London Orders Obama: Be Merciless! Crack Down! Deny Care!

June 28, 2009 (LPAC)—The City of London's Economist magazine devotes its June 27-July 3 issue to ordering President Barack Obama to make sure that murderous healthcare cuts, and denial of "expensive care" to millions, is rammed through in the United States—including, explicitly, the replication in America of the British NICE, the hated national healthcare board which rations treatments and drugs and denies them if they are "not cost effective." Obama's British instructions are for a fascist healthcare "reform"—"make sure you get it done, our way."

The Economist pictures on its cover a grinning President Obama, dressed as a surgeon. He holds a menacing syringe with a four-inch needle, under the headline, "Reforming Health care: THIS IS GOING TO HURT."

Inside are three articles giving the U.S. President his marching orders to get tough with Congress and the people to slash health care—and another entire section on aging, attacking the present system of pension benefits for elderly Americans, and demanding an end to the concept of retirement.

On the principle of the healthcare reform, the Economist's instruction is:

"Forcing people into 'managed' health schemes, where SOME SPECIES OF BUREAUCRAT DECIDES WHICH TREATMENTS ARE COST-EFFECTIVE, IS POLITICALLY TOXIC... BUT TO SOME EXTENT IT WILL HAVE TO BE DONE." [emphasis added -ed]

On cutting health care:

"America's [health] insurance system encourages overuse ... excessively generous coverage and hence over-consumption.... OECD countries have an average of 11 magnetic-resonance imaging machines per million people. America has 25.9. America uses them more often, too... Similar tales can be told about other pricey kit [sic]....

"[A] useful way to promote transparency and value would be to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of new drugs, devices and treatments.... Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) [rationing agency] pioneered this approach...

"In America, the drugs and devices lobbies are violently opposed to a NICE-style agency that could issue mandatory rulings.. THEY PAINT A SCARY PICTURE OF AMERICANS BEING DENIED ACCESS TO LIFE-SAVING NEW DRUGS BY FACELESS BUREAUCRATS...." [emphasis added -ed]