Thursday, July 08, 2010

Good News for Seniors: the Most Powerful Man in the Medical Industry Has a Love Affair with Urine- and Feces-Soaked Beds

For the first time in memory, a President has bypassed the Senate confirmation process without so much as a hearing. Obama used a recess appointment to name Donald Berwick, an extremely controversial pick, to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He thus becomes the single most important man in the health care industry, wielding incredible power to set prices and regulate every aspect of health care delivery.

Berwick would never have survived Senatorial confirmation because of his infamous, bizarre and blatantly socialist statements.

"I am romantic about the NHS; I love it. All I need to do to rediscover the romance is to look at health care in my own country... [it is] such a seductress... a global treasure."

"[Among] the primary functions [of health regulation is] to constrain decentralized, individual decision making [and] to weigh public welfare against the choices of private consumers."

"Please don’t put your faith in market forces... In the United States... competition is a major reason for our duplicative, supply-driven, fragmented care system."

Berwick has routinely mocked the very free market and private enterprise systems that produce 75% of all medical and pharmaceutical innovations on the planet. The breakthrough devices and drugs aren't coming from the U.K., a simple fact Berwick appears to have conveniently ignored.

Furthermore, the NHS is crumbling as we speak.

The families of 1,200 patients who died prematurely in recent years while in the care of NHS doctors and nurses might beg to differ.A shocking 2010 report by Queen's Counsel Robert Francis found that NHS patients were left unattended "for unacceptable amounts of time" in urine- and feces-soaked beds. At one NHS hospital, four members of the same family -- including a newborn girl -- died within 18 months of each other because of medical blunders.

And the numbers for UK health delivery are dismal compared to those of the U.S.

British cancer outcomes don't just trail U.S. results; "they rival those of Eastern European nations." A 2008 study showed that cancer survival rates in the U.K. trail far behind those of the United States. American men, for example, "have an 80 percent better chance of surviving prostate cancer than do their English counterparts... [and there are] similar disparities in comparative survival rates for victims of breast, colon and rectal cancers."

• Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom.

• Some "56 percent of Americans who could benefit from statin drugs, which reduce cholesterol and protect against heart disease, are taking them. By comparison, of those patients who could benefit from these drugs, only 36 percent of the Dutch, 29 percent of the Swiss, 26 percent of Germans, 23 percent of Britons, and 17 percent of Italians receive them."

• "British cancer patients are substantially more likely to die of the disease than those in other western European countries because of poor access to the latest drugs, according to an authoritative report to be published today." (Cancer survival rates worst in western Europe: Telegraph (UK) 2007)

England's health care is primitive compared to that of the U.S. And they don't pay as high a price for their care because they freeload on American innovation. If we utilized their systems, Americans might worry less about paying for health care, but we'd get 1996-level care and long lines. Those are the immutable laws of supply and demand. Government monopolies don't innovate. Only the free market innovates.

In an interview last year in the journal Biotechnology Healthcare, [Berwick] said, "The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open."

Even the New York Times has taken notice of Berwick’s controversial nomination. Robert Pear reported last month: “Long before the uproar over ‘death panels’ last year, Dr. Berwick was urging health care providers to ‘reduce the use of unwanted and ineffective medical procedures at the end of life.’"

Why would Berwick -- against all evidence -- prefer Britain's NHS over America's system?

Because for Berwick, care is secondary to wealth redistribution. His well-publicized statement, "Any healthcare funding plan that is just, equitable, civilized and humane, must redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate."

Berwick prefers the misery, desperation and death endemic to the bankrupt NHS. The Marxist underpinnings, for him, are all that count. Wealth redistribution is paramount and health care is a distant second in importance.

Berwick is a menace to seniors and an utter disgrace as a bureaucrat.

So it's another first for Barack Obama. They were right when they said his Presidency was "historic". Just not in the way they anticipated.


Related:
Democrat Health Care By the Numbers
Gee, I can't wait for ObamaCare, NHS-style

Larwyn's Linx: Democrats 2010 Roadmap to Victory

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

Democrats 2010 Roadmap to Victory: Pundette
Obama faces backlash on his immigration plan: WashExam
Lazio seeks probe of ground-zero mosque: AP

Open-borders DOJ vs. America: Malkin
The Dumbest President Ever: AT
Obama attacks GOP for nominee delay: is he right?: Tapper

Economy

How Evil is ObamaCare? This Evil.: RWN
NYU's Perilous Adventure in Abu Dhabi: MTC
Poll Tailor-Made for GOP Ads: CFB

MI school district effectively bans white teachers: BlogProf
I see air-conditioned dead people: CNS
Keynes vs. Hayek: The Great Debate Continues: WSJ

Climate & Energy

Climate, Consensus and Healthy Skepticism: WashExam
The Butterfly Defect: WashExam

Media

The NASA Non-Feeding Frenzy: Instapundit
The Constitution Trumps Arizona?: AmPower
The New Black Panthers, and Eric Holder…: Am&Proud

CNN's Senior Editor of Mideast Affairs Implodes Via Twitter: Driscoll
You’ve got hate mail: Liberal racism gone wild!: Malkin
Never-ending Racial Hostility: AT

The Last Great Coverup: Cashill
Red-state Dems should save themselves, oppose Kagan: WashExam
Chicago Machine Kicks Black Female Off Ballot: BigGovt

World

The Time to Act Against Iran Is Fast Approaching: PJM
The Meaning of the Russia-U.S. Spy Swap: PJM
Translation From Chinese: You’re As Free As We Say You Are: Kesler

China's Victory at Sea: AT
Pure, Unadulterated Evil: Babalu Blog
The Danger of Islam Taking Over the World: RWN

SciTech

And Now Companies Are Buying Boatloads Of Apple's iPhones And iPads, Too (Sorry, Microsoft): Insider
Apple Battles Frauds in iTunes: WSJ
The Badger State: Carry ‘em if you got ‘em.: RWN

Cornucopia

iOTW Glossary: iOTW
Awe Gone: AmDig
I didn't know Gene Simmons hosted the Miss Moscow 2010 contest: EnglishRussia

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: J.D. Hayworth for U.S. Senate: Give RINO McCain a Pink Slip


Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Caption Contest: Iran Unveils Terrifying Super Battle Robot

Pundette says this photo is crying out for a caption.



Okay, I seeded it. Submit your own in the comments. But, please, please don't insult Ahmedinejack. President Obama still insists he'll negotiate with this esteemed world leader "without preconditions".


Inside a Moscow McDonald's

Ever wondered what the inside of a Moscow McDonald's restaurant looks like? Neither did I, but the full gallery of the Mickey D's near Baumanskaya station is interesting.

What's a McDonald's without those small cartons of milk?

In Moscow, every customer is actively encouraged to give blood. Uhm, or this could be strawberry topping, I forget which.

Mouth-watering.

Sizzling on the grill.

If you run into problems building a burger, the patented bun troubleshooting tool can help.

I don't recognize the two brands on the right. Flavored vodka?

Hey! I think I can read Russian: Have a Coke and a Smile!

* * * * * * * * *

You know, it's kinda sad when I have to visit Russian photo albums to remind myself how the free market used to operate.


The genius of Democrat leadership: IL governor hands out 20% raises to staff while proposing to borrow billions to close budget shortfall

If there's one phrase that pops to mind when you think of our beloved Democrat leaders, it's "fiscal discipline".

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has handed out raises — some of more than 20 percent — to his staff while proclaiming a message of "shared sacrifice" and planning spending cuts of $1.4 billion because the state is awash in debt... The Democrat has given 43 salary increases averaging 11.4 percent to 35 staffers in the past 15 months, according to an Associated Press analysis of records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

They include a $24,000-a-year bump for the man promoted to shepherd the state through the fiscal storm. Budget Director David Vaught got a 20 percent raise to bring his pay to $144,000 in October when he moved to his new position from Quinn's staff, where he was a senior adviser

Quinn's solution to the state's $13 billion budget deficit?

Borrow more money and delay bill payments, according to the AP. Illinois owes its public sector unions' pension plans roughly $4 billion and Quinn has proposed to borrow that money, too.

Isn't one-party rule fun?

Say, I've got an idea: let's put an inexperienced political hack from the Chicago machine -- which is already responsible for ruining Illinois -- in charge of everything!


China's Threat to Obama: Listen to that Idiot Krugman at Your Own Peril

The message from China's Foreign Exchange Bureau (SAFE) couldn't be any more clear if it was flashed in blinking red letters on the President's teleprompter. China wants him to return to free-market capitalism. To stop the deficit spending. To stop borrowing. Because Papa Mao ain't gonna foot the bills much longer.

[SAFE} acknowledged that financial markets were very concerned at one point that massive U.S. government borrowing would drive the U.S. currency lower...

But it said economic conditions elsewhere were also a factor in determining the dollar's trend. The euro zone, for instance, was struggling with high government debt levels.

"We must recognize that any depreciation of the dollar is relative to other countries, and other countries or regions also have this or that problem," SAFE said.

Translation: you ain't the only dog in the hunt.

One of the prime concerns of Chinese Internet commentators is that a long-term decline in the dollar or euro will erode the value of SAFE's portfolio.

To that end, SAFE called on the United States and other major countries to take "responsible measures" to maintain the value of their currencies...

This meant withdrawing monetary stimulus in a reasonable manner and relying less on deficit spending.

"Responsible measures" == "no more stimulus packages == "stop deficit spending" == "look elsewhere for loans" == "Got that, Mr. Paul 'Douche-Nozzle' Krugman?"

Conclusion: The People's Republic of China is now officially to the right of Barack Obama.


Hat tip: Zero Hedge.

Larwyn's Linx: Obama's Lawsuit Against Arizona

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

Obama's Lawsuit Against Arizona: Wolf
Mexican Cartel Threatens to Blow Up Texas Dam: Quite Rightly
Meet Rosalio Munoz - Mexican American Communist: NewZeal

C-O-W-A-R-D-S: Malkin
Feds Tighten Control of Information on Gulf Mess: RWN
WI DA won't prosecute some state gun laws: Hot Air

New Black Panthers

Calling Out DOJ Opponents of Race-Neutral Law: Adams
Former DOJ Officials Step Forward to Back Up Adams: PJM
'Want freedom? Gonna have to kill some crackers': Driscoll

Economy

The Summer of Recovery, Continued: Virtuous
The Recovery Prevention Act of 2010: WashExam
Keynes & Co. have lost the stimulus argument: TheWeek

US Federal Deficits – We Don’t Need to Become Europe: Sargen
Plenty of Schock, No Awe at Mandatory Obama Signage: PJM
FCIC silent on conflicts of interest: WashExam

Climate & Energy

It begins: Obama touches off coal-killing policies: GWP
Obama is Strangling Big Oil: AT
‘Runaway climate change’ ‘unrealistic’, say scientists: First Post

Media

Amanda Marcotte: The Pleasure of Sadism Is the Force Behind Conservatism: RWN
Must-See Photo: Rachel Maddow Reports from Kandahar: AmPower
Leonard Pitts Forgets that Bush Ain't President Any More: BlogProf

World

'Kiss and Make-up' at Obama-Bibi Presser: PJM
Two Major Middle East Terrorist Figures Die in their Safe Havens: CTBlog
Mexico's Culture of Racism: AT

Hezbollah honcho busted at his Tijiuana Mexico home: Fausta
The Arab Veil of Deception and the Left: AT
Obama Meets Netanyahu: No Love Fest But As Good As It's Gonna Get: BRubin

SciTech

Why Internet Paywalls Will Fail: Guardian
NASA: Not About Space Anymore: Dewey
NASA Logo Makeovers: Malkin

Cornucopia

Obama picks Yahoo. Google snubbed this time.: MOTUS
SF Bans Sale of Soda on City Property; Shooting Up in Public Park With City-Provided Needle Still Okay: Powers
Summer Camps: Now With Abortion Workshops!: RWN

Images: MexicoDefense.com
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sharron Angle

QOTD: "[Clay] Shirky's new book, Cognitive Surplus; Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age... argues that the popularity of online social media trumps all our old assumptions about the superiority of professional content, and the primacy of financial motivation. It proves, Shirky argues, that people are more creative and generous than we had ever imagined, and would rather use their free time participating in amateur online activities such as Wikipedia – for no financial reward – because they satisfy the primal human urge for creativity and connectedness. Just as the invention of the printing press transformed society, the internet's capacity for "an unlimited amount of zero-cost reproduction of any digital item by anyone who owns a computer" has removed the barrier to universal participation, and revealed that human beings would rather be creating and sharing than passively consuming what a privileged elite think they should watch." -- Decca Aitkenhead


Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Shhh... no one tell Holder or Napolitano: massive arms cache -- including rocket launchers, grenades, and M-16s -- discovered near Texas border

Two months ago, north of Monterrey, the Mexican military discovered a huge weapons cache that should send a shiver down the spine of any U.S. law enforcement official. The arms cache was located roughly 50 miles away from the Texas border.

The Google translation, while imperfect, gives you the flavor for what was captured.

In recent months, clashes between the army and armed groups have shown the operational and survival of the latter in the rural areas.

The most recent dispute between drug cartels and the military operations that have popped safe houses and training centers have forced the gunmen not to settle for long in one spot, and improvise camps in neighboring municipalities with Tamaulipas.

According to federal sources, and as evidenced by yesterday's operation of the Army, members of armed groups moving in convoys down for a few days gap in wooded areas or suburbs, after supplies of fuel and food, mostly canned and non-perishable.

The authorities have also reported that the gunmen roam the northern fringe and sleep in motels different way, they leave in a couple of days.

[The military] found 124 rifles, grenade launchers, rocket launcher, machine guns, grenades and a box with 55 000 rounds, plus trimmings, helmets and boards of torture.



Jackets, caps, shirts and black berets, with a logo embroidered in three divisions-one with the map of Tamaulipas, the other with that of Mexico and one more with the letter zeta-, were also secured.



Listings with key numbers to identify procedures and other municipalities that grant, places and names of planets ejidos, countries and continents, were also seized.

But don't worry. Just because heavily armed Mexican drug- and human-smugglers have made large swaths of Arizona off-limits to American citizens, there's really no reason for concern.


President Obama has dispatched a crack team of attorneys -- skilled in defending terrorists -- to ensure that Mexican gangs have free rein to operate in the U.S..


And They Told Me Print Was Dead...

...Tell me you could resist Guns & Ammo's August 2010 banner headline:

 The .45-70 Bulldog Gatling: Hand-Cranked Hellfire 

The article's only available in the print edition for the moment, but here's a Flickr photo of the 19th-century Phalanx.

Daddy like.

Non-existent U.S. Budget Deficit on Annualized Run Rate of $2.5 Trillion; Dems Will Blow New $14.3 Trillion Debt Ceiling Just Before Midterms

For the first time in modern history, Congress failed to perform its single most important task: it did not pass a budget.

On the first day of July, the House of Representatives passed a "budget enforcement resolution" that "deemed as passed" a $1.12 trillion budget.

Thirty-eight House Democrats voted no, perhaps because they sense in this year of the Tea Party Movement it isn't good politics to engage in such a sham. But pass it did... [but the] trio of President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Pelosi is putting the finishing touches on a one-year deficit of $1.6 trillion, while setting in motion an expansion of the standing debt to well north of $14 trillion. This is no mean feat in an era when Democrats themselves denounced George W. Bush's deficit of a mere $160 billion in 2007.

The real reason that Democrats avoided the budget process? Tyler Durden bangs the magic abacus against the desk and comes up with some stunning figures.

In case one is wondering why the House Democrats attached a document to the emergency war supplemental bill that "deemed as passed" a non-existent $1.12 trillion budget, which basically allows the ruling party to start spending money for Fiscal Year 2011 without the constraint of an actual budget, here is the answer: ...on June 30, the US closed the books with just over $13.2 trillion in total debt, an increase of $210 billion in one month, or $2.5 trillion annualized. There is just $1.1 trillion left on the ceiling...

As we have long been warning, at the current run rate, the ceiling will be breached in under six months, or just around November 2. More disconcerting is that the monthly debt roll continues to be in the "ridiculous amount" category, hitting a total of $660 billion...

The sheer hatred that the modern Democrat Party has for America is evident in its every action. It despises its employer -- the taxpayer -- and it shows it by hurling massive new spending programs (like socialized medicine) onto a non-existent budget when the country can least afford it.

And what are the Democrats' plans for the next few months? Passing a real budget? Reining in spending? Listening to the American people who are trying to prevent their children from enslavement to trillions in debt? Why, no, of course not.

The loathsome Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) has already hinted at what comes next: even if Democrats are soundly defeated, they will use a lame-duck session of Congress to strap a suicide-belt to the American economy: card-check, cap-and-trade and massive new taxes will be on the agenda.

In other words, Democrats intend to wage fiscal Jihad on America. We must awaken our family, friends and neighbors. The time to stop this madness grows very short indeed.