Obama: Greedy doctors are coming after your tonsils or something
posted at 10:06 pm on July 22, 2009 by Allahpundit
Gee, I’m really sorry I decided to skip this for “Ghost Hunters.” Watching The One explain how the medical industry has designs on your body parts would have been much better in hindsight. To think: The day is coming when instead of forcing you to take unnecessary tests, doctors will force you not to take necessary ones because they no longer have the resources to process them. Take that, profit motive.
This is what happens when you take health advice from a guy with a lifelong smoking habit. Exit question: Any truth to the rumor that Obama’s going to impose a new surtax on fatties? “But let me be clear: The time has come to put away the fudge.”









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Six months into his term and he’s peaked. It’s all downhill from here on in.
southsideironworks on July 22, 2009 at 10:07 PM
If you don’t believe doctors perform some unnecessary tests just to scam the insurance industry to pay more then you are living on a different planet
equality on July 22, 2009 at 10:09 PM
Maybe this is where the phrase “sh*t flows downhill” comes from.
uncivilized on July 22, 2009 at 10:09 PM
What did I miss? Be honest… I didn’t have the stomach to watch tonight… verdict?
BPD on July 22, 2009 at 10:09 PM
He will never get lower than George Bush. You can mark that on the wall.
equality on July 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
As a doc, I find this pretty insulting. I’ve never made a treatment decision on a patient based on what I’d get paid. There is a standard of professionalism, and I have to believe the vast majority of docs adhere to it. I certainly would trust the doctor who has actually seen and spent time with the patient more than I would some remote government decision-maker.
mikeyboss on July 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
i was listening to the TV read some live blogs and when this went down I actually got up and went to the TV to see what was going on….
Most Weird….he lost his train of thought and it went down hill quickly.
made me smile.
poppieseeds on July 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
I don’t know whether to cry or die
RightWinged on July 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
He’s been fudging on his answers and his numbers ever since he got here.
backwoods conservative on July 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
I could only stomach a few dozen minutes, but incoherent rambling, with healthy does of blame Bush and just about everyone and everything, including doctors, was the preferred style.
Without TOTUS, this guy is less than half a man.
Rebar on July 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
This embarrassing imposter cheapens the Presidency day by day.
I can’t wait until America sends this failed community organizer packing in 2012.
He’ll need federal funds to build his presidential library.
David2.0 on July 22, 2009 at 10:11 PM
And if you don’t believe that doctors will fail to perform some necessary tests under universal health care, you’re living on a different planet.
Allahpundit on July 22, 2009 at 10:11 PM
“equality on July 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM”
put yer money where your soros-paid mouth is on that one, douche …
Buckaroo on July 22, 2009 at 10:11 PM
Don’t know, exactly. Because there’s no way of deciphering what the hell he was talking about. He was all over the map. Personally, I don’t think he did himself any favors.
uncivilized on July 22, 2009 at 10:11 PM
I hope the AMA heard what he said. What a jackass.
David in ATL on July 22, 2009 at 10:11 PM
equality on July 22, 2009 at 10:09 PM
Most doctors perform unnecessary tests just to protect themselves from lawsuits from low-life trial lawyers like John Edwards.
Did you know that a doctor’s malpractice insurance goes up every time there is a complaint filed against him in court regardless of whether or not he wins the lawsuit? Didn’t think so.
IrishEi on July 22, 2009 at 10:11 PM
Axis of evil under Bush:
Iraq
Iran
North Korea
-Non Americans
Axis of evil under Obama
Doctors
Insurance Industry
People who don’t agree with him
-Americans
cozmo on July 22, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Bet he never gets anywhere near as high, either.
BadgerHawk on July 22, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Hannity called Obama’s presser ‘incoherent’
LOL… i wonder if that was tongue in cheek based on the press’ response to Sarah’s resignation speech.
BPD on July 22, 2009 at 10:12 PM
I’m watching Chris Mathews criticize this phony. Waterloo 2009!!!!
THE CHOSEN ONE on July 22, 2009 at 10:12 PM
But the MSM really did their job…
d1carter on July 22, 2009 at 10:13 PM
“…this economy we inherited” – Barack Obama, once again
Ghoul aid on July 22, 2009 at 10:13 PM
It’s a fairly common practice for doctors to order CYA tests to protect from frivolous lawsuits and keep physicians insurance rates down. Something tort reform could address, but won’t since trial lawyers have democrats in their hip pocket.
Fletch54 on July 22, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Hey, at least the greedy doctors got off better than the Cambridge police did tonight…
jon1979 on July 22, 2009 at 10:13 PM
and another thing.
that doctor wants your kid to keep coming back and back and back and back. he’s not after a quicky buck and those tonsils aren’t going to fund his new car. i picked my pediatrician on references from friends & i’m sure others do too.
hey y’all – my dr cuts out tonsils for $$$ – go to him.
just plain dumb
poppieseeds on July 22, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Absolutely.
mikeyboss on July 22, 2009 at 10:13 PM
With ObamaCare, greedy doctors won’t steal your tonsils. On the other hand, amoral bureaucrats will let you die so they can harvest your organs. Six of one, half-dozen of another….
Master Shake on July 22, 2009 at 10:13 PM
+ 2012 deficit
sherry on July 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
You mean Tingle Bell is being critical of The Won?!
backwoods conservative on July 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
Got statistics?
The statistics for how many extra tests are performed out of medical self-defense are widely available. If it weren’t for trial lawyers the cost of medicine could be as much as 30% cheaper according to some studies.
He’s lower now than W was at this point in his term.
And the difference in press treatment has a profound effect on voter perception. The MSM were merciless to W and cover O’s arse daily. The difference in how the two are treated couldn’t be more stark.
Now, beat it troll.
DerKrieger on July 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
The Deep Throat Health Plan
faraway on July 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
Put away the fudge? That sounds gay.
SouthernGent on July 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
under the bus with these pesky doctors now..
that profit motive keeps rearing its ugly head in TOTUSland..
how can anyone say he doesnt promote socialistic governance when he keeps bashing the profit motive and talking about fairness and equality and social justice?
ginaswo on July 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
I saw it, but couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. Just random rambling, and dodging questions.
FontanaConservative on July 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
And of course the federal government, king of wasteful spending and frivolous activities, is the best organization to inform us of what’s necessary and what isn’t.
And do you really believe that unnecessary procedures would stop under ObamaCare?
It’s nice to see the pro-Obama hacks out in force tonight.
amerpundit on July 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
Does this guy know he is the President now?
catmman on July 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
Taking the profit out of medical care will improve the system.
Got it.
Just think about how good it will be when all those doctors and nurses are working for free.
Obama and all his buddies are millionaires but doctors and nurses are somehow to donate their time for the public good.
NeoKong on July 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
What unneccesary tests have you had or heard of other people having?
Odie1941 on July 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
Excellent point.
BadgerHawk on July 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
when the fairness and equality is always pitted as the enemy of profit motive and the individual it is a problem for a democratic society …
ginaswo on July 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
I think he’s fudging his budget numbers
faraway on July 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
The man can prattle… lots of words came out of his mouth without him actually saying anything…
elgeneralisimo on July 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
My brother is a doc, amen.
jnelchef on July 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
Obama’s mother was told to stop smoking while she was pregnant and if she did not something bad would happen. She did not stop and sure enough when Obama was born, at the end of his spine was a little butt.
Johan Klaus on July 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
Soylent green is tonsils!!!
Rightwingguy on July 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
There’s also been reports in this economy that Michelle is running around in $600 tennis shoes, $875 purses and the Obama’s feasting in the most expensive restaurants in Russia and Paris. At home, there’s been reports of him serving Waygu beef to Congress and other White House visitors while employing Hollywood talent for his Wed. night fests.
katablog.com on July 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Debatable…but I’d also bet that he gets there much quicker than Bush did…aka, ONE TERMER!
Btw, I detect a bit of panic there in your screech…
Rogue on July 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
“fudge” and “tonsils” in the same post. yuck.
faraway on July 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
He’s a frakin doctor now? Sheesh.
baldilocks on July 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
I’ll be sure to do just that. Someone else was more unpopular than Bush before Bush existed. Bush will have been more unpopular than Obama before Obama plummets, too.
“Carter will never get lower than Nixon. You can mark that on the wall.” — 1977
amerpundit on July 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
So this is the smartest guy in the room? The great communicator? Seriously? He sounds like an 8th grader in speech class that prepared for his presentation in the study hall before class.
watson007 on July 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
GAAAAWWWKKKKK!
Just another Ivy League educated dip$hit who’s never held a real job, who’s never run a business, who’s never met a payroll, and who thinks “wealth” is created from the Government’s printing presses. Too bad this dimwit never studied economics. Hey BHO, Bernard Madoff was a very convincing, smooth-talking hustler too. Thank God Americans aren’t as frickin’ stupid as you Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi think.
StimulateTHIS on July 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
I got lost in this video. They should play this conference over and over again to the terrorists in Guantanamo.
jencab on July 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
i can hardly wait until all the Drs work for the government. No profit motive…and the nurses too. All members of SEIU.
reminds me of a Lennon song…just imagine
r keller on July 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
I’m not worried about how high. Bottom line he will never get lower than Bush. Majority of Americans did not vote for Bush in 2000
equality on July 22, 2009 at 10:17 PM
“If medical companies weren’t making so much money, they would be paying their employees higher wages”
Hahahaha, oh this handout tool is rich in business 101…
You see, lower revenues and profit margins lead to higher wages and job creation…
The dumbest bi-ped breathing right now.
Odie1941 on July 22, 2009 at 10:17 PM
have a niece in Cali who had to fight to get her tonsils removed….
they were infected several times.
Ogabe like Casey the Community ballplayer has likely struck out on this one.
sven10077 on July 22, 2009 at 10:17 PM
equality = truther
DerKrieger on July 22, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Imploded would be a better word.
Thunderstorm129 on July 22, 2009 at 10:18 PM
Let. It. Go.
sherry on July 22, 2009 at 10:18 PM
And? A majority of Americans didn’t elect Clinton in 1992, either. A majority of Americans did elect Carter in 1976, though.
Your sense of fear and panic is palpable, though.
amerpundit on July 22, 2009 at 10:18 PM
Who would trust a guy on a national health care bill when he lost track of 15% of the stimulus money voted on just a few months ago?
Vashta.Nerada on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
If you don’t believe doctors perform some unnecessary tests just to scam the insurance industry to pay more then you are living on a different planet
equality on July 22, 2009 at 10:09 PM
It works both ways. I had a CAT scan in junior high due to headaches, among other symptoms. The doctor told me I was just stressed out. STRESSED OUT IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. Well, 20 years later, I find out that I need immediate brain surgery for ACM. Had the original doctor performed more tests, I wouldn’t have suffered for 20 additional years.
txag92 on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Under his plan doctors will be saying “If I get another job I’ll be making more money”. Poof, severe doctor shortage.
boomer on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
I know people that their doctor took test that were probably deemed unnecessary at the time they were done but when the results came back let’s just say they weren’t complainig about having the tests done since the results came back positive for needing more treatment and what the doctor thought it was, was something totally different so yea I know about the unnecessary test’s that sometimes they just so happen to save someone’s life.
Brat4life on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
ready day one
rob verdi on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
BO learned in college that he had to put away the fudge, or at least deny he liked it, if he wanted to pursue a political career.
David in ATL on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
I can’t figure out what the hell that he is talking about.
Maybe once Obamacare inevitably passes I can get some free “psychiatric evaluations” to help make sense of it all.
If I’m lucky the clinics will be based on the Soviet model where they perform dental work in the same building.
darclon on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Yes, that was not the first time that has happened in the history of the country.
Rightwingguy on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
This quote from the press conference just blew my mind:
“But having a public plan out there that also shows that maybe if you take some of the profit motive out, maybe if you are reducing some of the administrative costs, that you can get an even better deal, that’s going to incentivize the private sector to do even better. And that’s a good thing. That’s a good thing.”
VIDEO HERE
So According to Obama. Taking profit away from doctors will make them want to do even better?? The whole press conference was a mess but especially this for me.
markedmanner on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
C’mon people! Who are you going to trust? President Obambi or your chiseling doctor?
DamnCat on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
BPD on July 22, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Call me crazy, but Obama is the President of the United States, trying to spend another trillion plus dollars and trying to get the American people on board with it.
Perhaps his coherence should be a little bit more focused than a resigning Governor?
catmman on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
You’re the one breathing under a different sun if you think doctors aren’t constantly sued because they didn’t perform unnecessary tests.
And yet he already is lower than Bush was at this time in his presidency. You can mark that against the wall, assuming that’s your thing. I prefer clean walls.
Esthier on July 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Actually Ogabe already has, just not in the polls.
Bishop on July 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Those 4 $50 copayments I made for $12,000 worth of tests has me fuming mad!!!
Fuming!!!!
Odie1941 on July 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Oh, yeah, another thing. He talks about only approving evidence-based care. There is great debate about what exactly constitutes good evidence, and I would say most of the decisions I make are based on observation and intuition. There are many practices in medicine and elsewhere that have no evidence of their utility.
Who’s going to do a randomized, double-blind study on whether it is safer to look both ways before crossing the street?
mikeyboss on July 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Hmmm….messing with healthcare…puts a new meaning in “shovel-ready” jobs. As the corpses start piling up, there become more openings for grave diggers.
Rightwingguy on July 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Wonder what the poll numbers will say tomorrow as to how many were dumb enough to watch.
GarandFan on July 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
You may be right. Most of his followers refuse to look at him objectively, no matter what.
However, he is now below Jimmy Carter, at this point in time of presidency, so I wouldn’t use a permanent marker on your wall just yet.
betsyz on July 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
txag92 on July 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
?ACM or AVM?
IrishEi on July 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
As a physician in Texas, how the hell would a government “health employee” almost 2,000 miles away in D.C. know a child in my office needs to have their tonsils out?
This is the truth as I see it: in the 1990s when Ted Kennedy put HMOs through, you have to get on the phone and beg insurance companies to allow a tonsillectomy. It’s been YEARS since I had to get on the phone to an insurance company for ANYTHING. Now I’m going to have to get on the phone again – to some person in D.C. who is just out of college and looking at an algorithm on a computer screen.
Marcus on July 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
I’m thoroughly enjoying the panic spreading throughout the left. I had an emailer tell me that I’m attacking ObamaCare because I failed to defeat Obama at the polls and I seek to attack the first black president. I was actually accused of opposing ObamaCare because of Obama’s race. Really.
amerpundit on July 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
He will go below 30% – mark that on the wall.
Vashta.Nerada on July 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
No, he means that all profits are soiled green, and should be turned over to him so he can launder, uh, cleanse it.
backwoods conservative on July 22, 2009 at 10:21 PM
That’s ok.
He won’t get re-elected like Bush either.
David2.0 on July 22, 2009 at 10:21 PM
So what is it again that makes him the greatest speaker of our time? Because what I heard there was rambling incoherence. Maybe this isn’t the same as “tonsils”, but I was having major problems with my gall bladder earlier this year and it took one ER visit, multiple doctor appointments and many tests before they sent me to a surgeon to have it removed. Now it’s removed and I don’t have the problems anymore. There was no pill that was going to fix it and had I continued taking pain medication it wouldn’t have fixed the problem. Why is he so anti-surgery? And so pro-pills?
jtownsley on July 22, 2009 at 10:21 PM
are you saying that there are no strap on devices used when barack and michelle make passionate love???
Ghoul aid on July 22, 2009 at 10:21 PM
Indeed.
baldilocks on July 22, 2009 at 10:21 PM
I had it on because the wife wanted to watch it, but I admit I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it. I do have a question. Can this guy answer a question straight up without rambling on and on about everything but the question? Even if the MSM wanted to ask some tough questions, which they don’t, they couldn’t because he never leaves any time for many questions.
And why would he make comments about a police action before any investigation into the matter? Is that was a president is supposed to do, insert himself into a local matter?
Just asking.
kam582 on July 22, 2009 at 10:21 PM
I have no doubt that doctors often perform unnecessary tests. But I’d bet they do it more often to protect themselves from malpractice suits.
ProfessorMiao on July 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM
We can’t trust you. You are a doctor and an enemy of the proletariat. Comrade Obana will lead a glorious revolution where our tonsils will be free from your tyranny. (/sarc)
Rightwingguy on July 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM
And yet the vast majority did in 2004 when his approval rating was lower. See how you just disproved the correlation between votes and approval ratings?
Esthier on July 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM
I thought Obama was the president. What does Bush have to do with socialized health-care?
I hope you’re not embarrassed about your vote and projecting blame elsewhere.
darclon on July 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM
Shhhh.. Listen… did you hear that?
If you can hear us and understand us, knock three times.
Did you hear that? I hope the recorder got that.
———————————–
Meanwhile.. on another network….
———————————–
Shh.. did you hear that? What? Ukranian hot women?
The EVP says it’s going to destroy his presidency.
This thermal recorder highlights government inefficiency…
Nethicus on July 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM
If there’s no profit motive, why innovate at all?
StevefromMKE on July 22, 2009 at 10:23 PM
Obama: This is your brain on crack…
HornetSting on July 22, 2009 at 10:23 PM
ObamaCare = Inconceivable……….
Seven Percent Solution on July 22, 2009 at 10:23 PM
Tell me about it! My wife had a c-setion and it cost us $125! I felt soooo violated. OH and a drug called panhematin that I have to have on ocassion. I had one infusion at UCH in Denver. It cost the insurance company nearly $7k. And me, ME, it cost me $0. Boy I sure needed a lot of vaseline for that one I’ll tell ya!
boomer on July 22, 2009 at 10:23 PM
Hey. Some people like to keep it kinky.
Rightwingguy on July 22, 2009 at 10:24 PM
JUST YESTERDAY I was lying on the surgeon’s table, ready to get a small lump cut off of my upper back/neck area because my gen. practitioner wanted it biopsied. The surgeon looked at it & said, “No, that’s just fatty tissue. I’m not gonna cut that off.” How that for greedy doctors, BHO?
jgapinoy on July 22, 2009 at 10:24 PM
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