Big Labor, Big Favors

The Cornhusker Kick: Just when we thought the health care legislation could not possibly get any worse, any more damaging, or any more disgusting in its vote-buying kickbacks and special favors, then along comes this! In marathon meetings at the White House, the president and congressional Democrats came up with a "big, fat wet kiss for labor unions" (New York Post) in exempting them from the tax on high cost health plans until 2018. The deal exempts them from one of the "revenue generating" parts of the Senate health overhaul bill that exposes expensive health plans to a 40% excise tax.

Reform Will Be an Albatross Around Democrats' Necks

The Countdown

Grace-Marie Turner on FOX Business

Vapor Agreement

So the latest bright idea from the closed room meetings on Capitol Hill ... expand government-run health plans. Now that's creative! Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that 10 Democratic senators met for a day and came up with this brilliant idea in their plans to transform one-sixth of our economy. But it is becoming clear that they produced nothing more than a vapor agreement and that the leadership is still struggling to get to 60 votes.

Trying Times

Things are getting more, not less, difficult for Democrats as they try to meet their deadline of getting a health reform bill through the Senate before Christmas and to the president by the end of January. For example, a coalition representing more than 240,000 physicians and surgeons, including the powerful California Medical Association, sent a letter to Sen. Reid on Tuesday saying they oppose his bill. They oppose government intrusion into medical decision-making such as creation of a non-elected Medicare board with the authority to make law without congressional action, penalties on doctors if they don't participate in a new federal quality reporting program, and have six other major complaints.

Duplicity and Deceit

The 2,074-page health reform bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled Wednesday is a maze of complexity and duplicity. It would spend $848 billion over 10 years to provide new subsidies for health coverage, increase taxes by $486 billion, and allegedly cut spending by $491 billion. All the while, it pretends to use this massive government expansion to cut the deficit.

Bold, but Desperate

Speaker Pelosi and President Obama are as bold as they are desperate in forcing the House to vote this weekend on their massive health reform plan. The president is expected to give a full endorsement to the House bill, despite the fact that it clearly violates major campaign promises he has made to the American people about reducing health costs, not adding to the deficit, no middle class taxes, and no loss of current coverage, among other pledges.