BIG ISSUES to pay attention to

It seems like you have to check the news every 30 seconds in order to actually keep abreast of what is going on. After three days of virtual isolation, I can say I am blown away.

Iran elected the same puppet it had before, miraculously counting millions of paper ballots in an instant. Shocking. Just remember that Ahmadinehjad is the president because the Ayatollah Khamenei picked him to be president. The Ayatollah is the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic and he and the other Imams like Ahmadinehjadbecause he speaks for them. The election was a formality. The unrest that you are seeing right now should be fueled, funded, and guided by the US, but under the current administration I am afraid that we are no more than spectators. Unfortunately the only real outcome of this will be a lot of bloodshed.

North Korea makes threats and we back off. Again, shocking. Don’t worry, I’m sure Kim Jong Il will be so overwhelmed by our passivity that he will lay down his arms and open up free elections across North Korea, expelling his own communist dictatorship… or he may nuke South Korea. Either way our response will be similar and irrelevant.

Given all of that pesky “national security stuff” the real drum that the administration is beating like a dead horse is healthcare reform. The President has asserted over and over that part of the financial crisis we are in revolves around healthcare. While that may be true in individual circumstances, it is laughable on the national scene. Yes, healthcare costs are growing irrationally and in some cases crushing families. Trust me when I say I understand that. However, it did not contribute to the national financial meltdown. Throwing it into the mess is only the excuse the administration is using for pushing huge reforms right now.

According to the Organizing for America email that I received, the President has three goals for healthcare reform, “it must reduce costs, guarantee choice, and ensure quality care for every American.” These are great goals, none of which are attainable under the plan that administration is backing, but they are great goals.

The first goal is to reduce costs. Sounds great, who doesn’t want lower costs on healthcare? That’s a no brainer. Everybody wants the best healthcare imaginable at the lowest price. The President claims that by pushing electronic records and by using the “group discount” approach to healthcare we will be able to drive down costs. Really? Then why isn’t the government saving all kinds of money on Medicare and Medicaid? Why haven’t they implemented complete electronic records on the systems that they already run? Why haven’t they implemented the cost saving miracles in these programs first? These two programs alone are threatening to crush the budget as the ranks swell with the baby boomers over the next eight years. How will adding literally hundreds of millions more people help the cost?

The second goal is by far my favorite, “guarantee choice”. The President has been fond of saying that if you like your doctor and you like your insurance plan, then you can keep it. Really? Let me give you a clue to how this is going to work. The government is going to set up minimum coverage standards that have to be provided. It will probably include things like dental, vision, and mental health coverage; things that many employers or employees take a pass on right now. Employers will shop the cost through their current systems and will be a little frustrated by the cost increases, but then they will be given their out, the government option. The government will penalize employers who don’t offer coverage at the level that they are mandating. But the cost of the penalty will be less than providing the mandated coverage. Presto! Companies drop their private coverage, pay the government penalty and you are now on the government system! Did you get to keep your program? No. Did your employer at least have the option to go private? Sure, but why would they when it didn’t make fiscal sense? Pretty soon the “government plan” has forced the private insurance companies out of business. Oops… sorry.

The third goal of course is “quality care for every American”. That’s ingenious really. What was the alternative statement, “we want a system with long wait times, limited resources, and denied services?” Please! These are the same people who run the VA, Medicare, and Medicaid now. Do you think they are going to improve when they are flooded by another hundred million subscribers? What they don’t mention are the healthcare related companies that this bill will KILL. How many new drugs do you see coming out of countries that currently have state run healthcare? Is it any coincidence that the new medicines almost exclusively come from US companies? What about companies that provide medical technologies? How are they going to fund research and development when the government is controlling their prices? Why would anyone start a medical related company? Why would a doctor become a specialist? Socialized medicine means long wait times, limited medicines, limited numbers of available services, fewer physicians, less equipment, fewer medical advancements, and ultimately government boards deciding whether or not it is fiscally responsible to provide care for particular ailments. It happens every day in Canada and the UK. Minimal care for most Americans, but QUALITY care for no one.

This is a huge issue. Our Representatives need to hear from us. Our Senators need to be sick of hearing our voices.

Don’t be distracted by Letterman and completely USELESS stuff. Focus on what matters.

This bill will KILL small businesses.

This bill will cost TRILLIONS of dollars.

This bill will cost lives and quality of life for everyone and anyone who has medical issues.