.
Republicans have been trying to pass tort reform for years – stymied by TLA sock puppets Democrats. To my knowledge, Republicans have for years ALSO been at least talking about other ways of actually lowering medical costs, along with things like insurance portability.
.
Since the current Congress has convened, and Democrats began to advance their plan to take over and wreck the whole national health care system, Republicans have offered for consideration no less than 3 separate plans:

• Patients Choice Act of 2009, May 20 by Sen Coburn et al, 130 pages.
• Health Care Freedom Act of 2009, June 23 by Sen DeMint, 82 pages.
• Empowering Patients First Act, July 30, by House RSC Chair Tom Price, 130 pages.

But to hear AP’s Erica Werner, you’d think the House GOP had finally gotten around to writing a “draft bill” of their own – and mainly just to blunt criticism for that “party of no” charge. Isn’t it nice to be finally noticed by Pravda?

She sets the proper tone here:

After months spent criticizing Democrats’ health overhaul plans, House Republicans have produced a draft proposal of their own. It’s much shorter and focuses on bringing down costs rather than extending coverage to nearly all Americans.

Because, you know, those mean Republicans really don’t want poor people to get coverage, they want to lower medical costs. Which……won’t help poor peo……..
.
Hey, wait a minute. What?

A 230-page draft was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

Republicans weren’t trying to hide it from the public? What the…..

The bill leaves out a number of the key features of the Democrats’ 1,990-page legislation

No.
.
.
.
.
Really?
.
.
.
.
Probably that “costs $1.2 trillion” part.
.
.
.
.
Or maybe that “creates 111 new bureaucracies” part
.
.
.
Just sayin’.

Instead, the Republican plan increases incentives for people to use health savings accounts, caps non-economic jury awards in medical malpractice cases at $250,000, provides various incentives to states with the aim of driving down premium costs and allows health insurance to be sold across state lines.

Driving down premium costs. That’s like, un-American, isn’t it?

Democrats immediately dismissed the Republican plan as insubstantial.

Apparently fails their “has to be at least 1000 pages”, and “must tax the crap out of high earners and employers” litmus tests.

The GOP alternative “does little to provide security and stability to all Americans, doesn’t provide insurance availability for all Americans, does little to expand access to coverage,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters.

“Ours is vastly superior and we think the American public will think that,” Hoyer said.

Would that be the “bill you are scared to show the American people”, Steny?
.
.
That “vastly superior” one?

The Republican bill includes a permanent ban on any federal funding for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or threat to the life of the mother, stronger language than the Democratic bill,

“Stronger language”.
.
.
That’s funny, right?
.
.
I guess “mentioning it” is stronger language than “not mentioning it”.

Across the Capitol, senators are waiting to see the final language and price tag on a health bill that Majority Leader Harry Reid and a few other top officials wrote in secret. It’s not clear when those details will be available and Reid, D-Nev., may not be able to begin debate on the issue until the week before Thanksgiving.

“Senators are waiting to see”
.
.
.
“top officials wrote in secret”
.
.
.
“not clear when those details will be available”
.

.
.
And yet, the AP got a copy of the Republican proposal, by……making a phone call to Boehner.
.
.
.
.
Yeah, I don’t see anything interesting about that either.

So, with apologies to Moe Lane, I re-offer this [via Ace of Spades HQ]:

I want another muffin!

For those not clued in, Joe is doing a Keith Olbermann caricature. That poor gal next to him was absolutely aghast. If I actually watched MSLSD, I might know who she is, but sorry, I don’t. Olby is the Commie network’s banner-carrying yee-hah, and Joe is the token conservative. If it is possible to be more vain and thin-skinned than Obama, Olby is.

So this should make for some fun times in the company cafe.

• St Louis Blues owner approaches Rush Limbaugh to recruit him as part of a team of investors to buy majority ownership in the St Louis Rams. He plies a somewhat reluctant Rush with assurances of “it’s in the bag”.
• Rush’s involvement in the group is made public, not by Rush.
• The usual suspects go into hyperventilation overdrive – the standard liberal press, the hyper-liberal sports media, professional race hustlers, NFL Commissioner Good, and political hacks: all with blatantly hypocritical cries of “divisive” and “racist”.
• Conservatives and conservative commentators all across America loudly express their support for Limbaugh and Checketts, and their anger at the obvious political hackery by the left.
• Dave Checketts nevertheless listens to his inner gutless wonder and boots Rush from the ownership bid.

What part of it was surprising to you? Any of that at all? Every group acted as one might reasonably expect. I am not suggesting you not be angry, or that you not raise bloody hell. Go ahead. Actually that’s a good thing. I’m just suggesting that the political fallout is not one-sided. Conservatives lost nothing from this. Rush lost no money, lost no prestige, no reputation.

The left gained nothing from this, really. It will be recognized by all as yet another vulgar and cheap political hit-job that acheived tactical success but hurts in the long run. Add this one to Carrie Prejean, Sarah-Trig-Bristol, Scooter Libby, macaca, Duke-lacrosse-rape, BushLied, Franken-steals-Minnesota, and so on. Short-term success, admittedly. But this deed merely adds to the growing weariness that regular Americans have with the constant, non-stop cry of “racism” and “bigotry” emanating from a feckless, bitter race industry and the party of cheap hits, the masters of bigotry, the Democratic Party.

I say get on with business. By that I don’t mean to forget, or fail to exact revenge. Quite the contrary. If you want to, throw out your NFL gear. Cancel your NFL Package. Do whatever. Personally, I’m writing down names. All those IQ-challenged “journalists” who knowingly (or at best recklessly) repeated false Rush statements, the standard race hustlers, the moron who said Rush does not get the benefit of the doubt on matters of race, CNN basically as a whole network. Any NFL player who can be confirmed to have said he would not play for a team owned by Rush.

Yes, I am remembering. I will cheer as they get laid off by networks nobody watches. I will find out what businesses support shake-down hustlers like Sharpton and Jackson and quit buying their stuff. I might even post such things if the Spirit moves me.

But I’m weary of the cries of outrage. We own this country, we’re preparing to take it back in 2010. Pick up swords, go to work. Pity the fools who think they won this round. Winston Churchill:

Sure I am that this day – now – we are masters of our fate; that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will-power, salvation will not be denied us.

Here’s my runners-up. I’ll explain downstream:

Lest you think this was just a staged event to make a touching, poetic beer commercial, I give you these:

Atlanta

DFW

More DFW

Las Vegas

These videos, and there are hundreds of them, only show the heroes’ welcome that awaits the warriors. A more appropriate representation might have been various videos of the warriors doing their jobs, in battle, lives at risk. Pulling long shifts, wearing 80 pounds of armor and gear, patrolling hostile areas, in a convoy, sleeping in sand pits. Witnessing the aftermath of carnage of Al Queda on local citizens, dealing death to the forces of evil. THAT is the work that warrants the heroes’ welcomes shown above.

There is still such a thing as heroes. They did not all die at Thermopylae. They also did not die with the Greatest Generation. The Me Generation and Generation X have surprised us all with a veritable horde of young men worthy to have stormed Normandy or Iwo Jima, to have wintered with General Washington and crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night to surprise the British, to have stood with Leonidas, shouting “Molon Labe” and fighting to the last man.

And now the winners. Neither the title nor the text above led you to believe that I had winners. But here they are.

I struggled with how to show this. I thought about a picture of the caskets coming off the airplanes, but the media has made that into such a circus, I did not want to distract from what I’m saying here. Just take this for what it’s worth. The 4,000+ young soldiers who have given the last measure of devotion for their country, most of whom signed up for the military AFTER 9-11, knowing they were signing up during wartime, these are the winners, every year, of my own Nobel Peace Prize.

I humbly submit a couple of questions for The One:

1. How many military engagements, wars, battles, or even kerfluffles do you have personal experience with?  Even a fistfight in the 5th grade might count here.
2. How about the same question for your advisors?
3. Did you or did you not promise to prosecute this war aggressively while you were campaigning for the job you now have?  You know, Iraq = bad war, Afghanistan = good war, if I recall your words.
4. Did you or did you not announce that a new strategy was now in place for prosecuting said war in March?
5. What happened to that strategy?
6. While you are “seeking a strategy” and  following your desire to “get it right”, did it occur to you to seek input (or perhaps even LISTEN to input) from the commanders who are currently engaging the war? 
7. Do you know how many soldiers died while you were flying to Denmark and back to pimp Chicago for the 2016 Olympics?
8. Do you know how many soldiers died while you were planning, rehearsing, then pitching your nationalized health-care plan to all 5 morning talk shows on one Sunday?
9. Have you looked into the eyes of a parent or wife of a soldier, even one,  who has died while you’re “seeking a strategy” and explained to them what the mission is, if any, that their son/husband died for?

Just curious as to whether you have a clue in your head what it means to be the President of the United States. 

Just curious as to whether you know why we lost Viet Nam, and how many young men died there. 

Just curious as to when you’ll step out of the way and let the leaders lead.