up if they do not get more and the regular folk will rise up if it does. Time has come to seriously consider our next move. What Soverign state will be HQ for the anti socialist Patriotic American?

[Eve N. Stephens]

I haven't been able to confirm this, though I tried... but thought it was worth checking out...

Buried deep within the over 1,000 pages of the massive US Health Care Bill (PDF) in a “non-discussed” section titled: Subtitle C-11 Sec. 2521— National Medical Device Registry, and which states its purpose as:

“The Secretary shall establish a national medical device registry (in this subsection referred to as the ‘registry’) to facilitate analysis of postmarket safety and outcomes data on each device that—‘‘(A) is or has been used in or on a patient; and ‘‘(B) is a class III device; or ‘‘(ii) a class II device that is implantable.”

In “real world speak”, according to this report, this new law, when fully implemented, provides the framework for making the United States the first Nation in the World to require each and every one of its citizens to have implanted in them a radio-frequency identification (RFID) microchip for the purpose of controlling who is, or isn’t, allowed medical care in their country.

[Tom Teale-Sinclair]

I must admit, that while I agree on much of what you generally propose on this forum, as someone looking on from abroad, I don't hear these voices "mourning America" for some sort of collapse resulting from health care. I live in Australia - and even most of the US citizens I know think of Australia as being the second best country on earth :) .

We have had universal health care for decades and see it as purely a social justice issue. Every one can get top quality care in public hospitals. In fact all the best research goes on in our public hospital system. The heart transplants that now occur daily in the US were made possible largely by the pioneering work of Dr Victor Chang at Sydney's St Vincents (public) Hospital, whose team developed surgical and imuno-suppressant techniques that lead to the first long term survivors of heart transplant. This takes nothing away from the brilliant work done at Columbia by US surgeons, but is an example of excellence in public health care. Fiona Coote, the first long term survivor was 14 when she received a new heart, funded jointly by every Australian tax payer. She is still alive and well today. And we are proud of a system that produces such results - in fact we a re a little annoyed with successive governments who have tinkered with the system so it's not quite so inclusive as it used to be (in that there are significant waiting lists for some types of elective surgery withing the public system). Still, if I have a hear attack, please take me to Sydney's St Vincents.... it still provides (to Medicare 'public' patients) the very best cardiac care available anywhere in the world.

I think that on this health care issue, you are unnecessarily fearful. What is wrong with your least advantaged people being able to access quality health care? You have enough checks and balances in your system of government to ensure that it pretty much can't go down the wrong path too far (in terms of gathering power to itself). Your founding fathers did a brilliant job in framing the system as they have.

On the matter of what Senators were "given" to get them to vote for the Bill - well, that's politics. They want an advantage for their electorate to help ensure their re-election. The first objective of government (dictatorship or democracy) is to stay in power. The advantage of democracy is that they have to do that within a defined, constitutional system. Go to Burma, and they just pick up a gun. I know which system I trust more.....

Cheers

Tom

[Ross Wolf]

Democrats intend to rob taxpayers and democracy to pay for its unaffordable health care bill, having bribed members of Congress with Pork to pass that legislation, legislation that will greatly raise taxes; perhaps bankrupt America. Democracy cannot exist under such circumstances. Such bribery of lawmakers by Citizens would cause their arrest. But since that does not appear possible to stop Congressional Democrat bribery, class action lawsuits against Congress by States and the American people should be considered to prevent this Health Care Bill taking effect. The health insurance bill operates similar to the parasitic Mafia. Insurance companies will first attach themselves to the host, Americans forced to buy health insurance, then suck their blood extracting higher and higher health insurance premiums, meanwhile decreasing health care services to some Americans, harming the insured they claim to protect. Reids’ health bill will hold Americans hostage to rising health costs, labor union demands in health care, government bureaucracies and problematically diminished levels of health service.