Having labeled critics of the president “racists” yesterday, the mask slipped a little further over at the WaPo today with business editor Steven Pearstein accusing the Republican Party of using scare tactics to combat all of the several health scare schemes swirling in Congress:
As a columnist who regularly dishes out sharp criticism, I try not to question the motives of people with whom I don’t agree. Today, I’m going to step over that line.
The recent attacks by Republican leaders and their ideological fellow-travelers on the effort to reform the health-care system have been so misleading, so disingenuous, that they could only spring from a cynical effort to gain partisan political advantage. By poisoning the political well, they’ve given up any pretense of being the loyal opposition. They’ve become political terrorists, willing to say or do anything to prevent the country from reaching a consensus on one of its most serious domestic problems.
“Terrorism” is a serious charge in the US these days (although the “War on Terror” is over, thank God – did we win?) and the gravamen of Pearlstein’s argument is that the public option will not – can not – start the country down a slippery slope towards the dreaded “single payer” health care scheme common to socialized medicine. Perhaps tomorrow we’ll see an op-ed declaring opponents of the restructuring scheme as “racist terrorists” and we can go on from there.
But there’s this tiny problem in Pearlstein’s critique, and that’s the fact that so many proponents of the public option plan actually seem to believe that it’s the best way to get to single payer:
But perhaps they’ve all gotten religion since then, and the public option won’t allow the feds to “crowd out” private health insurance. Perhaps.
The terrorism charge also takes for granted the capability of the Republican machine to energize its base by protesting at town hall meetings, something it famously could not do back in November of 2008, when the party received a well-deserved whipping at the polls. And as Peggy Noonan points out in today’s WJS, it’s not just WaPo business editors that are feeling terrorized – the rest of us are too:
And so the shock on the faces of Congressmen who’ve faced the grillings back home. And really, their shock is the first thing you see in the videos. They had no idea how people were feeling. Their 2008 win left them thinking an election that had been shaped by anti-Bush, anti-Republican, and pro-change feeling was really a mandate without context; they thought that in the middle of a historic recession featuring horrific deficits, they could assume support for the invention of a huge new entitlement carrying huge new costs.
The passions of the protesters, on the other hand, are not a surprise. They hired a man to represent them in Washington. They give him a big office, a huge staff and the power to tell people what to do. They give him a car and a driver, sometimes a security detail, and a special pin showing he’s a congressman. And all they ask in return is that he see to their interests and not terrify them too much. Really, that’s all people ask. Expectations are very low. What the protesters are saying is, “You are terrifying us.”
The partisans on both sides have made this debate all about the legacy of a president that has been in office for all of 200 days. They ought to stop it, slow down – all of them. There will be time for all of that and anyway it’s not about him. It’s about us, the American people, the cost and quality of the health care services we’ll be allowed to receive and what kind of damage might be done to one-sixth of our national economy while unpopular and distrusted politicians who can’t be bothered to read 1000 page drafts of important legislation hurry to “get something done” without stopping to ask what it is, exactly, that they are doing. Who call in union muscle to prevent “dissidents” from expressing their beliefs. Who do so in order to create some kind of Potemkin Village on YouTube, a preaching to the converted that will change nothing in the national zeitgeist but instead deepen our already troubling tendency towards cynicism.
We’ve been living with a health care “crisis” ever since Hillarycare went down in flames. This is important, necessary work that needs to be done.
But what’s the rush to fix it now?
The part that scares me is that Obama and the DNC leadership appear to be fanning the flames.
“But what’s the rush to fix it now?”
They have to get it shoved through before we figure out just how bad it is. But then, you knew that.
And as for what Peggy Noonan said, she’s right on. I’m terrified of where this is going. I know every generation thinks “Things were better in the good old days,” but I’m really worried that we can’t take too much more of this before it’s broke too bad to fix. And I’d like to be able to retire some day, let alone where my kids will be in 50 or 60 years.
Another President, who’s policies I didn’t agree with either, said in his Inaugural speech, (I paraphrase) “There’s nothing wrong with America that can’t be fixed by what’s good about America.” Might not be true much longer.
“But what’s the rush to fix it now?”
The rush to get it fixed is that it is very expensive to leave it as it is. Not to mention inefficient.
The rush is once in the Govt hands, the laws of bureaucratic physics come in. The sheer mass of the backing ensures it moves at the speed od a glacier, yet…has the same pulverizing power to anything in its path.
Once it even moves a millimeter, it is too late to stop it for a very, very long time. Think this debate is contentious? What will we see in 2010/11, when we are on the other side of this bill and the voices are are raised to get above the SNR of the background of “BLAH! BLAH! HOPE! BLAH! BALH! CHANGE! BLAH! BLAH! THE MESSIAH! BLAH! BLAH! RIGHT WING DOMESTIC TERRORIST!”
Gonna be loud, gonna be strong, and I suspect the voices in DC will have a different majority party and fresh minds and idea…I can only hope.
Follow up rhetorical question: If the war on terror is over, am I no longer a terrorist because I’m a vet?
“the laws of bureaucratic physics”
Xformed, a great phrase, and your post about the power of bureaucratic momentum is almost identical in it’s way to one I read over at Samizdata.net Scroll down to “The Death of Political Correctness” heading, hit the comments section and scroll down to comments made by Patrick B. @5Aug, 4:38pm Same sentiments exactly. Please do yourself a favor and go read, you’ll enjoy it immensely–great minds and all that.. He talks about all the minor functionaries busily carrying out your laws of physics at “the bureaucratic coal-face”–a great turn of phrase also. It’s really a well written essay that is a book-end companion piece to yours. (I kicked in with my own moronic and/or “brilliant” comments–take your pick–as well, fwiw)
As the CBO and almost all physicians point out, doing NOTHING will cause less damage than installing ObamaCare.
The government needs to fix the things it’s already broken, like Social Security and Medicare, BEFORE it works to break anything else.
To be perfectly honest, I feel that we are near the point of open rebellion. After watching videos of SEIU thugs in action, and hearing the President Himself call for his supporters to strike back twice as hard, there is every reason to believe that we are on the brink of civil war, with all of it’s attendant horror.
These “Cap & Trade” and Healthcare bills are nothing more than a blatant attempt to seize permanent control of this nation and place it into the hands of a select minority, a self-appointed neo-aristocracy. We will all be soon forced to choose sides, and folks need to look well and truly at the issues before us.
respects,
AW1Tim/
An architect friend of mine in Louisville and I were discussing this subject along with trends in general such as the mass inflow of illegal aliens and resultant changes to society, etc., with the white productive pop. of Cali leaving in droves to other states as one example the other day and we both were reminded of Joel Garreau’s 1981 work “The Nine Nations of North America” in which he divides up the continent by the differing regional and cultural values and geographical affinities. (hit Wiki–it has a good synopsis) along with that recent statement by a Russian (or was it a German) cartographer/geographer who also staked out a similar division of the continent but went further and predicted coming armed insurrection (mainly due to the immigration problem in the SW, IIRC)
Appropos of the above, our conversation concluded with my architect friend wistfully predicting that: “It looks like the Flag is coming down.” What a sad, sad, commentary on the times that near the end of one’s life (my friend is in his mid 70s) one should despair so over what his remaining memories of the nation will be…
I believe, Virgil that you and your friend may be on to something. We may be about to see the dissolution of the United States. I am not sure if anything can be done about it. I fear for our country, as there are so many people that believe that the dissolving of the country would be a good thing.
Virgil, Scott: It is a sad commentary, and I share your fear.
Unless the government changes course pretty soon, disagreements and protests may not stay “polite and civil”. If “they” don’t stop trying to destroy America, I do not believe it should stay “polite and civil”.
The Jews were “polite and civil”, at least at first, in Germany under Hitler (dislike bringing H up as an example, but it is a valid, recent and vivid example) and I do not believe that worked out for them exceptionally well.
Ghandi was “polite and civil” under British rule, though he was damn lucky it was Britain. Might not have worked out so well if India had been under Soviet or German control.
IMO too many people use the term civil when they mean subservient.
Phone calls, letters, emails, meetings with our Congress Critters do not seem to be enough to change the tide. BHO and the Democrat/Socialist/Fascist Party are close to being the enemy and not just the political opposition.
when did the gov’t do anything “effecient??” And nothing that the gov’t “fixed” became cheaper that it was, ever. Just look at the Post Office – they keep raising the price of the stamp and now threaten to close 1/3 of their locations, and the service is horrible.
The rush to fix it now is because the entire House and 1/3 of the Senate is up for election in 2010. If it is passed in 2009 but not implemented, there is 12 months for Americans to hopefully forget and perhaps the economy will recover enough for the President’s allies in Congress to be re-elected. If the bill delays until next year, it will force these incumbents to listen to their constituents and right now the constituents aren’t happy.
To clarify I meant “passed in 2009 but not implemented right away”. If it is implemented right away and have the same problems as Cash for Clunkers, namely running out of money or something like that, the constituents won’t be happy.
The version I’ve seen startes the taxes in 2011, and the benefits in 2013. Mighty peculiar, that, for something that “must” be done so swiftly as to be unsure of just what’s being done in the first place. Almost seems like there’s an avoidance going on, or something.
Corndoggy, is there any evidence that the current proposals and especially the House version will solve any of the problems? If so can you provide some truely non-partisan links. People like the CBO do not believe the hype, why should I. Suddenly adding ten’s of millions of new customers to an already overburdened system will make it all better, seems counter intuitive to me.
In momentous matters such as the health care ‘debate’ where there is, for the sake of argument, a fairly even split of opinion between the people about whether they want it or not, our government should be smart enough to realize that it should not, cannot, impose such huge changes without a substantial majority being in support. Not that I see the President being one to let little things like open dissension in the streets (see: Townhall meetings) get in the way of what he wants to impose on the producers to benefit the non-producers so as to punish the nasty profiteering insurance companies, or whatever other scapegoats he can manufacture, to support his agenda. In fact, from one Breitbart.com video it looks like the President is rabble rousing his supporters to close down dissent when he says ‘I don’t want to hear talk from the people who caused the problems; I just want them out of the way.’
Very interesting times indeed.
It’s evidence of what a fantasy bubble the Congresscritters live in that they are confused and frightened by their constituents, many of them elderly and fragile, who are dragging out their walkers and manning up to come to their ‘Town Meetings’ to protest the Obamacare plan. Which they are not being allowed to do when they get there, many times. Speaking as one of those elderly ‘terrorists,’ I suggest that the Congresspersons shut up and listen. They certainly haven’t been doing enough of that up to now.
Note to corndog … If you think our healthcare is expensive right now, do some research on the British and Canadian healthcare systems, which basically ration care by denial. Seriously ill Canadians who have urgent health care problems have been coming down to the US to get operations etc., which are denied them by their own government healthcare, and to pay for them themselves. What will they do if this ill-conceived bill is forced down our throats by Congress? And where will we go? Mexico is not really a viable alternative; neither is Brazil. Even though I’m past my pull-date, I’m not going to let a civilian panel of government folks advise me to just take the ‘assisted suicide’ option, because they need my health care money to fund someone else.
So, thankyouverymuch, I’ll just take the rudeness option instead and protest this railroading effort.
Marianne
“But what’s the rush to fix it now?”
It’s all the dead and dying people lying around in the streets that don’t have health care. It’s so bad you almost have step over them on your way to work (so to pay the taxes for all this socialism)!! That is how bad the crisis is and why it MUST be fixed by the end of July, er ah, August, or September if that’s better.
And while we are rushing to pass this thing, just to make it easier to move around and carry cause you know 1000 + pages are heavy, let’s leave out any words related to Tort Reform and Cost Controls or Transportability and that other thing, interstate competition. Just too much to have right now but we dearly need those preferences to institutions that hire traditionally improvised peoples or accept more minorities than you know regular folk. Just because the N1F1 flu is not color blind.
BT: Jimmy T sends.
Corndog, the part of this that is expensive and inefficient is the Medicare part of our health care system. NOTHING in this bill changes that. You know the Left is always happy to keep programs alive no matter how effective they may be and look to expand or create more and new programs. The reason this is a problem is that the Government can’t work in such a complicated environment as Health Care without being a dictatorship, which is why the Military in our country is so good, they have no choice but to follow orders, not so when the general public is concerned. Until now, once BHO has this under his control it will be a dictatorship.
BT: Jimmy T sends.
Provoking all this dissent is intentional and necessary for what follows…..suspension of Habeus Corpus and Martial Law.
It’s time to move to Texas.
Marianne
The vast majority of seriously ill Canadians who have their urgent health care problems met at US hospitals have the bills paid by their provincial healthcare plan. Not all, but certainly most. I only mention this because apparently not all Americans are aware of this fact.
OT, but welcome back, Michelle. It sounded like the trip was what you needed.
Thanks Bruce.
We’re not home yet, still out West actually, but Lex beckons as always.
And the trip (quite surprisingly in some ways) has been good.
Michelle … thanks for the heads-up on who pays for those Canadians when they have their urgent health care problems met at US hospitals. I wasn’t aware of that and I apologize if I insulted the Canadians, of whom I’m very fond. I just hope that if our verdommt Congress passes this bill, over the protests of its citizens, that perhaps if we are in need of immediate treatment, we can turn to our longtime friends, the Canadians.
Many years ago, when I was 10 or 11 and our family was traveling by car, and my Dad was afflicted with a serious embolism in his leg as a result of a fall. We were in Hamilton, Ontario, and he was treated very promptly and successfully at one of your hospitals there. I’ve always been grateful for that, since it kept him with us and I had the advantage of his loving wisdom until I was in my 30s.
Marianne
By the way, oldskydog …If you want to move to Texas, we’d welcome you. There are lots of advantages, you know.
Marianne
I’ll be headed down to Texas no later than July of next year. I’d be going there sooner, but obligations here have prevented that. If things are going to start to unravel, or threaten serious discord, I can think of no better place to make one’s stand than the Lone Star state.
These times remind me more and more of the situation and tribulations of the 1850’s, with the nation polarizing and ready to come to blows. I hope that doesn’t happen, but I am not naive enough to believe it couldn’t happen again.
respects,
Good point, and it could most certainly happen again.
Thanks Marianne, I was born and raised there. Always intended to return after retirement, but just can’t take the humidity. Of course, there are worse things. I might have to re-evaluate.
It’s only 110 here today in Az….cooling off some which means more humidity.
MM, if you could ratchet down the heat and humidity, I would be tempted. H&H is bad enough here in NC.
I am partial to San Antonio, even though Lackland is nearby.
Doc75 nailed it. The rush is that if it doesn’t pass soon it could be pushed out beyond the congressional election cycle of 2010, when the balance of power is unlikely to be so lopsided as it is today.
JimmyT and the others who are asking: Healthcare costs are rising at triple the rate of other costs and in 2007, Americans spent more than $2 trillion on healthcare. Go ahead and do the math. Every other industialized country spends far less on healthcare than we do, and get better healthcare out of it. And the VA also does healthcare at a far lower rate, without any of that glaciery goodness you fear.
Yeah, that is right on the money side. I pulled this out: We spend 15% of our GDP on Health Care more than any other country (the next nearest is at 12%, Switzerland). Of that, a full 1/4 is spent by Medicare, 482 Billion, in 2007 (and this was preliminary data) and how much more in Medicade I could not find. So, you see it is GOVERNMENT spending on this that is out of control. On the quality side when you account for auto deaths and homicides Americans actually live longer than anyone else on the Globe. And a recent WHO study claims the US had the highest quality system in the world.
Is it expensive, Yeah (The average per capita expenditure on health care in the United States was $7,026 in 2006) but we do get value out of it. Can it be less, You bet. As I said earlier if you get some transportability built in, some interstate competition and a little bit of tort reform I am sure it can get less expensive. Now go look at HR3200 and see where in there it address Medicare?? See where it has built in cost controls or tort reform?? Nothing like that in there. 1000 pages of pure crap. You can’t solve this problem by trashing the whole system and starting over.
My biggest fear is getting a Health Care system like our Government gives the Native Americans in this country. You want to see what 112 years of Government coddling does for you. Ask any Native American that is under the care of the IHS and see what you get from them. You want to see rationing of Doctors, Medications and Procedures go to any Indian Reservation (and not one of these pocket-family-reservations put up just to get a Casino, I am talking about a real Indian Reservation) and see what they are getting after 112 years. See what your tax dollars are doing to a people almost completely dependent on the Government. See how well this government plans and decides who gets what and when, watch your family members denied life saving meds or a procedure because someone did not budget out enough, try and live from April to October for the new fiscal year to start up again just to get to see a doctor.
I can go on, believe me our government is no place for something so complicated and remember, if they screw up someone dies. And you know the Bureaucrats never pay for their mistakes.
BT: Jimmy T sends.
If you must ask why we spend so much and why costs are rising, go on over to PopMechaincs. There is an excellent interview with Dean Kamen about medical technology. We get a supreme standard and pay for it. Other countries get to free ride on much of the R&D work done, so they get to show better numbers for less cost. They do not get better health care, as shown by the Canadian poster above. If one has to go to another country to get urgent care, mayhap there is an issue with the state run system.
And the VA also does healthcare at a far lower rate, without any of that glaciery goodness you fear.
So, cd…your experience with the VA’s system is…?
From my experience and several vets I currently work with, tain’t so McGee…
- SJS
I agree, and my personal experience was with at least four different VA hospitals, though my longest stay actually inside the hospital was only for about thirty days.
The ones around Detroit were midieval.
Really, Corndog? You found that personally? Please tell me what VA hospital you went to so I can pass it on to my buddies. The stories I hear from them are nothing of which you describe.
All dem facts are hard to chew, ain’t they? Jest you try swallin’ dem, Cornee…
Every other industialized country spends far less on healthcare than we do, and get better healthcare out of it.
Corndog – please explain, with specifics. Because everything I know of healthcare in other country’s – specifically the U.K. – says otherwise. And these is not anecdotal knowledge, for me it’s based on real experiences by friends.
Corndog
Put down the talking points and tell me how the proposed plan(s) are going to reduce the costs of healthcare. You can’t add some 40-50 million people to the insurance roles (especially for “free”) and not tell me demand for health services won’t rise. Without an offsetting increase in the supply chain (Drs. Nurses, Hospital beds, etc) there is simply no way costs won’t rise.
And if you want to drag out that tired chant of “we’re going to control costs” through efficiency, electronic medical records, the force of the President’s personality, etc. I’d be more convinced if an example of the government managing the cost of anything comparable could be provided to bolster the case.
Simply citing the fact health care costs are rising faster than inflation only defines the problem – its the solution we want to hear about.
Let’s see I can think of something comparable – let’s use the cost of education in general or, more specifically, higher education. That is largely government run at all levels. How the effort to control that cost working for ya? Guess we need the Federal government to take that over, too…..
OldT6Pilot/
I ran across an article about the British attempt to computerize their NHS system–a far, far smaller and much, much, more homogenized medical system than America has, and it has been a disaster–years behind, costs tripled from org. estimates and they are working on their 3rd set of vendors to install the system–the bothers having either pulled out claiming they were losing money or were fired. The NHS is now left with only two–one a home grown outfit and the other the same Virginia outfit that royally screwed up Louisiana’s “Road Home” program to fund people back into their homes in New Orleans post Katrina. And because of the Va. outfit’s rep the NHS has had to give the local UK vendor the moon just to keep a UK outfit in the game. It has been a nightmare for the NHS. Wish I had the link. A cautionary tail for all those who think we are going to reap such efficiencies and savings so easily.
And I have also seen estimates that the avg. est. cost/doc to fully computerize his pvt. practice is approx. $40,000.00 direct non-reimbursable out of pocket expense–a big hit indeed for dubious gains.
All in all I wouldn’t be exactly so sanguine at prospect of Obama’s promised cost-savings from the magic (and it would take just that–magic) of computerization ever materializing in our life-times.
Virgil, it would be horrendous even just for the VA.
Met a great guy who was another competitor on a TSD rally, older gent that was competing with his son. He had last competed in this rally in 1973 and was quite excited to be back in it. Spent the after-rally bar time talk to us young engineers (4-5 in the crowd) about how it was done in the old days, back when software wasn’t off the shelf, that we were lucky not to have to program our own tools anymore.
He mentioned he was on a group to help update the VA’s computer systems, being that he was one of the persons who first programmed it. Said the cost to update it such that it could talk to modern systems was highly expensive as everything had to be done at once. An entire national system, at great risk of data loss, at once.
I couldn’t imagine trying to do that for every hospital in the country.
They ought to stop it, slow down – all of them. There will be time for all of that and anyway it’s not about him. It’s about us, the American people, the cost and quality of the health care services we’ll be allowed to receive and what kind of damage might be done to one-sixth of our national economy while unpopular and distrusted politicians who can’t be bothered to read 1000 page drafts of important legislation hurry to “get something done” without stopping to ask what it is, exactly, that they are do
Sorry Lex but I think it is no time to “slow down” by those of us that feel passonately about our freedoms. In the last 200 days we have seen a radical shift in our gov’t. If you don’t think we should turn out at every opportunity to protest this major change in our gov’t then I think you need to think again.
I am sorry to take on our host and ever reasonable crier but, things have gone out of control…
I am now an “extremist” and part of an angry “mob.” Really? NO ONE WANTS TO PAY THE UTILITY BILLS THAT THE OBAMA GOV’T SEEMS TO WANT TO PUNISH US WITH. No one thinks that their manufacturing company will stay here in the United States with this legislation. That means they will lose their jobs. Good jobs for high school graduates and those that got a technical degree from a Community College. Gone…
Health care? Are you kidding? Those of us wealthy enough will pay into the gov’t sponsored health care program and then pay for private insurance. Much like sending your kids to private school. You still have to pay the property taxes…
I can’t afford much more of this. The thread is being stretched thin. It has become clear that there are two types of workers in the country; those that have union backing and the rest of us working slobs that should pay for their largess. We can’t do this for much longer.
So, when people say that those of us that buy our clothes at Kohls and turn out under duress at a political meeting, even though they have never done this in their entire lifetime, should behave themselves and engage in a polite debate, I say phooey!
We are angry as hell! We work 10-12 hours a day to provide for our families. We are not seeing automatic wage increases in our paychecks like the teachers and other union workers are. We are working ourselves to death only to have it taken away so some loser can have a free cell phone so she “can now call her family anytime she wants.” Something is very wrong with this.
I agree with you Babs. Well said, you are darned right people should be angry.
I will, as I keep thinking, compose a post regarding the situation. I did comment in an email yesterday, where someone from the AARP was quoted as saying there will be no rationing, there will be no euthanasia. My commentary (which I was told was forwarded) were words to the effect: “He’s right at one level. No one will say it. The reality is, both have to happen, because the Governmental system will require it to happen, very pragmatically, since…funds will be on a tight budget.” Also follow up to the comment about it needs to be done because the insurance companies are charging seniors too much with: “is it better to have an insurance rep tell you they have to chagre you more, or a government bureaucrat tell you there’s no money in the budget for that”? We all know how things work when budget cuts roll through the military, which…spends (and doesn’t) just like the rest of the Federal system. In one case there’s some chance you might get what you need, in the other…suck it up and be a bulldog..if you can while dying of cancer for lack of the “expensive” treatment.
I’m shocked that there are people who would consciously destroy a system that has spawned so many advances in medicine that have helped all mankind. They only have to look at what isn’t being contributed by countries with 1) socialized medicine and 2) weak economies, but that would imply these same people had a capacity to exercise logic in such matters of serious nature.
Anyone who thinks the VA delivers quality health care has no experience with it. Take it from a disabled vet. You are crapping yourself, and trying to sell it to the rest of us.
Indeed. I depend upon the VA for my health care. I have no other choice. I would ask that anyone who wants a national health care program, run completely by the government, spend a year in the VA system and see if they would wish that on their fellow citizens.
Go ahead. I’m waiting.
CornDog, if you are that enamoured with the VA system then you are talking out your @ss.
SCOTT/
Dennis the Peasant has a nice post up at his place tongue-in-cheek wise titled “My Health Ins Horror Story.” Go read, really appropos of our discussion about the pvt. system.
OK,I just have to get this peeve out there.
Why is it called health CARE? “Care” describes an emotion with attendant action that is given freely and without compensation.
Can we please call it what it is?…the term “Medical Services” might seem cold and clinical compared to “Health Care”, but would be more accurate in my mind.
I know, it’s trivial,but it just seems so intentionally dishonest as in a PR or marketing scam.
Sorry if this offends, but I think only a society as utterly spoiled as 21st century America could think that some 8-12 (maybe even 20, if you’re very liberal in your accounting) million people who would like health care, but can’t get it (and even this is a lie, no one who walks into a public hospital is denied care, period) constitutes such a crisis that the health care of 220 million people who are rather happy with theirs, thank you, should be made to either suffer much worse care, have costs skyrocket, or both. Even the risk of the above is ludicrous, in my opinion.
The “47 million uninsuredTM” argument has been thoroughly deconstructed elsewhere, and is simply not true. We are discussing systemic changes which will almost certainly destroy health care in this country as we know it for the 75% of us (if not more) who are really rather satisfied with what we have. Meanwhile, we don’t discuss at all two of the single largest drivers of health care costs – ridiculous tort laws and a lack of competitive sourcing for insurance (both caused by deliberate federal policy).
I have little problem extending health care coverage if possible. I think there are ways to do it without putting at risk the current system. But with the current cast of characters, such a modest, sane change to health care is simply impossible. I think anyone who is not a doctrinaire leftist, a leech on society, or simply too dumb to understand what the current bills mean and review the historical evidence of other countries can understand the righteous anger of tens of millions of Americans. This “reform” effort is nothing more than a naked power grab aimed at restructuring American society so that one political party will stay in power more or less indefinitely.
Which is simply amazing, given that the U.S. is a solidly conservative country, and was always intended to be such (don’t believe it, read the Federalist Papers).
v/r,
The health care crisis is pure Democrat/liberal/progressive bull$#!t propaganda to jam thru socialist programs using Other Peoples’ Money (OPM). Thats what it was in the Clinton Administration, it hasn’t changed.
I believe we have a moral obligation to care for those on the bottom tier of society but not blanket entitlements. Larry makes the point. No one is denied care in a US Public hospital. Put the money there.
Britain’s system is a mess. No choice of caregivers, long waits for proceedures and tests. Another example: Don’t get severely ill if you are over 50 in the Netherlands, your breathing permit will probably be revoked as a cost saving measure or if your relatives are tired of takeing care of you. If that assclown Peter Singer gets his way in this country it will be reality here. Check out his piece in the NYT.
And to echo Olga et al. above, the gov’t only can (insert expletive) it up, especially with the assclowns running the country now.
Looks like the much-admired French system is going broke too:
Lex/
There is a really GREAT article providing a very lucid, compact, all-in-one-place synopsis of ALL the problems with Obama care by a financial consultant at:
http:/www.stumblingontruth.com
Lex/
Sorry, here’s active link:
http:www.stumblingontruth.com
Whaa-no more active links? I just thought it was my noscript on Firefox which I adj, but nojoy.
Lex and friends:
Another VERY, VERY good site which provides a daily compendium with linked sources about all the horror stories of socialized medicine in the US,Canada, NZ, AUS, UK and Europe/Scandinavia
is run by a ret. PhD named John J. Ray down in Brisbane called “Socialized Medicine” at : http:socglory.blogspot.com Go visit.