Sometimes the comments are better than the article. These are some of the comments from an article in the Camera about a new robotic device that helps perform surgery at Boulder Community Hospital.

Posted by Jesus_was_a_socialist on March 21, 2009 at 11:04 p.m.

I, for one, welcome our new robotic doctor overlords.

Posted by meatpieandtatters on March 22, 2009 at 7:31 a.m.

The robotic doctor is also well-versed in over-prescribing pharmaceuticals and ordering needless billable procedures.

Over-billing Medicare is an optional program.

Posted by dludler on March 22, 2009 at 9:36 a.m.

Finally, they've been able to create a surgeon with personality!

Posted by boulderpersonage1 on March 22, 2009 at 11:21 a.m.

Gosh, if the CEO of Boulder Community Hospital would forgo a piece of his $1.2 million dollar salary, the hospital could buy all sorts of new technology and charge less for it.

Posted by ThatCertainWoman on March 22, 2009 at 7:42 p.m.

What's the robot doing in that first picture? Smurf liposuction?

One budget hole closed; next is bigger

By Tim Hoover
The Denver Post

Posted: 03/26/2009 12:30:00 AM MDT

Lawmakers on Wednesday finished filling a nearly $160 million hole in the current year's spending plan, relying heavily on cash funds to close the gap.

The accomplishment for the Joint Budget Committee, the six-member panel that annually crafts the state's budget, was relatively easy compared with the task it will face starting today: filling a $766.4 million hole in the next budget year, which begins in July.

Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, said lawmakers won't be able to rely much on cash funds to deal with next year's budget problems.

"I really think when the new revenue forecast came out (last week), it was a reality slap in the face that we need to start making some cuts," he said.

Some of the cuts JBC members approved to close the final gap in the current year's budget include reclaiming $2.3 million in funds that school districts had not yet used to expand full-day kindergarten programs. The panel also cut $1.8 million in funding that goes primarily to Colorado Springs-area schools to help accommodate enrollment of children in military families.

The panel eliminated any increase in construction funding for charter schools and cut $1.1 million in payments to private hospitals to compensate for care to the uninsured.

Also cut was $1.7 million in grant funding for innovative health care programs.