Dependency on doctors

 Laura Kattilakoski Staff Writer We live in a world where people go to the doctor for every sneeze and seek treatments for every scrape or bruise. In most cases, the doctor is not gonna tell you anything you don’t already know. “Yup. You have a fever. Stay home from school and get plenty of rest!” And we wonder why Americas health care is falling apart. So much time and money is going into people who don’t really have anything wrong with them. The same goes for things such as the Teen Screen. If those students don’t struggle in class and are perfectly fine, there is no reason to tell them about some imperceivable mental issues…

Health Care for Dummies

By Angela Almeida Opinions Editor Health care. Insurance. Medicare. Medicaid. These foreign concepts to most Americans are perhaps the most controversial and relevant aspects in today’s current events. The newly passed 2,300 page health care bill is far too convoluted for the average person to fully comprehend; however, it is imperative to know at least the skeletal essence of the bill. Whether conservative or liberal, there are facets of the bill that remain concrete without the influence of values.  The following is a “Health Care for Dummies”-esque outline that should help clear the air on the confusion surrounding what exactly is the newly-reformed health care plan. Enforced medical coverage, provided through government – Approximately 32…

Dems, GOP take sides after health care pass

The Democrat’s pride and joy, an overarching reform of the health care system, passed the Senate yesterday on a 56 to 43 vote. The bill had passed the House earlier in the week, 220 to 207. Three Democrats–Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska), Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas)–opposed passage in the Senate, all three from the South or Midwest, traditional bastions of conservatism. The Democratic side has used the last few days to uncork the champagne and pat each other on the back, but their celebrating has been tempered by the unsettling threats of physical violence aimed at some of its members. These threats have been denounced by both major parties, as well as by top Tea Party administrators. Democrats allege that the threats…

GlobalPulse: Top 3 News Items of the Week

By Angela Almeida Opinions Editor Asia: Basically, as of now a China vs. Google face-off is amiss. Essentially, Google is peeved with China for censorship in the mainland. Searches were forbidden such as “prodemocracy government”. It’s brutal. Google is threatning removing itself from the mainland entirely. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100323/ap_on_hi_te/as_china_google United States: Health care, health care, health care. In all actuality, everything has been said in connection to this landmark bill. Are most confused? Most likely. After all, a 2,000 page document is certainly not going to be released to the public, let alone taken upon most of us to read. Therefore, we are given two sides to the story. For conservatives, it will cause us a substantial more…

Health care odds pegged at 51%

The Obama White House calculated that the chances of health care passing in Congress lies at 51%, the narrowest of margins. Speculation has been wild concerning various Congressmen and where their allegiences will lie when it comes to a vote, and both sides, Democrat and Republican, have come forward with evidence that their position is the strongest. Despite the numbers released above, momentum is still with the GOP following the surprise election of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Conservative pundits have seen Brown’s election–his campaign revolved around the health care issue–as a popular rejection of Obama’s liberal health plans.  Democrats, meanwhile, have seen glimmers of hope in recent studies by liberal focus groups, which show voters consider change (forward motion) more…

Health summit a war of attrition

There was no progress at the bipartisan health care summit today, although no one was really expecting any. I predicted a political slug-fest in this post two weeks ago, and it would seem I was correct. Both Republicans and Democrats have used the televised summit to beat each other over the heads with their own talking points. Democrats have attempted to label the GOP as obstructionist, and Republicans have accused Democrats of acting against the will of the nation. Some speculate that, because of the lack of cooperation, Democrats will attempt to push the bill through the Senate by a process known as reconciliation, which only requires bills have 51 votes to pass. Commentators, who…

Health care summit a battle of wills

President Obama announced days ago he was planning a televised summit on health care. The summit would seek bipartisan solutions to the health care problem, but its creation seems a strictly partisan move in and of itself. Obama has publicized the move intensely in the past few days, going so far as to appear in an interview before the Super Bowl concerning the summit. This is a carefully crafted move against the Republicans–Obama wants the American public to see the GOP as obstructionist. He will succeed if the Republicans refuse his invitation, because the public (106 million watched the Super Bowl and, by extension, Obama’s promotion of the summit) would know about it. Republicans have held out on the summit thus far, calling…