Friday, November 6, 2009 Midday

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network found a surprise in the fine print in the Senate health care bill. It would allow people with preexisting conditions like cancer, who can’t get private insurance, to apply for high-risk pool insurance. But they have to have gone without insurance for six months before they’re eligible. This is the compassionate alternative to private insurance? News flash: when someone with cancer has to go six months without insurance, he can easily move from the high-risk pool to the dead pool.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

If you live in San Francisco and own a cat, don’t buy a very expensive couch. The Board of Supervisors there just voted to outlaw the declawing of cats as animal torture. The California Veterinary Medical Association opposed the bans, which are spreading across the state. They say medical decisions should be left up to veterinarians, not politicians. Boy, are they behind the times.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Here’s the type of question the media never ask anymore. Yesterday, a reporter from CNSNews.com asked Illinois Sen. Roland Burris exactly what part of the Constitution gives the federal government the power to force people to buy health insurance as a requirement for American citizenship. Burris said it’s covered by the part about providing for “the health, welfare and defense of the country.” Actually, the word “health” doesn’t appear anywhere in the Constitution…Not that the current Congress would care, even if they actually had ever read the Constitution.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

House Republicans still need to agree on a way to help those who really need coverage and have nowhere else to turn, without forcing burdensome mandates, high costs and government-run health care onto the rest of us. But this is just a draft version that’s still being worked on. So far, it’s only 230 pages, so they could add another 1800 pages, and it would still be shorter than the Pelosi plan.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

You might have heard that there were nine arrests for unlawful entry at the Capitol during yesterday’s protests over health care. Some media outlets didn’t make this distinction, so I will: the arrests were all Code Pink members, there to demand more government health care. The 10,000 Tea Party folks finished their protest and left without any arrests. I’ll bet they didn’t even litter.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Finally, Gary DeNicola of Atlanta learned that no good deed goes unpunished. He rescued a stray dog from traffic and was going to take her to a shelter the next day. He didn’t realize she was pregnant, and the next morning, he discovered he had 10 dogs. Oh, and shelters are overcrowded and weren’t accepting any more dogs. They’re now five weeks old, and if you’d like to risk doing a good deed, I bet Gary might be willing to give a few of them up.