Speaker John Boehner looks like he's going to start crying again

AP Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais 


Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi at the U.S. Capitol in Washington following the Supreme Court decision this morning on the Affordable Care Act. The Bone looks like he might start boohooing again.

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ObamaCare -- The outsource shocker: Tijuana dentures, Bulgarian kidneys, Albanian hips, and Guatemalan rest homes

By Pablo Fanque, All This Is That Medical Editor

In recent conversations, well-placed senior administration officials told All This Is That that the health care plan championed by President Obama and the Democratic leadership includes little-known provisions for outsourcing surgeries and medical procedures. One official told me "Let's say you need false teeth, uh...dentures.  We can get this work done for you in Tijuana for less than half what it would cost anywhere in the states.  And that's after adding in plane fares, meals and a couple of nights in a hotel."

Several independent sources revealed to Mona Goldwater, in the course of fact checking this article, that the U.S. government has already contracted for outsourced medical services in at least seven foreign countries.  In some cases, the U.S. Government has purchased or leased land, and is breaking ground on a series of medical facilities in "medical outsource partner countries."

Prospective plans include, but are not limited to, outsourcing kidney and liver procedures to Bulgaria, knee- and hip-replacements to Albania, dental work to Mexico, and reproductive services to Yemen.  The most potentially explosive outsourcing initiative involves exporting virtually all geriatric, rehabilitation, and rest home care to Guatemala, where per-patient costs are a fraction of those in the United States.

As one government health services analyst on Capitol Hill told me, "Change.  And you guys thought we were bulls***ing, didn't you?"

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The steaming pile in D.C. is almost up to Obama's Adam's Apple:::::BHO catches fire again

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Correspondent

It has become abundantly clear that the Republicans and the Tea Party People think they have found the winning issue in their quest to return to power.  From chairman Michael Steele to windbag Mitch McConnell, the GOP have said that they will hold the Democrats feet to the fire for passing health care reform come November.

Essentially the Republicans intend to campaign on their twisted belief that there is nothing wrong with the way insurance companies do business.  In fact, the GOP seems to say, we probably need to cut them even more leeway.  [Ed's note:  how's that free-enterprisey stuff workin' for ya?] This is a fight that Obama is nowhere near ready to give up.  In fact, in the last few days he seems to have caught fire again--giving impassioned speeches (as opposed to those rather cooler, cerebral ones that dominated his first year as President.  He has held two large rallies outside Washington this week.  He's twisting arms, rallying the troops and making one more push to settle this insanity for once, and for all. 

Mr. Obama said this week, and rightfully so, that his health care plan incorporates the best ideas of Democrats and Republicans, and that it strikes a middle ground between government-run health care, and a system dominated by insurance companies.

"So I don't believe we should give either the government or the insurance companies more control over health care in America. I want to give you more control over health care in America."

 As an old friend once wrote in a poem "Go, you sumbitch!, go!"
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A Call To Action: It may be time to take it to the streets

By Pablo Fanque

All This Is That National Affairs Editor

"One man one vote
Now is that really real?
The name of the game
Is let's make a deal."

- Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth

[thanks to Jack Brummet for pointing out this quote, along with Arianna Huffington's far more eloquent call to action. /PF]

Can we save health care if Martha Coakley loses to Scott Brown in Massachusetts tomorrow? Maybe. Both houses have already voted...they have a big stake in all this. If we lose our "filibuster-proof" majority things become much trickier. But I think there will be hell to pay for both parties. And both parties will pay in November.

The way it could work is if the House passes the Senate bill, and then launches a reconciliation bill to iron out the kinks. This is probably the quickest way to get a bill passed. And it would short-circuit having to jam a bill through the Senate again. This will be very hard to swallow for House Democrats, who've made clear recently that they won't go along with every piece of the Senate's version.

If things go the wrong way tomorrow in Mass. (which now seems likely), the GOP and insurance companies will have us right where they want us--dead in the water. Next time, or next week, it's probably time to take it to the streets. There's something to be said for uncivil unrest.

Maybe the only way left to effect massive and real change is to take to the streets by the millions. It worked during the Vietnam War. It's probably time to see if it can work again, and if we can really set the stage from outside the Beltway for Real Change.
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