Another Missed Deadline Ahead for Obamacare

“It is not anticipated that any… recommendation would be targeted until 2019.”
Under President Obama’s 2010 health law, the government officials in charge of keeping Medicaid afloat have until Tuesday to report whether costs for the fiscally foundering program will exceed expectations.
But they won’t have anywhere to send their report, because the Independent Payment Advisory Board still doesn’t exist.
Under the law, if the board isn’t in place, its powers devolve to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Read the full article by Chris Stirewalt at FoxNews.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Big Pharma Accomplishes Big Things, Yet Obama Is Suffocating The Industry

Unfortunately, President Obama appears intent on grinding pharmaceutical research to a halt. His proposed budget would slap price controls on prescription drugs, thereby depriving the sector of billions of dollars in revenue. That’s on top of the tens of billions in new taxes Obamacare assesses on the industry.
More money for the feds means less money for drug research and development. If pharmaceutical research falters, both patients and the economy will suffer.
Read the full article by Sally Pipes at Forbes.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Why ObamaCare May Cost You Your Job

The best way to understand the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) is to realize that it confers large benefits on some people and imposes large costs on others.If you are one of the ones who will qualify for expanded Medicaid, you will get something for nothing. If your income is a tad too high for Medicaid, you will get something even better.
Things will be very different if you have a job, however.
Read the full article by John C Goodman at The Independent Institute.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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21st Century Health Care Options for the States

The reasons why states should NOT participate in Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion are well-documented: Medicaid patients have worse health outcomes than patients with other forms of insurance, and in many cases worse health outcomes than the uninsured; Medicaid beneficiaries often face difficulty finding doctors who will treat them; and by increasing federal spending funded by massive tax increases, a Medicaid expansion will destroy jobs rather than create them.
Less well known, however, are the innovative programs states have utilized over the past several years to modernize and enhance their health sectors, expanding coverage and improving quality of care while lowering costs. Rather than utilizing Obamacare’s top-down, government-centric approach of putting more people into a broken Medicaid program, these policy solutions seek to transform Medicaid using market incentives to create a health system that works for patients.
Read the full article by Chris Jacobs at Galen.org.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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GOP bill hits alleged ObamaCare exemption talks

Republicans introduced a bill Friday in response to allegations that top congressional officials are seeking to exempt Capitol Hill from ObamaCare's health insurance exchanges. The measure from Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) would require that all federal employees — including the president, vice president and Cabinet members — purchase coverage through the marketplaces. "If the ObamaCare exchanges are good enough for the hardworking Americans and small businesses the law claims to help, then they should be good enough for the president, vice president, Congress, and federal employees," Camp spokeswoman Sarah Swinehart said in a statement.
Read the full article at TheHill.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Myths and Realities About the Obamacare Medicaid Expansion

Expanding Medicaid is “free money” for the states. Expanding Medicaid will entail little to no costs to the states. Medicaid expansion can bring savings to the states. And Santa Claus employs unionized elves in his workshop to make microprocessors for Hello Kitty digital cameras.
Okay, Heritage isn't that sarcastic. But they do know how to explode myths, as if politician's free lunch promises needed any more exploding.
Read the full article by Alyene Senger at Heritage.org.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Congress loves Obamacare so much that...

Right on cue, Congress exempts itself from what it imposes on us.
Congressional leaders in both parties are engaged in high-level, confidential talks about exempting lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides from the insurance exchanges they are mandated to join as part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, sources in both parties said.
Read the full article at Politico.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Senator McConnell: President must address Obamacare ‘train wreck’

When even a key architect of Obamacare says the law’s implementation will resemble a “train wreck,” it is clear that its biggest remaining supporters need to finally level with the American people about what’s in store — starting with President Barack Obama.
The president must step into the breach and explain to the public that skyrocketing premiums and a raft of new taxes, penalties and fees are coming their way.
Read the full article at Reuters.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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HHS spends our money to sell us what we don't want

The federal agency charged with implementing the Affordable Care Act announced a multimillion-dollar public relations contract last week in order to convince people to join the program and keep it from collapsing, critics claimed.
Enrollment in Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges is lagging, raising concerns about the viability of the exchanges, which are the law’s primary means of delivering health insurance. The bill’s congressional architects have warned the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may be unable to establish a functional health insurance marketplace.
Read the full article by Lachlan Markay at FreeBeacon.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Obamacare Premium Increases by State

From the Heritage Foundation
Remember when we were told “If you like your health insurance you can keep it,” and “If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor,” or this one, that the Heritage Foundation reminds us of, “it will cut the cost of a typical family’s premium by up to $2,500 a year”? Ah, it was a simpler time… however, what the president neglected to explain was that we would no longer be able to afford our health insurance, and our doctors would probably opt for early retirement.
As The Foundry from the Heritage Foundation tells us, it has become abundantly clear that none of those false promises are to be our new reality [hey thanks Chief Justice Roberts].
Read the full article at TavernKeepers.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Roofers' Union Seeks Repeal/Reform Of Affordable Care Act

The greatest threat to Obamacare is not from 'obstructionist' Republicans, but from ordinary Americans of all political persuasions who are waking up to the fact that this law is shafting all of us.
Consider this press release from a not-terribly right-wing union:
"Regretably, our concerns over certain provisions in the ACA have not been addressed, or in some instances, totally ignored. In the rush to achieve its passage, many of the Act's provisions were not fully conceived, resulting in unintended consequences that are inconsistent with the promise that those who were satisfied with their employer sponsored coverage could keep it."
Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Welcome China, Romania, Deutchland

Welcome China, Romania, Deutchland

HHCapitalism.com is: ‘An international forum for the defense of Liberty, Rule of Law, Free Markets and Free People’. 40 to 50 percent of the traffic on this site comes from outside of the United States, including China (25%), Romania, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, Moldova, France, Bulgaria, Ireland and Vietnam. Wherever you are from, we want to hear from you. Please post comments on the articles. You may write emails directly to HHCapitalism@gmail.com.

Those of you from socialist, communist and former socialist or communist countries, what is your impression of the direction the USA is heading? What do you think of Obamacare, our attempt to provide universal health care to all Americans and some non-Americans living within our borders?  Do you think it is a good idea? Do you want to encourage us, warn us, or sit back and laugh while we destroy ourselves? What did you think of the article by the refugee from communist Czeckoslovakia Borek Volarik on socialized medicine ‘Echoes from the Other Side’?

From China, see the blog of former Chinese National Basketball team player Kai Chen who says ‘Give me liberty or give me death!’: http://kaichenblog.blogspot.com.  Do you know who he is quoting?  Agree or disagree?

Brits, should the USA emulate the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)?

Wenn sie Deutsch ist, wass denken sie? Kennen sie die östereicher ökonom Ludwig von Mises?

Vive la France! Howard Hyde habitait Paris cuatre ans pendent les années 80. C’etait une experience merveilleuse et extraordinaire, mais en même temps un avertissement contre les dangers du socialisme.

Hablamos Español. A ver: http://www.hhcapitalismo.com, www.elcato.org, http://www.diariodeamerica.com.

Your participation and comments are appreciated.

HHS Secretary vague on Obamacare Implementation

In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius couldn't give specific answers to simple questions about the implementation of Obamacare. Small business owners have no idea what to expect from Obamacare. Senator Baucus: "They don't know what the affordability rules are. They don't know what penalties may apply. They just don't know."
Read the full article by Susan Jones at CNSNews.com.

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More Health care reform resources on the Obamacare page.

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A Temporary Insurance Program Foretells Exploding Obamacare Costs

An early ObamaCare health insurance program that has been operating for nearly three years is foreshadowing big problems to come with the larger health overhaul law.

Read the full article by Grace Marie Turner at Forbes.com.

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More Health care reform resources on the Obamacare page.

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Obama's Damaging Admission

An item totaling 0.01 percent of the budget proves that Obamacare won’t work.
This relatively small spending item is a big admission that the president’s health-care law simply won’t work, and it should provide encouragement to state officials who are still resisting the massive increase in deficit spending, government bureaucracy, and health-care costs the PPACA embodies.
Read the full article by Michael F. Cannon at NationalReview.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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It’s the Constitution, Stupid!

Rumors of the death of the United States may be greatly exaggerated, but the advanced stage of the illness is real.

And the underlying cause is systemic, not merely incidental to this or that law or policy. The manner by which our laws and policies are enacted, interpreted and implemented is broken and corrupt, and our elected representatives are alternately incompetent and impotent, our unelected overlords unaccountable.

This is not news, of course. For a long time Congress has voted on bills that its members have not read, while Departments of Education and Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and others make rules that raise our taxes and threaten us with jail without due constitutional legislative process, and without We the People having the power to elect or recall the rule makers. Activist judges have long ignored the plain language of the Constitution to come up with such disastrous decisions as Dred Scott v. Sandford in 1856 that bolstered slavery and contributed to that little hiccup we call the Civil War; Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 that promoted racial segregation and Jim Crow laws, giving respectability to grown men wearing bed sheets; Korematsu v. United States 1944 that approved President Roosevelt's internment of Japanese Americans during World War II; Roe v. Wade 1973 which short-circuited the democratic process regarding abortion and ensured maximum acrimony and division over the issue; and NFIB v. Sibelius 2012, in which a penalty for failing to engage in a specific type of commerce, which was specifically deemed NOT to be a tax by its authors and promoters, was found – miraculously! – to be a tax after all and therefore permissible under the Constitution.

Therefore, to fix what ails our civic institutions, I hereby propose the following bold new amendments to the U.S. Constitution, to be ratified and implemented posthaste:

Amendment 28: No member of Congress shall be permitted to vote for any bill for which he or she is unable to pass a factual examination as to said bill’s contents.

Amendment 29: Congress shall pass no law except when at least 50 percent of the members are qualified to vote for it per the terms of Amendment 28.

Amendment 30: Congress shall make no law whose length of text exceeds that of the US Constitution.

Amendment 31: [1] The Supreme Court of the United States shall not have the power of Judicial Review, and shall not strike down laws duly passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President. Instead, the power of Judicial Review shall be vested solely in the legislatures of the states. Federal laws deemed unconstitutional by a simple majority vote of 60 percent of the state legislatures shall be null and void. The Supreme Court may issue non-binding recommendations and scholarly advice as it judges fit.

 [2] The words of the Constitution are to be understood to mean exactly what they say. The intentions of the Framers are to be found in the Federalist Papers of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. The intentions of the authors of the various amendments are to be found in original documents contemporary with the enactment of said amendments.

[3] Supreme court justices may be impeached by a 60 percent majority vote of both houses of Congress, or by a majority vote of 60 percent of the legislatures of the states.

Amendment 32: The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution is hereby repealed. In restoration of the Framer’s orginal design, Senators from the various states shall be chosen by their respective state’s legislatures, not by popular vote.

Amendment 33: Secretaries of Cabinet-level administrative departments may be impeached by a simple majority vote of both houses of Congress, or by a simple majority vote of the legislatures of the states.

And, finally:

Amendment 34: No person shall be found qualified to serve in either house of Congress, nor as a member of the federal judiciary including the Supreme Court, nor in a senior cabinet-level administrative position, nor as President or Vice President of the United States, who is unable to pass a factual examination on the contents of the book ‘Basic Economics’ by Thomas Sowell. [States are encouraged to follow suit for their own constitutions.]

Now we just need two thirds of the Congress and three fourths of the state legislatures to agree.  Piece of cake.

 

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See How Congress Puts Itself Above the Law:
The only way to finally end the sorry tradition of congressional exemptions is with a 28th Amendment.
at The Wall Street Journal

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Jihad in Boston?

The Boston terror bombings may be jihad. It is also possible that they may not be. Jihadists worldwide have made their hatred for Americans, and determination to murder them in the name of Allah, abundantly clear on numerous occasions. If the Boston terror bombings turn out to have been perpetrated by someone else, this doesn’t mean that violent jihadists have disappeared. Jihad is already here in the United States, as we saw not only on 9/11, but in the Fort Hood jihad murders, the attempted Times Square bombing, the Portland Christmas tree bomb plot, and so many others. There have been over 20,000 jihad attacks worldwide since 9/11; the denial that dominates the media and government response to those attacks only ensures that such jihad attacks will become ever more common stateside.
Read the full article by Robert Spencer at FrontPageMag.com.

Dr Walter E. Williams on Black Unemployment

Black unemployment has been double that of white Americans for more than 50 years. The black youth unemployment rate is more than 40 percent nationally. In some cities, unemployment for black working-age males is more than 50 percent. From 1900 to 1954, blacks were more active than whites in the labor market. I doubt whether anyone would argue that the reason for lower unemployment, higher labor force participation and shorter duration of unemployment among blacks in the first half of the 20th century was that there was less racial discrimination. I also doubt whether anyone would argue that during earlier periods, blacks had higher education and greater skills attainment than whites.
Read the full article at TheACRU.org.

Cook Political Report: Democrats worried Obamacare could hurt them in 2014

Come 2014 it’s possible that health care will be the more all-consuming issue, and that has lots of Democrats very worried.
Last week, the Society of Actuaries released a study that predicted that “the overwhelming majority” of those who purchase health care directly on the individual health market “will see double-digit increases.”
In an informal poll of Democratic insiders, many of whom shepherded Democrats thorough the dismal 2010 elections, almost all voiced concern about the potential for the issue to hurt Democrats in 2014.
The Obama 2012 campaign made almost no mention of the new law in their television advertising. Obama’s first 60-second spot, “Go,” listed all his big accomplishments except the ACA.
Read the full article by Ed Marsh at CookPolitical.com.

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More Health care reform resources on the Obamacare page.

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Obama doubles estimated cost of health exchanges to $4.4B

Budget estimates for states to participate in the Obamacare health insurance exchange have soared to $4.4 billion, the president’s proposal sent to Congress on Wednesday outlined.
The spending estimates are more than double what was initially predicted, Bloomberg reported. It comes as various administration officials — Health and Human Services head Kathleen Sebelius is the latest — have admitted the implementation of Obamacare has proven more complicated than expected.
Read the full article by Cheryl K Chumley at WashingtonTimes.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Seniors should be very careful with options in Obamacare

Obamacare is stripping an estimated $716 billion from Medicare to pay for other parts of the program.
Read the full article by Ken Hambrick at ContraCostaTimes.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Tens of Thousands Beat Deadline to Protest HHS Mandate

More than 85,000 parties have filed ahead of the deadline to respond to the federal government about the latest version of its mandate that forces employers to provide contraceptives, abortifacients and sterilization in their employee health-insurance plans.
Read the full article by Brian Fraga at NCRegister.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Reflections of a Medical Ex-Practitioner

The glow of the personal relationship with patients is being extinguished.
"When I graduated from medical school in 1962, the profession of medicine was for many graduates an opportunity to provide care—as distinguished from, though aligned with, treatment—and to provide it to individuals, not to populations or governmentally specified groups. Young doctors hoped to establish an independent business, enjoy lifelong intellectual excitement as knowledge and therapies expanded, and have an income sufficient to live decently and support a family. There have always been some who entered medicine, as with any vocation, to maximize income. Yet most of us who came into the profession in the early 1960s had modest financial aspirations and substantial social commitment."
Read the full article by Ed Marsh at The Wall Street Journal.

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More Health care reform resources on the Obamacare page.

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The Hill: ObamaCare takes friendly fire

Delays in implementing popular pieces of ObamaCare are hurting it with Democrats.
Ahead of an election year in which Republicans promise to make healthcare an issue again, Democrats are criticizing the White House for delaying policies that could help build support for the unpopular law.
Read the full article by Sam Baker at The Hill.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Beyond Obamacare

The president’s reelection, and the forthcoming implementation of Obamacare, do not mean that conservative opponents of the law should assume that it is set in stone and merely seek to tinker at its edges... Obamacare is unpopular, it is very poorly designed, it looks set to lead to rising costs and an insurance death spiral, its early provisions are not working out, and its fuller implementation next year seems increasingly likely to yield a train wreck.

Read the full article by Ramesh Ponnuru & Yuval Levin at National Review Online.

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More Health care reform resources on the Obamacare page.

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Fed Up With Obamacare, Doctors Increasingly Prefer Cash For Care

Nearly two-thirds of doctors say that they or their colleagues will retire earlier than planned over the next few years. Others are considering a departure from the current system of third-party payment. Instead, they’re exploring direct payment, with patients paying for care on their own.

Patients should welcome this development. Not only does the move toward direct payment have the potential to reduce health costs — it could also yield higher-quality care.

Read the full article by Sally Pipes at Forbes.com.

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More Health care reform resources on the Obamacare page.

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Obama plays games with Sequester cuts, Medicare

The total effect of sequestration on Medicare benefit spending is $100 billion from 2013 to 2023. Those cuts pale in comparison to the $716 billion in Medicare payment reductions required by Obamacare over the same time period. Included in these cuts is a payment reduction of $156 billion for Medicare Advantage plans.

Read the full article by Bob Moffit and Alyene Senger at The Heritage Foundation - Foundry

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More Health care reform resources on the Obamacare page.

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Small Businesses Won't Have Plan Choices Under Obamacare

Citing the challenges in establishing a new health insurance marketplace, the Obama administration is delaying a key provision of the Affordable Care Act designed to provide employees of small businesses affordable health coverage.

The New York Times reported Monday that in most states employers will not be able to provide workers with a choice of health plans as the law intended. Instead, they will be limited to a single plan.


Read the full article by Cyrus Afzali at Newsmax.com.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Republican Doctors Caucus Marks Grim Milestone of Obamacare

FreedomWorks recently hosted a conference call for bloggers and reporters with the House Republican Doctors Caucus. The forum allowed caucus members to make statements regarding the third anniversary of the passage of Obamacare, and the murky future of this deeply flawed legislation. Bloggers and reporters were given the opportunity to ask questions of the caucus members, leading to a lively discussion on the future of health care under this onerous bill.

Read the full article at Freedom Works.

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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Administration delays Obamacare small business provision

During the push for national health care, one of President Obama’s major selling points was that the legislation he supported would help small businesses struggling to provide health care to their employees.

Surprise! It's not quite working out as promised.

Read the full article by Philip Klein at The Washington Examiner

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More health reform information on the Obamacare page.

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California’s ObamaCare Exchange Costs 56 Times More to Launch than Facebook

Launching California’s ObamaCare “Exchange” is so far costing taxpayers 56 times as much as it cost to launch Facebook, while its marketing budget is 8 times what Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) spent on her reelection bid (adjusted for inflation)

Read the full article by Michael F. Cannon at The Cato Institute

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More Health care reform resources on the Obamacare page.

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