Health Care

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Ask your doctor if its right for you.

Eliquis Xeljanz Farciga Belsomra Xarelto Jelubia Neulasta Linjess Toujeo Humira Otezla.

No, your eyes aren’t failing, and that’s not Azerbaijani either. It’s but a handful of prescription medications being advertised to consumers on television and in print media.

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Billions are spent on direct to consumer advertising of drugs each year. (prescriptiondrug.drugcon.org)

Surely you have seen at least one of these commercials and the string of warnings you might encounter if you take them. Depending on the drug, it could cause internal bleeding, blackouts, dizziness, and may even cause you to contemplate suicide or to gamble.

They are marketed to treat conditions like, arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, reflux, depression, Alzheimer’s, bladder control, prostate, sexual dysfunction and a host of other maladies.

If you are like me, these commercials are really annoying and distasteful, no matter how creative the advertiser presents typical usage outcome scenarios. Continue reading →

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GSA and VA team to waste money on artwork

“These artworks enhance the civic meaning of federal architecture and showcase the vibrancy of American visual arts.” – GSA website.

Just when you think you have heard everything about the Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals with the mishandling of cases involving our warriors who put their lives on the line for us, new scandals have surfaced.

Rock Sculpture

This sculpture, “Aggregate,” by Phillip K. Smith, was purchased for $483,000 for the courtyard of the VA hospital in Palo Alto, California. (Rep. Jeff Miller/Wash. Post)

Thanks to Rep. Jeff Miller(R-FL), the story of rampant wasteful spending on artwork for VA facilities, has been uncovered.

A $483,000 rock sculpture, meant to evoke “a sense of transformation, rebuilding and self-investigation,” has become part of a $1.3 million courtyard at the VA’s Palo Alto, Calif. Hospital.

At least $6.3 million has been spent on art and consulting services in the Palo Alto Health Care System, including $4, 190, 356 at the Palo Alto Medical Center, $1, 879,521 at the Monterey Health Care Center, and $280, 000 in other budgeted projects. Continue reading →

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Michigan bows to “greens” and EPA

When I read the Wall Street Journal’s Aug. 2, commentary, “States Should Shun the EPA’s New Power Mandate,” a report on the Clean Power Plan, I was reminded of the years of letters to the editor and opinion pieces in my Michigan hometown newspaper, mostly by those opposing coal-generated energy. They had bought into the health and climate change scare tactics of environmentalists and the Obama administration.

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The much-maligned James De Young coal-fired power plant in Holland, Michigan. The NAACP called it an “environmental justice offender. (Mark Copier photo)

Even the NAACP got into the act, issuing a report three years ago that the James De Young coal-fired plant was an “environmental justice offender,” stating that it was “significantly harmful to low-income communities and communities of color.” Never mind that just 3.6 percent of the Holland, Michigan population is African-American and half of the population has incomes of $50,000 or more.

In 2012, a spokesman for Green America signaled the proposed EPA rules as “good news.” Citing questionable statistics that coal-fired plants were the cause of four out of the five leading causes of mortality in the U.S., he said the carbon emissions were responsible for billions of dollars in health care costs.

Advocates have said the move to renewable energy was going to create thousands of new Michigan jobs and reduce pollution “without significantly increasing energy prices.” Where have I heard this before? Continue reading →

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Are Hillary’s followers about to call her bluff?

“Trusting someone to fight for them and trusting someone, these are two different things.” -CNN’s Briana Keilar

On Aug. 1, I wrote how I believed Hillary Clinton had reached the level of incompetence defined by Laurence J. Peter in his 1968 book, The Peter Principle.

I am beginning to see signs of her popularity shrinking, but I can’t see how she won’t be nominated to represent the Democrat party in 2016. But it’s not going to help her with Independents and Republican women.

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CNN’s Briana Keilar asked Hillary about the trust issue during an otherwise session of softball questions. (ccnpressroom)

It began with the visible signs of arrogance. Her refusal to hold meetings with the press; only sitting for interviews with friendly members. Her continued insistence that she did no wrong by destroying e-mails, classified or otherwise. Her belief that she is listening to the voices of the middle class in those round table meetings with a handful of supporters. Her “entitled” projection as someone to whom rules of law and conduct don’t apply.

Her arrogance came through in the interview she did with CNN’s Briana Keilar on July 7, when, for the most part, she was fed softball questions. The atmosphere changed, however, when Keilar said, “We see by our recent poll that nearly six in 10 Americans say they don’t believe that you’re honest and trustworthy. Do you understand why they feel that way?” Continue reading →

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Liberals split on which war to accuse the GOP of supporting; going to war with Iran or the war on women

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Acting more like the commander-in-cheap, the president compared Republicans to Iranian hard-liners in his speech at the American University. (jonathanernst/reuters)

The president continues to say that the only alternative to his nuclear deal with Iran is war, and used a ridiculous analogy in making his case that Republicans want to go to war with Iran.

“Many of the same people who argued for the war in Iraq are now making the case against the Iran nuclear deal,” he told an American University audience yesterday. Need he be reminded that 29 Democrat Senators, including Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, were among those voting in favor of the Iraq resolution?

Acting more like the commander-in-cheap, he likened the Republicans to the hard-liners in Iran saying, “It’s those hard-liners chanting ‘Death to America’ who have been most opposed to the deal. They’re making common cause with the Republican caucus.” How insulting! How unstatesman like.  Someone failed to tell him that they’ve already selected a new host for The Daily Show. Continue reading →

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Obama sticks us with another legacy loser

President Obama today announced his latest effort to secure his legacy in the climate change controversy. And again the American taxpayer is the loser.

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The Grand Poobah of Climate Control (lloydmarcus.com)

Setting himself up to be the Grand Poobah of Climate Control at the international climate conference set for December in Paris, he revealed his Clean Power Plan, another legacy scheme that calls for compliance two years after he leaves office. Continue reading →

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Liberal Arizona Republic columnist says Medicare exists because of LBJ’s “courage”

Writing in The Arizona Republic, liberal columnist Linda Valdez took the occasion of Medicare’s 50th anniversary to laud the “courage” of Lyndon Johnson, for signing it into law.

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President Johnson signed the Medicare Bill in Independence, Missouri in 1965 and gave the first signing pen to former President Harry Truman. (lbjlibrary.org)

Of course, she failed to mention that when he signed the Medicare bill in 1965, the initial cost was $3 billion, and it was estimated that the cost would increase to just $12 billion in 1990. Actually, it grew to $110 billion by 1990. Last year the cost went up to $511 billion. And a funding crisis looms.

We have spent some $15 trillion on LBJ’s war on poverty, however, 46 million people live in poverty today, and another 20 million live on less than half of the poverty level. His prediction of “victory of prosperity over poverty” is long forgotten. Continue reading →

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Hillary Clinton is the Peter Principle personified

In 1968, Dr. Laurence J. Peter caused a stir in the business world with the publication of his book, The Peter Principle, a treatise in which he explains how individuals reach their “level of incompetence.”

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Cover of the original edition of The Peter Principle, (money.howstuffworks.com)

If ever there was someone who fits Peter’s definition, it’s Hillary Clinton.

Clinton joined the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock in 1977 after graduating from Wellesley College and Yale Law School.  Just two years later, she was coincidentally named the first female partner at the firm when she became the first lady of Arkansas. This, after never arguing a case in court for the firm.

She was first lady of the United States during Bill Clinton’s 1993-2001 tenure as president. In 1993, Bill asked her to lead a massive task force to draft a plan to develop a health insurance system to control costs while expanding coverage.

Documents have shown that her effort was seen as secretive, unworkable and behind schedule toward the end of the year. White House advisors were quoted as saying the bill was “not only confusing, but frightening.”   Another cited the Congress as being “petrified” by the issue.

By mid-1994 her healthcare overhaul plan had all but collapsed and died without a congressional vote. While her senior aides had advised her to consult closely with members of Congress, build bridges with business leaders, communicate clearly to nervous voters, and move swiftly, she failed. Continue reading →

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If black lives matter, then why … ?

“The most dangerous place for an African-American is the womb.” – Pastor Cleland Childress Jr.

 Former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin posted a provocative graphic on Facebook in response to the recent videos revealing Planned Parenthood officials openly discussing the price of fetal body parts taken during abortions.

PP1The graphic, shown at left, asks, “Which symbol killed 90,000 black babies last year?” It shows the Confederate flag, which was again tied to black deaths after the Charleston, South Carolina church shooting, and the Planned Parenthood logo, best known for its abortion advocacy.

Palin hopes to reignite efforts to defund Planned Parenthood in Congress and at the State level. Seventy-eight percent of Planned Parenthood abortion clinics are placed in low-income minority neighborhoods, according to data from the 2010 Census reported by LifeNews. Continue reading →