Another variation on the Republican perspective on the health care reform: if wealthy law professors can afford access to quality care in this country, where’s the problem?

As usual, a Wingnut ignores the fact that many of these “innovations” happened at government-funded institutions like the NIH and universities. The Medical Industrial Complex often swoops in, and in effect steals these innovations, re-packages them with marketing, and claims it was all from the “competition” from the “free markets.”

They need to ignore these pesky details, otherwise they got nuthin’.

…because of medical innovations made in recent decades, innovations that probably wouldn’t have been made under a government-run health system.

Because gawd knows that the government doesn’t have anything to do with medical research!

http://www.nih.gov/about/#mission

“The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research.”

“Composed of 27 Institutes and Centers, the NIH provides leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.

“For over a century, the National Institutes of Health has played an important role in improving the health of the nation.”

OMG! If the government gets involved in medicine or medical research, we’ll all dieeeeeeeee!!!!

From a Pew Research Poll:

About half of the public (52%) cites medicine – including health care, vaccines, and medical cures – when asked to describe ways that science has positively affected society; by comparison, just 7% mention communications and computer technology. Similarly, most scientists (55%) mention a biomedical or health finding when asked about the nation’s greatest scientific achievement of the last 20 years.

There also is common ground between the public and scientists regarding the pivotal role of government in funding scientific research. Government institutions and agencies are the dominant funders of research, according to scientists: 84% list a government entity as an important source of funding for their specialty, with nearly half specifically citing the National Institutes of Health (49%) or the National Science Foundation (47%).

So all that government-funded medical science will just evaporate if … what? huh?

If Glenn Reynolds didn’t say things this idiotic and rote, he wouldn’t be Glenn Reynolds, the Embarrassment of Tennessee.

But Jesus Christ. Reynolds, Bill Hobbs, Fred Thompson and Marsha Blackburn in one state…it’s not fair.

If the guy on your list left of Reynolds is in Tennessee, you might be breaking even.

And 40 years ago this week, this country fulfilled JFK’s pledge to put a man on the moon and return him safely to earth, with less computing power than Perfesser Corncob has in his Roomba. Was that on the private or public nickel, I forget? If stupidity was painful, he would have killed himself by now.

Let alone the government funded innovation, for crying out loud, nobody’s suggesting that Pharma should be nationalized, or that doctors should be enrolled in a National Medical Corps of Total Drones. The government (oh noes what will we do without innovation) program being proposed is insurance. And not a single one of those miracles of modern medicine the Ole Perfesser is heralding was an innovation of the insurance industry.

As a matter of fact, the only innovations I can think of that the insurance industry has come up with are in creative accounting, PR, & marketing. Gotta give it to them though, that rescission idea? That was pure genius.

This from the same bunch that cut off federal stem cell funding because Jimmy Dobson raised his eyebrow while looking at Junior Bush.

“…many members of my family are living better, happier lives — or, heck, just living — because of medical innovations made in recent decades, innovations that probably wouldn’t have been made under a government-run health system…” Shorter Glenn: the government wouldn’t have spent billions developing Viagra for mine and Rush Limbaugh’s pleasure. So, universal health care sucks. QED. Nyah-nyah.

So Glenn, about you and yours: wtf would be so fucking bad about that? You know, fer the rest of us. Goddam fucking taint lapping running dog insurance company fuckwad ball of pus.

PS All those fucking Bushes AND this motherfucking asshole? Yale’s got too much to answer for. Close that pest hole or nationalize it. Boola, boola, my ass. Fucking fuck the tables down at fucking Morey’s. Asshole shitwad fucktards.

PPS It’s the whole goddam family: http://drhelen.blogspot.com/ Go ahead, once you start with the unattributed cite to Instafuckwad Glenn (as though he were an actuall source instead of a phlegm ball reich cloaca), skip on down to “doctors going Galt.” Jesus fucking wept.

Yeah, but if it were up to the government, there wouldn’t be so many drugs on the market to make you… bigger.

Despite all the journalists yucking it up that “Al Gore claimed he invented the Internet” his comment (as Vint Cerf and the guys who do the actual inventing have confirmed) the comment he “got in trouble for” was 100 percent factually correct.

THERE WOULD BE NO INTERNET IF IT WASN’T FOR THE US GOVERNMENT. Clearly the greatest technological innovation of the late 20th century. Reynolds wouldn’t have blog to pontificate on if it wasn’t for the “throttling of bureaucrats” like Al Gore…

Fuckin’ NASA! They never share anything!

May I add that most advances in trauma medicine have come from doctors in the military? Federal government not only directly conducts some medical research, they fund most of the rest. Indeed, despite drug company claims of huge expenses for research (their largest cost is actually advertising), most research on drugs is federally funded.

Uh oh. Looks like somebody slipped dark roast into JD’s decaf pot this morning. Go getem’!

The kind of innovation that private industry can do is something that requires a relatively small investment and will pay off quickly with a marketable product. Like rolling sticky lint picker-uppers. Stuff that requires massive investment up front requires government investment. Like the space program. Or the Manhattan Project. Or just about any basic research project. Like the Superconducting SuperCollider. Oh wait, the Republicans killed that.

It’s that weasely “probably” that he sticks in there that makes his argument so lame. When you can’t be bothered to know if your assertion is true, throw in a “probably” and you can back away from it later. Glenn Reynolds is “probably” an ignorant asshole. TBogg is “probably” the funniest blogger on earth.

OK, TBogg is the funniest blogger on earth.

Funny how all those other ’soshulust medicine’ countries enjoy the same medical innovations, while France and Switzerland are world leaders in pharmaceutical research.

Stay Stupid, Instaputz — it’s the Republican Way.

Well, YEAH! Just think–with the money we saved NOT building that supercollider whachamajigger, the Rethugs built something like 6 new football stadiums, 3 baseball stadiums, a couple of racetracks, and a sh*tload of casinos! Ah, yes….
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, a random number generator, and a thou….
(Apologies to Omar Khayyam.)

I’ll bet that all the faculty and researchers at the UT medical school in Memphis will be happy to know that their work is shit, according to some Knoxville law school hack. Better be careful which hospital you go to if you sprain your mouse finger the next time you’re visiting Nathan Bedford Forrest’s grave, Professor Heh-Indeedy.

That is not necessarily so, fuzzbone. Why I read in Popular Mechanic that Glenn had a plan for a series of tubes, and cups and strings ready to go before Mr. Smarty Pants Gore stepped in and beauracratized everything.

It would have been so much better

Nathan Bedford Forrest’s grave

Have pledged to urinate on that someday.

Mister Professor Reynolds has forgotten this little backwoods site as well. He shouldn’t: if something goes wrong there. . .

Oh wait: kind of hard to transmit BS without KWH.

innovations that probably wouldn’t have been made under a government-run health system

Oh, do fuck off, Glenda. And take your Galtroid wife with you.

Now, let’s talk about “innovations that non-state-employees couldn’t get under Corporate-run health care”.

http://sixstringink.blogspot.c…..-paul.html

Obviously, the Ole Perfessor and his peeps should refuse all medical treatment that stemmed from government-funded research. I’m waiting…