NEWS ARCHIVES AND UPDATES ON OBAMA HEALTH CARE - Obamacare
December 13, 2010, a federal judge punctured another liberal fantasy --
that constitutional challenges to ObamaCare were frivolous exercises. In a
42-page decision, U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson ruled that the
health care law's requirement that individuals purchase insurance "exceeds
the constitutional boundaries of congressional power," rejecting the
Obama administration's argument that the Commerce Clause gave it the
authority to compel the purchase of coverage as part of a larger health care
regulatory scheme.
"This case isn't about health insurance, it isn't about health care, it's
about liberty," Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who was mocked by
liberals in March when he launched a lawsuit against the law, told TAS in a
phone interview. If courts ultimately uphold the individual mandate,
Cuccinelli argued, it will give the federal government unprecedented power
over Americans' lives. The mandate is also being challenged in a separate
lawsuit filed by 20 states led by Florida.
"If the feds win this case, they can do anything," he said. "They can force
people to buy cars, asparagus -- the list goes on and is infinite…. It is no
underestimation to say that it (would be) the end of federalism. That
nothing the federal government does (would be) limited by enumerated
powers."
Given the uncertainty that is hanging over states as a result of the pending
constitutional challenges, Cuccinelli is in talks with the U.S. Department
of Justice to join together in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to expedite
hearing the case. But the Obama administration is likely to appeal the
decision to the Fourth Circuit.
While that court was once considered one of the most conservative appeals
courts in the nation, three recent Obama appointees have tilted the balance,
and Democratically appointed judges now outnumber Republican ones by an
8-to-5 margin. Typically, the court hears cases in three-judge panels, but
it also has the option of hearing them as a whole, or en banc.
"My focus is on the end point," Cuccinelli explained, asked about the
composition of the Fourth Circuit. "I don't mind losing everything except
the last one.… One way or the other, it's going to be tight. I think it's
going to be close at the Supreme Court as well."
Unlike other types of lawsuits, this one doesn't involve depositions,
discovery and witnesses. "This is a pure legal debate," he said. "And the
universe of available legal argument is pretty well known at this point. We
may reformulate it for different panels, for the Fourth Circuit. But the
contours of the legal argument are pretty well settled at this point. Nobody
is going to say, 'Aha, I found the silver bullet case!' That isn't going to
happen at this point. It's a matter of how the judges along the way -- by
that I mean moving up the appellate chain -- respond to the same type of
arguments you saw in the District Court."
While Hudson (a George W. Bush appointee) held that the individual mandate
"exceeds the Commerce Clause powers vested in Congress under Article I," two
other district court judges (appointed by Bill Clinton) have upheld the
individual mandate as constitutional, arguing that not purchasing health
insurance is an "economic decision" and therefore fair game for regulation
under the Commerce Clause.
Speaking of one of the decisions, by U.S. District Court Judge George Steeh
of the Eastern District of Michigan, Cuccinelli said, "It adopts such a leap
of logic and language, to reach the conclusions that judge reaches, that I
hope other judges read it and go, 'Whoa, this is what it takes for these
guys to win? I don't want to sign on to this.'"
Congressional power under the Commerce Clause has been greatly expanded by
courts from its original meaning in the Constitution, but the individual
mandate takes things to a whole new level by saying that it gives the
federal government the right to compel the purchase of something. That's why
Cuccinelli believes that the mandate can be struck down without overturning
prior Supreme Court rulings.
"It is quite an incredible leap to go from regulating actual voluntary
activity that affects commerce, to say that doing nothing, and the
accumulation of people doing nothing, affects commerce in the sense that if
they did something, the market would look different," he said. Cuccinelli
argued that those who may favor expanding federal power now because they
support the health care law may one day find that it comes back to haunt
them. "How much would the folks who voted for this bill appreciate a mandate
that every American buy a gun?" he asked, laughing heartily. "And not
whatever you want, we're going to have a government-approved list of guns.
And they're going to be ugly, mean-looking guns that normally these people
would try to ban."
Assuming that the case travels through the typical appeals process,
Cuccinelli estimated that it would be roughly two years before the Supreme
Court issues a decision. The individual mandate component of the law is
scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2014. For now, he says he's
"cautiously optimistic."
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/12/14/obamacare-suffers-a-legal-setb
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November 17, 2010 Obama and Democrats up to the same old
tricks -
A recess appointment to the largest agencies in government -- bigger than
the Defense Department -- without having thorough transparency, without
having hearings, without allowing all questions to be asked.
Washington (CNSNews.com) – Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told CNSNews.com that
members of the Senate Finance Committee did not have enough time to fully
question Dr. Donald Berwick, the never-confirmed, recess-appointed director
of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), during his
first appearance before the committee. Berwick is on record as saying
"Any health care funding plan ...must redistribute the wealth."
Hatch called the hearing “pathetic” and said Finance Chairman Max Baucus
(D-Mont.) had limited senators to five minutes each to question Berwick, who
never appeared before the committee in the customary setting of a
confirmation hearing in which his record would be fully vetted and examined
by the senators.
Berwick's nomination was controversial because his position is central to
carrying out the health-care reform law that President Obama signed in March
and because Berwick has been an outspoken advocate of the socialized medical
system in Great Britain and for redistribution of wealth through the
health-care system.
Even though his party has controlled a large majority in the Senate in this
Congress, President Obama pulled Berwick from the normal confirmation
process and appointed him to the job when Congress was in recess. This
recess appointment only lasts through the end of 2011 at which time Berwick
will have to leave his post if not confirmed by a vote of the full Senate.
Obama has subsequently resubmitted Berwick's nomination to the Senate, so
Chairman Baucus could have convened full confirmation hearings for the
Medicare director during this lameduck session--when the Democrats will have
more Senate votes than they will next year--rather than holding the
truncated hearing he conducted yesterday.
“We didn’t have enough time,” Hatch told CNSNews.com. “It’s clear that they
held a hearing just to say they’ve held one, but to give five minutes on
these very, very important questions, and all we’re hearing is how we should
do a better job on prevention,” Hatch told CNSNews.com
“Well, there’s no question about that, and doctors have said that, and there
are some other things in there that just haven’t been quite accurate, but
let me just say this, I respect the good doctor (Berwick). He’s been a
professor at Harvard. He’s a good pediatrician.
“For all intents and purposes, I suspect he’s a very good doctor but we
should never have a recess appointment to the largest agencies in government
-- bigger than the Defense Department -- without having thorough
transparency, without having hearings, without allowing all questions to be
asked.”
The hearing was set to last until 11 a.m., and it ultimately adjourned
around 11:20.
Senators who participated in the hearing were given the customary five
minutes, but many of them left the hearing or never showed up at all --
"because it was obvious that they would not have had time to question Dr.
Berwick due to the truncated nature of the hearing,” a Republican finance
committee aide told CNSNews.com. “It was only an hour and 20 minutes--not
long for any topic, especially not for a complex topic such as
Medicare/health care."
The aide said if the hearing had not been limited to an hour-and-a-half,
“Each senator would have had more rounds of questions – each question is
allotted five minutes but there can be several rounds. The short nature of
the hearing foreclosed the possibility of multiple five-minute rounds.”
Hatch was equally critical at the hearing: "It's like asking us to drain the
Pacific Ocean with a thimble. This cannot simply be a check-the-box
enterprise. This is pathetic. My gosh, we ought to have time to ask the most
important man in America on health care some important questions."
He later told CNSNews.com that Democrats are “deathly afraid” that some of
Berwick’s controversial ideas will come out during a full-length hearing.
“Something involving this kind of money and this type of importance and they
just completely bypass it--and I’m sure part of the reason was that they
didn’t want to have to put up with questions about some of the outrageous
statements that the good doctor has made,” Hatch told CNSNews.com.
“Now they have a three-person majority on this committee. There’s no
question that they could have [approved Berwick's nomination in committee],
but I think they were deathly afraid that some of his ideas would come out
and embarrass them at the polls. Well, I can understand that, but then to
have a hearing with only five minutes of questions, up against two votes on
the floor -- you know, that’s not the way to get to transparency.”
In a July 1, 2008 speech commemorating the 60th anniversary of Britain’s
single-payer health-care system, Berwick said: "Any health care funding plan
that is just, equitable, civilized and humane must--must--redistribute
wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate."
Hatch said he expects these remarks and others to come up if Berwick appears
before the Finance committee again.
“Of course it will. Not just that quote but many other quotes that he made.
He seemed to really like the socialized medicine system and frankly, I don’t
know many Brits that like it.; the long lengthy stays to get operations and
to get surgery and to get the basic health care that’s needed,” he told
CNSNews.com.
“Let’s just be honest about it--that most people are very critical of that
system and it’s the best they could do under that government but hopefully
they’ll change it too but we shouldn’t go to that type of a system and end
up with the same myriad of problems that Great Britain has.”
November 17, 2010 By Nicholas Ballasy
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/sen-hatch-says-it-s-pathetic-senators-di
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Health Care News Archives - OBAMACARE
House Republican Leader John Boehner vowed to repeal health care reforms
pushed into law by the Obama administration.
He is expected to succeed Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House and said his
party must "follow the will of the American people."
Election 2010 News Archives
Aerospace giant Boeing says the new health care law is the reason it's
asking 90,000 workers to pay significantly more for their health plan next
year.
A lawsuit brought by 20 states challenging the Obama health-care
overhaul law moves forward.
News Update
Obama promised
- "no one would lose their health coverage" under his Obamacare plan. Now
just before the November election over 1 million people would have lost
their health care coverage...BUT .... to hide the negative publicity
they got an Obama Exemption
Obama, who pledged to establish the most open and transparent administration
in history believes he can solve any problem with a controlled
written speech, is afraid of being asked questions and does not
feel responsible to honor the promises he makes.
The Lies of Barack Obama
Obama on Videotape Promises and Lies About Health Care Votes
Black Security Officer
says
to Obama Health Care Opponent, "This ain't America no more"
Health
Care Protester
Hidden Health Care amendment will further tax the public
Obamacare tax on gold and precious metals
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS -
While the Senate was in a brief recess - Obama appointed
Donald Berwick as the administrator for Medicare and Medicaid Services avoiding a public hearing that would reveal that his
nominee is an outspoken advocate of health care rationing. Obama continues
to lie about transparency.
HEALTH CARE CONTROL Updated News and Archived
Research Articles
The quote of the year was "we'll find out what's in
the health-care bill after it's passed into law." DemocRat Leader Nancy Pelosi made that statement when asked if she READ
THE BILL. Now the same Democrats are screaming to the media that bank employees are
signing off on millions of pages of bureaucratic home foreclosures without
reading EVERY word.
Some banks have suspended foreclosures across the
country because of these media reports.
Foreclosures Short Sales News
DemocRats can't stand the criticism of their
Health Care Takeover so they lie about the opposition
Tea Party Conservative News
You gave consent to donate your organs,
unless you specify in writing that you don't want to.
Democrat
Proposal - Video News
The government can't properly run a cash for clunkers program. Now they
think they can run the entire healthcare system.
Obama's push for a national health care overhaul is providing a financial
windfall in the election offseason to Democratic consulting firms that are
closely connected to the president and two top advisers. Repeating one of
his stock lines, Obama said, "If you like your health care plan, you
can keep it".
That's not true
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