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	<title>Liberal Economics Political Debating Forum&#187; Health Care</title>
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		<title>FLEMING HEALTH CARE REPEAL UPDATE</title>
		<link>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2010/07/government-health-care/fleming-health-care-repeal-update/</link>
		<comments>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2010/07/government-health-care/fleming-health-care-repeal-update/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:00:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>John</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.liberal-economics.com/?p=511</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[IT&#8217;S BAAAAAACK &#8211; The Public Option is Being Considered in Congress Again “We&#8217;re going to have a public option….It&#8217;s just a question of when.” –Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, July 2010. If you thought the worst of the health care debate was behind us, think again. Earlier this week, 128 liberal Democrats joined California Democrat, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>
<div style="font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;font-size:125%;color:#800000">IT&#8217;S BAAAAAACK &#8211; The Public Option is Being Considered in Congress Again</div>
</p>
<p>
<div>“We&#8217;re going to have a public option….It&#8217;s just a question of when.”
<div style="text-align:right;font-weight:bold"> –Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, July 2010.</div>
</div>
<p></p>
<p>If you thought the worst of the health care debate was behind us, think again.  Earlier this week, 128 liberal Democrats joined California Democrat, Lynn Woolsey on a new bill, H.R. 5808, that would amend the new health care reform bill to create a public option in the new health insurance exchanges.  While there are a few minor changes in this new bill, this public-option model is nearly identical to the original government health care plan we fought so hard against and defeated just 6 months ago.</p>
<p><strong>WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:  </strong>This new public option is being presented by Woolsey and her liberal colleagues under the ruse of reducing the deficit.  That’s right—they want to grow the public welfare state and have you think it will reduce government spending.  Can you say, ludicrous?  This ploy of theirs won’t stop as long as Nancy Pelosi is Speaker.</p>
<p><strong>THE DOCTOR&#8217;S DIAGNOSIS:</strong> America must continue to provide the best health care services while providing affordable access to that care.  Although still in its infancy, we are already seeing some of the devastating impacts of the new health care reform law.  Companies are already making plans to lay off employees and some businesses are closing as a direct result of that legislation.  If the current Majority moves our country further toward a public option, we will end up with a health care system like the NHS, which we know subjects British citizens to long lines, rationing and preventable deaths. </p>
<p>Early in this debate, in response to the insistence by many in the majority that health reform contain a public option, I offered a resolution, H. Res. 615, to require Members of Congress to put their money where their mouth is, and urge colleagues who vote for legislation creating a government-run health care plan to lead by example and enroll themselves in the same public plan. Nearly 4 million Americans from all 50 states contacted my office to offer their support for H. Res 615.</p>
<p>As this process unfolds, I will continue to work to repeal what I firmly believe to be an onerous and unconstitutional health care reform law which passed last March and find market-based solutions to our health care needs.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p><strong><em>JOHN FLEMING, M.D.</em></strong><br />Member of Congress</p>
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		<title>Martin County Florida Hospital Being Bankrupted</title>
		<link>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2010/06/government-health-care/martin-county-florida-hospital-being-bankrupted/</link>
		<comments>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2010/06/government-health-care/martin-county-florida-hospital-being-bankrupted/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:20:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>John</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.liberal-economics.com/?p=481</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you think the Government is supplying the bill for illegal health care think again. Worth watching – pretty short. JUST ANOTHER PATHETIC EXAMPLE OF AMERICAS DEMISE! What is wrong with our government? They sit there in Washington fat and happy with full pay pensions and health care and pass all of these costs on [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you think the Government is supplying the bill for illegal health care think again.</p>
<p>Worth watching – pretty short. </p>
<p>JUST ANOTHER PATHETIC EXAMPLE OF AMERICAS DEMISE!</p>
<p>What is wrong with our government? They sit there in Washington fat and happy with full pay pensions and health care and pass all of these costs on to us, the taxpayers….immigration problems like these are going to do us in. This hits close to home for me.</p>
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		<title>Fighting The Good Fight</title>
		<link>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2010/05/government-health-care/fighting-the-good-fight/</link>
		<comments>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2010/05/government-health-care/fighting-the-good-fight/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 May 2010 22:42:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>articles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.liberal-economics.com/2010/05/uncategorized/fighting-the-good-fight/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You’re pumped. You want to help legalize medical marijuana in all of the United States. You want to help end unfair federal raids on dispensaries. You want to help people with debilitating diseases obtain easy access to green medicine. You’re ready to fight the good fight. But you’re just not sure how. Don’t worry. We’re [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You’re pumped. You want to help <a href="http://www.potlegalization.com">legalize medical marijuana</a> in all of the United States. You want to help end unfair federal raids on dispensaries. You want to help people with debilitating diseases obtain easy access to green medicine.</p>
<p>You’re ready to fight the good fight.</p>
<p>But you’re just not sure how.</p>
<p>Don’t worry. We’re here to help. We’ve put together a quick guide to help you get started on your future as a medical marijuana activist. Check out some of our tips below, and you’ll be fighting the good fight in no time at all!</p>
<p>1) Follow the activities of leading medical <a href="http://www.potlegalization.com">marijuana</a> advocacy groups. Among the largest are the Marijuana Policy Project (http://www.mpp.org), Americans For Safe Access (http://www.safeaccessnow.org), and NORML (http://norml.org). Following these groups will give you an idea of what’s going on in the medical marijuana community, and you’ll also be aware of activities you can participate in (concerts, fundraisers, rallies, etc.) All three have e-mail alert services that inform you regarding relevant and breaking news—check out their websites to sign up.</p>
<p>2) Become a dues-paying member of a medical marijuana advocacy group. By donating to an advocacy group, you’re supporting people who are on the forefront of the reform movement. These people are well informed and are dedicating significant amounts of time and energy to the cause. MPP, ASA, and NORML are three good examples. Show them some love!</p>
<p>3) Organize a rally. For those especially motivated, organizing a rally can help bring significant attention to an important cause. NORML and ASA have resources specifically dedicated to this topic: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3469 and http://americansforsafeaccess.org/section.php?id=116</p>
<p>4) Make your voice heard. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Call in to your favorite talk radio show. By humbly voicing your opinion in a public forum, you’re informing others of the benefits of <a href="http://www.potlegalization.com">medical marijuana</a> and the good that can come from its legalization. If you’re writing a letter, ASA provides some great information you can use: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/182/t/571/letter/?letter_KEY=658</p>
<p>5) Contact Congress. While one e-mail or phone call by itself might not necessarily change the current legislation, every effort helps. Once members of Congress see that there is an overwhelming support for medical marijuana—well, that’s when things start to change. To help you with this process, MPP provides a list of tips and talking points: http://www.mpp.org/federal-action/.</p>
<p>These, of course, are only tips that will get you started. Who knows where you might end up?</p>
<p>Godspeed and good luck!</p>
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		<title>AARP</title>
		<link>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2010/03/government-health-care/aarp/</link>
		<comments>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2010/03/government-health-care/aarp/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>John</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.liberal-economics.com/?p=342</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I find this very interesting reading, so let&#8217;s keep it going if you agree. It only takes a few days on the Internet and this will have reached 75% of the public in the U.S.A. Seniors need to stand up for what is right, not what the politicians want or big Corporations want. The disillusionment [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I find this very interesting reading, so let&#8217;s keep it going if you agree.  It only takes a few days on the Internet and this will have reached 75% of the public in the U.S.A.  Seniors need to stand up for what is right, not what the politicians want or big Corporations want.</p>
<p>The disillusionment on the Internet is becoming increasingly repetitive &#8211; the country&#8217;s backbone is waking up.  Will they listen?  Or do we have to embrace the radicals she mentions?</p>
<p>This was sent to Mr. Rand who is the Executive Director of AARP.</p>
<p>THIS LADY NOT ONLY HAS A GRASP OF “THE SITUATION” BUT AN INCREDIBLE COMMAND OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!</p>
<p>Dear Mr. Rand,</p>
<p>Recently you sent us a letter encouraging us to renew our lapsed membership in AARP by the requested date.  I know it is not what you were looking for, but this is the most honest response I can give you.  Our gap in coverage is merely a microscopic symptom of the real problem, a deepening lack of faith.</p>
<p>While we have proudly maintained our membership for several years and have long admired the AARP goals and principles, regrettably, we can no longer endorse it&#8217;s abdication of our values.  Your letter specifically stated that we can count on AARP to speak up for our rights, yet the voice we hear is not ours.  Your offer of being kept up to date on important issues through DIVIDED WE FAIL presents neither an impartial view nor the one we have come to embrace.  We do believe that when two parties agree all the time on everything presented to them, one is probably not necessary.  But, when the opinions and long term goals are diametrically opposed, the divorce is imminent.  This is the philosophy which spawned our 200 years of government.</p>
<p>Once upon a time, we looked forward to being part of the senior demographic.  We also looked to AARP to provide certain benefits and give our voice a power we could not possibly hope to achieve on our own.  AARP gave us a sense of belonging which we no longer enjoy.  The Socialist politics practiced by the Obama administration and empowered by AARP serves only to raise the blood pressure my medical insurance strives to contain.  Clearly a conflict of interest there!</p>
<p>We do not understand the AARP posture, feel greatly betrayed by the guiding forces that we expected to map out our senior years and leave your ranks with a great sense of regret.  We mitigate that disappointment with the relief of knowing that we are not contributing to the problem anymore by renewing our membership.  There are numerous other organizations which offer discounts without threatening our way of life or offending our sensibilities.</p>
<p>This Presidential Administration scares the living daylights out of us.  Not just for ourselves, but for our proud and bloodstained heritage.  But even more importantly for our children and grandchildren.  Washington has rendered Soylent Green a prophetic cautionary tale rather than a nonfiction scare tactic.  I have never in my life endorsed any militant or radical groups, yet now I find myself listening to them.  I don&#8217;t have to agree with them to appreciate the fear which birthed their existence.  Their borderline insanity presents little more than a balance to the voice of the Socialist mindset in power.  Perhaps I became American by a great stroke of luck in some cosmic uterine lottery, but in my adulthood I CHOOSE to embrace it and nurture the freedoms it represents as well as the responsibilities it requires.</p>
<p>Your website generously offers us the opportunity to receive all communication in Spanish.  ARE YOU KIDDING???  Someone has broken into our “house”, invaded our home without our invitation or consent.  The President has insisted we keep the perpetrator in comfort and learn the perp language so we can communicate our reluctant welcome to them.</p>
<p>I DON&#8217;T choose to welcome them.</p>
<p>I DON&#8217;T choose to support them.</p>
<p>I DON&#8217;T choose to educate them.</p>
<p>I DON&#8217;T choose to medicate them, pay for their food or clothing.</p>
<p>American home invaders get arrested.</p>
<p>Please explain to me why foreign lawbreakers can enjoy privileges on American soil that Americans do not get?</p>
<p>Why do some immigrants have to play the game to be welcomed and others only have to break &#038; enter to be welcomed?</p>
<p>We travel for a living.  Walt hauls horses all over this great country, averaging over 10,000 miles a month when he is out there.  He meets more people than a politician on caffeine overdose.  Of all the many good folks he enjoyed on this last 10,000 miles, this trip yielded only ONE supporter of the current administration.  One of us is out of touch with mainstream America.  Since our poll is conducted without funding, I have more faith in it than one which is power driven.</p>
<p>We have decided to forward this to everyone on our mailing list, and will encourage them to do the same.  With several hundred in my address book, I have every faith that the eventual exponential factor will make a credible statement to you.</p>
<p>I am disappointed as hell.<br />
I am scared as hell.</p>
<p>I am MAD as hell, and I&#8217;m NOT gonna take it anymore!</p>
<p>Walt &#038; Cyndy</p>
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		<title>Rights or privileges</title>
		<link>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2010/03/government-health-care/331/</link>
		<comments>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2010/03/government-health-care/331/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:32:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.liberal-economics.com/?p=331</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It was rationalized that forcing people to buy car insurance was lawful due to the fact that &#8220;driving is not a right it&#8217;s a privilege&#8221;. Now a healthcare bill is being considered for passage that allegedly includes, among other things, a provision for forcing people to buy health insurance because healthcare is not a privilege it&#8217;s a right. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It was rationalized that forcing people to buy car insurance was lawful due to the fact that &#8220;driving is not a right it&#8217;s a privilege&#8221;. Now a healthcare bill is being considered for passage that allegedly includes, among other things, a provision for forcing people to buy health insurance because healthcare is not a privilege it&#8217;s a right. I&#8217;m still scratching my head over this one.</p>
<p>Big Daddy Don</p>
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		<title>Obama&#8217;s Children and Flu Vaccine</title>
		<link>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2009/11/government-health-care/obamas-children-and-flu-vaccine/</link>
		<comments>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2009/11/government-health-care/obamas-children-and-flu-vaccine/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:09:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>John</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.liberal-economics.com/?p=193</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Photo: The First Lady and her two children. Ron Paul Questions Why Obama Daughters Haven&#8217;t Taken Swine Flu Vaccine What’s good for the Goose should also be good for the Gander – right? Despite declaring national emergency in response to H1N1 outbreak, President refuses to allow his own children to be inoculated with controversial shot. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="left frame" src="/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Mrs_Obamas_Two_Daughters.jpg" alt="The First Lady and two Daughters" width="250" /><span style="color: #80000;"><span style="color: #800000;"><em>Photo: The First Lady and her two children.</em></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #800000;"><strong>Ron Paul Questions Why Obama Daughters Haven&#8217;t Taken Swine Flu Vaccine</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #3366ff;"><strong><em>What’s good for the Goose should also be good for the Gander – right?</em></strong></span></p>
<p>Despite declaring national emergency in response to H1N1 outbreak, President refuses to allow his own children to be inoculated with controversial shot.</p>
<p>Congressman Ron Paul has questioned why, despite his efforts to encourage the general public to get vaccinated against the H1N1 virus, President Barack Obama has refused to allow his own daughters to take the swine flu shot.</p>
<p>Congressman Ron Paul has questioned why, despite his efforts to encourage the general public to get vaccinated against the H1N1 virus, President Barack Obama has refused to allow his own daughters to take the swine flu shot.</p>
<p>Despite the fact that Obama on Friday declared a national emergency in response to the H1N1 outbreak, he apparently doesn’t deem it enough of a threat to have his two daughters vaccinated against the virus.</p>
<p>Such double standards have led media pundits to call for Obama to get his daughters vaccinated on live television, in an effort to encourage American parents to do the same for their kids. The swine flu vaccination program, which was initially intended to be a “mass” inoculation covering the entire population, has been rejected by a majority of Americans who harbor deep suspicions about dangerous additives contained in the vaccine such as mercury and squalene.</p>
<p>In a Campaign For Liberty video message, former Presidential candidate Ron Paul labeled the vaccination program a “failure,” and slammed Obama for failing to follow the same advice he gave to the nation.</p>
<p>“It’s interesting to note that the President’s children have not gotten their shots and the explanation for this is it hasn’t been available to them – now that’s a little bit hard to buy when you think that probably anything the President wants can be available for their children,” said Paul, adding, “So in a way he’s made his decision not to give his children these inoculations – so if he has freedom of choice on this, I would like to make sure that all the American people have the same amount of freedom of choice.”</p>
<p>Others have echoed similar sentiments. “Surely if there is a national emergency and if the President and First Lady of the United States wanted flu shots for their daughters, they could get them. It is certainly connected to our national security right? I mean the president needs to have his wits about him 24/7 not worrying over sick children. Could this instead be yet another case of “do as I say, not as I do” from the Obama administration?” writes Cathryn Friar.</p>
<p>Paul compared Obama’s hypocrisy to politicians who lobby for the virtues of public education yet in every instance educate their own children privately.</p>
<p>“The biggest champions of public education make sure their kids never get public education, they always get private education where there’s a lot better choices than the kind of system they’re promoting,” said the Congressman.</p>
<p>Obama certainly isn’t stupid enough to inject his own kids with the same toxic soup that he encourages the idiot public to receive, and will probably be keen on getting access to the special additive-free swine flu shots produced by Baxter International that have been made available for the elite.</p>
<p>As Spiegel Online reported earlier this month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and government ministers received a mercury and squalene-free H1N1 vaccine. “The Vakzin [vaccine] does not contain disputed additives — contrary to the vaccine for the remainder of the population,” reported the newspaper. Soldiers in the German army were also given the adjuvant-free vaccine.</p>
<p>Employees of the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Germany also received the “green” inoculation after their president Johannes Löwer labeled the vaccine a greater threat than the virus itself. Löwer’s comment came after German lung specialist Wolfgang Wodarg said the vaccine increases the risk of cancer. The nutrient solution for the vaccine consists of cancerous cells from animals.</p>
<p>In the video update, Congressman Paul also warned that Obama’s emergency declaration on Friday was part of a plan to condition people to accept the notion of government as protector and coerce the public into complying with whatever they say, including forced quarantines.</p>
<p>Paul Joseph Watson<br />
Prison Planet.com<br />
Tuesday, October 27, 2009</p>
<p>Watch the Ron Paul clip below.</p>
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		<title>Children Who Are Not Vaccinated Never Get Autism!</title>
		<link>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2009/10/government-health-care/children-who-are-not-vaccinated-never-get-autism/</link>
		<comments>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2009/10/government-health-care/children-who-are-not-vaccinated-never-get-autism/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:03:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>John</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.liberal-economics.com/?p=191</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[CHICAGO, Dec. 7 (UPI) &#8212; It&#8217;s a far piece from the horse-and-buggies of Lancaster County, Pa., to the cars and freeways of Cook County, Ill. But thousands of children cared for by Homefirst Health Services in metropolitan Chicago have at least two things in common with thousands of Amish children in rural Lancaster: They have [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>CHICAGO, Dec. 7 (UPI) &#8212; It&#8217;s a far piece from the horse-and-buggies of Lancaster County, Pa., to the cars and freeways of Cook County, Ill.</p>
<p>But thousands of children cared for by Homefirst Health Services in metropolitan Chicago have at least two things in common with thousands of Amish children in rural Lancaster: They have never been vaccinated. And they don&#8217;t have autism.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have a fairly large practice. We have about 30,000 or 35,000 children that we&#8217;ve taken care of over the years, and I don&#8217;t think we have a single case of autism in children delivered by us who never received vaccines,&#8221; said Dr. Mayer Eisenstein, Homefirst&#8217;s medical director who founded the practice in 1973. Homefirst doctors have delivered more than 15,000 babies at home, and thousands of them have never been vaccinated.</p>
<p>The few autistic children Homefirst sees were vaccinated before their families became patients, Eisenstein said. &#8220;I can think of two or three autistic children who we&#8217;ve delivered their mother&#8217;s next baby, and we aren&#8217;t really totally taking care of that child &#8212; they have special care needs. But they bring the younger children to us. I don&#8217;t have a single case that I can think of that wasn&#8217;t vaccinated.&#8221;</p>
<p>The autism rate in Illinois public schools is 38 per 10,000, according to state Education Department data; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the national rate of autism spectrum disorders at 1 in 166 &#8212; 60 per 10,000.</p>
<p>&#8220;We do have enough of a sample,&#8221; Eisenstein said. &#8220;The numbers are too large to not see it. We would absolutely know. We&#8217;re all family doctors. If I have a child with autism come in, there&#8217;s no communication. It&#8217;s frightening. You can&#8217;t touch them. It&#8217;s not something that anyone would miss.&#8221;</p>
<p>No one knows what causes autism, but federal health authorities say it isn&#8217;t childhood immunizations. Some parents and a small minority of doctors and scientists, however, assert vaccines are responsible.</p>
<p>This column has been looking for autism in never-vaccinated U.S. children in an effort to shed light on the issue. We went to Chicago to meet with Eisenstein at the suggestion of a reader, and we also visited Homefirst&#8217;s office in northwest suburban Rolling Meadows. Homefirst has four other offices in the Chicago area and a total of six doctors.</p>
<p>Eisenstein stresses his observations are not scientific. &#8220;The trouble is this is just anecdotal in a sense, because what if every autistic child goes somewhere else and (their family) never calls us or they moved out of state?&#8221;</p>
<p>In practice, that&#8217;s unlikely to account for the pronounced absence of autism, says Eisenstein, who also has a bachelor&#8217;s degree in statistics, a master&#8217;s degree in public health and a law degree.</p>
<p>Homefirst follows state immunization mandates, but Illinois allows religious exemptions if parents object based either on tenets of their faith or specific personal religious views. Homefirst does not exclude or discourage such families. Eisenstein, in fact, is author of the book &#8220;Don&#8217;t Vaccinate Before You Educate!&#8221; and is critical of the CDC&#8217;s vaccination policy in the 1990s, when several new immunizations were added to the schedule, including Hepatitis B as early as the day of birth. Several of the vaccines &#8212; HepB included &#8212; contained a mercury-based preservative that has since been phased out of most childhood vaccines in the United States.</p>
<p>Medical practices with Homefirst&#8217;s approach to immunizations are rare. &#8220;Because of that, we tend to attract families that have questions about that issue,&#8221; said Dr. Paul Schattauer, who has been with Homefirst for 20 years and treats &#8220;at least&#8221; 100 children a week.</p>
<p>Schattauer seconded Eisenstein&#8217;s observations. &#8220;All I know is in my practice I don&#8217;t see autism. There is no striking 1-in-166,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Earlier this year we reported the same phenomenon in the mostly unvaccinated Amish. CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding told us the Amish &#8220;have genetic connectivity that would make them different from populations that are in other sectors of the United States.&#8221; Gerberding said, however, studies &#8220;could and should be done&#8221; in more representative unvaccinated groups &#8212; if they could be found and their autism rate documented.</p>
<p>Chicago is America&#8217;s prototypical &#8220;City of Big Shoulders,&#8221; to quote Carl Sandburg, and Homefirst&#8217;s mostly middle-class families seem fairly representative. A substantial number are conservative Christians who home-school their children. They are mostly white, but the Homefirst practice also includes black and Hispanic families and non-home-schooling Jews, Catholics and Muslims.</p>
<p>They tend to be better educated, follow healthier diets and breast-feed their children much longer than the norm &#8212; half of Homefirst&#8217;s mothers are still breast-feeding at two years. Also, because Homefirst relies less on prescription drugs including antibiotics as a first line of treatment, these children have less exposure to other medicines, not just vaccines.</p>
<p>Schattauer, interviewed at the Rolling Meadows office, said his caseload is too limited to draw conclusions about a possible link between vaccines and autism. &#8220;With these numbers you&#8217;d have a hard time proving or disproving anything,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You can only get a feeling about it.</p>
<p>&#8220;In no way would I be an advocate to stand up and say we need to look at vaccines, because I don&#8217;t have the science to say that,&#8221; Schattauer said. &#8220;But I don&#8217;t think the science is there to say that it&#8217;s not.&#8221;</p>
<p>Schattauer said Homefirst&#8217;s patients also have significantly less childhood asthma and juvenile diabetes compared to national rates. An office manager who has been with Homefirst for 17 years said she is aware of only one case of severe asthma in an unvaccinated child.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sometimes you feel frustrated because you feel like you&#8217;ve got a pretty big secret,&#8221; Schattauer said. He argues for more research on all those disorders, independent of political or business pressures.</p>
<p>The asthma rate among Homefirst patients is so low it was noticed by the Blue Cross group with which Homefirst is affiliated, according to Eisenstein.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the alternative-medicine network which Homefirst is part of, there are virtually no cases of childhood asthma, in contrast to the overall Blue Cross rate of childhood asthma which is approximately 10 percent,&#8221; he said. &#8220;At first I thought it was because they (Homefirst&#8217;s children) were breast-fed, but even among the breast-fed we&#8217;ve had asthma. We have virtually no asthma if you&#8217;re breast-fed and not vaccinated.&#8221;</p>
<p>Because the diagnosis of asthma is based on emergency-room visits and hospital admissions, Eisenstein said, Homefirst&#8217;s low rate is hard to dispute. &#8220;It&#8217;s quantifiable &#8212; the definition is not reliant on the doctor&#8217;s perception of asthma.&#8221;</p>
<p>Several studies have found a risk of asthma from vaccination; others have not. Studies that include never-vaccinated children generally find little or no asthma in that group.</p>
<p>Earlier this year Florida pediatrician Dr. Jeff Bradstreet said there is virtually no autism in home-schooling families who decline to vaccinate for religious reasons &#8212; lending credence to Eisenstein&#8217;s observations.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s largely non-existent,&#8221; said Bradstreet, who treats children with autism from around the country. &#8220;It&#8217;s an extremely rare event.&#8221;</p>
<p>Bradstreet has a son whose autism he attributes to a vaccine reaction at 15 months. His daughter has been home-schooled, he describes himself as a &#8220;Christian family physician,&#8221; and he knows many of the leaders in the home-school movement.</p>
<p>&#8220;There was this whole subculture of folks who went into home-schooling so they would never have to vaccinate their kids,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There&#8217;s this whole cadre who were never vaccinated for religious reasons.&#8221;</p>
<p>In that subset, he said, &#8220;unless they were massively exposed to mercury through lots of amalgams (mercury dental fillings in the mother) and/or big-time fish eating, I&#8217;ve not had a single case.&#8221;</p>
<p>Federal health authorities and mainstream medical groups emphatically dismiss any link between autism and vaccines, including the mercury-based preservative thimerosal. Last year a panel of the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academies, said there is no evidence of such a link, and funding should henceforth go to &#8220;promising&#8221; research.</p>
<p>Thimerosal, which is 49.6 percent ethyl mercury by weight, was phased out of most U.S. childhood immunizations beginning in 1999, but the CDC recommends flu shots for pregnant women and last year began recommending them for children 6 to 23 months old. Most of those shots contain thimerosal.</p>
<p>Thimerosal-preserved vaccines are currently being injected into millions of children in developing countries around the world. &#8220;My mandate &#8230;. is to make sure at the end of the day that 100,000,000 are immunized &#8230; this year, next year and for many years to come &#8230; and that will have to be with thimerosal-containing vaccines,&#8221; said John Clements of the World Health Organization at a June 2000 meeting called by the CDC.</p>
<p>That meeting was held to review data that thimerosal might be linked with autism and other neurological problems. But in 2004 the Institute of Medicine panel said evidence against a link is so strong that health authorities, &#8220;whether in the United States or other countries, should not include autism as a potential risk&#8221; when formulating immunization policies.</p>
<p>But where is the simple, straightforward study of autism in never-vaccinated U.S. children? Based on our admittedly anecdotal and limited reporting among the Amish, the home-schooled and now Chicago&#8217;s Home first, that may prove to be a significant omission.</p>
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		<title>Universal Health Care and Denny&#8217;s</title>
		<link>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2009/10/government-health-care/universal-health-care-and-dennys/</link>
		<comments>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2009/10/government-health-care/universal-health-care-and-dennys/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:35:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>John</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.liberal-economics.com/?p=163</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Democrats are saying that we should have Universal Health Care Coverage because it is our right as humans to live. This way we can walk into hospitals any time we want. If it is our right to survive then it is also our right to eat. Can we walk into any restaurant at any [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Democrats are saying that we should have Universal Health Care Coverage because it is our right as humans to live. This way we can walk into hospitals any time we want.</p>
<p>If it is our right to survive then it is also our right to eat. Can we walk into any restaurant at any given time and demand to be served food for free?</p>
<p>Jerry Flannery</p>
<p>Presidential Candidate 2012</p>
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		<title>Who Deserves A Liver?</title>
		<link>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2009/10/government-health-care/who-deserves-a-liver/</link>
		<comments>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2009/10/government-health-care/who-deserves-a-liver/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:26:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.liberal-economics.com/?p=144</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[             Imagine a situation in which there were two people with a rare liver disease, (not liver cancer), and both were in need of a liver transplant. One of the people was poor and rarely applied himself to achieve any more than it took to sustain himself from day to day. The other one was wealthy due to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>             Imagine a situation in which there were two people with a rare liver disease, (not liver cancer), and both were in need of a liver transplant. One of the people was poor and rarely applied himself to achieve any more than it took to sustain himself from day to day. The other one was wealthy due to the fact that she had found a cure for liver cancer and made a good living providing rehealthy livers to people with cancer.</p>
<p>              Now imagine that under a gov&#8217;t run healthcare system both are deemed equally worthy of the one liver available, even though the wealthy woman can, and is willing to, pay for all of the surgical procedures out of her own pocket, thereby leaving more gov&#8217;t resources available for lazy sick people.</p>
<p>              The conditions of the rare liver disease are such that whomever receives the donated liver will resume a normal life while the other will be able to live for about a year, but will not be able to do much more than get out of bed to eat or go to the bathroom. (I sense the Austrian economists already see where I&#8217;m going with this).</p>
<p>              Under the gov&#8217;t run system the &#8220;head bureaucrat in charge&#8221;, to show their compassion for the less fortunate, not to mention their disdain for the greedy capitalist, would likely award the liver to the deadbeat, and all the socialists would then bask in the belief that true justice had been served. On the other hand suppose the healthcare industry was &#8220;free market&#8221; and the woman outbid the deadbeat, got the liver, went back to work, developed a cure for the very disease for which she had needed a transplant, and then cured the deadbeat.</p>
<p>              In a free market, the people reward the productive because the productive reward the people. In a socialized system the gov&#8217;t rewards the nonproductive because&#8230; Why was that again?</p>
<p>                                                 Big Daddy Don</p>
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		<title>Animal Healthfare</title>
		<link>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2009/10/government-health-care/animal-healthfare/</link>
		<comments>http://www.liberal-economics.com/2009/10/government-health-care/animal-healthfare/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:44:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.liberal-economics.com/?p=134</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[           It so happens that a prominent  &#8221;animal rights&#8221; organization did a study comparing wild animals to zoo animals, and found that animals living in the wild are healthier than animals living in a zoo. It was also found that when predation was taken out of the equation, (i.e. animals dying only of old age), the wild [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>           It so happens that a prominent  &#8221;animal rights&#8221; organization did a study comparing wild animals to zoo animals, and found that animals living in the wild are healthier than animals living in a zoo. It was also found that when predation was taken out of the equation, (i.e. animals dying only of old age), the wild animals were living longer than the zoo animals.</p>
<p>           I have done my own study on the subject and find myself in total agreement with the above study. But I also found that what the above study missed, (or chose not to include), is that the zoo animals enjoy free healthcare!</p>
<p>            Where do I sign up?</p>
<p>                                                 Big Daddy Don</p>
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