Fresh Loaf

At the GOP rally/Tea Party at the U.S. Capitol yesterday, Rep. Paul Broun (R – CrazyPartsOfGeorgia) had a stern warning for Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi:

“Go tell your Congressman you’re not going to eat this rotten, stinking fish that is . . .  [awkward pause] Pelosi health care!

We’re going to put a stop sign in front of her steam roll of socialism! Go to it, patriots!”

I haven’t played Rock-Paper-Scissors in a while, but I’m pretty sure steam roller beats stop sign. Here’s a video. Broun’s comments begin at the 4:35 mark.

While we’re on the subject of gratuitous dumbassitude masquerading as steadfast patriotism, at the same event yesterday House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner’s held up what he claimed was his copy of the U.S. Constitution and read aloud from the section he described as its preamble:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Those words are not from the Constitution, but from the Declaration of Independence.

Doh!

The video:

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Jonesboro, sparked national headlines earlier this month when he lost his cool with a health care reform opponent in Douglasville. He took some heat from boneheads for that one.

Since then, the congressman’s held additional forums about Congress’ perplexing — and ever-changing — proposal. And on Friday, August 28, he’ll speak at another event in Austell sponsored by the AARP, one the organization hopes will be a lively but civil.

If you’re planning on just dropping by the free event, you might be disappointed. In order to keep the forum orderly, the AARP asks you to RSVP if you plan to attend. There’ll be refreshments and snacks to help foamy-mouth protesters recharge after yelling about socialism. Guns will probably not be allowed.

To RSVP, call 1-877-926-8300 or send the organization an email. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at the Austell Community Center at 2625 Joe Jerkins Blvd., Austell, GA 30106. Doors open at 9 a.m.

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While the debates in Congress over health care reform have intensified this week, members of Georgia’s congressional delegation are all over the map in their reasons for supporting, but in most cases opposing, significant government reform — some more vehemently and bluntly than others.

“The poor have no chance, under the current system, to get the kind of care and follow-up they need. This House bill … is a historic step toward a new approach to health care in America that can quiet the fear associated with health care costs. It can relieve the significant financial stress on families, especially during this period where money is very tight, and provide coverage for millions of Americans who are currently uninsured or may have lost their jobs.”

— Congressman John Lewis, in a press release issued July 17, after the Ways and Means Committee passed America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009

“What we’re talking about is a move toward socialism. … You’re going to have a socialist bureaucrat in the exam room between the doctor and the patient.”

— Congressman Phil Gingrey, at a July 7 forum on health care reform at George Washington University Hospital

“[Canada and Great Britain] don’t have the appreciation of life, as we do in our society, evidently. A lot of people are gonna die. This ‘government option’ that’s being touted as this panacea — the savior of allowing people to have quality health care at an affordable price — is gonna kill people.”

— Congressman Paul Broun, in a July 10 statement on the floor of the House

Sources: AJC.com, Office of Congressman John Lewis, Media Matters

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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The AJC calls attention today to Georgia’s boast that its Congressional delegation includes more doctors (four of the 16 currently in office) than any other state — which would seem to be a positive, considering the debates over health-care reform being waged at this very moment in Congress.

So just who are these MD’s who make Georgia so proud?

Well, there’s Rep. Phil Gingrey, of “Better Know a District” fame; there’s Rep. Tom Price, chairman of the Republican Study Committee; Rep. John Linder, who apparently counts even though he’s a dentist; and Rep. Paul Broun.

Yes, that Paul Broun, who once compared Pres. Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and accused him of trying to establish a Marxist dictatorship. Broun also happens to be a licensed doctor. And who better to represent Georgia’s medical community on the national stage? After all, Broun has already demonstrated his scientific acumen by declaring on the floor of the U.S. House that all the suggested evidence in support of human-induced global warming — the academic reports, temperature records dating back for thousands of years, the bewildered polar bears frequently photographed swimming in vain for a block of ice — are all just part of a “one of the greatest hoaxes perpetrated out of the scientific community.”

I would request that Rep. Broun do his best not to embarrass Georgia anymore, but it may already be too late:

Under Broun’s [health care] plans, doctors and pharmacies would be encouraged to post prices for their services just as a restaurant might post a dinner menu. Doing so, Broun said, would spur competition and therefore help bring down costs.

Because who hasn’t wished their health care operated with the same level of efficiency and quality of service as a middle-tier chain restaurant?

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To all those people who are giving up their dogs and cats due to economic hardship, fear not. An animal hospital for indigent pets and financially challenged owners opens next week in Chamblee.

The nonprofit WellPet Humane is a full-service clinic. Your dog or cat can get affordable vaccinations, wellness exams, dental care and flea/tick prevention, among other services, at a decent price. Now if only there was a comparable clinic for indigent humans …

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NATIONAL HEALTH MUSEUM: Atlanta is picked as the location for the $230 million museum, Sonny Perdue announced Wednesday afternoon.

HEALTH UNSURANCE: Georgia gets failing grade, as do most other states, from a Families USA study on equality in health insurance coverage.

SHORTFALLIN’: The Georgia DOT will likely finish this fiscal year more than $1.2 billion in the red, Commissioner Gena Abraham says.

EASTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALITIS: Six new cases of the disease, which is spread by mosquitoes and swells horses’ brains, are reported in South Georgia. Humans are also susceptible.

IN FARM’S WAY: Carroll County woman plans to turn 66 acres into a sustainable, ecologically balanced agrarian community called Brokenfoot Ranch. At least its name isn’t as lame as Serenbe.

NANNY 911: A Forsyth County deputy, his wife and his part-time magistrate father are charged in a human-trafficking case in which they allegedly hired a woman from India to be their nanny, only to quit paying her and threaten her if she tried to escape.

MANHUNT: Lawrenceville police searched for a suspected car thief for three hours Wednesday. It looks really exciting in this exclusive AccessNorthGa shot of the manhunt.

FLYING HIGH: Two former TSA agents and a former Delta Air Lines employee plead guilty to intended drug-smuggling after being caught during a sting operation at Hartsfield-Jackson.

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Several low-income families are filing a federal class-action lawsuit against two of the private HMOs that administer Georgia’s Medicaid and PeachCare programs, arguing that the firms are denying their children access to public health care.

Earlier this month, the companies, WellCare and the Peach State Health Plan, announced they were dropping two large providers of dental care from the state program. Help a Child Smile, which operates 12 mobile dental units, and Kool Smiles, which has 10 offices in Georgia, together serve about 100,000 low-income children. Kool Smiles’ patients alone account for about 25 percent of all kids eligible for state-funded dental care.

Most dentists in Georgia don’t accept PeachCare patients, meaning it could be difficult for the kids displaced from the two dropped providers to find someone to look after their teeth. And if they aren’t able to see a dentist, that’s less money the two HMOs have to pay in provider fees. Funny how that works.

Incidentally, the families are represented by state Rep. Ed Lindsey, R-Atlanta.

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Grady Memorial Hospital is sick.

The state’s largest public hospital, its biggest resource for indigent care, its most sophisticated trauma center, its only poison center and its most significant physician-training facility faces a major budget shortfall. Some say Grady could be shuttered by year’s end.

On Monday, nearly 200 people showed up at a Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority board meeting about Grady, which, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, was far more crowded — and emotionally charged — than anticipated. The attendees demanded that a full public dialog about the embattled hospital take place. Soon.

According to the Business Chronicle’s account of the meeting:

Several times, Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority Chairwoman Pam Stephenson was forced to defend her board’s actions over the past several months. She pledged a round of public hearings about Grady’s future would begin in coming weeks.

Amid criticism the board had excluded the public, Stephenson said, “we are not that arrogant and not that inconsiderate.

So they’re just a little arrogant and inconsiderate?

Here are the details for the public hearings Stephenson, who is also a state rep, promised. Both Stephenson and Otis Story, president and CEO of Grady and vice chairman of the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority, will be on hand to answer questions.

• Sat., Aug. 18, 11:30 a.m. Tucker Middle School, 2160 Idlewood Road, Tucker.
• Tues., Aug. 21, 7 p.m. Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur.
• Thurs., Aug. 23, 7 p.m. St. Philip AME Church Family Life Center, 240 Candler Road.

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On Friday, July 13, the Greater Grady Task Force will release its final recommendations for helping the beleaguered hospital get healthy.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported in late June that a draft of the recommendations, penned by a task force made up of local business leaders, called for a corporate-style shake-up:

The restructuring of the Grady board is perhaps the key recommendation in a new report issued Monday [June 25] on Grady, Atlanta’s only Level I trauma center and primary training ground for the state’s health-care workforce. … The 17-member task force thinks any hope of getting more annual funding for the hospital — including the possibility of state money — hinges on reorganizing the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority into a nonprofit.

Yet the creation of a nonprofit could be “politically challenging,” the article continues, because it would wrest power from the Fulton County and DeKalb County commissions.

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Amount of money Grady Health System lost in 2006 and 2005, respectively: $20 million, $13 million

Amount consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal recommended Grady cut from its budget: $48.5 million

Total amount, over six months, Alvarez & Marsal was paid for its services: $2 million

Amount Alvarez & Marsal hoped Grady would save by offering early retirement packages to senior employees in March: $15 million

Number of Grady-operated neighborhood clinics Alvarez & Marsal recommended Grady sell: 9

Number of outpatient visits to those clinics in 2005: 888,594

Number of counties in Georgia that fly trauma patients to Grady: 14

Number of counties that contribute to Grady’s operating budget: 2

Sources: Georgia Watch, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Grady Health System

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