Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich states that putting tax on carbon will put the United States at a disadvantage in the global economy and will cost the average American too much. (00:25)
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Scot Faulkner, Former Chief Administrative Officer to the House of Representatives under Newt Gingrich, sat down with Talk Radio News Service’s Michael Ruhl at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He said that the problem with current Republicans is that they “ceased being the Republican Party”. Faulkner said that he has been involved through the years with the likes of Goldwater and Reagan, who were concerned about limiting the Bureaucracy, something he believes George W. Bush did not do well during his presidency. He continued by speaking about what the Republican Party can do to help rebuild their image. (06:44)
This week, the president is having his first health care summit. He has proposed changes in the budget for what he calls a down payment for future health care. He signed a bill to provide more children with access to health services, and on Saturday evening he offered the job of secretary of Health and Human Services to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, D-Kan.
Health care is the big elephant in the living room, and no one has successfully taken it on. The Democrats put a kind of universal health care in their platform in 1948, which was 61 years ago. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to tackle health care as first lady with the slogan “health care that is always there.” She was out-maneuvered, and the plan was squashed with the help of some very clever Harry and Louise ads. This president has learned from the mistakes of others and is going to take it at a slower pace.
However, the other side of the aisle decided to preempt the president last week by having their own conference with their own solutions. No, it was not the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, where Newt Gingrich was a star. Instead, Republicans held a “Healthcare that Works” conference, and Gingrich was there, again, in a starring role. He can always reinvent himself. He became speaker because he was able to speak to the average voter. His Contract for America resonated with millions of Americans. It was simple and clear. Many of his health care ideas are the same. They are clear, simple and something with which most Americans can relate.
Gingrich began the Center for Health Transformation in 2003 by branding it “Better health, lower cost.” As a liberal, I am suspect of the Republican motives with regard to health care and the free market. I spent years working for a “for profit” health care company where there were corporate meetings devoted to making sure our managers were increasing the amount of tests given to patients to boost the bottom line. So, I come to the Gingrich plans with a jaundiced eye.
Jaundiced eye or not, some of Gingrich’s ideas are sound and should be taken into consideration by the Obama team. His 10-point plan has some good ideas even if it a bit biased toward limiting liability, which is the hallmark of Republican thought.
The Gingrich plan seeks to reward health care groups that adopt evidenced-based practices with higher reimbursements. He wants to develop new ways of paying for health care that emphasizes patient wellness. Transparency is another goal, which would include price and quality information from all government health programs including Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Affairs. He wants to increase the ability to self-report medical errors in exchange for limited liability. The FAA adopted these self-reporting practices years ago, and it has worked to make our skies much safer, as the data is then collated and airlines can train pilots to avoid the mistakes others have made. In addition, he wants to give health care plans, both public and private, the latitude to experiment with prevention and wellness programs by redesigning health insurance that encourages wellness.
Liberal, conservative or anything in between, it is worth remembering that it was Newt Gingrich who ushered us into the 21st century by developing Thomas.gov. We can now search bills, read them as they are being considered and follow their progress though the maze of committees. Never behind the times when it comes to technology, he has a 10-point system to create an electronic health information platform, which would include open-source technology so hospitals and other providers do not have to spend valuable dollars and time reinventing the wheel. The president’s broadband initiative could tie in to make this information system work and save millions of dollars.
I have been around Washington, D.C., long enough to be skeptical of most statistics and facts I read. But if Gingrich’s Center for Health Transformation’s information is correct, it is enough to make Florence Nightingale turn over in her grave. One eye-popping fact is that in 2007, Florida accounted for “80 percent of drugs billed across the United States for Medicare beneficiaries with HIV/AIDS even though the region only had about one of 10 eligible patients.”
There are cases of sham companies and putting homeless people on vans and ambulances so they would use hospital services they did not need. I would have never believed that this was really happening had I not sat through countless meetings designed to drive up health care costs for profit in the mid-1980s. One solid idea out of the Gingrich shop is to fully fund the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general. Imagine that! Real government oversight.
Do I really trust the Republicans on oversight? Not a chance. Their record is not stellar. However, other than perhaps running for president in 2012, the former speaker has nothing to gain from this. He has as much consulting, speaking and financial support as he could possibly want. He has some great ideas, and the Obama administration should invite him to be an integral part of its reform effort.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich criticizes President Barack Obama’s approach to the economic stimulus bill. He specifically says that “governing is not campaigning”, and that Obama may be approaching the bill too hastily, because it’s a bill he will have to live with for the rest of his presidency.
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, participated in the Center for Health Transformation’s Healthcare that Works presentation at the Washington Press Club.
A panel of speakers presented data on the need for robust and universal computerized medicine for safety and cost savings. Gingrich said government could save much more by promoting private sector best practices than by just funding benefits.
Merrill Mathews, PhD, said centralized accounting could combat fraud totaling billions of dollars annually. He said the private sector has much better control of this, and should be the model.
Brandon Savage, MD, of GE Healthcare, said electronic patient records Could be modeled on ATM software which already provides fast access no matter where the user is, while remaining secure. Gingrich added that such records could monitor medical errors, medicine conflicts, allergies, etc.
According to Donald Doak, EBSCO Publishing, 40 thousand to 90 thousand lives a year might be saved . He also said Evidence based (objective, statistically supported best practices) medicines is derived from, and distributed by, networked databases.
Gingrich said that he had tried to encourage electronic medical information reforms under Bush for six years; now they are part of Obama’s package.
In a broader concluding statement, Gingrich also proposed tripling NSF funding, based on a “generational investment strategy”: the payoff is huge, but delayed. “My biggest mistake as Speaker was not doing that.”
Dr. Rita Colwell, former director of the National Science Foundation, endorsed Gingrich’s estimate of needed funding.
The entire presentation will be available as a video at www.healthtransformation.net
Fmr. Speaker of the House Newt Gingich says energy has become a “policy crisis.” Gingrich also remarks on why he believes any future energy policy must include oil and coal. (1:57)
Speaking on the issue of offshore drilling, Fmr. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said, “You have to maximize oil production in the United States.”
In a discussion at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI), Gingrich advocated for clean coal technology calling the use of this technology “green conservatism.” Gingrich cautioned that if the United States tries other forms of technology too quickly, there is the possibility that the U.S. “doomed [itself] to no energy.” He called the costs of changing to other forms of energy such as wind, solar, and natural gas “a breathtaking investment.”
Gingrich was adamant that the U.S. does not have an energy crisis, but a “policy crisis.” He claimed that with its total range of resources, the U.S. “has the capacity to have ample energy at a reasonable price.”
Robert Hahn, Senior Fellow at AEI, said that offshore oil drilling would make little or no impact of domestic gas prices “anytime soon.” Hahn advised President -elect Obama to “limit his focus” on the issue of energy to potential investments and climate change. Hahn said that the potential jobs that would be opened by energy reform should not factor into Obama’s decisions. Hahn also cautioned that Obama not allow energy to turn “into complete political pork barrel” with potential wasted spending.
Irwin Stelzer, Senior Fellow and Director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Economic Policy, said the U.S. cannot run solely on domestic oil because it is “too few and too costly.” However, he said that renewable energy cannot replace fossil fuels because it is too difficult and expensive to attain. He put down the idea of nuclear energy because he believes Congress will not solve the issue of nuclear waste disposal. Stelzer was not in favor or natural gas because he doesn’t believe it can replace liquid energy. He said that the U.S. could practice conservation if U.S. citizens want to live “as the Japanese.” Stelzer said that the U.S. will probably remain “heavily dependent” on other countries for oil.
Pentagon Correspondent S. Dawn Casey will be attending a live briefing from Iraq with Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commander of Multinational Division-North and the 1st Armored Division, to provide an update on ongoing security operations.
The Washington bureau will be covering a discussion on “Oil Drilling and U.S. Energy Policy at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) with Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).
“Catastrophe sells,” said Christopher Horner, author of “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism).” At a Heritage Foundation event, Horner said the recent wave of “global warming enthusiasts” are encouraged by “a multi-million dollar global warming industry adding new urgency to the ritual shriek of ‘we must act now,’ as they scramble to impose a costly regime that imposes mandates, subsidies and energy taxes both direct and regulatory to pay for them.”
Horner said, “90 percent of our official United States government measuring stations don’t meet the requirements for citing. For example, why are so many of our official thermometers now on asphalt parking lots, black tar roofs, airport tarmacs and placed directly above exhaust fans and even in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, over a barbeque grill?”
Horner said scientists who come out against the idea of global warming are refused their voice, and that global warming is appealing to public figures like Newt Gingrich because it offers them the “ultimate intellectual challenge.”
“After all, there is a reason the media don’t report on the global warming industries; admitted objectives, extreme statements, and their tactics,” said Horner. “How can we predict the weather ten decades away if we can’t predict 10 days from now?” As a result, Horner believes, “environmental alarmists have become like car alarms that no one listens to anymore.”
Newt Gingrich says the basis for the current mortgage crisis is a result of policies pursued by the Carter and Clinton administrations which pushed to allow every American to own a home. (0:45)
