Weekly Comments: Health care plan floods air waves
COLUMBUS: This morning President Obama booked himself on five TV news shows, and Monday night heās on Letterman. Donāt be surprised if next weekend he preempts the half time show of every football game.
He says that if he canāt persuade us on television, heāll start calling on the telephone. Can you imagine him calling 300 million of us? Naturally heāll commence with the Democrats. Heāll hope to convince enough Democrats that he donāt have to worry with the Republicans at all.
His problem is that the majority like their health care the way it is. Donāt change a thing, they say. Well, the reason they like it is because they arenāt the ones paying for it. If everyone knew the cost, and had to pay it themselves, they might be willing to shop for a cheaper option.
The President says medical costs are too high and they have increased way too fast over the past ten or twenty years. He may be right, but half the increase is because of new medicines and technology. Do you want to give that up? Whatās that leave to cut, other than trial lawyers and insurance profits? I rather doubt you want to cut your doctorās salary, at least not until after your surgery.
It kinda looks like heās gonna keep hounding us till we give up and accept it. Only then can we ever hope to find out exactly what it was we accepted.
Some of our big economists announced the āRecession is over.ā Well, thatās just an economistās way of saying it probably wonāt get any worse unless you lose your job. Itās like a weatherman reporting that the river has stopped rising; it donāt mean the flood is over if you have five feet of water in your living room.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
āIām not a member of any organized political party… Iām a Democrat.ā (no specific date)
āThe trouble with the Democrats has been up to now that they have been giving the people āwhat they thought they ought to have,ā instead of āwhat they wantedā.ā Saturday Evening Post, March 30, 1929
āDemocrats never agree on anything… Thatās why theyāre Democrats; if they could agree with each other, they would be Republicans.ā Saturday Evening Post, May 1, 1926
āPerhaps in a few months our Politicians will change… You know, Politicians, after all, are not over a year behind public opinion.ā WA #25, June 3, 1923