Health Care Reform From This Guy?
This article in the New York Times just leaves me shaking my head. It could be good news depending on the result, and it was good for an ironic laugh. But no matter what, it shows how much trouble our politicians have put us in and how little chance we have.
Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the Energy and Commerce committee, is ignoring the fiscally conservative democrats on his own committee and since he doesn’t have the votes to get the bill out of the committee without them he’s threatening to bypass the committee. And those Blue Dogs (fiscally conservative democrats) are threatening to turn the committee over to the republicans (according to Waxman).
I’ve always said out government is at it’s best when no party is in charge and they are forced to work together or do nothing. Now there’s the added amusement of watching a party implode.
The big downside is that Mr. Waxman will get the bill he wants. The absurdity of this is apparent when you consider that Waxman is a rep. from California. A state that is essentially bankrupt and paying salaries and bills with IOU’s. Now Mr. Waxman wants to make the California excesses national and is ignoring the people trying to reign in costs. The democrats say they want this to be a bipartisan effort yet they can’t even come to an agreement among themselves and are threatening to propose a bill that did not get approved by the Committee.
You still think this will be real reform? I ask again, what’s changing except who pays and the (increased) amount of money going to the healthcare industry?
Perfection
Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox pitched a perfect game, 27 up – 27 down. DeWayne Wise was put in as a defensive replacement and showed exactly why when he robbed Gabe Kapler of a home run.
This Is Health Care Reform?
Some politicians are saying the current health care “reform” bills will reign in costs. But the facts don’t seem to back up those statements. The Congressional Budget Office (which does non-partisan estimates) says all the proposed bills will actually increase costs. The bills seem to be targeted at increasing the income of health care providers by collecting more money for health care. That money will come from higher taxes. I haven’t seen any ideas that would actually lower health care costs across the board. It will still be cheaper to drive to Canada to get our meds.
If the “reform” is supposed to lower health care costs then the following paragraph from the NY Times article needs to be explained:
The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, has said he hopes to have a health care bill on the floor by July 27. That goal appears unrealistic, even though members of the Finance Committee said they had made progress in talks on how to pay for their bill, expected to cost at least $1 trillion over 10 years.
So a bill that costs $1 trillion will lower costs? Sounds like an oxymoron to me. When they talk about lowering costs they just mean they’ll find new taxes to pay for it so the budget deficit won’t grow. Not all of that will come from taxes on personal income. Companies will get additional levies related to health insurance. Let’s lead the entire country down the path of the bankrupt automakers and the bankrupt California.
So, on top off all the deficit expanding bailouts and paying for the Iraq war we need to come up with another trillion bucks to add the insurance company and health care provider profits.
Why do we think we can control costs by forcing people to buy insurance but not limiting the profits of companies providing the services. Yes, a free market is better, but the reform bills kill the free market and are just a forced transfer of money. While I’m not a fan of government control, if you want to nationalize the payment system through taxes and forced payments by employers then nationalize the whole system (again, I think it’s a bad idea but it makes more sense to me than the current proposals). At best we’re removing any incentive for health care providers to lower costs and at worst we’re giving the health care an incentive to charge more.
And now the proponents of the bills are trying to ram them through before anybody has a chance to fully analyze them. Any law has unintended consequences, especially something this complex so even the best of intentions can lead to disaster. Yet we again have a government trying to push through their pet projects before they can be fully scrutinized. They care more about meeting a date on a calendar than coming up with comprehensive health care reform.
Out government is again failing to server the interests of the people it’s supposed to represent.
American Icon Dies
Walter Cronkinte, the iconic anchorman, has died at age 92. The New York Times recaps his career. Again showing my age, my memories of Walter Cronkite are mainly about watching him describe the moon landings and other space flights.
The New York Times has a quote by Mr. Cronkite that our current news givers should consider:
I am a news presenter, a news broadcaster, an anchorman, a managing editor — not a commentator or analyst
The $18 Million Website
The US government is spending $18 million to redesign the recovery.org website to help us keep track of government spending, with half of that money being spent over the next 6 months. $18 million for a website? Smartronix definitely has the connections. How can $18 million for a website be anything more than a payoff to friends?
Add up all the taxes we pay and it tops 50% of our income for most people, and this is a reason why. Our government considers $18 million for a website a good deal.
People Just Need To Chill
Some people just need to relax. A New Jersey brewery has taken New Jersey’s reputation for being all highways and named some beers in honor of highway exits in Jersey. This has got the turnpike authority and MADD concerned that it might promote drunk driving. I don’t know what to fear more, that people are stupid or bored enough to try to drum up controversey where these is none, or that they might be right and someone will take a slug from “Exit 4 Beer” and say “Hey, let’s throw the case in the car and go see what exit 4 is like.”
Asked and Answered
First I see this posting on the Planet Money blog – After Sanford’s Affair, Putting a Price on Adultery.
Then I see Nevada Senator John Ensign had an answer – his own affair cost $96,000. It seems that was the bill to get out. But the good news for him was his parents paid.
Share your thoughts..