Obamagate part IV -The '3 Congressional stooges' of Healthymagination - Daschle, Gingrich and Frist

This is a final of my Obamagate series in trying to untangle the web regarding Obama, GE Healthcare, Immelt and Daschle.  Part III became so long that I thought I would continue with a new article.  I also discovered a new twist in this web – Newt Gingrich(former Republican Speaker of the House)  and Bill Frist (former Republican Senator) are also on the board of Healthymagination alongside (former Democratic Senator)Tom Daschle.

I’m sure you all remember Tom Daschle.  He was Obama’s original nomination for Health and Human Services Secretary.  In the vetting process it was discovered that he fraudulently reported income on his tax returns.  Since he was several nominations in a slew of tax fraud selected by Obama, he opted to step down.  It is Interesting that he stepped down from the HHS nomination and was able to get a position as an advisor on GE’s Healthymagination board.  I wonder if this was discussed with Immelt and Obama before he even announced he was opting out of the HHS vetting process.  It just seems a little odd that the man took himself out of the process only to wind up on the new healthcare advisory board for Immelt who as we know is on Obama’s Economic Advisory Board.  One degree of separation?

Tom Daschle’s healthcare experience comes from being a lobbyist for Alston & Bird, a well known K Street lobbying firm with 60% of their revenues coming from the healthcare industry to lobby Congress and the White House.  Apparently Daschle believes he is also an expert in healthcare as he wrote a book called Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.  From Daschle’s book:  “…there are about 47 million Americans without health insurance…”  that is an inaccurate statistic.  According to the National Coalition on Healthcare there are 46 million people in this country without health insurance, 20% of this number is illegal aliens.  How can anyone consider Daschle credible when in the first paragraph of his book he falsely reports a statistic?  He and Obama propagandize this number constantly, leading the American people to believe that there really are 47 million uninsured Americans that we, the taxpayers have to pay for.  Since illegal aliens are illegally in this country, I’m not sure how they can legally obtain government provided healthcare but then again, they seem to be able to obtain public housing (Obama’s Auntie Zetunie) and other things so it wouldn’t come as a surprise.

Another issue in Daschle’s book is when he talks about healthcare rationing   "…could help define evidence-based health benefits and lower overall spending by determining which medicines, treatments, and procedures are most effective—and identifying those that do not justify their high price tags." Daschle also adds, "We won't be able to make a significant dent in health-care spending without getting into the nitty-gritty of which treatments are the most clinically valuable and cost effective. That means taking a harder look at the real costs and benefits of new drugs and procedures."   Ronald Bailey, an award winning science correspondent with Reason Magazine has written an excellent article on Daschle’s ‘reasoning’.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is also on Healthymagination’s advisory board.  Gingrich is a new addition.  A couple of months ago when I started researching this topic he was not listed.  In 2003 Gingrich founded the Center for Health Transformation, a private consulting firm that is a “high-impact collaboration of private and public sector leaders committed to creating a 21st Century Intelligent Health System that saves lives and saves money for all Americans.”  Sounds like more of a lobbying firm to me.  In a recently published white paper on telephonic medicine, Gingrich stated the following:

“Americans expect and deserve high quality, accessible health care services. “Telemedicine will play an increasingly central role in getting the right care at the right time to individuals and families. Federal, state, and local governments must facilitate the spread of this important option by tearing down barriers to its use.”

I agree that this type of ‘drive-by-night’ medicine can work for those with chronic or episodic illnesses but it seems that they would like to go a step further and diagnose over the phone for even minor illnesses.   I’m not quite sure how this will work since most people are not in the medical profession and may not even be able to describe their symptoms properly.  This seems to be a shortcut to proper healthcare.  Yes it will be less costly to doctors and their patients but what will be the real cost of this idea?  It is apparent that Gingrich’s firm would also stand to make a lot of money if Obama’s Healthcare is made law.

Former Republican Senator Bill Frist is also on Healthymaginations advisory board.  Frist is actually an M.D. who is one of the owners of the Hospital Corporation of America. He has made millions on this endeavor.  In the late 90s, the Hospital Corporation of America had to pay a $1.7 billion settlement for Medicaid and Medicare fraud – the largest settlement in history at the time.  Frist also was found to be guilty of violating the law by the Federal Election Committee by using improper disclosure of a loan he had his committee take out because his stock market investments didn’t quite work out

Frist and Daschle co-chaired the ONE campaign during the 2008 election.  ONE is a lobbying “…organization which attempts to mobilize supporters around its issues and organize them into a lobbying force, with the goal of encouraging America's elected national leaders to fund more U.S. international development and relief programs.”  Basically taking more of our taxpayer dollars and spreading the wealth around the world.

We have 3 former United States Congressmen on GE’s Healthmagination board who obviously stand to gain much remuneration if Obama’s Healthcare program is passed.  Two of them, Frist and Daschle, have been fraudulent in their careers – taxes, Medicare/Medicaid claims and FEC violations.  Back in the 90s Gingrich was accused of misusing tax exempt status for “…a college course run for political purposes.  …Gingrich denied the charges over misuse of tax-exempt funds; however, he admitted to providing inaccurate statements during the probe over the college course and agreed to pay US$300,000 for the cost of the investigation.”  The IRS later cleared the organization of any violations.

Basically we have typical former politicians out to make a buck on the back of the American taxpayers, only one of them actually a medical expert.  We have Congressmen suggesting medical reforms who have never worked in the industry.  By lobbying Congress alongside GE,  the only people who lose in this game are US.  Obama gets to instill more of his outrageously expensive spending programs (that don't make sense) and GE makes billions through Cap & Trade and Obama’s Healthcare.  Immelt being on Obama’s Economic Advisory Board is truly a coup for him and GE.  They can advise Obama on economics that make sense for GE and in turn their own benefit.  Daschle is right on board with Obama’s healthcare ideology and will make money off of being on the Healthymagination board.  Frist and Gingrich both have companies that could make millions off of Obama’s healthcare program.  The only ones who will pay the price of this tangled and unethical web are the American people.  

If you haven't read the previous articles in the series, you can find them here:  Part I, Part II, Part III