President Obama Broke Promises About Healthcare Negotiations

President Obama Broke Promises About Healthcare Negotiations
Posted by: Dr. Mercola
January 26 2010 | 8,703 views




President Obama promised public, televised healthcare negotiations. But now that those negotiations are actually occurring, they are behind closed doors, and television cameras are banned from the room.

Sources:

The Christian Science Monitor January 9, 2010


Washington Times January 19, 2010


The New York Times January 5, 2010






Dr. Mercola's Comments:



Sadly, this is a familiar story. Politicians continually promise transparency and public debate. But when the time comes to make a decision, it is made in a back room, far from the light of day.

The healthcare bill is not even the first time this has happened in this administration. Nearly a year ago, here’s what Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty had to say about the Stimulus Package:

“President Obama promised transparency and accountability in the legislative process, but the details of the bill were negotiated in closed-door sessions. Then, only a very limited number of physical copies were made available.”

Sounds similar to something you’ve heard about more recently, doesn’t it? The Campaign for Liberty went on to add:

“So far, one thing is clear from these early weeks of the Obama administration: Barack Obama has brought no real change to Washington.”


In other words, the same old politics are going on as always.

The Only Reason to Hide Something


There’s only ever one reason to keep something hidden -- because you don’t want people to see it. And if you don’t want people to see it, it’s probably because they wouldn’t like it if they did.

There’s an old saying: “People who like sausages should never see how they’re made.” You wouldn’t eat them if you knew what went into them, and how.

Sometimes, politics makes sausages look positively palatable.

Backroom Deals

Health care lobbying expenditures total more than any other industry, including agriculture, communications and defense. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year in an attempt to buy the votes of Congress and influence the White House.

The pharmaceutical industry spent $1.5 billion lobbying Congress in the last decade, and in so doing has manipulated the government’s involvement with medicine and reinforced our dependence on them, through government policies.

They spend all that money because it gets results. A leaked memo revealed that the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby secretly agreed to precisely the sort of deal that both parties have been denying.

The White House agreed to oppose efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for lower drug prices or import drugs from Canada. In return, President Obama got support for the bill, including a $150-million advertising campaign (a fortune in politics, but loose change in the pharmaceutical business.)

In addition to containing favorable deals for the drug companies, the bill is also a huge giveaway to the health insurance industry. Health insurance coverage will become mandated for nearly all Americans. If you do not have coverage, you will be fined 2.5 percent of your adjusted income!

It’s not a stretch to believe that the massive amounts of money the insurance companies spend on lobbying might have something to do with that.

Secret Kickbacks


The deals work both ways. The administration has touted the American Medical Association's endorsement of the healthcare bill, but it's no surprise they were able to gain the AMA's support -- they’re helping the AMA keep hold of a little-known monopoly that sends millions of dollars to the trade group each year.

The AMA holds the exclusive rights to the medical billing codes that doctors are required to use when they submit bills to insurance plans. They make millions each year selling the code books and software licenses to doctors and insurers.

Is Government-Run Health Care the Answer?

The healthcare bill could cost the U.S. nearly two trillion dollars. Is it going to be worth it?

The current health insurance and health care models clearly are not working at all. But unfortunately, the reforms currently on the table will not solve the problems.

Where is the debate about limiting unnecessary, ineffective treatments and stopping fraud? Why is no one talking about the fact that there are effective, inexpensive natural based alternatives?

The fact of the matter is that the Big Pharma Cartel has a supreme hold over our government, and this is, most likely, why you do not see any discussions about these very real, underlying problems.

The nature of politics, and the money the corporations pour into influencing our government, means that a government-run program is not the solution to America’s broken health care system.

The “Affordable Health Care for America Act” largely ignores the real problems, and the most effective solutions to our current health care conundrum.

In fact, the “solution” might even be worse than the problem. Already numerous personal freedoms are being threatened at the hands of the government, and there is language in this new reform that gives the federal government unprecedented power to meddle in your personal health care affairs.

The Real Solution

What’s REALLY needed is a radical change in consciousness about what health and health care really is. As long as the focus of your health care is on drugs and surgical interventions, you will never see the fundamental changes that are so desperately needed.

No politician will be able to accomplish this feat, so sitting around waiting for it is futile. It can only be done by YOU changing how you think about health care and your health.

Some of the best ways to improve your health are very inexpensive. Some are even free.

So I urge you to stop waiting for the government to give you the health care reform you’re seeking … but rather to create it for yourself, right now, by starting to Take Control of Your Health.

Ron Paul Eloquently Addresses the REAL Issues Here



“The more significant, and I believe the real issue at hand here, is the damage that is being done to the population by injection of these vaccines and the precedent that has been set for the government to institute vaccines for future fake or manufactured pandemics

Is this a dream or a nightmare? Is it my imagination or have we lost our minds? It is surreal. It is just not believable. A grand absurdity A great deception. A delusion of momentous proportions based on preposterous notions and ideas whose time should never have come

Insanity passed off as logic. Evil described as virtue. Ignorance pawned off as wisdom. Slavery sold as liberty. The philosophy that destroys us is not even defined. We have broken from reality, a psychotic nation. Ignorance with a pretense of knowledge replacing wisdom

Money does not grow on trees, nor does prosperity come from a government printing press that escalates deficit that are being spent on a failed warfare and welfare system. A central bank that deliberately destroys the value of the currency in secrecy without restraint.”

The Good News!

The reversal can be achieved through peaceful and intellectual means and fortunately the number of people who care is growing exponentially.




Related Links:

Ill-Fated Health Care Reform is One Step Closer to Becoming Reality: Your Help is Urgently Needed


82 Percent of Americans Think the Health Care System Needs a Major Overhaul


The American Medical System is Nearing Collapse