GOP Following Ted Kennedy's "Moral Conviction" Tradition

An excellent point from Red Mass Group: In their quest to eliminate freedom of choice in health care, Democrats are moving to the left of Ted Kennedy...

The progressive movement is in an all out war on the so called Blunt Amendment and Scott Brown's push for it. They are hitting at the phrase "moral conviction" as a code word for all people to stop providing birth control coverage. Jim Braude hit Brown repeatedly last night with this phrase.

The problem for the left is this is the exact same language used by Ted Kennedy to define a conscience clause. In 1994 and 1995 Ted Kennedy introduced health care bills. Both of which had seemingly identical language regarding a moral conviction clause:

"A Health Professional Or A Health Facility May Not Be Required To Provide An Item Or Service In The Comprehensive Benefit Package If The Professional Or Facility Objects To Doing So On The Basis Of A Religious Belief Or Moral Conviction." (S. 2296, Introduced 7/19/94)

"A Health Professional Or A Health Facility May Not Be Required To Provide An Item Or Service Under A Certified Health Plan If The Professional Or Facility Objects To Doing So On The Basis Of A Religious Belief Or Moral Conviction." (S. 168, Introduced 1/5/95)

The KosKids say that the Blount amendment goes beyond the Religious Freedom argument, by including a moral conviction clause.

In Obama's Democrat Party, your inalienable "right" to popular health care amenities is more important than anything guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

Hat tip: Mike Stopa

You Cannot Free Yourself

Senator Rand Paul made a controversial statement this week, and I feel compelled to defend it. Please watch the following clip, then continue reading:

With regard to the idea of whether you have a right to health care, you have realize what that implies. It’s not an abstraction. I’m a physician. That means you have a right to come to my house and conscript me. It means you believe in slavery. It means that you’re going to enslave not only me, but the janitor at my hospital, the person who cleans my office, the assistants who work in my office, the nurses.

Unfortunately, too many people, including a few who should know better, have elected to oversimplify the implications of Senator Paul's statement.

Matt Welch at Reason, for example:

Could slaves free themselves by changing professions? Do doctors in Switzerland get taken away at gunpoint? To treat the analogy with technical seriousness, even setting aside (as if you could) the colossal weight of America's most lasting shame, is to render it ridiculous, in my opinion.

In my opinion, Matt Welch is working hard to miss the point.

First of all, let's discard the silly idea that slavery is a sacred topic. As noted by one commenter, "Slavery has existed for most of human history. It is not limited to the US. If you are offended by the use of the word, get over it. It is a valid English word, and not limited in scope to the antebellum South."

More importantly, let's disabuse ourselves of the notion that taxpaying physicians, by changing professions, can somehow free themselves from the involuntary servitude imposed by the redistribution schemes of health care entitlement programs.

Income taxes and payroll taxes are converted by government into all sorts of entitlement goodies, including health care. If you exercise the right to work for financial compensation, the state will infringe upon that right by confiscating the product of your time and effort to provide health care services for other citizens. This will happen whether you work as a physician or not. The arms of coercion are sometimes convoluted, but involuntary servitude in the health care industry is compulsory for everyone who is gainfully employed in the United States.

Let's also disabuse ourselves of the notion that hospitals and physicians can simply walk away from their explicit legal obligation to provide free care. Whatever ethical scruples a health care provider might or might not have (and regardless of whether patient is truly indigent) EMTALA laws force hospitals to provide free care to deadbeat patients, and the litigation risks associated with "patient abandonment" force doctors to provide care to those who will not pay.

I challenge Matt Welch to find a physician or hospital administrator who has managed to flout these laws without being "taken away at gunpoint."

If you listen carefully Senator Paul's comments, I think it will be pretty clear that he understands moral problems associated with entitlements are not confined to the health care industry:

Basically, once you imply a belief in a right to someone’s services — do you have a right to plumbing? Do you have a right to water? Do you have right to food? — you’re basically saying you believe in slavery.

I’m a physician in your community and you say you have a right to health care. You have a right to beat down my door with the police, escort me away and force me to take care of you? That’s ultimately what the right to free health care would be.

[emphasis added]

Again, let's not get bogged down by the fact that physicians and hospitals are usually paid for their services. Here's a good response to Welch's post from the comments at Reason:

[Rand Paul] said that the idea that you have a right to health care means you have the right to the work of doctors and nurses and hospital administrators and janitors and pharmaceutical manufacturers in exchange for nothing at all. Whether the government wants to lift the burden and have the middle/upper classes pay for it through taxes is a side issue. The question is "Do you, an individual, have a RIGHT to health care?" If your answer is yes, you are pro-slavery, and like everyone else who has ever been pro-slavery, you want to be the master.

Ultimately, entitlements are a zero sum game. Directly or indirectly, entitlement programs transform tax-paying citizens into bond-servants for the recipients of entitlement freebies. That's true whether the entitlement goodies come from the health care industry, the housing industry, the education industry, or any other industry.

Rand Paul is right. The "right" to free stuff makes slaves of the producers of said stuff.

I wouldn't try to prescribe an overnight solution to the moral hazards that have been created by entitlement programs, but a truly compassionate, fair and free society would be actively seeking remedies.

X-posted

Conservative Military Doctor Attacked by Liberal Punks

Andy Harris learned about the value of freedom from his parents who "fled Communist invasion after World War Two, joining hundreds of thousands of other refugees fleeing the totalitarian Soviet regime. Like so many others, they saw America as President Reagan's 'shining city on a hill', and came here to build a new life with literally nothing more than the clothes on their backs."

Before running for political office, Harris served his country well:

Andy has devoted his life to hard work, giving back, and fighting to preserve the freedoms envisioned by our founders and framed in our constitution. Andy served 17 years in the United States Naval Reserve, including active duty during Desert Storm. He served as Commanding Officer of the Johns Hopkins Naval Reserve Medical Unit, and is a member of the American Legion. He achieved the rank of Commander.

Harris continues to serve his country and he is now the U.S. Representative-elect for Maryland's 1st congressional district.

As a physician, Andy Harris knows what's wrong with health care in America. His prescriptions for market-based health care reforms are clearly in the mainstream:

...there are a few things I think we can all agree on: covering those who can't afford insurance, lowering costs, making sure you don't lose your insurance if you change jobs and covering pre-existing conditions.

In fact, his views tilt a bit to the left in at least one area:

Creating a health care "exchange," one of the better ideas included in House Bill 3200, creates affordable, accessible and portable insurance for millions of Americans. An "exchange" would allow everyone to choose their health care insurance from a broad range of options -- just like federal employees and Congress do right now...

Harris is clearly NOT an anti-government extremist when it comes to health care insurance. In fact, he's only slightly right-of-center. But when Andy Harris showed up to Congress on Monday for freshman orientation, he was immediately confronted with another obvious failure of government-administered, taxpayer-subsidized health insurance:

Republican Andy Harris ... reacted incredulously when informed that federal law mandated that his government-subsidized health care policy would take effect on Feb. 1 ... 28 days after his Jan. 3rd swearing-in.

“He stood up and asked the two ladies who were answering questions why it had to take so long, what he would do without 28 days of health care,” said a congressional staffer who saw the exchange. The benefits session, held behind closed doors, drew about 250 freshman members, staffers and family members to the Capitol Visitors Center auditorium late Monday morning,”.

“Harris then asked if he could purchase insurance from the government to cover the gap,” added the aide, who was struck by the similarity to Harris’s request and the public option he denounced as a gateway to socialized medicine.

Similar to the public option? Uh... no, not at all! It's exactly like H. R. 3200's health insurance exchange, the one Harris explicitly supported while running for Congress.

It's unfortunate that Andy's uber-liberal critics are intellectually incapable of understanding the function of a rhetorical question. For their benefit, I'll provide video of remarks from Congressman-elect Harris:

I have insurance, and I have the ability to have insurance. But for anyone else who gets a job — and again, the irony that the federal government would go to the American people (and most importantly, our employers) and say that you have to provide insurance — and yet when our federal employees get hired, if they don't get hired on the right day of the month, they actually have to go without insurance for a while...

(Perhaps the glaring deficiencies of government-administered health care inspired Obama to hand out ObamaCare waivers to his best friends, including the ones who campaigned for ObamaCare.)

For the record, Andy Harris has health insurance coverage through the Johns Hopkins medical system. His coverage will not expire before his new Congressional benefits take effect.

Harris's comments come as no surprise to those are familiar with his long-held positions on health insurance reform. Here's a quote from September of 2009, published on Andy's campaign website:

People [should] have a health care insurance policy they can call their own. They could choose one that exactly fits their families' needs and their budgets, be able to take that coverage with them from job to job...

Liberals twist out of context virtually everything conservatives say in order to create the illusion of controversy and hypocrisy where none exists. They use this Alinskyite strategy as a way to shut us up and "raise the cost on the right of going after the left."

Liberal politicians and liberal journalists manufacture opportunities to grab conservatives and and rhetorically "smash [them] through a plate-glass window." They then "take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear."

Examples of this hateful technique:

• Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Playboy) et. al: "We also find it interesting that members of the Republican conference would have no problem taking away health coverage from hard-working Americans, but expect expanded coverage for themselves and their families."

• Ethan Rome: Tone-deaf lawmaker-elect Andy Harris should apologize to Maryland, denounce repeal effort.

• Michael J.W. Stickings: "...what he's saying is, '[f**k] the millions and millions of Americans who either don't have adequate coverage or don't have coverage at all. [F**k] 'em. All that matters is me!'"

• Physicians for a National Health Program: "Our medical school admissions committees need to set the bar higher. All applicants accepted should meet the standard of possessing common decency. Too bad Andy Harris snuck through."

• Baltimore Sun: "What a doofus. He missed a golden opportunity to take a stand on principle. He could have announced he wasn't taking taxpayer-subsidized health insurance because he didn't believe in such things, picked up his welcome bag and walked out of the meeting."

There's absolutely nothing wrong with conservatives taking jobs that serve legitimate, constitutionally-mandated government functions. And when a conservative takes a paid government position, there's no hypocrisy or irony in expecting timely dispensation of the compensation package that comes with his or her job.

But Dr. Harris' personal health care needs are not what this controversy is all about. Harris's controversial comments vividly illustrate the undesirability of benefits "provided" by government and they furnish another powerful argument against more government intrusion into the private health care industry.

Let's stand up for ObamaCare critics when they are smeared.

Hat Tip: Memeorandum

X-posted

Bret Baier vs. Barack Obama

Bret Baier is tough! Would you have the courage to interview a sitting president of the United States in this fashion? This is awesome:

h/t: Sister Toldjah

On the road to Demon Pass, our leader encounters a Baier.

ObamaCare: Political Suicide

ObamaCare is a brilliant plan for:

• "Reducing benefits" (quoting the bill itself)
• "Increasing premiums" (quoting the bill itself)
• "Establishing waiting lists" (quoting the bill itself)
• Creating thirteen new tax hikes (Americans for Tax Reform)
• Wiping out 1.6 million jobs (National Federation of Independent Business)
• Leaving 18 million uninsured (CBO)

Blue Dogs, are you taking notes?

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Health Care, Capitalism & Harmony of Interests

A fascinating discussion with Whole Foods Market CEO and co-founder John Mackey. After watching the preview above, make time to watch the full-length video. You will enjoy it.

John Mackey's Conscious Capitalism

1,363 Days

Who knows what will come of this, but I have to give credit where credit is due. We should applaud the moderate Democratic Senators who sent a letter to Harry Reid urging him to allow time for a serious commitment to transparency during the remainder of the process of creating the Health Care Bill.

The eight Senators call for 72 hours of public disclosure at three points: prior to the first vote on the Senate floor, prior to the vote on final passage of the bill in the Senate, and prior to the vote on final passage of the conference report in the Senate. Likewise, the senators call for CBO budget analysis at each of these three stages.

These are the senators who, for whatever reason, have chosen to take the issue of public disclosure seriously:

• Blanche L. Lincoln
• Evan Bayh
• Mary L. Landrieu
• Joseph I. Lieberman
• Claire McCaskill
• Ben Nelson
• Mark L. Pryor
• Jim Webb

The Senators express a clear understanding of the benefits of transparency:

Our constituents will have the opportunity to evaluate these policies and communicate their concerns or their message of support to their Members of Congress. As their democratically-elected representatives in Washington, D.C., it is our duty to listen to their concerns and to provide them with the chance to respond to proposals that will impact their lives. At a time when trust in Congress and the U.S. government is unprecedentedly low, we can begin to rebuild the American people's faith in their federal government through transparency and by actively inviting Americans to participate in the legislative process.

Of course it remains to be seen whether this letter from the eight Senators is a mere gesture, but I'm glad to see that they're moving in the right direction.

Not being one to give Congress too much credit, I suspect their appreciation for the value of sunlight came from numbers such as these:

• Among U.S. voters, 83% say legislation should be posted online in final form and available for everyone to read before Congress votes on it.
• Only 6% of voters disagree with this approach.
• Of those who favor posting congressional bills, 64% say they should be available to the public at least two weeks before Congress votes.

Pundits note that this process of disclosure would add at least three weeks to any schedule for ramming Obamacare through the Senate, but with 1,363 days remaining until the health care bill would go into effect, 21 days is a drop in the bucket.

via Memeorandum

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Hypocrisy Flashback: An Obama 2008 Campaign Mailer

Yet another example of the classic Obama bait and switch routine…

WSJ: If liberal health-care reform is going to make people better off, why does it require "a very harsh, stiff penalty" to make everyone buy it? That's what Senator Obama called it in his Presidential campaign when he opposed the individual mandate supported by Hillary Clinton. He correctly argued then that many people were uninsured not because they didn't want coverage but because it was too expensive.

Read the excellent article in its entirety here.

Flashback: Obama slams Hillary's plan for "forcing everyone to buy insurance."

Health Care Pain? Government IS The Problem

Innovative people can always find a solution. The government can always find a way to interfere. Here's a perfect example from the New York Post:

The state is trying to shut down a New York City doctor's ambitious plan to treat uninsured patients for around $1,000 a year.

Dr. John Muney offers his patients everything from mammograms to mole removal at his AMG Medical Group clinics, which operate in all five boroughs.

"I'm trying to help uninsured people here," he said.

His patients agree to pay $79 a month for a year in return for unlimited office visits with a $10 co-pay.

Great idea! The patients were happy, the doctor was happy, everybody was happy, but...

[His] plan landed him in the crosshairs of the state Insurance Department, which ordered him to drop his fixed-rate plan - which it claims is equivalent to an insurance policy.

Muney insists it is not insurance because it doesn't cover anything that he can't do in his offices, like complicated surgery. He points out his offices do not operate 24/7 so they can't function like emergency rooms.

"I'm not doing an insurance business," he said. "I'm just providing my services at my place during certain hours."

He says he can afford to charge such a small amount because he doesn't have to process mountains of paperwork and spend hours on billing.

"If they leave me alone, I can serve thousands of patients," he said.

The state believes his plan runs afoul of the law because it promises to cover unplanned procedures - like treating a sudden ear infection - under a fixed rate. That's something only a licensed insurance company can do.

"The law is strict on how insurance is defined," said an Insurance Department spokesman.

A possible solution that Muney's lawyer crafted would force patients to pay more than $10 for unplanned procedures.

They are waiting to see if the state will accept the compromise. Still, Muney is unhappy because, he said, "I really don't want to charge more. They're forcing me."

Comments via State of (In)Dependence: "It's time that people see government for what it is—a leviathan that would rather take complete control of everything rather than fix anything. Just ask Dr. Muney's patients."

Fox News provided an update on the story (Insurance Industry Wins, Low-Cost Doctor Raises Fees):

The state Insurance Department told Dr. John Muney last month to end the $79-a-month medical service at his AMG Medical Group clinics in all five boroughs. Department spokesman Andy Mais says Muney was violating state law by basically operating as an insurance operator without a license.

The monthly fee buys unlimited office visits, including certain tests and in-office surgeries.

Muney will charge $33 per visit for all but preventive care, which Mais says brings him in compliance. Muney's spokesman says he'll challenge the restrictions through legislation.

Government interference exemplified by Dr. Muney's story is exactly why we have so many problems with health care in this country. Here are some additional painful examples:

• “Community Rating” laws, which limit insurers’ ability to charge different prices to different customers, raise prices by 20.3% for individual policies and 27.3% for family policies

• Mandated benefits raise the expected price of an individual policy by approximately 0.4% per mandate. For family policies the increase is approximately 0.5% per mandate. The typical state has about 20 mandates (with a range from 6 to 48) so a reduction from 20 to 10 mandates would imply a 4% decrease in price for individual policies, and a 5% decrease for family policies.

• “Any-Willing-Provider” laws, which limit insurers’ ability to exclude hospitals and doctors from their networks, raise prices by 1.5% for individual policies and 5.3% for family policies.

• Federal law places limits on the discounts employers and insurance companies can provide for healthy, cost-saving behaviors.

• Twelve million Americans go without health insurance because the Federal Government does not allow people to purchase insurance across state lines.

One blogger sums up this sad state of affairs very well: "Let it not be said that the problems in our healthcare system are the result of free markets. We have not had free markets for a very long time."

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A Miserable August Recess

To Congress I say, "May you have a miserable August recess. You really deserve it." Before I go any further, here's some background info:

"By tradition and by law, Congress recesses for the month of August. During the Senate's early years, members attempted to adjourn in the spring, before the summer's heat and oppressive humidity overwhelmed them and their small staff.

"When the Senate moved to its current chamber in 1859, senators were optimistic about its 'modern' ventilation system, but they soon found the new system ineffective. Long sessions were plagued by hot and stormy weather. The 1920s brought 'manufactured weather' to the Senate chamber, but even modern climate control could not cope with the hottest days, forcing 20th-century senators to escape the summer heat.

"In 1970, finally facing the reality of long sessions, Congress mandated a summer break as part of the Legislative Reorganization Act. Today, the August recess continues to be a regular feature of the schedule--a chance to spend time with family, meet with constituents back home, and catch up on summer reading."

With a highly controversial 1000 page health care bill hanging over Congress's heads like the Sword of Damocles, "summer reading" had better be the top priority!

This year, August recess is scheduled to start on August 7 and continue until September 8 for the Senate. For the House, the official August recess spans from August 3 to September 4.

The August recess has already started with a bang, with hostile constituents all over the country pounding down on the Washington elites like never before. Forget the carefree trip to Martha's Vineyard. Congressmen have been so rattled, they've been using sick children as human shields to protect them from their constituents' oppressive and overwhelming wrath.

This is, of course, as it should be. As Thomas Jefferson noted, "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." So keep it up, America! Has there ever been a time when the Federal Government of the United States more urgently needed to learn to fear the people?

I hope to encourage you and your friends to continue to make August a miserable month for our derelict lawmakers. Please take action against ObamaCare (and Cap and Trade) every single day during the August recess. Call, write, email, fax, tweet, blog, go to townhall meetings, go to tea party protests — attack from every angle!

Let's get Congress on the right track and implore them to scrap the ObamaCare bill. I believe in health care reform, but ObamaCare is not what this nation needs.

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