To Save America, by Newt Gingrich: on Health Care

Barack Obama: Promised time for Congress to read ObamaCare bill

As the debate over health reform heated up that summer, the president made another pledge: "I just want everybody to know, Congress will have time to read the bill. They will have time to debate the bill. They will have all of August to review the various legislative proposals. When we come back in September, I will be available to answer any question that members of Congress have. If they want to come over to the White House and go over line by line what's going on, I will be happy to do that."

Did the health reform debate live up to the president's standard? Hardly. The American people were promised a fair, bipartisan, transparent process. But instead the Democrats wrote trillion-dollar, 2,000-plus page bills in secret with no republican input and no public oversight.

Ben Nelson: "Cornhusker Kickback": $100M Medicare funding in ObamaCare

• The Louisiana Purchase: Sen. Landrieu was promised an additional $300 million in Medicaid funding for Louisiana.
• The Cornhusker Kickback: Perhaps inspired by his Louisiana colleague, Sen. Ben Nelson secured exemptions for Nebraska's Medicaid payments worth around $100 million. Along with MI Sen. Carl Levin, he also got a carve-out from the insurance fees for his state's Blue Cross/Blue Shield programs. Moreover, insurance fees for Medigap policies sold by Mutual of Omaha and other Nebraska companies were reduced.

Bill Nelson: "Gator Aid": $2.5B Medicare funding in ObamaCare

• The Louisiana Purchase: Sen. Landrieu was promised an additional $300 million in Medicaid funding for Louisiana.
• The Cornhusker Kickback: Sen. Ben Nelson secured exemptions for Nebraska's Medicaid payments worth around $100 million.
• The U-Con: Sen. Dodd was promised $100 million for a medical center in CT.
• Gator Aid: Sen. Bill Nelson inserted a grandfather clause that would protect Florida's Medicare Advantage program, a $2.5-$3 billion buyoff.

Howard Dean: 2009: Trial lawyers kept tort reform out of ObamaCare

He's right. Why would the Left take on trial lawyers, a key part of the secular-socialist machine? According to Federal Election Commission data, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now deceptively called the "American Association for Justice") has contributed more than $28 million to Democratic candidates since 1990- and less than $3 million to Republicans.

Jim Bunning: Amend ObamaCare to require 72-hour public review

Did the health reform debate live up to the president's standard? Hardly. The American people were promised a fair, bipartisan, transparent process. But instead the Democrats wrote trillion-dollar, 2,000-plus page bills in secret with no republican input and no public oversight.

The Senate Finance Committee rejected an amendment by Republican senator Jim Bunning that would have required a 72-hour period for public review. All but one of the committee's Democrats voted to keep the process at warp speed--and the public in the dark.

The secrecy continued after one committee passed its bill. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted for its health reform bill on a party-line vote over the summer, but it took two months for the final text to be made public.

John Conyers: Can't read 1,000-page ObamaCare bill without lawyers

Did the health reform debate live up to the president's standard? Hardly. The American people were promised a fair, bipartisan, transparent process. But instead the Democrats wrote trillion-dollar, 2,000-plus page bills in secret with no republican input and no public oversight.

Even if the process had been transparent and had a reasonable timeline, many lawmakers still probably wouldn't have understood the bills' mind-numbing complexity. Rep. John Conyers (D, MI) put it bluntly: "What good is reading the bill if it's thousand pages and you don't have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?"

Lisa Jackson: Greenhouse gases declared dangerous to public health

The announcement deliberately coincided with the climate change conference, which aims to establish an international treaty to reduce greenhouse emissions. Of course, the president cannot implement a treaty by himself; he needs the approval of two-thirds of the U.S. Senate. So the EPA's announcement was actually a threat to circumvent the Senate's constitutional prerogatives. Obama was indicating he would commit the United States to carbon-cutting goals reached at Copenhagen, and if the Senate refused to approve a carbon-cutting treaty or to pass capo and trade, Obama would simply use the EPA to regulate carbon whether the Senate likes it or not.

Mary Landrieu: "Louisiana Purchase": $300M in Medicare funding in ObamaCare

• The Louisiana Purchase: Sen. Landrieu was promised an additional $300 million in Medicaid funding for Louisiana.
• The Cornhusker Kickback: Perhaps inspired by his Louisiana colleague, Sen. Ben Nelson secured exemptions for Nebraska's Medicaid payments worth around $100 million.
• Gator Aid: Sen. Bill Nelson inserted a grandfather clause that would protect Florida's Medicare Advantage program, a $2.5-$3 billion buyoff.

Newt Gingrich: $151B wasted annually to avoid malpractice lawsuits

If we want Americans to emphasize cooperation and problem solving over acrimonious, costly conflicts, we must have litigation reform.

Most Americans agree there are too many lawyers filing too many lawsuits, especially in medicine.

An estimated $151-210 billion is wasted annually in defensive medicine, as doctors follow unnecessary procedures and conduct needless tests and services solely to avoid malpractice lawsuits.

In preparing for health reform in 2009, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that litigation reform in medical malpractice would save the federal government $53 billion over ten years.

For most doctors and businesses, litigation reform is important but it's not dire. But for the trial lawyers--the reactionary defenders of the old order--this is a life-or-death issue.

Newt Gingrich: Focus on Availability, Affordability, and Appropriateness

• Will healthcare be AVAILABLE for me and my family when we need it?
• Will we be able to AFFORD what we need?
• Will what is offered be APPROPRIATE for us?

1. Availability: A 21st century healthcare system must use creative initiatives like medical education debt forgiveness.
2. Affordability: There is a waste and inefficiency across the entire spectrum of discovery, development and delivery of healthcare.
3. Delivery: The system of product delivery today is plagued by fraud and abuse, contributing to a dramatic waste of money, time, talent, and expertise.
4. Appropriateness: Radically transform healthcare so that treatment is no longer based on population medicine, but on personalized medicine. This can begin with modernizing the FDA.

Newt Gingrich: $600B to $850B in healthcare waste every year

• Unnecessary care (40 percent)
• Fraud (19 percent)
• Administrative inefficiency (17 percent)
• Healthcare provider errors (12percent)
• Preventable conditions (6 percent)
• Lack of care coordination (6 percent)

Tom Carper: I don't expect to read confusing ObamaCare bill

Did the health reform debate live up to the president's standard? Hardly. The American people were promised a fair, bipartisan, transparent process. But instead the Democrats wrote trillion-dollar, 2,000-plus page bills in secret with no republican input and no public oversight.

Even if the process had been transparent and had a reasonable timeline, many lawmakers still probably wouldn't have understood the bills' mind-numbing complexity. "I don't expect to actually read the legislative language because reading the legislative language is among the more confusing things I've ever read in my life," said Senator Tom Carper (D, DE).