A few comments on the health care bill.

It is really difficult to comment on the current health care bill being massaged and sculpted by the senate finance committee. It is still very much so under construction, or destruction depending on your outlook. I am glad the finance committee was able to defeat the public option. Maybe they were paying attention to the voters concerns at all those town hall meetings in August.
On the other hand, I don't see where this so called private co-op (with a $6b government subsidy as "seed money") is a big improvement. It sure looks like this co-op is going to be another government sponsored extortion, excuse me, enterprise. This frightens me because it seems like the health care equivalent of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the housing industry. Do the American Taxpayers need to finance another nightmare for another industry important to the American economy? I think not.
What really burns me up is the congressmen's statement that the insurance business needs to have their feet held to the fire. If this isn't the pot calling the kettle black, I cannot imagine what would be.
Here's a few suggestions for all our congress men and women to help them get through this.

1. Leave your egomania out of the decision making process. The voters did not elect you so you can create a legacy or make history at their expense. The voters elected you to represent their interests in congress, not visa versa.

2. Stop calling anyone who disagrees with your ideas Nazis and astroturf. There are still WWII veterans around who would take great offense at you referring to their sons and daughters as nazis just because they do not believe the public option is a gift from heaven above via yourselves.

3. Start using page limits on legislation. Remember the acronym KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid.

4. Accomplish some real positive health care reform. Put a limit on medical malpractice lawsuit awards. Too many doctors are practicing too much defensive medicine. They order tests and other procedures that are not medically necessary just to protect themselves from lawsuits.

Well, this is enough for now. If I go on any further I might be made an honorary member of congress. (What irony indeed)

A few more thoughts on healthcare overhaul (aka nationalized medicine)

There is an old saying," if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The USA has the best healthcare delivery system on this planet. It is not broken but nonetheless fearless leaders in DC, mainly liberals and democrats, want to overhaul it. An overhaul is not needed. The problem every American has with our healthcare system is the drastic increases in its costs. This is what needs fixing. Unfortunately, our politicians are only good at taxing Americans and then giving some of it back to bribe us to vote for them. This is why there is so much stress and disagreement coming out on the healthcare issue. American voters are justified in their fear of what the warlocks and witches of congress will conjure up as an "overhaul" of our health care system. Americans need to deluge their congressional representatives with their viewpoints on healthcare. Eventually they will listen or be voted out of office.

The lack of universal healthcare coverage is the lamest excuse Big Brother Government Healthcare advocates use in this debate. They harp on the fact that the USA is the only "developed " country on earth without it. Two questions come to mind when I hear this. First,"and your point is . . ?" and second "So Frigging What??!!!" When I was growing up, I used this argument to try to get my parents permission to do something. The conversation would go like this. Me," can I do such and such, all the other kids at school can do it." My parents response, " if all the other kids at school jumped out of an airplane without a parachute, would you do it too?" Needless to say, we did not have very many of these conversations.

Another phrase I am tired of hearing from politicians is "the need to create a level playing field." This is usually given as an excuse for whatever legislation they want taxpayers to fund whether we want to or not. Well, I just found a website dedicated to all you level playing field fans. For a glimpse of level playing field Utopia, click here.

Congress attempts to rewrite preventive care study

The September 1, 2009 issue of the Washington Post reports a study of the cost effectiveness of preventive care is not going to generate the savings that have been promised by advocates of Obamacare. Entitled "Using clinical information to project health care spending," the study was published on the website of the journal of health policy research "Health Affairs." Michael J. O'Grady , one of 4 authors of the study, had this to say about the study. "There's no free lunch here. Prevention will not pay for everything. But it's not as expensive as it looks at first blush"

How did Obamacare supporters in Congress react to this. They have already requested the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan agency established by Congress to provide impartial evaluations of the cost effects of proposed legislation, to revise their studies to support their position. Donna Christensen, (D-US Virgin Islands) introduced a bill which would allow congressional leaders to request the CBO to alter their research methodology to a longer time period in hopes it would show more beneficial cost savings. I wonder what the Obamacare fans would say if the 25 year time frame still did not generate the savings they say preventive care will cause.

I say preventive care should be a major part of any health care reform. It doesn't matter to me if it generates savings or not, it will improve the quality of life for the chronically ill. The Hippocratic Oath requires Medical Doctors to do no harm or injustice to their patients. This is what preventive care is all about, providing the best care possible for the ill. The Obamacare fans seem to want their cake, eat it and lose weight at the same time.