The Health Care Bill Is Dead

And other repercussions of Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts.

BY Fred Barnes

January 20, 2010 12:30 AM

The impact of Republican Scott Brown’s capture of the Massachusetts Senate seat held for decades by Teddy Kennedy will be both immediate and powerful. It’s safe to say no single Senate election in recent memory is as important as this one.

Here are a few of the repercussions:

1) President Obama is weakened. For the third time in three months, he couldn’t deliver for a Democratic candidate. Last November, he abetted the defeat of Democrat Creigh Deeds in the Virginia governor’s race and failed to prevent Democrat Jon Corzine’s ouster as New Jersey governor. Now in Massachusetts, his appearance for Martha Coakley was a bust. A president who can’t aid his party’s candidates loses influence with Congress and inside his party.

That’s not all. Obama’s agenda, chiefly health care, took a beating in Massachusetts. In fact, it was the chief cause of Coakley’s defeat. Without the intrusion of national politics, she would have defeated Brown. But Obama and Democrats in Washington have created a hostile environment for Democratic candidates even in liberal and Democrat-dominated Massachusetts. So there’s a double whammy for Obama: he can’t help if he personally shows up to campaign on behalf of Democrats and his policies are ruining their chances of being elected.

2) Independents are lost to Democrats, at least for the time being. In 2006 and 2008, they fled Republicans in large numbers and facilitated Democratic triumphs for the House, Senate, and White House. Now they’ve staged a mass migration to the Republican camp. In Massachusetts, where they make up half the electorate, they overwhelmingly voted for Brown. This followed the 2-to-1 advantage they gave to Republicans in Virginia and New Jersey last year.

Democrats may win them back, but not if they stick with the liberal policies--especially the unbridled spending and $1 trillion deficits--of Obama and congressional Democrats. These are killer issues among independents. Perhaps it will take another unpopular Republican administration in Washington to push them toward Democrats again. And that is years away.

3) In the midterm election in November, Republicans are poised to win 25 or so House seats. But it will take a net of 40 to take control the House. For this, they need more open Democratic seats, which are easier to win than incumbent-held seats. Brown’s victory in Massachusetts is a good bet to scare many more Democrats into retirement.

If a Republican can win in Massachusetts, why not in Missouri or Pennsylvania or a solidly Democratic state like New York? Last week, Democrat Vic Snyder of Arkansas announced his retirement, citing the political climate as the reason. It’s an anti-Democratic climate.

4) Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is the new king of Capitol Hill. His skill in keeping 40 Republicans united against Democratic health care reform was masterful, and it wasn’t easy. A number of Republican senators are drawn to co-sponsoring or at least voting for Democratic bills. Not this time.

By keeping his minority together, McConnell put enormous pressure on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who had to keep every Democrat in line to gain the 60 votes need to halt a Republican filibuster. On health care, it meant he had to make unseemly deals with a host of senators, most egregiously in the Medicaid payoff to Nebraska to appease Senator Ben Nelson. Reid got the votes, but the deals were political poison.

5) Oh, yes. The health care bill, ObamaCare, is dead with not the slightest prospect of resurrection. Brown ran to be the 41st vote for filibuster and now he is just that. Democrats have talked up clever strategies to pass the bill in the Senate despite Brown, but they won’t fly. It’s one thing for ObamaCare to be rejected by the American public in poll after poll. But it becomes a matter of considerably greater political magnitude when ObamaCare causes the loss of a Senate race in the blue state of Massachusetts.

Then there’s the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists some version of ObamaCare will be approved and soon. She’s not kidding. She’s simply wrong. At best, she has the minimum 218 votes for passage. After the Massachusetts fiasco, however, there’s sure to be erosion. How many Democrats in Republican-leaning districts want to vote for ObamaCare, post-Massachusetts? Not many.

Pelosi met with House Democrats yesterday to tell them how the negotiations on a compromise health care bill between the House and Senate were going. As she spoke, one Democratic member whispered to another, “It’s like talking about your date on Friday, but the date’s in the emergency room.” ObamaCare went into the emergency room in Massachusetts and didn’t make it out alive.

Dismantling America

By Thomas Sowell

Just one year ago, would you have believed that an unelected government official, not even a Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate but simply one of the many "czars" appointed by the President, could arbitrarily cut the pay of executives in private businesses by 50 percent or 90 percent?

Did you think that another "czar" would be talking about restricting talk radio? That there would be plans afloat to subsidize newspapers — that is, to create a situation where some newspapers' survival would depend on the government liking what they publish?

Did you imagine that anyone would even be talking about having a panel of so-called "experts" deciding who could and could not get life-saving medical treatments?

Scary as that is from a medical standpoint, it is also chilling from the standpoint of freedom. If you have a mother who needs a heart operation or a child with some dire medical condition, how free would you feel to speak out against an administration that has the power to make life and death decisions about your loved ones?

Does any of this sound like America?

How about a federal agency giving school children material to enlist them on the side of the president? Merely being assigned to sing his praises in class is apparently not enough.

How much of America would be left if the federal government continued on this path? President Obama has already floated the idea of a national police force, something we have done without for more than two centuries.

We already have local police forces all across the country and military forces for national defense, as well as the FBI for federal crimes and the National Guard for local emergencies. What would be the role of a national police force created by Barack Obama, with all its leaders appointed by him? It would seem more like the brown shirts of dictators than like anything American.

How far the President will go depends of course on how much resistance he meets. But the direction in which he is trying to go tells us more than all his rhetoric or media spin.

Barack Obama has not only said that he is out to "change the United States of America," the people he has been associated with for years have expressed in words and deeds their hostility to the values, the principles and the people of this country.

Jeremiah Wright said it with words: "G0d damn America!" Bill Ayers said it with bombs that he planted. Community activist goons have said it with their contempt for the rights of other people.

Among the people appointed as czars by President Obama have been people who have praised enemy dictators like Mao, who have seen the public schools as places to promote sexual practices contrary to the values of most Americans, to a captive audience of children.

Those who say that the Obama administration should have investigated those people more thoroughly before appointing them are missing the point completely. Why should we assume that Barack Obama didn't know what such people were like, when he has been associating with precisely these kinds of people for decades before he reached the White House?

Nothing is more consistent with his lifelong patterns than putting such people in government — people who reject American values, resent Americans in general and successful Americans in particular, as well as resenting America's influence in the world.

Any miscalculation on his part would be in not thinking that others would discover what these stealth appointees were like. Had it not been for the Fox News Channel, these stealth appointees might have remained unexposed for what they are. Fox News is now high on the administration's enemies list.

Nothing so epitomizes President Obama's own contempt for American values and traditions like trying to ram two bills through Congress in his first year — each bill more than a thousand pages long — too fast for either of them to be read, much less discussed. That he succeeded only the first time says that some people are starting to wake up. Whether enough people will wake up in time to keep America from being dismantled, piece by piece, is another question — and the biggest question for this generation.

Weary Americans

By: Melissa Clouthier

You are so sick of the debates. You have a freaking life after all. You have a mortgage. You have kids you worry over. You have a job, if you're lucky. You like sports. You like your family. You like your car. You like your country. You believe there is a God and after this short time on earth, if there's any justice, bad guys will pay and good guys will ultimately win. You're an American. Imperfect, sure, but mostly decent.

It is simply unfathomable that someone would would see that life and think it is bad. It is difficult to comprehend that someone or a group of people would see this life as evil. And yet, many do.

The traditional suburban family, job, kids, house, SUV, sports, dogs, etc. are viewed with suspicion and pure hatred by some. Americans are viewed as wasteful, consumptive, selfish, stupid, parochial simpletons.

The solution to the "problem" of the average American, then, is to help the American live a better life...by force, if necessary. Doctor Zero of Hot Air's Greenroom has a must read piece titled "The Aggressor State". He says:

Because liberalism defines itself as transformative, it is very comfortable with aggression. This posture serves them well with a public that believes “progress” is inherently positive. The business of building the modern super-state has been a sustained attack, using cultural pressure, legislative power, and the blunt instrument of loyal voting blocs to beat Middle America into submission. The goal of the Left is to convince the middle class to give it the power to do things they would never be depraved or dishonest enough to do themselves. Ordinary people refer to the “redistribution of wealth” as “theft.” If a man wearing a tailored suit and power tie came to your door one day, and offered to take care of your health, in exchange for surrendering all control over your medical decisions to a board of faceless strangers – who also demand unlimited control over every part of your life that might conceivably impact your health – you’d slam the door in his face and call the cops. If you caught someone writing himself a $4000.00 check from your checkbook, and he explained he needs the money as tribute to his Church of Global Warming so they can save the world from an imaginary evil, you’d shoot first and call 911 later. The mission of the Left is to convince people that all of these outrages become virtuous when elected officials perpetrate them. After all, “they won.” [Emphasis added.]

But those who view American life with contempt know that a direct assault on the American character won't work. It must be subtle. The arguments must infer that your neighbor, the small business owner whose company earns more than $200,000 is evil, not you. The insurance company is evil--hell, you know the pain in the ass insurance companies can be. The talk show host is evil--well, crud, Mr. Big Mouth Talk Show Host sure can be annoying sometimes. Then anyone who thinks mandatory union membership seems oppressive is evil. Then people who like their incandescent lights are evil. The circle begins to expand. Like a consuming Venn diagram, suddenly, all Americans, even you, are inside the circle of evil.

How did that happen?

Leftists and the state they worship know no constraint. There is not one aspect of life that they don't believe they know how to better manage than you. Not one. Health care is the big, juicy prize because under the auspices of caring, absolute and total control is willingly ceded to the government.

No one in America would argue that the health care system doesn't need reform. It is patently obvious that the biggest generation ever is reaching old age. Health care costs, just because there are so many people, will increase. What to do? The Congressional Democrat's solution is to cut coverage for these old people and "fund" health care for the uninsured. Like a shell game, the government will shift money and serve people who better "deserve" the care. More than that, taxes will go up to pay for everyone.

People are tired of the debate. This fatigue plays into big government plans. For generations, the Left has stoked a perpetual state of discontent. Finally, when the economy is staggering under the weight of bad debt, oppressive regulation and perverse incentives, people are sobered and serious about solutions. What the Left offers is more of the same: bigger government to solve an already too big government.

If the Left can continue to make people feel like someone else is to blame and someone else will be punished, the desire for Health Care legislation, and every other form of government control will pass. But people are starting to get wary, even in their weariness. Suddenly, the health care people already enjoy doesn't seem so bad. Suddenly, the massive expansion of government seems expensive.

Hopefully, the American people will overcome their political fatigue and become more active. After a certain point, the political process seems akin to the boy who cried wolf and when the wolf finally comes....no one listens. The government wolf is here and ready to devour a sixth of the economy. The time to fight is now.
Melissa Clouthier's Bio
Dr. Melissa Clouthier blogs on her own website and RightWingNews.com . She also hosts a new online radio show on RFC Radio . Owning her own medical business means that what happens in Washington is not theoretical to her or her family.

'Death Panels' in Oregon?

Maybe Sarah Palin wasn't off the mark after all:

August 11, 2009

Ethel C. Fenig
Perhaps former Governor Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) was referring to the tragic predicament of Barbara Wagner of Oregon when she wrote how she feared for the fate of her Down Syndrome son under "Obama's 'Death Panels.' "

Susan Donaldson James of ABC News reports on the letter Ms. Wagner received from the Oregon Health Plan in response to a $4000 a month drug her doctor prescribed after her lung cancer, long in remission, returned..

the insurance company refused to pay.

What the Oregon Health Plan did agree to cover, however, were drugs for a physician-assisted death. Those drugs would cost about $50.

Hmmmm, let's do the math. Yep, a one time prescription of $50 sure is cheaper than $4000 a month for who knows how many months to keep a 64 year old woman alive. So the Oregon "Death Panel" graciously offered suicide pills. Or doctor assisted murder.


But Ms. Wagner had an understandably different reaction.

"It was horrible," Wagner told ABCNews.com. "I got a letter in the mail that basically said if you want to take the pills, we will help you get that from the doctor and we will stand there and watch you die. But we won't give you the medication to live."


Ah, but Ms. Wagner wanted to live. And she didn't care what the Oregon "Death Panel" - uhm, Oregon Health Plan decided. And her situation is not unique.


But a 1998 study from Georgetown University's Center for Clinical Bioethics found a strong link between cost-cutting pressures on physicians and their willingness to prescribe lethal drugs to patients -- were it legal to do so.

The study warns that there must be "a sobering degree of caution in legalizing [assisted death] in a medical care environment that is characterized by increasing pressure on physicians to control the cost of care."

Cancer drugs can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 a month. The cost of lethal medication, on the other hand, is about $35 to $50.

So Sarah Palin's "death panels" aren't as quite off the mark as those afflicted by Palin Derangement Syndrome and mocking her seem to think. Apparently they're called Centers for Bioethics and people are sincerely grappling with these issues. The issues are deep, the problems are complex. And alas there are no easy answers. But let's keep the Barbara Wagners in mind. For one day, a loved one may be in the same predicament. Or you.

How Should We Then Live?

Thursday, July 30, 2009


By Randy Wills
America's Right

It concerns me greatly that so much attention is focused on the individual plans and programs that the Obama administration is pushing to enact. All that you see taking place today on the floor of Congress simply obfuscates the real end game: the means to gain complete control over every facet of each of our lives. As Vladimir Lenin reportedly said, “It is true that liberty is precious – so precious that it must be rationed.” And you know who’s going to do the rationing, don’t you?

What’s going on reminds me of the tricks that a trainer might use to coax a green horse into allowing a bit to be put in its mouth. Of course, putting the bit in a horse’s mouth is by no means the goal; the goal is to be able to control the animal by the discomfort that the bit causes if the horse doesn’t obey the rider or the plowman. After we, like the dumb beast, have allowed the “bit” of complete government control to be placed in our mouth, then you’ll see the end game unfold.

Colin Powell was absolutely right when he endorsed Obama with the comment “He’s a transformative figure”. Unfortunately, transformations can be anything that the “transformative figure” wants them to be. History is replete with the tales of carnage-covered battlefields left to rot by arrogant leaders in their attempt to “transform” societies and cultures. I am convinced that the end game of this administration is a new world order in which all conflict-producing differences – race, economic, political, religious – are resolved by means of enforced sameness. The spark of human initiative and creativity – individual choice – will be dead, and with it, the spirit of man. The trumped-up emergencies attracting all of our attention are just a means of gaining sufficient control of the levers of political and economic power to begin this Orwellian end game. Don’t be fooled into thinking that defeating any one of these programs is going to change that.

We know what we have to do – take back our country - but how is not so easily discerned. And that is the problem. How do we take back a nation-gone-awry where every vote - regardless of competence, motivation, or legality - counts equally and can be purchased or enticed by corrupt politicians who have nothing in mind other than the power that comes with victory? How does one change the course of a democracy if the electorate – an electorate “educated” in an apostate school system which openly disdains and mocks traditional values - is told what to believe by a complicit MSM, has its values shaped by a hedonistic entertainment industry, and has lost interest in the principle of right and wrong? All one has to do is follow the news for one day to recognize that too many Americans now operate almost exclusively on the basis of self-interest rather than on some commonly understood standard of decency and corporate well-being.

For the rational thinker, it would be difficult to avoid the conclusion that there is some over-arching cosmic war going on between good and evil that is playing out on the world stage with the United States at its epicenter and poised for the climactic battle. I say climactic because if this battle is lost (and the outcome will be decided sooner than most think) and the U.S. is transformed into a Godless bastion of socialism, who will be left to take our place in the world as the friend and protector of all that is good and the implacable foe of all who would withhold the right of mankind to live free?

The colonists, risking all and eschewing anarchy, came to this continent to escape the tyranny of religious persecution, but there is no comparable place for us to go to escape the assault on our freedoms now being made by the White House, Congress, and the courts. We must fight the battle here, among our enemies, constrained as we are by our commitment to peaceful means. Consequently we are faced with even more difficult choices than the colonists were. And besides, aren’t we – those of us who trace our political and moral values to those same Pilgrims, Revolutionaries, and Founding Fathers - the rightful heirs of the product of their wisdom and sacrifices? Why should we be the ones to capitulate to those who claim that the Constitution is a “living document” and interpret it to suit their personal ideology? When President Obama declares that he is going to “remake” America, does he really have a right to claim such a prerogative without a Constitutional Convention giving him that right? Obviously not, but how do we put a stop to this mad plunge into the economic and moral ruin called socialism without resorting to violence? The plain truth is, perhaps we can’t, but rest assured that socialism, as it has in all of its prior manifestations, will fail, and when it does, only those who are able to survive the ensuing cataclysm will be in a position to bring about the rebirth of the Founders’ vision for a free and democratic society.

In my pervious postings on AR I have made it clear that I’m against all violence - except in an act of defense of self, family, community, or nation - as a remedy for human conflict, including political tyranny. All of the rhetoric about “Give me liberty or give me death” notwithstanding, I believe this position is consistent with that held by the Founders until goaded by the British into defending themselves. Their example continues to be my political, as well as spiritual, point of reference. Yet armed with only the two-party political system, weakened as it has become as a result of rampant corruption and moral failure, it seems as though we are faced with the “perfect storm” of destructive elements which many, including myself, fear may not yield to that dull tool in time to keep from reaching the point of no return . As far as a third-party campaign is concerned, my opinion is that it would have little real value other than to make a statement. We tried that in ‘92 with Ross Perot and got Bill Clinton for eight years, so let’s not waste time and resources by going down that road again.

I envision our nation as a house of beautifully unique architecture and great history – let’s call it “The People’s House” - that has become so infested with termites and rot that it is ready to fall with the slightest ground tremor or gust of wind. Perhaps even just one more day of destruction by the hordes of uninvited guests, the termites, will finish the job. We know that we must try to preserve it with our lives because it is the greatest structure of its kind ever built and, if destroyed, may well be the last of its kind in history. It represents who we are – or at least who we once were and would like to become again - but even its foundation (you know, the requisite “Godly virtue” upon which the Founders built “The Peoples’ House”) has crumbled from neglect and there appears to be little interest in rebuilding it. We’ve become so steeped in the fraud called “diversity” that we dare not even broach the subject of Godliness of the Judeo/Christian kind in the political arena, much to our shame.

So realistically, the question becomes an issue of whether it be saved before it collapses or must first be reduced to rubble by its own unsupportable weight before the rebuilding can begin. This has typically been the course that other totalitarian regimes, such as Nazism, Communism, and Fascism, have taken. Those political philosophies have left their host nations in ruin before they would admit to their failure. Don’t think for a minute that, if we continue down the path that the Obama administration has chosen for us, it can’t happen here. The political class has bandied about the term “economically unsustainable” so frequently and casually that we’ve become numb to the implications of that term. When economic collapse happens, as it certainly will if we continue to promise more than any nation can afford, it is a “given” that mass civil unrest will soon follow. As a case in point, it has been reported in the press that the prospect of uncontrollable civil disorder is exactly the “hammer” that Secretary of the Treasury Paulson used to strong-arm TARP through Congress.

So what should our strategy be in times such as these? Should we attempt to replace the rotted timbers by means of the elective process, one at a time, hoping to shore up the structure before it falls? And to what end will any strategy lead us without a foundation upon which to build anew? Some would resort to violence, but that would be the equivalent of burning our house as a means of fumigation to kill the invaders. Lest we bring it down on ourselves like Samson of old, we must choose other means.

Common sense would tell us to get out before it collapses on top of us all. And collapse it will, no matter what the new “Building Superintendent”, President Obama, tells us. A $780 billion “fix” here, a new $1.5 trillion “maintenance” plan there, more extortion of taxpayer wealth somewhere else; just continue to believe in “Hope” and “Change” and all things will be made right. Like the old-time evangelist, he’s very skilled at suspending us over the fiery pit, extorting more and more of our hard-earned income by telling us that if we don’t act now and pony up the cost of the obviously-needed repairs all will be forever lost. He thunders from the bully pulpit “It’s not about me. It’s about taking care of YOU, the endangered inhabitants of the about-to-collapse house.” And the best part of his spiel is that only the top floor tenants will have to bear the expense. Free-everything for all of the lower floor tenants. Right! Everyone with half a brain knows – or would know if they hadn’t had their brains fried in the public education system - that it’s a hoax. The top floor tenants can’t possibly pay for all of his new “repair” programs without bankrupting themselves, so they’ll take their wealth and their business elsewhere, leaving the lower-floor tenants with nothing but suffocating debt and no means to pay it. Obama is a smart guy; he knows this full well, so it must somehow fit his plan. You figure it out.

So, as you can see, our options are very limited. Of course we should continue to work as hard as we can through the political process to replace the current keeper of “The People’s House” and his wrecking crew in Congress. However, it would be foolhardy to bank on being able to fumigate the building and begin to repair the damage before the “Termite-in-Chief” orchestrates the total collapse of the structure. My guess is that the creatures who feed off the very structure that houses them don’t really care whether it is left standing or if it has collapsed into a pile of sawdust. To them, it all tastes the same, so, as long as they can satisfy their appetites, they’ll continue to gnaw away, mindless of what they have wantonly destroyed.

At the risk of being accused of apocalyptic hysteria, my recommendation, and the plan that I and my family are implementing, is for every one with the courage to face reality make preparing for a major upheaval, such as William R. Forstchen portrays in “One Second After”, their top priority. There are many scenarios in which civil disorder of this magnitude could become reality (just think “Katrina” in every metropolitan area), and I wouldn’t dismiss any one of them out-of-hand. We live in extremely volatile economic and political times, exacerbated by a delicate nuclear balance-of-power on the world stage. The match that ignites a global conflagration could be struck in dozens of places – you name it -and at any time.

On the domestic front, the prospects are not any better. I see racial conflict growing, and any serious threat to the Obama administration is only going to intensify that conflict. Listen to his words and you will understand why he wants a civilian armed force, GREATER than our military, made up, I’m sure, of the likes of Acorn, the SEIU, and Americorps. I fear that, in the minds of too many minorities, it's about payback rather than parity. I don’t think that anyone who sat through twenty years of Dr. Wright’s “Black Liberation Theology” rantings is going to do much to ameliorate those feelings. President Obama’s unfortunate press conference comments regarding the incident between Professor Gates and Sgt. Crowley only serves to confirm his tendency to inflame racial tension as a political tool.

Disasters, either man-made or natural, happen, so be prepared. Be prepared for a major collapse of the infrastructure we depend on and civil disorder that will inevitably follow. If you have the freedom to do so, I would even consider moving away from major metropolitan areas - areas typically controlled by the forces that are driving this country into the ground - to areas of like-minded citizenry who will coalesce to provide mutual support in time of chaos. Most importantly, lay up supplies sufficient to sustain those you love in safety and health for an extended period of time. My starting goal was one month and then going on from there, but most people, other than our Mormon friends, aren’t prepared for even a few days absent an intact infrastructure.

My belief is that the next eighteen months will be the most dangerous for the survival of our Constitutional freedom since we became a self-governing people, so my advice is to not be lulled into thinking that this is just another soon-to-be-corrected, pendulum-like, deviation from the norm. It isn’t.

Facing the Abyss – H.R. 3200 and healthcare reform

Thursday, July 23, 2009


By Dr. William Harvey, M.D.
America's Right

It took the Continental Congress 5 years (1776-1781) to develop the Articles of Confederation governing the relationship between the states; after 6 years the Congress convened the Federal Convention (today known as the Constitutional Convention) ostensibly to propose amendments to the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention took 6 months to do its work, but the entire process of developing the Constitution, from the Annapolis Convention to the seating of the first Congress under the Constitution, took almost 3 years (1787-1791). The Founding Fathers knew that critical decisions, nation-altering decisions, deserve full public deliberation and care before being enacted.


Three similar approaches to healthcare legislation, two from the Senate Democrats and one from the House Democrats, were made public last week. President Obama announced publicly he’d like to have final healthcare reform legislation on his desk for signature before the August Congressional recess. As a nation, we’ve had the financial stimulus and the bailout bills rammed through Congress before anyone had a chance to read or evaluate them. Will we do the same with the most critical piece of legislation that has come before the Congress in at least 60 years, if not longer?

In the Senate, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (appropriately abbreviated “HELP”)developed their bill under Senator Baucus. This bill is as yet unnumbered but is titled “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009”. I can’t find the Senate version of the bill in either THOMAS, the official Congressional website for pending legislation, or in Govtrack.us, but it is posted on the Senate HELP Committee’s website in its submitted form, the committee mark-up (Ref. 5), and the Chairman’s mark-up form (Ref. 6).

Once the Senate HELP reported its bill out to the Senate, the basic bill (now identified as H.R. 3200) was introduced by Rep. John Dingell on July14 and ultimately referred to four other House Committees. It was reviewed and reported out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to the full House on July 17. The vote was 26-22 along mostly party lines. (The full committee has 37 Democrat and 22 Republican members).

In short, both the House and the Senate have similar bills before each chamber, ready for debate and voting. Let’s look at the contents of H.R. 3200 to see the operational details of the Democrats’ healthcare plan.

H.R. 3200 is a svelte 1017 pages. The basic strategy is to leave the current multiple-provider / multiple-payor, employer-driven, insurance-based system intact but improve the system “by building on what works in today’s health care system, while repairing the aspects that are broken.” In fact, the bill, if passed in its current form, will, in a few short years, irretrievably destroy the current private healthcare system by removing the competitiveness of the private payer system and by creating a new generation of healthcare workers trained to believe that a government-run, government-financed system is the only choice.

The bill is organized as follows:

Division A (“Affordable Healthcare Choices”) establishes standards for health benefit plans (Title 1), defining the services that must be offered and ensuring access. Title 2 creates the Health Insurance Exchanges (also called gateways), defines the public health insurance option, and establishes subsidies for lower-income households. Title 3 requires employers to provide and individuals to obtain health insurance. Title 4 modifies the IRS code to establish penalties for companies and individuals who fail to comply. This Division essentially redefines the American healthcare system from both the individual and employer perspectives.

The Congressional Budget Office, in its formal review of the introduced version of this bill, indicated that (Refs. 1, 2):

Collectively, those provisions [of the bill] would yield a significant increase in the number of Americans with health insurance. By 2019, CBO and the staff of JCT estimate, the number of nonelderly people without health insurance would be reduced by about 37 million, leaving about 17 million nonelderly residents uninsured (nearly half of whom would be unauthorized immigrants). In total, CBO estimates that enacting those provisions would raise deficits by $1,042 billion over the 2010-2019 period.

Because of certain projected “revenue provisions” (like $583 bn in increased taxes on individuals and employers) and other “savings”, the net budget deficit in the CBO projections is smaller, on the order of $239 bn. This plan certainly does not meet the President’s goal of being revenue neutral.

The public health insurance “option” in Title 2 is perhaps the most worrisome aspect of the first division of this bill. In a New York Times editorial, Mankiw (Reference 4) examines how such an option would quickly drive pricing to the point where only the public option would remain. Many articles have mistakenly referred to this option as creating a government monopoly, but in fact, it would create a monopsony. A monopoly is a market situation where one seller has multiple buyers and can drive prices up; a monopsony is a market situation where one buyer has multiple sellers and can drive prices down.

Imagine a taxpayer-subsidized public option, which starts with the single largest patient pool (all Medicare, Medicaid, S-Chip, Defense Department and Department of Veterans’ Affairs beneficiaries and dependents; approaching 50% of the U.S. population). How hard would it be for such a behemoth to “negotiate” major discounts from all stakeholders in healthcare and then price undercut all private payors and other suppliers? Employers would clearly turn to such an option to reduce their (now government-mandated) healthcare expenses, and in a short period of time there would be only one plan: the public option. Government should not be in the business of competing with the private marketplace under any circumstances, but certainly not while subsidized with taxpayer funds.

Division B modifies Medicare, Medicaid and S-CHIP to align and operate more smoothly in the new healthcare landscape. It provides consistency of services in rural areas, establishes quality standards, and impacts the education of medical trainees within Medicare, although, as we’ll see in a moment, the entire medical educational system will be revamped eventually, under the direction of the Federal government.


Division C continues the Public Health aspects started in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“The Stimulus Bill”). Here, a complete revamping of the Primary Care, Nursing and Public Health workforces is implemented. As in the UK and other countries with a government-run healthcare system the government will take over the training of most healthcare workers in the US through a series of scholarship, loan or other support programs which will require either a period of National Service (Public Health Workforce Corps, section 3401) or some method for loan repayment (section 340N). These programs will include training for diversity (section 2241) as well as “cultural and linguistic competency training for health care professionals (section 2251). Section 2301 expands the prevention and wellness research initially authorized in (you guessed it!) the Stimulus Bill. Section 2002 creates a protected “slush fund”, under the title Public Health Investment Fund, starting with $5 bn in annual funding in fiscal 2010 and growing to $12.7 bn annually in fiscal 2017. This fund is to be used to carry out “activities under designated public health provisions”. These funds “shall not be taken into account for purposes of any budget enforcement procedures… of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act and budget resolutions for fiscal years during which appropriations are made from the Fund”, meaning they are “off the books” for deficit reporting and reduction.

Here again, the Federal Government is stepping well beyond any passive role as a provider of financial support for medical education to provide staffing for the nation’s need. Instead, during a long period of public service to repay loans, the nation’s healthcare workers are being given non-medical, political indoctrination on what the proper social and societal views should be towards the provision of healthcare in a free-market based constitutional republic. If this bill is left in its current form, within one generation, there will be no way to modify any aspect of this approach to healthcare; both the private payer infrastructure and the required workforce will be utterly destroyed.

Perhaps most insidious is the last provision of Division C of this bill. I’ll simply quote it in full:

Subtitle E—States Failing To Adhere to Certain Employment Obligations
SEC. 2541. LIMITATION ON FEDERAL FUNDS.
A State is eligible for Federal funds under the provisions of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) only if the State—
(1) agrees to be subject in its capacity as an employer to each obligation under division A of this Act and the amendments made by such division applicable to persons in their capacity as an employer;
and
(2) assures that all political subdivisions in the State will do the same.

In short, the Federal government here demands that in order to have medical staff and receive funding for health care facilities and other resources each state must impose on itself and on its local governments all the obligations the Federal government is placing on employers. Any semblance of the original relationship intended by the Founding Fathers between the powers of the Federal government and the states is utterly lacking. This is the clear imposition of the will of the Federal government on the states.

Every American is impacted by healthcare reform. Not sometime in the future but immediately. This bill will change your care, your taxes and the nature of your relationship to your doctor (or your next doctor, if many physicians elect to retire early once they sense the direction of this change). More importantly, it will be an irreversible step in the relationship of the Federal government, the states, and the people. Read the parts of this bill that worry you … and contact your Congressional representatives. Senator Enzi has certainly provided his thoughts (Ref. 3) and polls are beginning to show the American people are not as dazzled by President Obama’s rhetoric as they were in January. Let your Congressmen (and women) know how you feel. Politically there is nothing more important than this bill right now. Let’s not let the “dog days of summer” allow something this critical to just sneak by. Nothing less than the future of America is at stake.


REFERENCES
1. CBO to Rep. J Dingell, letter dated July 17. Preliminary analysis of HR 3200.
2. CBO, Director’s Blog: Preliminary Analysis of the House Democrats’ Health Reform Proposal.
3. Enzi: HELP Democrats’ Bill a Prescription for Failure. Press Release; July 15, 2009 (pdf)
4. Mankiw, N. Gregory: The Pitfalls of the Public Option. NY Times; June 28, 2009
5. Senate HELP Committee: Markup of H.R. 3200 (“America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009’’).
6. Senate HELP Committee: Chairman’s Markup of H.R. 3200 (“America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009’)’. (pdf)
7. Singer, Peter: Why We Must Ration Health Care. NY Times Magazine, July 19, 2009

---------------
William Harvey is a physician with extensive experience in drug research and development. He began as an academic researcher but has been a pharmaceutical executive in the global development arena for almost two decades. His current position involves the strategic use of comparative effectiveness research to speed drug development and to educate healthcare stakeholders: government, payors, prescribers, and patients. He lives in the greater Philadelphia area.
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Things Hippies want to blame on global warming

[I found this list on "America's Right" blog. I was both stunned and bemused that there was actually an article associated to each item. To read the articles, go to www.americasright.com]

Things Hippies want to blame on global warming


ACNE
AGRICULTURAL LAND INCREASE
AFGHAN POPPIES DESTROYED
AFRICA DEVASTATED
AFRICAN AID THREATENED
AFRICA, CONTINENT OF CONFLICT
AGGRESSIVE WEEDS
AIR PRESSURE CHANGES
ALASKA RESHAPED
ALLERGIES INCREASE
ALPS ARE MELTING
AMAZON WILL TURN TO DESERT
AMERICAN DREAM AT END
AMPHIBIAN BREEDING PATTERNS
ANAPHYLACTIC REACTIONS (BEES)
ANCIENT FORESTS CHANGED
ANIMALS HEAD FOR HILLS
ANTARCTIC GRASS FLOURISHING
ANTARCTIC ICE GROWTH
ANTARCTIC ICE SHRINKS
ANTARCTIC SEA LIFE AT RISK
ANXIETY TREATMENT
ALGAE BLOOM FORMATIONS
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AT RISK
ARCTIC BOGS ARE MELTING
ARCTIC IN BLOOM
ARCTIC ICE FREE
ARCTIC LAKES ARE DISAPPEARING
ARCTIC TUNDRA WILL BURN
ATLANTIC OCEAN LESS SALTY
ATLANTIC OCEAN MORE SALTY
ATMOSPHERIC CHANGES
ATTACK OF THE KILLER JELLYFISH
AVALANCHES NOT AS COMMON
AVALANCHES MORE COMMON
BAGHDAD SNOW
BAHRAIN UNDER WATER
BANANAS GROW WILD
BEER SHORTAGE (yikes!)
BEETLE INFESTATION
BET FOR $10,000
BETTER BEER (yay!)
BIG MELT COMING FASTER
BILLION-DOLLAR RESEARCH PROJECTS
BILLIONS FACE RISK
BILLIONS OF DEATHS
BIRD DISTRIBUTION CHANGES
BIRD VISITORS DECREASED
BIRDS ARE CONFUSED
BIRDS RETURN EARLY
BIRDS DRIVEN NORTH
BITTERN BOOM ENDS
BLACKBIRDS STOP SINGING
BLIZZARDS
BLUE MUSSELS RETURN
BLUE TONGUE
BRAINS SHRINK
BRIDGE COLLAPSE (MINN.)
BRITAIN SIBERIAN
BRITISH GARDENS ARE CHANGING
BROTHELS STRUGGLE
BROWN IRELAND
BUBONIC PLAGUE
BUDGET INCREASES
BUDDHIST TEMPLE THREATENED
BUILDING COLLAPSE
BUILDING SEASON EXTENSION
BRUSH FIRES
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
BUSINESS RISKS
BUTTERFLIES MOVE NORTH
CAMELS ARE DYING
CANCER DEATHS IN ENGLAND
CANNIBALISM IN THIRTY YEARS
CATARACTS
CATERPILLAR BIOMASS SHIFT
CAVE PAINTINGS THREATENED
CHILDHOOD INSOMNIA
CHOLERA
CIRCUMCISION IN DECLINE
CIRRUS DISAPPEARANCE
CIVIL UNREST
CLOUD INCREASE
CLOUD STRIPPING
COCKROACH MIGRATION
COFFEE CROP THREATENED
COLD CLIMATE CREATURES SURVIVE
COLD SPELLS IN AUSTRALIA
COLD WEATHER TREND IN INDIA
COMPUTER MODELS
CONFERENCES INCREASE
CONFLICT
CONFLICT WITH RUSSIA
CONSUMERS FOOT THE BILL
CORAL BLEACHING
CORAL REEFS ARE DYING
CORAL REEFS ARE GROWING
CORAL REEFS SHRINK
COST OF TRILLIONS
COUGAR ATTACKS ON THE RISE
CRADLE OF CIVILZATION THREATENED
CRIME ON THE RISE
CROCODILE GENDER SHIFTS
CROPS DEVASTATED
CRUMBING ROADS & SEWER SYSTEMS
CURRICULUM CHANGES
CYCLONES IN AUSTRALIA
DANGER TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH
DARFUR
DARTFORD WARBLER PLAGUE
DEATH RATE INCREASE IN U.S.
DENGUE HEMORRHAGIC FEVER
DEPRESSION
DESERT ADVANCES
DESERT RETREATS
DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH
DISAPPEARANCE OF COASTAL CITIES
DISEASES MOVE NORTH
DOLOMITES COLLAPSE
DROUGHT
DUCKS AND GEESE DECLINE
DUST BOWL IN THE CORN BELT
EARLY MARRIAGES
EARLY SPRING
EARLIER POLLEN SEASON
EARTH BIODIVERSITY CRISIS
EARTH DYING
EARTH EVEN HOTTER
EARTH LIGHT DIMMING
EARTH LOPSIDED
EARTH MELTING
EARTH'S MORBID FEVER
EARTH ON FAST TRACK
EARTH PAST POINT OF NO RETURN
EARTH SLOWING DOWN
EARTH SPINNING FASTER
EARTH TO EXPLODE
EARTH UPSIDE DOWN
EARTH IS WOBBLING
EARTHQUAKES
EL NINO INTENSIFICATION
END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT
EROSION
EMERGING INFECTIONS
ENCEPHALITIS
ENGLISH VILLAGES LOST
EQUALITY THREATENED
EUROPE BOTH BAKING AND FREEZING
EUTROPHICATION
EVOLUTION IS ACCELERATING
EXPANDING UNIV. CLIMATE GROUPS
EXTINCTION -- THE HUMAN RACE
EXTINCTION -- CIVILIZATIONS
EXTINCTION -- LOGIC
EXTINCTION -- INUIT AFFECTED
EXTINCTION -- SMALLEST BUTTERFLY
EXTINCTION -- COD
EXTINCTION -- LADYBIRDS
EXTINCTION -- PIKAS
EXTINCTION -- POLAR BEARS
EXTINCTION -- GORILLAS
EXTINCTION -- WALRUS
EXTINCTION -- WHALES
EXTINCTION -- FROGS
EXTINCTION -- TOADS
EXTINCTION -- PLANTS
EXTINCTION -- SALMON
EXTINCTION -- TROUT
EXTINCTION -- WILDFLOWERS
EXTINCTION -- WOODLICE
EXTINCTION -- PENGUINS
EXTINCTION -- A MILLION SPECIES
EXTINCTION -- 1/2 ANIMALS, PLANTS
EXTINCTION -- MOUNTAIN SPECIES
EXTINCTION -- NOT POLAR BEARS
EXTINCTION -- BARRIER REEF
EXTINCTION -- LEECHES
EXPERTS MUZZLED
EXTREME CHANGES TO CALIFORNIA
FADING FALL FOLIAGE
FAINTING
FAMINE
FARMERS GO BANKRUPT
FASHION DISASTERS
FEVER
FIGUREHEAD SACKED
FIR CONE BONANZA
FISH CATCHES DECLINE
FISH DOWNSIZE
FISH CATCHES INCREASE
FISH DEAFNESS
FISH GET LOST
FISH STOCKS AT RISK
FISH STOCKS DECLINE
FIVE MILLION ILLNESSES
FLESH-EATING DISEASE
FLOOD PATTERNS CHANGE
FLOODS
FLOODS OF BEACHES AND CITIES
FLOOD OF MIGRANTS
FLOOD PREPARATION FOR CRISIS
FLORIDA ECONOMIC DECLINE
FLOWERS IN PERIL
FOOD POISONING
FOOD PRICES RISE
FOOD PRICES SOAR
FOOD SECURITY THREAT
FOOTPATH EROSION
FORESTS IN DECLINE
FORESTS ARE EXPANDING
FROG WITH MULTIPLE HEADS
FROSTBITE
FROST DAMAGE INCREASED
FROSTS
FUNGI FRUITFUL
FUNGI INVASION
GAMES CHANGE
GARDEN OF EDEN WILTS
GENETIC DIVERSITY DECLINE
GENE POOLS SLASHED
GIANT OYSTERS INVADE
GIANT PYTHONS INVADE
GIANT SQUID MIGRATE
GINGERBREAD HOUSES COLLAPSE
GLACIAL EARTHQUAKES
GLACIAL RETREAT
GLACIAL GROWTH
GLACIER WRAPPED
GLOBAL COOLING
GLOBAL DIMMING
GLOWING CLOUDS
GOD MELTS
GOLF -- MASTERS WRECKED
GORE OMNIPRESENCE
GRANDSTANDING
GRASSLANDS WETTER
GREAT BARRIER REEF 95% DEAD
GREAT LAKES DROP
GREENING OF THE NORTH
GREY WHALES LOSE WEIGHT
GULF STREAM FAILURE
HABITAT LOSS
HANTAVIRUS PULMONARY SYNDROME
HARMFUL ALGAE
HARVEST INCREASE
HARVEST DECREASE
HAY FEVER EPIDEMIC
HEALTH AFFECTED
HEALTH OF CHILDREN HARMED
HEART DISEASE
HEART ATTACKS AND STROKES
HEAT WAVES
HIBERNATION PATTERNS AFFECTED
HIBERNATION ENDS TOO SOON
HIBERNATION ENDS TOO LATE
HOMELESS BOOM TO FIFTY MILLION
HORNETS
HIGH COURT DEBATES
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REVERSAL
HUMAN FERTILITY REDUCED
HUMAN HEALTH IMPROVEMENT
HUMAN HEALTH RISK
HUMAN RACE OBLIVION
HURRICANES IN GENERAL
HURRICANE REDUCTION
HYDROPOWER PROBLEMS
HYPERTHERMIA DEATHS
ICE SHEET GROWTH
ICE SHEET SHRINKAGE
ICE SHELF COLLAPSE
ILLNESS AND DEATH
INCLEMENT WEATHER
INDIA DROWNING
INFRASTRUCTURE FAILURE (CANADA)
INDUSTRY THREATENED
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
INFLATION IN CHINA
INSECT EXPLOSION
INSURANCE PREMIUMS ON THE RISE
INUIT DISPLACEMENT
INUIT POISONED
INUIT TAKE LEGAL ACTION
INVASION OF CATS
INVASION OF HERONS
INVASION OF JELLYFISH
INVASION OF MIDGES
ISLAND DISAPPEARS
ISLANDS SINKING
ITCHIER POISON IVY
JELLYFISH EXPLOSION
JETS FALL FROM SKY
KEW GARDENS TAXED
KIDNEY STONES
KILLING US
KITTEN BOOM
KRILL DECLINE
LAKE, STREAM PRODUCTIVITY DOWN
LAKE EMPTIES
LAKE SHRINKING AND GROWING
LANDSLIDES
LANDSLIDES OF ICE AT 140 MPH
LAWSUITS ON THE RISE
LAWSUITS SUCCESSFUL
LAWYERS' INCOME INCREASED
LIVES SAVED
LOCH NESS MONSTER DEAD
LUSH GROWTH IN RAIN FORESTS
MALARIA
MAMMOTH DUNG MELT
MAPLE PRODUCTION UP
MAPLE SYRUP SHORTAGE
MARINE DISEASES
MARINE FOOD CHAIN DECIMATED
MEACHING
MEDITERRANEAN RISES
MEGACRYOMETEORS
MELANOMA
METHANE EMISSIONS FROM PLANTS
METHANE BURPS
METHANE RUNAWAY
MELTING PERMAFROST
MIDDLE KINGDOM CONVULSES
MIGRATION
MIGRATION DIFFICULT FOR BIRDS
MIGRATORY BIRDS HUGE LOSSES
MICROBES DECOMPOSE SOIL QUICKER
MINORITIES HIT
MONKEYS ON THE MOVE
MONT BLANC GROWS
MONUMENTS IN PERIL
MOOSE ARE DYING
MORE BAD AIR DAYS
MORE RESEARCH NEEDED
MORTALITY INCREASED
MOUNT EVEREST SHRINKING
MOUNTAINS BREAK UP
MOUNTAINS MELTING
MOUNTAINS TALLER
MORTALITY DECREASED
NATIONAL SECURITY IMPLICATIONS
NATURAL DISASTERS QUADRUPLE
NEW ISLANDS
NEXT ICE AGE
NFL THREATENED
NILE DELTA DAMAGED
NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS
NO EFFECT IN INDIA
NORTHWEST PASSAGE OPENED
NUCLEAR PLANTS BLOOM
OAKS DYING
OAKS MOVE NORTH
OCEAN ACIDIFICATION
OCEAN DESERTS EXPAND
OCEAN WAVES SPEED UP
OPERA HOUSE TO BE DESTROYED
OUTDOOR HOCKEY THREATENED
OZONE REPAIR SLOWED
OZONE ON THE RISE
PACIFIC DEAD ZONE
PERSONAL CARBON RATIONING
PEST OUTBREAKS
PESTS INCREASE
PHENOLOGY SHIFTS
PLANKTON BLOOMS
PLANKTON DESTABILIZED
PLANKTON LOSS
PLANT VIRUSES
PLANTS MARCH NORTH
POLAR BEARS AGGRESSIVE
POLAR BEARS CANNIBALISTIC
POLAR BEARS DROWNING
POLAR BEAR STARVATION
POLAR TOURS SCRAPPED
POPCORN RISE
PORPOISE ASTRAY
PROFITS COLLAPSE
PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS
PUFFIN NUMBERS DECLINE
RAILROAD TRACKS DEFORMED
RAINFALL INCREASE
RAPE WAVE
REFUGEES
RELEASE OF ANCIENT FROZEN VIRUSES
RESORTS DISAPPEAR
RICE THREATENED
RICE YIELDS CRASH
RIFT ON CAPITOL HILL
RIOTING AND NUCLEAR WAR
RIVER FLOW IMPACTED
RIVERS RAISED
ROADS WEAR OUT
ROBINS RAMPANT
ROCKY PEAKS CRACK APART
ROOF OF THE WORLD A DESERT
ROOFTOP BARS
ROSS RIVER DISEASE
RUINS RUINED
SALINITY REDUCTION,
SALINITY INCREASE
SALMONELLA
SATELLITES ACCELERATE
SCHOOL CLOSURES
SEA LEVELS RISE
SEA LEVEL RISE FASTER
SEALS MATING MORE
SEWER BILLS RISE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
SEX CHANGE
SHARKS BOOMING
SHARKS MOVING NORTH
SHEEP SHRINK
SHOP CLOSURES
SHORT-NOSED DOGS ENDANGERED
SHRINKING PONDS
SHRINKING SHRINE
SKI RESORTS THREATENED
SKIN CANCER
SLOW DEATH
SMALLER BRAINS
SMOG
SNOWFALL INCREASE
SNOWFALL HEAVY
SNOWFALL REDUCTION
SOARING FOOD PRICES
SOCIETAL COLLAPSE
SONGBIRDS CHANGE EATING HABITS
SOUR GRAPES
SPACE PROBLEM
SPECTACULAR ORCHIDS
SPIDERS INVADE SCOTLAND
SQUID POPULATION EXPLOSION
SQUIRRELS REPRODUCE EARLIER
STORMS ARE WETTER
STORMWATER DRAINS STRESSED
STREET CRIME TO INCREASE
SUBSIDENCE
SUICIDE
SWORDFISH IN THE BALTIC
TABASCO TRAGEDY
TAXES
TECTONIC PLATE MOVEMENT
TEENAGE DRINKING
TERRORISM
THREAT TO PEACE
TICKS MOVE NORTH TO SWEDEN
TIDES RISE
TORNADO OUTBREAK
TOURISM INCREASE
TRADE BARRIERS
TRADE WINDS WEAKENED
TRANSPORTATION THREATENED
TREE FOLIAGE INCREASE
TREE GROWTH SLOWED
TREES COULD RETURN TO ANTARCTIC
TREES IN TROUBLE
TREES LESS COLORFUL
TREES MORE COLORFUL
TREES LUSH,
TROPICS EXPANSION
TROPOPAUSE RAISED
TRUFFLE SHORTAGE
TURTLES CRASH
TURTLES LAY EGGS EARLIER
U.K. COASTAL IMPACT
U.K. KATRINA
VAMPIRE MOTHS
VENICE FLOODED
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
WALRUS PUPS ORPHANED
WAR
WARS OVER WATER
WARS SPARKED
WARS THREATEN BILLIONS
WATER BILLS DOUBLE
WATER SUPPLY UNRELIABILITY
WATER SCARCITY
WATER STRESS
WEATHER GONE WILD
WEATHER PATTERNS INCONSISTENT
WEEDS
WESTERN AID CANCELED OUT
WEST NILE FEVER
WHALES MOVE NORTH
WHEAT YIELDS CRUSHED IN AUSTRALIA
WILDFIRES
WIND SHIFT
WIND REDUCED
WINE -- AUSTRALIAN PROBLEMS
WINE -- CALIF. INDUSTRY DAMAGE
WINE -- U.S. INDUSTRY DISASTER
WINE -- MORE ENGLISH
WINE -- GERMAN BUSINESS BOOMING
WINE -- NO MORE FROM FRANCE
WINE -- NAPA PASSE
WINTERS COLDER IN U.K.
WINTER DEAD IN U.K.
WITCHCRAFT EXECUTIONS
WOLVES ARE EATING MORE MOOSE
WOLVES ARE EATING LESS
WORKERS LAID OFF
WORLD AT WAR
WORLD BANKRUPTCY
WORLD IN CRISIS
WORLD IN FLAMES
YELLOW FEVER