Here’s a suggestion for the folks in Washington. If Democrats stop claiming that Trump “colluded” with Russia to win the election, and Trump stops claiming that Obama installed surveillance equipment in Trump Tower, maybe Congress could get down to some real work.
Health insurance is one issue they can work on. Keep in mind that out of 330 million, all but about 30 million of us are covered by employer-provided insurance or Medicare. Of those 30 million, many are young or otherwise don’t want to buy health insurance. Others are sincerely poor and can’t afford a good policy. Still others want to wait until they need it and then expect to buy it like everyone else. And others have a health condition that makes them a high risk, meaning the companies need to charge a lot more. Another important point is that everyone in America, one hundred percent, can receive health care, with or without insurance. It’s the law.
So, while you listen to the Republicans argue among themselves, and watch Democrats stand on the sidelines throwing spitballs at every new idea, only a relative few of us are directly affected. It boils down to who is going to pay for the poor to buy insurance, and how to persuade healthy folks to sign up before they get sick. No matter which side you’re on, the news folks can find a thousand that will be harmed by your favorite plan.
I heard a statistic that 5 percent of us are responsible for 50 percent of the total cost of health care. Now, that gives the nub of an idea: you find those folks and, like in the old days, ride ‘em out of town on a rail. No, no, we won’t do that. But it would be fun to see a few of those folks follow their doctor’s advice for healthier living. Maybe I should be first in line.
President Trump stopped in Nashville where he honored former President Andrew Jackson on his 250th birthday. If Trump ever wants to get any votes in Oklahoma, he should have honored Country Music, and ignored Old Andy. (See below)
Historic quote by Will Rogers:
“I am not so sweet on old Andy [Jackson]. He is the one that run us Cherokees out of Georgia and North Carolina… Old Andy, every time he couldn’t find anyone to jump on, he would come back and pounce onto us Indians… Then he would go to Florida and shoot up the Seminoles. Then he would have a row with the government, and they would take his command and his liquor away from him, and he would come back and sick himself onto us Cherokees again… They sent the Indians to Oklahoma. They had a treaty that said, ‘You shall have this land as long as the grass grows and the water flows.’ It looked like a good treaty, and it was, till they struck oil. Then the Government took it away from us again. They said the treaty only refers to water and grass; it don’t say anything about oil.” WA #267, Feb. 5, 1928