Author: Serkadis

Developer Visual Impact found some good use for the DSi’s camera and integrated it into their new game, System Flaw. The feature basically adds the g…

Japanese company announces Dragon Ball headphones
Toyjector: Cute mini projector to be released in Japan
Choken Bako: Cute Japanese piggy bank
Video: Strange Japanese hamburger vending machine
The Electrobite makes it fun and exciting to be handicapped

Electronic Arts’ MMA may not be getting anything from the UFC, but EA Sports managed to sign Strikeforce into their stable as a premier league, bri…

After yesterday, when the House of Representatives cleared its version of sweeping health overhaul legislation, the Sunday talk shows were full of GOP and Democratic leaders talking about the impact of that vote as well as what might happen in the Senate.

Reuters: “After a landmark win in the U.S. House of Representatives, President Barack Obama’s push for healthcare reform faces a difficult path in the Senate amid divisions in his own Democratic Party on how to proceed.” In the Senate, there’s no margin for error. Democrats control 60 votes, but some either oppose or are hesitant about Majority Leader Harry Reid’s plan to include a public insurance option in the version of legislation he sends to the Senate floor. “Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, renewed his promise on Sunday to help Republicans block a final vote” if the bill contains the public plan supported by Senate liberals. “‘If the public option plan is in there, as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote,’ Lieberman said on Fox News Sunday.”

The newly passed House version of sweeping health reform legislation triggered criticism from the right. “‘The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate,’ Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on CBS’s Face the Nation, calling it ‘a bill written by liberals for liberals.’” The Reuters’ report notes that yesterday’s House vote was a key win for President Obama, “who staked much of his political capital on the healthcare battle.” A loss would have could have ended the effort, limited his ability to advance the rest of his agenda and left Democrats vulnerable in next year’s congressional elections. But “Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008 and a leader of conservative grass-roots opposition to Obama’s agenda, promised retribution in those elections.” She wrote on her Facebook page that the next moves are in the Senate. “Our legislators can listen now, or they can hear us in 2010. It’s their choice,” she wrote. “We will make our voices heard” (Whitesides, 11/8). 

CBS News: During his appearance on Face the Nation, Graham — terming the House bill a “non-starter in the Senate” — also said “that if it were to come down to it, he would join his independent colleague Senator Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., in filibustering a bill including the so-called public option should it come to the Senate floor. … I just think the construct out of the House and what exists in the Senate is not going to pass, and I hope and pray it doesn’t because it would be a disaster for the economy and health care.” Graham believed a public option would “destroy” private health care, saying that insurance companies could not compete against the lower premiums of a government-backed plan. “It will be a death blow to private choice,” he said.

Meanwhile, also on Face the Nation, Senator Jack Reed, D-R.I., said he believed the Senate is going to pass health care reform. “I believe we must do this because it’s essential to not just the quality of life here but our economic success in the future.” (Levi, 11/8).

The Associated Press: Republican officials took to the airwaves to warn that Democrats will pay a political price as a result of the majority’s health care win. Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, the number 3 House GOP leader, highlighted the Republican wins in last week’s Virginia and New Jersey governors’ races as an indicator of how yesterday’s House vote showed that Democrats are out of step with the American public. “‘On a narrow partisan vote, the Democrats put their liberal, big government agenda ahead of the American people,’ Pence said. ‘If Democrats keep ignoring the American people, their party’s going to be history in about a year.’” But Democrats argued that the outcome of those governors’ races reflected state rather than national concerns. Democrats “say victories in House races in New York and California are evidence that voters support their efforts to overhaul the nation’s health care system. …’The message was clear. It’s time to begin to fix what has been a broken health care system for millions of Americans,’ said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.” But Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele “said the House bill allows the government to take over the health care even though Americans don’t want the government in charge. ‘The Democratic Party had better pay attention to what the people out here are saying,’ Steele said.” But Democratic Party Chair and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine “dismissed Republican talk of a backlash from the health care bill. ‘They’ve been trying to block this all year,’ Kaine said. ‘They’ve said that they want to beat health care reform as a way to break the president.’” Pence and Van Hollen made their comments while appearing on Fox News Sunday. Steele and Kaine spoke on ABC’s This Week (Daniel, 11/8).

Meanwhile, in a separate story, The Associated Press reports on White House reaction the day after the key House vote. In a brief Rose Garden statement, President Barack Obama said Sunday “it’s now up to the Senate to take the baton from the House and pass a bill aimed at overhauling the nation’s health care system.” The Senate has not yet scheduled action on its version of health overhaul legislation, “and Republicans are pledging to stop the Democratic measure from passing Congress (11/8).

Fans of Assassin’s Creed are gonna get a double whammy this month. Not only will November see the launch of Assassin’s Creed II for the PS3, Xbox 360,…

News outlets are still digesting the House of Representatives’ passage of a landmark health care overhaul and also looking ahead to the Senate, where an effort to meld two health reform bills is stalled.

The New York Times: “Handing President Obama a hard-fought victory, the House narrowly approved a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system on Saturday night, advancing legislation that Democrats said could stand as their defining social policy achievement.  After a daylong clash with Republicans over what has been a Democratic goal for decades, lawmakers voted 220 to 215 to approve a plan that would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years. Democrats said the legislation would provide overdue relief to Americans struggling to buy or hold on to health insurance. ‘This is our moment to revolutionize health care in this country,’ said Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and one of the chief architects of the bill” (Hulse and Pear, 11/8). 

The Associated Press: The “vote late Saturday cleared the way for the Senate to begin a long-delayed debate on the issue that has come to overshadow all others in Congress. A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi compared the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later. Obama, who went to Capitol Hill earlier on Saturday to lobby wavering Democrats, said in a statement after the vote, ‘I look forward to signing it into law by the end of the year.’”

“The bill drew the votes of 219 Democrats and Rep. Joseph Cao, a first-term Republican who holds an overwhelmingly Democratic seat in New Orleans. Opposed were 176 Republicans and 39 Democrats.” (Werner, 11/8).

MSNBC: “It was about a 13-hour day in the House, but throughout the day, Democrats sounded confident. The president stopped by to meet with the Democratic caucus in the morning, but Majority Whip Jim Clyburn acknowledged that Obama didn’t affect the vote. Obama likely wouldn’t have been there if the votes weren’t there — and the bill wouldn’t have come up for a vote.” MSNBC offered some thoughts on what happened between Friday, “when Democrats seemed just short” of the needed vote tally, and Saturday night. “Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi behind closed doors, solved the abortion issue with pro-life Catholic Democrats.” Between 20 to 30 votes depended on this agreement. “Pelosi got the endorsement of the Catholic Bishops, and she allowed — and said she suggested — that an amendment explicitly banning federal funding in the House bill, would be voted on. The amendment was introduced and pushed by Democrat Bart Stupak from Michigan. The amendment passed 240-196, and the Democrats kept the more liberal members, who threatened to vote against, in line” (Montanaro, 11/8).

San Francisco Chronicle: “Pelosi spent months in tense negotiations to knit together the wide ideological spectrum of her caucus, from Bay Area liberals who insisted on a public option to moderate Democrats from GOP-leaning districts wary of rising deficits. Moderates succeeded in watering down the public option by untethering it from Medicare, and won a 240-194 vote on an amendment to expand a ban on public funds being used for abortion. Liberals accepted the amendment rather than bring down the entire bill” (Lochhead, 11/8). 

MedPage Today: “Once the vote count hit 218, Democrats cheered loudly. Applause continued as the final votes trickled in during the few minutes that remained of the 15 allotted for the vote. When the clock ran down, the chamber erupted in elated applause, the hugging, kissing, and cheering abating only for the few minutes it took for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to declare ‘The bill is passed!’” 

“The $1.1 trillion bill would expand insurance coverage to an additional 38 million people over the next decade by requiring that almost all citizens have insurance and providing subsidies to those who can’t afford it. The measure also contains a public option that would allow doctors and hospitals to negotiate with the government over reimbursement rates for treating patients enrolled in the public plan. The unusual Saturday session was characterized by hours of theatrically partisan debate, and crowds of spectators waited hours in line to get five-minute glimpses of the floor proceedings” (Walker, 11/8).

The Wall Street Journal writes: “With the House health bill passed, Congress moves a step closer to making the biggest changes to the health system in more than four decades,” and then details what the bill would mean for various groups, including the uninsured (“the biggest winners”), the insured (“the upside is less tangible”), Medicare enrollees as well as large and small employers (Adamy, 11/7).

The Washington Post has an interactive chart of each of the members’ vote, with detail about their districts (including the percentage of uninsured) and campaign contributions. (Yourish, O’Neil and Stanton, 11/8).

NPR: “Democrats have little time to savor the narrow passage of their historic heath care overhaul in the House of Representatives as attention turns to the deeply divided U.S. Senate. Majority Leader Harry Reid’s challenge is to corral enough votes to bring a companion bill to the floor of his chamber before a White House-imposed Christmas deadline” (Halloran, 11/8).

Politico: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is facing dissent in the Democratic ranks over his health-care strategy – leaving him struggling to meet a Christmas deadline and fielding White House pressure to get the bill done. Even before Saturday’s House vote, senators had begun to question why Reid suddenly embraced a public health insurance option – one that he didn’t yet have the 60 votes to pass.”

“And Senate moderates are clearly growing nervous about the process ahead — the difficulties of merging a still non-existent Senate bill with a more liberal bill from the House, one that has received the blessing of President Barack Obama. In a private meeting last week with Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), half a dozen moderate Democrats aired a long list of concerns about the differences between the two approaches: the $1.2 trillion price tag on the House bill, its reliance on a ‘millionaires tax’ to fund the overhaul and the lack of common ground between the House and Senate on other taxes, among other issues” (Budoff Brown and Raju, 11/8).

The official launch of Modern Warfare 2 is only a couple of snoozes away, but apparently, it just can’t wait. Another game has its street date broke…

Well, the numbers for week 1 are in, and they look good for Microsoft and Windows 7. Microsoft’s latest OS venture has outpaced Vista in first week sales by, get ready for it, 234%. Not bad in a down economy for sure. The new OS has also outpaced Vista in terms of revenue: Seven has generated 83% more revenue for Redmond than the big “V” in its first week. We’ve got 7 on our fleet of machines, but how many of you out there have upgraded? What are your thoughts thus far? So far, we like!

Read

20 years after Nintendo launched the Game Boy, the immensely popular portable gaming device has now been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame,…

It’s confirmed, According to Chris Sigaty in his presentation in IgroMir 2009, Starcraft 2 Beta’s release date will be pushed back to 2010. More info about the delay here : http://sclegacy.com/news/23-sc2/529-igromir-2009-starcraft-ii-coverage-day-1

Looks like those who are hoping to get Starcraft 2 Beta as their chrismas gift will be dismayed (lol a beta game as christmas gift sounds stupid? but hey, this is Starcraft 2 beta we’re talking about?)

Personally, I’ve gotten used to Blizzard delaying the Starcraft 2 beta as long as it doesn’t end up like Duke Nukem Forever.

Related posts:

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2. Starcraft 2 Closed Beta testing begins! update : we have been trolled D: Xordiah (SC2…
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Only two more days left to vote for the finalists in the Best Blurb Books Contest! Voting ends at midnight PDT on November 9. Here are some of my favorite cat books from the pet category:

Faces of Felines Inc. by Ingrid from 9 Lives Photography
This beautiful book features photos of cats from Felines Inc., a no-kill cageless cat shelter in Chicago. Stay tuned for another pet photography Q&A with Ingrid later this week!

Popular by Jen Petit
More beautiful photos of shelter cats.

The Soul of Me by Cully Miller
Featuring some very handsome black cats!

Sylvester by Wet Nose Fotos
Spectacular photos of a gorgeous tuxedo-man.

Monsieur Bruce by Mayuko Wong
Monsieur Bruce is an adorable orange Scottish Fold who is, without question, a true Moderncat!

Bob Meowzer’s Stray Tales by Bob “MicBob” Meowzer
Tales of how Bob went from life as a stray to living the good life.

She’s Mine Now by Lydia B. Fiedler
This one’s a tear-jerker!

Nine Cats by A.M. Rousseau
Vintage photographs and drawings of nine cats.

Because You Love Me by Chelle
Chelle was one of the winners of the free bookmaking code in the giveaway here on Moderncat!

Holiday Cats by Alex Baranda
Wonderful photos of cats dressed-up in holiday attire. Includes photos for the major holidays plus National Aviation Day, Mardi Gras, the summer solstice and autumnal equinox, graduation, and Cinco do Mayo. Hilarious!

(NaturalNews) If you want to save the world’s forests, don’t print out the health care legislation just passed by the US House of Representatives: It’s 1,990 pages long and weighs 19.6 pounds, reports the Wall Street Journal, making it longer than the King James Bible.

The U.S. Government Printing Office, has reportedly printed 1,335 copies of the bill, totaling 2.6 million pages of paper. This massive volume of paper required nearly 319 trees to produce. (Source: Conservatree.org) And this doesn’t even include all the paper used by citizens, lawyers, and health-related companies who are printing the bill themselves, on their own inkjet or laser printers.

It’s not unreasonable to estimate that many thousands of trees have been destroyed just for the purpose of printing out this monstrous, virtually unreadable health care bill.

And the carbon footprint of cutting the trees, producing the paper, printing the 1,990-page bill and distributing it to members of Congress must be enormous.

The bill is so large, one Congressman says that when he left his copy unattended on the House floor, it triggered a security alert after someone reported the bag containing the mass of papers, calling it a “suspicious object.”

It is suspicious object, indeed. Because what it contains are words describing a disastrous new medical tyranny that would force bankrupt Americans to buy into a pharmaceutical-centric health insurance scam or be arrested and sent to prison for up to five years. The bill is absolutely full of handouts to pharmaceutical companies, the mental health industry, and dishonest “sick care” practices. Its 1,990 pages describe the most bloated, doomed-to-fail “sick care” train wreck any nation has ever had the misfortune to suffer under.

I’m not saying the current system is any better — it isn’t. But replacing one failed system with another failed system (while calling it a success) is ridiculous.

If you happen to have hundreds of spare hours readily available, and you really enjoy listening to the language of legislative obfuscators pretending to be lawmakers, you can download audio files read by professional voice actors who have miraculously managed to read the virtually unintelligible health care bill into free audio recordings. Give them a listen, if you dare, at www.HearTheBill.org

If the bill gets any longer and needs to be printed again, we may need to take emergency action to prevent further deforestation of the planet. Should the bill be reconciled with the Senate and signed into law by the President, we’ll see yet more deforestation from all the senseless paperwork created by this new government bureaucracy.

All the basic principles of health can be described in just one page. That means this bill is 1,989 pages of bureaucratic doublespeak and Big Pharma protectionism.

Sources for this story include:
http://www.conservatree.org/learn/EnviroIssues/TreeStats.shtml

(NaturalNews) As we near the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, once again our country has been awash from shore to shore in a sea of pink – from pink ribbons and donation boxes to pink products, charity promotions, celebrities by the score and even pink cleats on NFL players. Tragically, most people are unaware of the dark history of Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) and of the players past and present who have misused it to direct people and funds away from finding a true cure, while covering up their own roles in causing and profiting from cancer.

In this installment of the series, we will examine the dangers of over-screening for cancer and the lack of progress in breast cancer prevention and cures.

The Dangers of Over-Screening for Cancer

A new analysis published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that screening for both breast and prostate cancer both have a problem that runs counter to everything people have been told about cancer: The screenings are resulting in finding cancers that do not need to be found because they would never spread and kill or even be noticed if left alone. That has in turn led to a huge increase in diagnoses of innocuous cancers that would have otherwise gone undetected.

At the same time, the analysis, “Rethinking Screening for Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer” also found that both screening tests are not making much of a dent in the number of cancers that actually are of a deadly variety. In the instance of breast cancer, that could be because many lethal breast cancers gain a foothold and spread rapidly between mammograms. The dilemma for breast and prostate screening is that it is not usually clear which tumors need aggressive treatment. Many believe that a major reason that is not clear is because studying it has not been much of a priority.

“The issue here is, as we look at cancer medicine over the last 35 or 40 years, we have always worked to treat cancer or to find cancer early,” Dr. Barnett Kramer, associate director for disease prevention at the National Institutes of Health, said. “And we never sat back and actually thought, `Are we treating the cancers that need to be treated?` “

Finding insignificant cancers is the reason the breast and prostate cancer rates soared when screening was introduced, Dr. Kramer said. And those cancers, he said, are the reason screening has the problem called overdiagnosis – labeling innocuous tumors cancer and treating them as though they could be lethal when in fact they are not dangerous.

“Overdiagnosis is pure, unadulterated harm,” he said.

Dr. Peter Albertsen, chief and program director of the urology division at the University of Connecticut Health Center, said this has not been an easy message to get across. “Politically, it`s almost unacceptable,” Dr. Albertsen said. “If you question overdiagnosis in breast cancer, you are against women. If you question overdiagnosis in prostate cancer, you are against men.”

The Lack of Progress behind the Pink Curtain

There has been quite a bit of publicity in the mainstream medicine and mainstream media in recent years over what has been announced as a slight downward trend in the occurrence of breast cancers and annual breast cancer deaths (though black women, whose cancer rates and deaths continue to climb, likely find little solace in the announced trend). When one peels back the veil of so-called progress, little credit can be given to increased screenings and mammograms. Instead, most of the credit is likely due to the decreased use of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).

Further, when one subtracts the figures for DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma in Situ), the much touted successes against breast cancer take on a complete different perspective. DCIS, is categorized as a stage 0 cancer, and has a cure rate of almost 100%. At one time, DCIS was considered a pre-cancerous condition and was not included in cancer survival statistics.

Today, when we see 5 year survival figures of 96% quoted for localized breast cancers, those figures actually fall precipitously when one figures in the 60,000 annual DCIS diagnoses. A truer look at cancer survival rates would be the 77% five year survival for women whose cancer has spread locally and the dismal 5-10% five year survival rates for those whose cancers have metastasized beyond the original region.

Source: http://www.pdrhealth.com/disease/disease-mono.aspx?contentFileName=BHG01ON01.xml&contentName=Breast+Cancer&contentId=17

Though often equated as “cures”, survival of five years does not indicate that anyone has beaten cancer and will live a cancer free normal lifespan. In fact, those who survive for five years frequently still have cancer and most of those who are cancer free can expect a return of cancer at some point in time. The average overall survival time for women with breast cancer beyond five years is a mere 26 months.

Regardless of the figures quoted, breast cancer remains the number one cancer killer for Hispanic women and the number two cancer killer for Black and Anglo women.

In the final installment of this series, we will take a look at true breast cancer prevention and cures and some alternative charities and organizations that have no cozy relationship with those who profit from cancer and contribute to its causes.

Other sources for this series included:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/NCI/research-funding
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/05/16/mastectomies-on-the-increase.html
http://www.prn2.usm.my/mainsite/headline/health/nov2002.html
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/site/c.kwKXLdPaE/b.206137/k.9E15/State_of_the_Evidence_2008_Breast_Cancer_and_the_Environment.htm
http://www.corporations.org/cancer/boycottacs.html
http://www.safe2use.com/drsherman/life/15.htm
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/2-chemical-corporations-profit-off-breast-cancer
http://www.whale.to/cancer/breast6.html
http://www.preventcancer.com/patients/med_avoid/nbcam.htm
http://www.preventcancer.org/donate3c.aspx?id=3800
http://ww5.komen.org/Default.aspx
http://www.preventcancer.com/publications/pdf/Con_of_Int_030404.pdf
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/AA/content/AA_1_7_2008_Combined_Financial_Statements.asp
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/health/21cancer.html
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/13462020/JAMA_10_21

About the author
Tony Isaacs, is a natural health advocate and researcher and the author of books and articles about natural health including “Cancer’s Natural Enemy” and “Collected Remedies“as well as song lyrics and humorous anecdotal stories. Mr. Isaacs also has The Best Years in Life website for baby boomers and others wishing to avoid prescription drugs and mainstream managed illness and live longer, healthier and happier lives naturally. He is currently residing in the scenic Texas hill country near Utopia, Texas where he serves as a consultant to the Utopia Silver colloidal silver and supplement company and where he is working on a major book project due for publication later this year. Mr. Isaacs also hosts the CureZone “Ask Tony Isaacs” forum as well as the Yahoo Health Group “Oleander Soup“

(NaturalNews) The health care reform bill just passed by the US House of Representatives is a walloping 1,990 pages weighing 19.6 pounds. As NaturalNews previously reported (http://www.naturalnews.com/027427_health_care_paper.html), it required the destruction of 319 trees just to print the 1,335 copies produced by the U.S. Government Printing Office for members of Congress.

Sadly, this bill is a complete waste of trees. Rather than reforming a sick care system into a true health care system, it simply makes sick care mandatory so that everyone has to pay money to the very industries (Big Pharma in particular) that are keeping the American people diseased and bankrupt.

But the health care reform bill isn’t completely useless. There are at least a dozen other uses for these 1,990 pages. Here are the top twelve:

#1) Place the 1,990 pages in the waiting room of your local doctor’s office for the reading enjoyment of all the patients waiting to be diagnosed with fictitious psychiatric disorders.

#2) Stuff them into the Large Hadron Collider to see if the sheer mass of all these pages might have the ability to open a portal to an alternate universe where health care isn’t run by crooks and idiots.

#3) Tie the mass of pages above the front door to your house, setting a trap that will knock an intruder unconscious (and send him to the hospital where he will be denied emergency treatment because he has no health insurance…)

#4) Place the 1,990 pages in a large steel vat, then add some bacteria to turn the wood pulp into ethanol to fuel the private jets chartered by pharmaceutical company CEOs.

#5) Get the U.S. government to air drop the papers from planes flying over Iraq, then have President Obama explain they’re “peacekeeping pamphlets.” (Because who can fight when they’re sick and diseased anyway?)

#6) Recycle the paper fibers into the manufacture of a large number of composting toilets, then ship them to Congress to send a message that legislators are full of something and need some place to put it.

#7) Give away one copy of the 1,990-page bill with each H1N1 vaccine shot. That way, when people still get sick from influenza because the vaccine doesn’t work, they have something to read while they’re spending $1,000 a day for a hospital bed.

#8) Grind up the pages, mix with chicken poop and feed them to cattle. Chicken poop is already fed to cattle, so a little printed paper could hardly be any worse, right? (http://www.naturalnews.com/027414_disease_cows_mad_cow.html) Or better, grind them up and sprinkle the bits into the food at the Congressional cafeteria in order to make these lawmakers literally eat their own words!

#9) Have all the paper pressed into cards, then have the cards delivered back to the US House of Representatives, thereby making it a House of Cards.

#10) Require any legislator who wants to vote for the bill to first try to lift it over their heads and hold it there for 60 seconds. If they can carry the bill, then the bill carries.

#11) Recycle all the pages into consumer toilet paper — but don’t bleach out the words. This way, consumers who buy the “green” recycled Congressional toilet paper product can notice the printed words and see exactly where their tax dollars are going.

#12) Dye all the paper green, cut the pages into the size of dollar bills, and send them to the Federal Reserve to pay for the $1 trillion cost for the new health care bill. The U.S. government is going to pay using counterfeit money anyway. Why not make the dollar bills out of the legislative bills?

The bottom line: Universal health care is a noble goal, and it’s one that NaturalNews supports, but universal sick care is a disastrous concept. Rather than reforming America’s health care system, the bill that just passed the House will only mandate participation in a failed, monopolistic health care scam that fleeces the People of their hard-earned money while simultaneously preventing them from learning the truth about natural remedies.

This health care bill will only accelerate the financial demise of the United States of America. And even while spending a trillion dollars over the next ten years, it will create no net improvement in the health of the American people.

Spend more money, get less in return. It’s business as usual in an economic increasingly run by Big Government.

After months of intense debate and negotiations, the House of Representatives approved an ambitious effort to change the country’s health care system, with 219 Democrats and one Republican voting for the bill and 39 Democrats voting against the bill. Democrats in the chamber cheered the final tally.

The Associated Press: “In a victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous. The 220-215 vote cleared the way for the Senate to begin debate on the issue that has come to overshadow all others in Congress. A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi likened the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later. … Democrats said it marked the culmination of a campaign that Harry Truman began when he sat in the White House 60 years ago” (Espo, 11/7).

Politico reports that the Republican who supported the bill was Rep. Joseph Cao, R-La., and adds: “The bill has a steep cost – both in dollars, $1.2 trillion, and political capital – but Democrats hailed its passage as the next chapter in a governing legacy that produced Medicare and Social Security. ‘Today, as we all know, is an historic moment for our nation and for American families,’ Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on the House floor hours before the vote. (O’Connor, 11/7).

The Washington Post: “The bill would for the first time require every individual to obtain insurance and would try to make it affordable by vastly expanding Medicaid and creating a marketplace where people could receive federal subsidies to buy coverage from private companies or from a new government-run insurance plan. Though some people would not benefit — including about 6 million illegal immigrants, by congressional estimates — the measure would virtually close the coverage gap for people who do not have access to insurance through an employer” (Montgomery and Murray, 11/7). 

Roll Call reports that proponents hailed “the plan to expand affordable care” while opponents warned “against a massive government takeover of health care.” One after another, Republicans lined up to bash the bill for mimicking expensive, government-run health care systems. ‘We should never support a children-bankrupting, health-care-rationing, freedom-crushing, $1 trillion government takeover of our health care system,’ said Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).

“Democrats, meanwhile, leaned on personal experiences to highlight the need for a health care system overhaul. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), a breast cancer survivor, said if she were to lose her job today, ‘I could not buy health insurance coverage tomorrow because I have a pre-existing condition’” (Bendery, 11/7).

Reuters: “The battle over Obama’s top domestic priority now moves to the U.S. Senate, where work on its own version has stalled for weeks as Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid searches for an approach that can win the 60 votes he needs. Any differences between the Senate and House bills ultimately will have to be reconciled, and a final bill passed again by both before going to Obama for his signature. … The vote followed days of heavy lobbying of undecided Democrats by Obama, his top aides and House leaders, and a deal designed to mollify about 40 moderate Democrats who are foes of abortion rights” (Whitesides and Smith, 11/7).

CNN reports on the anti-abortion amendment to the bill that got support from members of both parties, one that “prohibits federal funds for abortion services in the public option and in the so-called insurance ‘exchange’ the bill would create. The vote passed 240-194. The amendment was introduced by anti-abortion Democrats. Its consideration was considered a big win for them and for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which used its power — especially with conservative Democrats in swing congressional districts — to help force other Democratic leaders to permit a vote that most of them oppose. The prohibition, introduced by (members including) Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Indiana, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, would exclude cases of rape, incest or if the mother’s life is in danger” (11/7).

The Wall Street Journal reports that President Obama visited Capitol Hill just before debate started: “According to an aide, the president told the closed-door meeting of lawmakers; ‘It’s tempting to say, ‘I’m tired, it’s hard, I’m getting beat up back in the district, it’s just not worth it.’ ‘ But he called on them to reject that view, saying Democrats would be seen as failures if they don’t pass the measure. ‘I am absolutely confident that when I sign this bill in the Rose Garden, each and every one of you will be able to look back and say, ‘This was my finest moment in politics,’ ‘ the president was quoted as saying” (Yoest and Adamy, 7/11).

McClatchy lists 10 ways the House bill would change health insurance, including creation of health insurance “exchanges or marketplaces,” barring insurers from “denying or limiting coverage because of pre-existing conditions,” an expansion of Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor and the requirement, by 2013, that nearly everybody have health insurance.  (Lightman, 11/7).

Roll Call in a separate story: “The House Saturday evening rejected a Republican alternative health care reform bill on a largely party line vote, 176-258. One Republican, Rep. Timothy Johnson (R-Ill.), joined 257 Democrats in opposing the GOP legislation. House Republicans released their 219-page bill on Wednesday after weeks of criticism from Democrats for assailing the majority’s health care reform bill without releasing a plan of their own” (Kucinich, 11/7). 

The Hill made note of protests: “The visitors gallery in the House chamber remained packed on Saturday evening as lawmakers on both sides of the healthcare debate pleaded their case on the floor below.  … Many visitors had participated in a rally against the healthcare bill earlier Saturday afternoon, called at the last minute by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). … King seized on the energy generated from protesters who traveled to the Capitol on Thursday and held a mini-sequel on Saturday afternoon. Though half as many people showed up at King’s rally, on the East front of the Capitol, the outrage and frustration was equally as intense.” (Hooper, 11/7). 

 

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News outlets have been closely watching the House of Representatives’s consideration of a sweeping health reform bill.  

CNN: “The House of Representatives on Saturday night passed an amendment to pending health care legislation that prohibits federal funds for abortion services in the public option and in the so-called insurance ‘exchange’ the bill would create. The vote passed 240-194. The amendment was introduced by anti-abortion Democrats. Its consideration was considered a big win for them and for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which used its power — especially with conservative Democrats in swing congressional districts — to help force other Democratic leaders to permit a vote that most of them oppose. The prohibition, introduced by Democratic members, including Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Indiana, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, would exclude cases of rape, incest or if the mother’s life is in danger” (11/7).

Roll Call: “The House is winding down its four-hour debate on the Democratic health care bill and preparing for a final vote after 9:30 p.m. Veteran Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), who proceeded over the beginning of the debate, is set to close for the Democrats, who are convinced they now have the votes to pass the bill. ….  

GOP leaders are also keeping a running tally of Democrats planning to oppose the bill. Their latest e-mail lists 33 Democrats who have ‘joined Republicans in a bipartisan fashion to oppose Speaker Pelosi’s trillion dollar plus overhaul of the nation’s health care system’” (Bendery, 11/7).

The Washington Post: “In the first hours of debate, House Democrats saw a handful of key lawmakers who had been wavering come out in support of Obama’s most important domestic policy initiative, even as the number of Democrats vowing to vote ‘no’ also mounted. … Debate began about 2 p.m., after House Democrats received a pep talk from President Obama and the House voted 242 to 192 to approve the rules of the health-care debate, a vote that officially permitted the chamber to proceed to the substantive merits of the legislation” (Kane, Montgomery and Murray, 11/7).

The New York Times: “Congressional Democrats joined with Mr. Obama in equating approval of the legislation to the push to create Social Security in the 1930s and Medicare in the 1960s, two social programs that serve as party landmarks. ‘We are on the cusp of making a historical decision on behalf of the American people,’ said Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House.”

“Republicans were united in their withering criticism of the proposal, which they portrayed as a government takeover of medical care that would damage a struggling economy, lead to job loss and result in the rationing of health care. ‘This bill will shackle the American people while empowering the federal government,’ said Representative Cynthia M. Lummis, Republican of Wyoming, one of scores of lawmakers from both parties to speak during a marathon Saturday session of the House” (Hulse and Pear, 11/7).

The Associated Press: “The bill would cost more than $1 trillion over the next decade. It would provide health coverage to tens of millions of Americans who don’t have it now, require most employers to offer it to their workers and prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage based on a person’s medical history” (Werner, 11/7).

The Hill: “No Congress has ever come this close to the goal – first proposed by President Theodore Roosevelt – of providing universal health insurance. But the healthcare waters are as perilous as they’ve ever been for the current group of Democratic leaders. Even on the day that many Democrats have been waiting decades for, and that some have based their entire careers around, a majority of votes for legislation to extend health insurance coverage to 36 million uncovered Americans remained elusive.” (Allen and Hooper, 11/7).

The Wall Street Journal: “Democrats predicted a close vote. ‘We’re looking for 218,’ one aide said. ‘We’re not looking for 220.’ … Some centrist ‘Blue Dog’ Democrats worried about the bill’s cost and reach. The party was strikingly successful at winning seats in conservative districts the past two elections, but as a result many of Democratic members now resist the leadership’s more far-reaching goals” (Vaughan and Bendavid, 11/7).

Politico: The phrase ‘herding cats’ may be a cliché, but it is also a pretty good description of what it takes to secure the votes needed to pass or oppose a difficult bill. Whips and staffers say members may hold out for many reasons, from principles to personality flaws. And even when the numbers look good, a small change in the bill itself, the political climate, or even in a member’s mood can upset the balance; a CBC (Congressional Black Caucus) member chokes on a bone thrown to a Blue Dog; a ‘leaning yes’ turns out to be an ‘I didn’t have the heart to tell you no’; a freeze-out begins to thaw when the heat’s turned up back home; and suddenly it’s back to the game board” (Coller, 11/7).

C-SPAN has video of the debate and links to the legislation.

The New York Times in a separate story: “As the House began debate on President Obama’s top-priority initiative to overhaul the health care system, protesters outside the Capitol occasionally yelled or waved signs that said, ‘Have you heard us yet?’”

“An elderly man held a sign that said, ‘Hands Off My Health Care.’ Other handmade signs simply said, ‘Kill the bill.’ Representative John Shadegg, a Republican from Arizona, took a foot-high copy of the House bill to the podium when he spoke. ‘This bill steals freedom, and those of us that believe in freedom have contempt for those who would steal our freedom and contempt for this bill,’ he said in a shout, heaving the papers to the ground below the low stage” (Calmes, 11/7).