What Doctors and Patients Have to Lose Under ObamaCare

Changes to Medicare will give the feds control of surgical decisions.
By SCOTT GOTTLIEB
Democrats are touting the American Medical Association’s endorsement of President Obama’s health plan. But there’s an important reason why the American College of Surgeons and 18 other specialty groups are opposed.

The plan’s most tangible efforts to restrain medical costs are through its controls [...]

Harry Reid’s main focus: Harry Reid

By Dana Milbank
Sunday, December 13, 2009

Harry Reid began the week in familiar fashion, by detonating an improvised literary device on the Senate floor. It bombed.
Instead of merely scolding Republicans for their filibuster of the health-care legislation, he compared them to slaveholders and racists. “You think you’ve heard these same excuses before? You’re right,” [...]

Senate Hits New Roadblocks on Health Care Bill

By ROBERT PEAR and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: December 11, 2009

WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders hit a rough patch Friday in their push for sweeping health care legislation, as they tried to fend off criticism of their proposals from a top Medicare official, Republicans and even members of their own party.
Slogging through a 12th day of debate [...]

Dems Have Reason to Be Afraid, Very Afraid –

Peter Wehner
1. The outcome of the New Jersey governor’s race and the magnitude of the victory by Bob McDonnell and other Virginia Republicans will have unusually far-reaching ramifications for an off-year election, including on the health-care debate. I have said before that while politicians follow polls carefully, they really follow election results carefully. And [...]

Fox wars

The ‘post-partisan’ president makes an enemies list….
By Charles Krauthammer
Rahm Emanuel once sent a dead fish to a live pollster. Now he’s put a horse’s head in Roger Ailes’s bed.
Not very subtle. And not very smart. Ailes doesn’t scare easily.
The White House has declared war on Fox News. White House communications director Anita Dunn said that [...]

Fox wars

By Charles Krauthammer
Rahm Emanuel once sent a dead fish to a live pollster. Now he’s put a horse’s head in Roger Ailes’s bed.
Not very subtle. And not very smart. Ailes doesn’t scare easily.
The White House has declared war on Fox News. White House communications director Anita Dunn said that Fox is “opinion journalism masquerading as [...]

Senate Finance Committee Approves Sen. Baucus’ Health Care Bill

Bill Passed by 14-9 Vote, Sen. Olympia Snowe the Only Republican to Vote Yes
By HUMA KHAN, Z. BYRON WOLF and JONATHAN KARL
Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, with the vote of a lone Republican, approved Chairman Max Baucus’ $829 billion health care bill 14-9, kicking off what’s expected to be a long and arduous [...]

Dems scramble after warning from health insurers

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer – 6 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Insurance companies aren’t playing nice any more. Their dire message that health care legislation will drive up premiums for people who already have coverage comes as a warning shot at a crucial point in the debate, and threatens President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.
Democrats [...]

Obama Draws Criticism for Pausing to Promote Chicago Olympics Bid

The White House announced Monday that the president will travel Thursday night to Copenhagen to make a personal appearance before the International Olympic Committee to promote Chicago as the host city for the 2016 Summer Games.
President Obama is taking his eye off the ball, his critics say, chiding him [...]

Orszag Sees Health-Care Law in Six Weeks, Praises Baucus Plan

By Kristin Jensen and Edwin Chen
Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) — White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said health-care legislation can be completed in six weeks and may largely be based on a measure being drafted by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.
“The goal would be, yes, over the next six weeks or so, maybe sooner,” Orszag said [...]