Pat Robertson: God Will Destroy America Due To Allowing Marriage Equality

Pat Robertson warns that God will destroy America for allowing marriage equality:

I think we need to remember the term sodomy came from a town known as Sodom and Sodom was destroyed by God Almighty and the thing that they practiced was homosexual activity and even they tried to rape angels who came down there, so that’s the kind of people they were. But beyond that, Jesus when He spoke of Sodom He didn’t say anything about the homosexuality he talked about just the fact that business was as usual until God decided to destroy it. And He sent an angel down there and He said to Lot and his family, ‘get out now because I’m gonna destroy this whole area.’ That’s where sodomy came from, we use the term sodomy and it means Sodom. What’s it like? We’re heading that way as a nation. In history there’s never been a civilization ever in history that has embraced homosexuality and turned away from traditional fidelity, traditional marriage, traditional child-rearing, and has survived. There isn’t one single civilization that has survived that openly embraced homosexuality. So you say, “what’s going to happen to America?” Well if history is any guide, the same thing’s going to happen to us…

It’s not a pretty world we live in right now, and we need all of God’s help we can get. And I don’t think we are not exactly setting ourselves up for His favor.

Video above via Right Wing Watch

Global Payments Failing In Massachusetts–Should Provide Warning For Obama Administration

Health care reform was necessary to curb the abuses of the health insurance industry and provide affordable care to those without coverage, but some of the reform ideas based upon good intentions have been faulty. The Obama administration has been using health care reform to push for new ways to pay for health care and to push for larger medical practices. Both ideas are counterproductive to the goal of providing more affordable, quality care.

Attempts at getting away from fee for service for health care failed miserably during the HMO era, often leading to restrictions on necessary care and unhappy beneficiaries. Not content with letting a bad idea die, the Obama administration has been trying to find ways to adjust a failed idea to make it work. Massachusetts has provided a model for Obama’s health care proposal, and hopefully the Obama administration can also learn from the aspects which have failed. Attempts to pay physicians and hospitals with the types of ideas they are considering has wound up costing more, and part of the reason is that big groups have managed to use their clout to use the system to increase their income. Boston Public Radio reports:

“Our examination found that paying providers on a global basis has not resulted in lower total medical expenses.”

It’s just a short, no-frills sentence, but it amounts to a bombshell dropped on a central tenet of the Massachusetts governor’s plan for the next phase of health reform.

That finding anchors a report issued this morning by state Attorney General Martha Coakley. And it appears to contradict Gov. Deval Patrick’s argument that shifting to global payments is a key to “cracking the code” of ever-spiraling medical costs…

Global payments are supposed to re-align doctors’ incentives and put a stop to the rise in costs. Under such a global system, instead of being paid for each specific treatment, health care providers are put on an overarching budget for every patient. At the end of a year, if they’re within the budget and meet quality standards, they can win bonuses; if not, they risk penalties. The Patrick administration and private insurers have been pushing doctors toward this model, saying it leads to better, thriftier practices.

But Martha Coakley says: “Our investigation shows that a move to global payments is not the panacea to controlling costs.” The attorney general’s report suggests that in fact, thus far, care has tended to end up costing more under global budgets rather than less.

The report suggests continuing to adjust the system, but it is probably doomed to fail as HMO’s did. Despite the faults of fee for service payment, any other form of payment turns out to work far worse. Concentrating health care in larger groups, rather than lowering costs as the Obama administration believes, leads to higher costs (which really should have been predictable).

Quote of the Day

“BREAKING: Gingrich’s Dog, Cat Latest to Bolt Campaign.” –Andy Borowitz

David Frum Admits He Was Wrong About Same-Sex Marriage

David Frum admits he was wrong about same-sex marriage, and therefore isn’t upset about its passage in New York:

The short answer is that the case against same-sex marriage has been tested against reality. The case has not passed its test.

Since 1997, same-sex marriage has evolved from talk to fact.

If people like me had been right, we should have seen the American family become radically more unstable over the subsequent decade and a half.

Instead — while American family stability has continued to deteriorate — it has deteriorated much more slowly than it did in the 1970s and 1980s before same-sex marriage was ever seriously thought of.

Same-sex marriage didn’t turn out to cause the collapse of civilization. I’ve always suspected that its acceptance would gradually increase as people realized this. It is a shame more people didn’t realize this before his former boss, George Bush, used referendums against same-sex marriage to get people out to the polls in 2004.

Torchwood: Miracle Day Premiere Date Announced for the UK.

Torchwood Miracle Day UK premiere date finally announced–Thursday July 14 at 9pm on BBC1. The season is premiering July 8 in the US (Starz), July 9 in Canada (Space) and July 9 in Australia (UKTV).