Ding dong! They're gone!

  BLOOMBERG News Service, of all groups, has an article about the fact that you might as well get used to work slowdowns such as the snow scandal in New York City because pensions and salaries are out of hand, unions want more money and less work, and it's almost impossible to fire the bad eggs.  Read about it here.

  Remember air traffic controllers. Remember Reagan.

  Obamacare has nixed the building of 45 physician owned hospitals. Yeah, that's gonna help. Weekly Standard:

Kenneth Artz of the Heartland Institute explains, "Section 6001 of the health care law effectively bans new physician-owned hospitals (POHs) from starting up, and it keeps existing ones from expanding." Politico adds, "Friday [New Year's Eve] marked the last day physician-owned hospitals could get Medicare certification covering their new or expanded hospitals, one of the latest provisions of the reform law to go into effect."

  Over 100 hospitals have been affected by the new law, which outlaws such hospitals. Reason?
  Apparently lobbyists don't like physician owned hospitals and they lobbied Congress to include this lovely little Easter egg in the monster health care bill. Heartland:

“Unfortunately, general hospitals have lobbied Congress to limit competition,” Moffit said. “The federal government has set up viscous barriers to opening and operating POHs. It's simple rent seeking at the expense of the public.” 

  Basically it's the the hospital establishment vs.  physician owned hospitals.
  With regard to the "Orwellian mandate" that doctors discuss end of life plans with their patients, the Spectator asks, but why every year? Why are doctors required to ask those questions every year?

Why then is Berwick pushing now for annual advance directive discussions? First, the new regulation dovetails with the requirement that doctors use electronic health records to deliver advance directive materials to patients, annually. And it also overlaps with Berwick's stated desire to use the Web to deliver government-produced "shared decision-making" content about end of life care and as well as the use of invasive medical treatments.

  Remember, Medicare is offering to pay for assisted suicide in Oregon, but not treatment. Get the hint? DLTDHYOTWO. 
  Regarding net neutrality, it looks like the NY TImes is carrying The One's water again, lamenting the "dark side of anonymity" on the web. Oh, in case you didn't know, one of the things The One and his pals don't like is anonymity on the web because people say mean things, especially about him.
  And he doan like dat.
  A blogger at the Christian Science Monitor asks if Palin is right about Michelle Ooooo's demand that all you fatties out there reading this put down your twinkies and do a few jumping jacks and situps before you collapse on your pillowy behinds again. 
  Why? 
  Because somehow when the government gets involved, stuff becomes mandatory. 
  Ya think?
  On a side note, it kinda looks like there aren't too many paid writers over there at CSM anymore. Guest bloggers. Hm. Hmmmmm.
  American Solutions suggests 5 things Obama has done to raise gas prices. Word is $4 by summer and $5 by next year.
  So what do you think about Boehner?
  I hate the waterworks, personally, but I like some of the stuff he's doing. He's put freshmen on important committees, he's understanding the symbolism of not taking opulent vacations and waving a jeweled hand at the sweating masses as he ascends the steps of the private jet, and he seems pretty sincere. Plus it's cool that "busloads" carrying his siblings and friends from Ohio are traveling to D.C. to watch his swearing in. We'll see. Today it's okay.
  There'll be tough choices. We won't always agree.
  But, HEY! TOMORROW THEY"RE GONE! 
  THE QUEEN IS NO MORE!