• Del.icio.us Links

    links for 2009-08-20

    • Hospitals in border cities, including Detroit, are forging lucrative arrangements with Canadian health agencies to provide care not widely available across the border.

      Agreements between Detroit hospitals and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for heart, imaging tests, bariatric and other services provide access to some services not immediately available in the province, said ministry spokesman David Jensen.

      The agreements show how a country with a national care system — a proposal not part of the health care changes under discussion in Congress — copes with demand for care with U.S. partnerships, rather than building new facilities.

    • Charlie Cook, one of the best political handicappers in the business, sent out a special update to Cook Political Report subscribers Thursday that should send shivers down Democratic spines.

      Reviewing recent polling and the 2010 election landscape, Cook can envision a scenario in which Democratic House losses could exceed 20 seats.

      "These data confirm anecdotal evidence, and our own view, that the situation this summer has slipped completely out of control for President Obama and Congressional Democrats. Today, The Cook Political Report’s Congressional election model, based on individual races, is pointing toward a net Democratic loss of between six and 12 seats, but our sense, factoring in macro-political dynamics is that this is far too low," he wrote.

    • President Obama took to the conservative airwaves Thursday to charge that Republican leaders are engaged in a vast right-wing conspiracy to kill health care reform in order to repeat the 1994 mid-term takeover of Congress, which followed the defeat of President Clinton's reform plan.

      "I think early on, a decision was made by the Republican leadership that said, 'Look, let's not give him a victory, maybe we can have a replay of 1993, '94, when Clinton came in, he failed on health care and then we won in the mid-term elections and we got the majority. And I think there are some folks who are taking a page out that playbook," the president said.

    • Children in the U.K. have had nearly one million teeth pulled out in a year as sugary diets and poor dental care took its toll. The number of tooth extractions carried out on children under 18-years-old has risen by 12 percent in five years, the country’s National Health Services Information Center said.

      The figures support recent warnings that thousands of children are ending up in hospital because of their teeth, with many requiring a general anesthetic.

      The latest data — the first to compare clinical activity before and after the British government’s recent overhaul of NHS dentistry — also showed that there were two million extractions carried out on adults in 2008 and 2009.

      Bad diets, poor brushing and shortfalls in dental care have all been blamed for the sharp rise in tooth extractions. The figures raise questions about the government’s efforts to improve access to preventive dental care, including regular check-ups and fluoride treatments.

      (tags: dentistry NHS)
    • President Barack 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.

      Coalitions of interest groups running at least $24 million in pro-overhaul ads hired GMMB, which worked for Obama's 2008 campaign and whose partners include a top Obama campaign strategist. They also hired AKPD Message and Media, which was founded by David Axelrod, a top adviser to Obama's campaign and now to the White House. AKPD did work for Obama's campaign, and Axelrod's son Michael and Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe work there.

    • Extremists struck at the Iraqi Government with a wave of bombings and mortar attacks, killing at least 95 people and injuring more than 560 and raising new doubts about the withdrawal of US soldiers from the country.

      The bombings were directed against the main centres of power, including the ministries of finance, foreign affairs, health, education and housing, as well as the parliament and cabinet buildings.

      A lorry packed with explosives that went off within 30ft of the Foreign Ministry is reported to have killed up to 59 people and injured 250. The ministry’s compound wall was flattened and the ten-storey building all but destroyed. Cars and buildings in the vicinity were devastated and houses five miles away were shaken

      (tags: iraq iraqwar)
    • The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly climbed higher last week, suggesting that labor market conditions remain difficult despite some recent signs of stabilization.

      Meanwhile, total claims lasting more than one week also ticked up after plunging the previous week.

      Initial claims for jobless …

  • Barack Obama,  Obamacare

    Obama Fires Back at Political Critics of Obamacare

    Obama on DC ‘Handwringing’: ‘Everybody in Washington Gets All Wee Weed Up!’

    Mr. President please continue your insistence on socializing the health care system. Flap really wants the Democrat majorities in the Congress to disappear in 2010.

    Remember, Yes You Can

    US President Barack Obama launched a mocking counter-attack Thursday at pundits who believe the euphoric early promise of his presidency is evaporating amid bitter political warfare.

    Obama, who has watched his poll ratings dip sharply over recent months, drew comparisons to his 2008 presidential campaign, which was several times all but written off by media experts who set prevailing political wisdom.


    Technorati Tags: ,

  • Barack Obama,  Day By Day,  Obamacare

    Day By Day by Chris Muir August 20, 2009 – Postal



    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    There have been so many “Trial Balloons” floated on Obamacare the past few days, the entire legislative package is about to float away to oblivion.

    The latest is that the Congressional Democrats may split the bill.

    The White House and Senate Democratic leaders, seeing little chance of bipartisan support for their health-care overhaul, are considering a strategy shift that would break the legislation into two parts and pass the most expensive provisions solely with Democratic votes.

    The idea is the latest effort by Democrats to escape the morass caused by delays in Congress, as well as voter discontent crystallized in angry town-hall meetings. Polls suggest the overhaul plans are losing public support, giving Republicans less incentive to go along.

    President Obama and the Democrats are trying to FOOL the American voters again.

    How about being honest about what is in the bill and listening to your constituents?


    Technorati Tags: ,