Buried deep within the newest economic stimulus bill — currently projected at or near, or maybe over, $789 billion — is language that would guarantee much greater government control over citizens’ health care.

Current estimates show that the government already controls 46 percent of all health care spending in the United States. The provisions in this latest stimulus bill will tip the balance in favor of the government, with the private sector and the people as a whole losing out.

Not surprisingly, there was no objection to the health provisions in the measure from members of either party when our congressmen “debated” this latest obscenely bloated and dangerous "stimulus" package, even though the bill specifically states that “every individual in the United States” will be affected. And the impact of the bill will felt beyond the its economic implications.

First, every medical treatment a person receives will be tracked electronically by a federal data system. So much for privacy.

Even worse is the new bureaucracy to be established — a National Coordinator of Health Information Technology — which will monitor medical treatments to make sure what your doctor and you decide is federally approved and appropriate and cost effective.

And far worse are the enforcement provisions. Any doctor or hospital who is not a “meaningful user” of this imposed system will be subjected to penalties. The term “Meaningful users” is not exactly defined — and that alone is a frightening problem. Anything questionable will be run through the Health and Human Service secretary, who will be empowered to apply “more stringent measures of meaningful use over time,” against transgressors, reports Bloomberg. Such a provision could tie the hands of the well-trained doctors who actually provide the care patients need, while putting life-altering medical decisions into the hands of unaccountable, politically motivated, bureaucrats who almost certainly will not be medical experts.

The word may be out of favor in some circles, but there is no way to describe this other than as fascist.

The new Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (is this something the Soviet's invented?) will be authorized to make tough decisions about your health care. A cost/benefit formula will be used in determining if a patient is worthy of the prescribed treatment by dividing the cost of the treatment by the number of years you, the patient, is likely to benefit — live.

The architect of this all-encompassing plan is Tom Daschle. He wants Americans to be more willing to accept “hopeless diagnoses” and “forgo experimental treatments,” chastising Americans for expecting modern and cutting edge health care techniques and treatments. He chose as his model that bastian of efficiency and medical marvel, the British National Health Service system.

The translation for all these Orwellian-style ministry of health rules is:

• You and your doctor are no longer in charge; the government will make all the decisions.
• All hospitals will be under the government’s direction if they want to stay in business.
• If, eventually, you do receive treatment, it will probably be too little, too late.
• Most often your request for specific treatment will be mired in red tape, or sucked into a black hole.
• If you are elderly, you will probably exit the planet sooner and in less comfort than just last week.
• Expect the bare minimum and know in advance that humans are expendable.
• Don’t even think you’re going to be able to obtain alternative treatments or therapies; vitamins and herbs being big taboos, with home births and holistic medicine probably penalty-worthy.
• If you oppose or object to the new system, God help you.

If this doesn't sound appealing, it is not too late. According to Reuters, "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said a final vote on the bill could come as early as Thursday." Let your Congressmen know how you feel about this monstrosity before healthcare fascism is shackled on America for good.

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Pat Henry said:

Sliding down the Slippery Slope The Conservative Caucus reported this bit yesterday: "In 2006, a similar English system ordered that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly drug to save the other eye. That could become an everyday drama in hospitals and doctors offices across the country. They might as well tattoo "Die" on the victim’s foreheads." This is the "slippery slope" that evangelical writer Francis Schaeffer warned of when abortion laws were (illegally) "struck down." This is against the Scriptural exposition of Humanae Vitae. This is to lay foundations for a new Holocaust, within the lifetime of those who can remember the horrors and judgments of the 1940s.

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February 12, 2009
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Pat Henry said:

	Write Congress In writing to Congress, please consider including the language Pat Henry used in the other comment, and this, which I used when writing to them yesterday: "In the compromise negotiations, I urge you to oppose empowering government assignment of values to health care choices. Leave it up to patients and their doctors to decide their treatment choices."
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February 12, 2009
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MarkGlen said:

	Remember when Rome fell About 50 years ago as I recall someone said that if we don't stand up for freedom today we will see the day when we will have to fight with no hope of winning. Are we there yet? The people are fearful today but still too dumb and lethargic to join in the fight for freedom.
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February 12, 2009 | url
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cadillac said:

	... Lean on everyone, talk to your friends, neighbors, family, talk, talk, talk, don't stop. If one resists, move on. Keep busting the truth on everyone. Now is the time to save the Republic. Whether or not you like Winston Churchill, he left us a blueprint for successful enterprise, "Never give up....NEVER, NEVER, NEVER"!
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February 14, 2009
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