Conservative radio talk host Rush Limbaugh was taken to a Honolulu hospital on Wednesday afternoon with chest pains, officials said.
Paramedics responded to the call at 2:41 p.m. at the Kahala Hotel and Resort, Honolulu television station KITV reported.
Paramedics treated him and took him to Queen’s Medical Center where he is in serious condition. Queens spokeswoman N. Makana Shook said the hospital is unable to comment on the report.
Category: Health Care
GOP’s Official Network FOXNEWS.COM Says Health Care Reform Passed Senate ‘Just Barely’
Congress may be gone for several weeks enjoying a winter holiday, but Republicans say they will keep up the pressure on Democrats who succeeded in getting their Senate health insurance overhaul bill passed before Christmas — if just barely.
They have got to be kidding, right? The vote in the U.S. Senate was 60-39. That’s “just barely,” a real squeaker?
Then again, the Republicans were the ones whose budgeting was so incredibly horrible that our National Debt skyrocketed under George W. Bush, and the economy nose-dived into the Great G.O.P. Recession.
Or perhaps Republicans would say the United States “just barely” ended up in recession recently?
Nod to MediaMatters.org for this.
Change Has Come to America: Health Insurance Reform About to Happen
All news from Democrats and the White House is positive. It looks like reform of our for-profit health insurance system is about to happen. Is the reform on the table perfect? No. None of the sides are perfectly content with the changes, including Democrats, Blue Dog Democrats, and the Party of No.
But it’s about to happen. I don’t like to make predictions. This time, I’m assured by positive words out of Washington today.
From the White House to Capitol Hill, Democrats on Tuesday confidently predicted Senate passage of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul after the bill cleared its second 60-vote test and the time was set for a final tally.
Coming to the Senate floor in the middle of the afternoon, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced an agreement to vote on final passage at 8 a.m. Thursday, Christmas Eve. It would mark the 25th consecutive day of Senate debate on health care.
“The finish line is in sight,” Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said at a news conference with other Senate leaders and cheering supporters. “We’re not the first to attempt such reforms but we will be the first to succeed.”
At the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs declared: “Health care reform is not a matter of if. Health care reform is now a matter of when.”
Obama said the Senate legislation accomplishes 95 percent of what he wanted on health care. “Every single criteria for reform I put forward is in this bill,” the president said in an interview with The Washington Post.
Senate Democrats remained behind their compromise bill over steadfast Republican opposition. A motion to shut off debate and move to a vote on a package of changes by Reid passed 60-39.
The final 60-vote hurdle, limiting debate on the bill itself, is expected to be cleared Wednesday afternoon, setting up the Thursday morning-before-Christmas vote on the legislation, which at that point will need only a simple majority to pass.
Do you know what it means if the bill only passes with a simple majority?
It means it passes. It’s done.
The Almighty Left (and I include myself in that call, for all the times I lashed out) needs to stop whining about this bill and thank the President, thank Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, thank Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, thank them all. This will be the largest overhaul of our health care system in several lifetimes.
I was listening to Ed Schultz this afternoon whining about the health care reform bill, calling it a “Republican bill.”
Nonsense, Ed. That’s just silly. Stop it all ready. This bill means reform. This bill represents what happens when the Left, the Right and the Middle sit down to talk. Congress is working again. Congress is learning how to be a deliberative body again. That in itself is call for celebration.
Think of it: no more exclusions from coverage for pre-existing conditions. That alone is worth our thanks.
Remember, thank President Obama. Those of us on the Left need to remember that governing is different from the poetry of the campaign. Governing is tedious. Governing means compromise. Governing means setting policy. Governing means changing direction slowly sometimes, like an ocean tanker. The geek in me remembers the early episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, when Captain Picard would command, “All stop!” And the helm would reply, “Answering all stop!”
And we would wait for a moment while the Enterprise stopped.
It didn’t happen instantaneously. Nothing that big stops that quickly.
Change has come to America, but America is a big ship. Change, lasting and true change, takes time.
Passage of this bill will be huge. We should all be happy.
Obama Will Win: Why and How His Critics from the Left and Right Will be Proven Wrong
Wise words from Frank Schaeffer.
I love Crazy for God. I intend to read Patience with God: Faith for People Who Don’t Like Religion (or Atheism)
I like Frank.
Before he’d served even one year President Obama lost the support of the easily distracted Left and engendered the white hot rage of the hate-filled Right. But some of us, from all walks of life and ideological backgrounds — including this white, straight, 57-year-old, former religious Rightwing agitator, now progressive writer and (given my background as the son of a famous evangelical leader) this unlikely Obama supporter — are sticking with our President. Why? Because he is succeeding.
We faithful Obama supporters still trust our initial impression of him as a great, good and uniquely qualified man to lead us.
Obama’s steady supporters will be proven right. Obama’s critics will be remembered as easily panicked and prematurely discouraged at best and shriveled hate mongers at worst…
Sarah Palin Wins ‘Biggest Lie of the Year Award’ for Death Panels
Congratulations to Sarah Palin! She won!
Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood out from the rest.
"Death panels."
The claim set political debate afire when it was made in August, raising issues from the role of government in health care to the bounds of acceptable political discussion. In a nod to the way technology has transformed politics, the statement wasn’t made in an interview or a television ad. Sarah Palin posted it on her Facebook page.
Her assertion — that the government would set up boards to determine whether seniors and the disabled were worthy of care — spread through newscasts, talk shows, blogs and town hall meetings. Opponents of health care legislation said it revealed the real goals of the Democratic proposals. Advocates for health reform said it showed the depths to which their opponents would sink. Still others scratched their heads and said, "Death panels? Really?"
The editors of PolitiFact.com, the fact-checking Web site of the St. Petersburg Times, have chosen it as our inaugural "Lie of the Year."
PolitiFact readers overwhelmingly supported the decision. Nearly 5,000 voted in a national poll to name the biggest lie, and 61 percent chose "death panels" from a field of eight finalists. (See the complete results.)
This is the story of how two words generated intense heat in the national debate over health care.
Help Defeat Joe Lieberman (Video)
Moveon.org launched a campaign a few days ago to raise $400,000 to defeat Joe Lieberman, vowing to strip him of his leadership post and fight his re-election. Thursday, they announced they’ve raised a million dollars. Check out puppet Joe asking for a pony and four more inches. The unending gall.
Tell President Obama and Congress not to let Joe Lieberman gut health care reform. We’re counting on them to fight for real reform. Call Congress at (202) 224-3121 and the White House at (202) 456-1111. Pass this video on.
Krugman: Pass the Health Insurance Reform Bill
First, do no harm.
That’s Hippocrates. Not Joe Lieberman.
So, to the United States Senate, I say, "Do no harm!" Pass the current bill before you.
From Paul Krugman at the NYTimes:
A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy. Declare that you’re disappointed in and/or disgusted with President Obama. Demand a change in Senate rules that, combined with the Republican strategy of total obstructionism, are in the process of making America ungovernable.
But meanwhile, pass the health care bill.
Yes, the filibuster-imposed need to get votes from “centrist” senators has led to a bill that falls a long way short of ideal. Worse, some of those senators seem motivated largely by a desire to protect the interests of insurance companies — with the possible exception of Mr. Lieberman, who seems motivated by sheer spite.
But let’s all take a deep breath, and consider just how much good this bill would do, if passed — and how much better it would be than anything that seemed possible just a few years ago. With all its flaws, the Senate health bill would be the biggest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare, greatly improving the lives of millions. Getting this bill would be much, much better than watching health care reform fail.
Pass the bill. Make it so. Do it. Do it, now.
Pass the most monumental health insurance reform in the history of the United States of America. Make history.
Do it. Now.
Franken Denies Lieberman ‘Additional Moment’ to Continue Speaking the Senate Floor
You go, Al.
We all know these lengthy speeches by the Republicans are an attempt to slow down debate so there is no health insurance reform at all. Let Sen. Lieberman go pout when he finally loses this fight, and all those campaign contributions from the for-profit health insurance industry.
True Health Care Reform: No For-Profit Health Insurance Companies
Some health care reform ramblings.
The Republicans are crying about having to read a 2,000 page bill. Locally, Republican Isaac Hayes, challenging Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. for Congress, has lamented Jackson’s support of health care reform. In a strange move, on his campaign blog, Hayes reproduces a press release from Jackson’s Web page where Jackson calls the passage of the House health care reform bill, “A monumental and historic step forward.” The press release is quite inspirational:
“A MONUMENTAL AND HISTORIC STEP FORWARD”
Jackson votes for landmark health care overhaul legislation
Washington, D.C. — Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. voted today in strong support of legislation to overhaul the nation’s health care system — the Affordable Health Care for America Act. He called passage of the bill “a monumental, historic step forward.”
“For nearly 100 years, politicians of all stripes and in both parties have attempted to bring comprehensive reform to our nation’s health care system. Now, a century later, we — at long last — are delivering on the promise of making quality, affordable health care available to all Americans.
“This is change we can believe in, progress we can count on and a right we should all enjoy.
“This landmark bill reinforces the promise of our founding documents. It renews the meaning of our creed and reflects the enduring, eternal truth that We all are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable Rights. We should all have health care.
“In passing this bill, we begin a new era in America. Gone will be the days when citizens go untreated, becoming sicker and sicker because they can’t afford to see the doctor or get medicine. Gone will be the days when they can’t get coverage because of a previous illness or condition. Gone will be the days when Americans are at risk of falling into poverty or going to an early grave because health care was delayed, dropped or denied.”
“We are a better nation than that,” Jackson said.
“We can cure the sick. We can help those in need. We each can pursue our own paths and yet still be our brother’s keeper. That’s at the heart of this reform. That’s at the heart of America.
“This health care reform bill builds on what works and fixes what’s broken. It provides more security and stability to those who have health insurance and expands access to affordable, quality coverage to those who don’t. It does this in a way that allows the American people to see the doctor they want, for the health care they need, in a revamped system that is more efficient, less costly and of higher quality.
“This reform is urgent. It is indisputable. It forms a more perfect Union.”
I would not be quoting my opponent on my Web site, especially when my opponent is as erudite as Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Hayes deserves to lose.
Here’s a start on proper health care reform: Congress must make for-profit health care insurance companies illegal. If you want to sell bowling balls for profit, go for it. If you want to do health insurance for profit, forget it.
That would be a start.
Dr. No: Joe Lieberman Loves Campaign Cash More Than Human Lives
From the Ron Reagan show on Air America Radio:
Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman has finally realized his life’s goal of becoming America’s foremost exemplar of hypocrisy and moral cowardice… and did I forget to mention dishonesty and small-minded spite? Let’s throw those in the mix as well.
A quick review: three months ago, Lieberman sat down with the Connecticut Post and reiterated his long-standing position that a Medicare buy-in should be available for people 55 to 64 years old
Again, this is something Lieberman has been saying for years: it was central to his health care platform when he was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000 and it was been his position ever since. That is, it was his position until it became part of the Senate’s proposed health care legislation. At that point, the guy who’d made a Medicare buy-in the centerpiece of his health care reform philosophy suddenly morphed into Dr. No.
On CBS last weekend, in one brief outpouring of nausea-inducing self-interest, Lieberman managed to betray assurances he had reportedly given to the Senate leadership and a number of his Senate colleagues; contradict his own oft-stated position; and, just for good measure, attempt to mislead the country about the fiscal consequences of a Medicare buy-in. Contrary to what Lieberman is currently pretending to believe, a buy-in would not, according to the Congressional Budget Office, drive up the deficit.
What’s going on here? Having heard no better explanation, I currently subscribe to what has become the conventional wisdom about the Senate’s selfish pain-in-the-ass-in-chief: Lieberman is still piqued at Democrats for not only abandoning him (for the Democratic candidate) during his near-loss in his 2006 reelection race in Connecticut, but for not backing him as the candidate of choice for the Democratic Presidential nomination back in 2004. Anyone who witnessed his cozy “debate” with Dick Cheney in 2000 will have no trouble imagining why Democrats picked someone else as their standard-bearer.
Lieberman loves campaign cash more than human lives.