100 Years Later

UPDATE VII: You hear the Republi-cons say it frequently, doctors are quitting because of health care insurance reform. It is true that doctors are leaving private practice, but to practice with hospital and health systems. Read The New York Times, More Doctors Giving Up Private Practices.

Republi-cons never miss a chance to con the public.


UPDATE VI: The commentator who called the reform bill a Republi-con Waterloo after having warned of the "harm that our overheated talk is doing to" the Republi-cons was David Frum, the former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. And he's been fired from his job at the American Enterprise Institute for not being a loyal enough party member.

There is a good reason the party's color is red.


UPDATE V: Rusty Limballs said that if the Health Care Reform Bill passes Congress, he was going to move to Costa Rica:



Hasta la vista, baby!


UPDATE IV: Who needs the center, it is the end times. Read The Christian Science Monitor, Shock poll: Why do so many Republicans think Obama is a socialist, a Muslim, or even the anti-Christ?

But what happens if the apocalypse never comes?


UPDATE III: The Republi-con formula to win elections -- fear, anger, and hatred = votes and donations, and sometimes violence. Read the Washington Post, Lawmakers concerned as health-care overhaul foes resort to violence.

Those waskly Republi-cons better watch out, history shows that a "nasty public image -- arrogant, mean, small-minded -- [can be] difficult to discard . . . if by exciting your base you lose the center, then you lose the next election too."


UPDATE II: It's déjà vu all over again. The latest health care reform effort is alot like Massachusetts' health care law. Don't take my word for it. Read what the Governor of Massachusetts wrote about the plan in 2006. Read the Wall Street Journal, Health Care for Everyone? We've found a way.

BTW, who was the Governor of Massachusetts in 2006? Mitt Romney. And what did he say in support of Massachusetts' insurance mandate? "I proposed that everyone must either purchase a product of their choice or demonstrate that they can pay for their own health care. It's a personal responsibility principle."


UPDATE: From the Washington Post, Health care horrors:



And to where are those Republi-cons running? To court (coincidentally enough here in Pensacola). Read the Pensacola News Journal, Health care lawsuit in Pensacola court.

Those waskly Republi-cons, running to court, hoping for a little judicial activism where, to paraphrase the CONservatives themselves, the court will substitute its own political opinion for the applicable law and legislate from the bench, and in so doing, take for itself the powers of Congress, rather than limiting itself to the powers traditionally given to the judiciary. Oh does the irony of it all make your head spin.

And the shrill of doom can be heard already. One conservative commentator is calling the reform bill a Republi-con Waterloo, after having warned of the "harm that our overheated talk is doing to" the Republi-cons.

Others, the latest day of infamy in America, comparing the legislation, believe it or not, to enactment of the Fourteenth Amendment to protect the original three-fifths people.

Of course others are singing Hail the Conquering Professor.

But all the "bombastic declarations from both sides about the impending disaster (Republicans) or nirvana (Democrats) being ushered in" are a little early if you ask me, since no one knows whether the reform will work.

Some changes are easy to understand. Read The New York Times, For Consumers, Clarity on Health Care Changes. And ignorance will be bliss no longer at your favorite eatery. Read The New York Times, Calorie Data to Be Posted at Most Chains.

As for why Pensacola, read the Pensacola News Journal, Why did attorneys general file health care lawsuit in Pensacola?, which quotes Jay Wolfson, a health care attorney and law professor at Stetson University and the University of South Florida, who said Pensacola's makeup is attractive to those opposing the health care legislation:

"It's a much more conservative district and more likely to reflect the conservative attitudes of those residents of the state," he said.

With such a right-leaning electorate in Pensacola, McCollum could make great political strides, win or lose, as a result of spearheading the lawsuit, Wolfson said.

"Mr. McCollum is running for election to a new office," Wolfson said. "One cannot pretend that the political incentives for things politicians do are not important."

So McCollum is hoping for an election day boost. But why the Northern District of Florida, and why the Pensacola Division? My guess, 3 out of 3 -- Judges Vinson, Collier, and Rodgers were appointed by Republican Presidents.

I don't know if the odds were better in any other division in the country of getting a Republican appointee. I guess the Republi-cons were hoping for an ill-informed political decision. I doubt that in any case, and especially not in this case.

BTW, Judge Vinson got the case.

So stay tuned, it will be an interesting case.

And I predict the most likely outcome in the district court is dismissal, with court declining to rule in the case because the matter in controversy is a political question. And if there is a decision on the merits at the district court level, the court will likely find the law constitutional under the Commerce Clause.

Bets on the outcome anyone?

(Note: I make no prediction above the district court level, although I'm inclined to believe that even Robert would shy away from emasculating Supreme Court precedent to the extent necessary to rule in favor of the Republi-cons in this case, even considering outlier case of Bush v. Gore, the case that can never be cited.)

"For almost a century, presidents and members of Congress have tried and failed to provide universal health benefits to Americans. The cost of health care has spiraled; in 2008, one in six dollars was spent on health care, and an estimated 46 million people were without coverage." For a timeline of health care reform efforts, see The New York Times, A History of Overhauling Health Care.