The $2,000,000,000,000 Summer VacationBack to the Blog »
July 22nd, 2009
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Does anyone else wonder what the hurry is? Really–can anyone tell me what is so important about the August recess??? It is starting to look like a very expensive vacation to me.
Why is it that we have to have a top to bottom overhaul of the healthcare system–the $2 trillion healthcare economy that employs millions and millions of people in relatively high paying jobs (good for the economy!) and impacts every one of our 300 million residents and another 12 million or so undocumented immigrants?
As I have said many times before here and here–we do need to reform the system. And no matter what President Obama or any other politician says, there will be big changes in the way that all of us use, access and pay for healthcare. BUT IT WILL NOT ALL GOOD–it can’t!!!! We will all face tough choices about who gets care when and from whom, and some of these decisions will be made by the Government. Yes, they will.
So if you find yourself agreeing with many things you hear from the President, take the time to ask the tough questions and do not accept the idea that it will be “all good”, that the only thing that will change for YOU is that you will pay less and get better benefits. Many, many things will change for all of us, and many of these changes will be difficult to live with.
Yes it is broken. Yes it needs to be fixed in a big way. But jamming through the crappy legislation that is floating around out there is downright offensive and borderline immoral. The Mayo Clinic has a pretty direct and concise critique of the general crappiness of the House package here.
So I ask again-what is the hurry? Doesn’t the American people deserve the opportunity to truly understand how things will change for them under what is being proposed?
The answer to these questions of course is politics, pure and simple. Dr. Albert Waxman has an excellent post Healthcare Reform- Why have the objectives been abandoned so quickly? over on on The Healthcare Blog.
It’s a pretty straightforward reminder that it is very useful to keep the desired outcome in mind as we try to figure out what needs to change….for lawmakers in Washington, we are reminded of just how is easy it is to lose sight of the goals while producing crappy legislation. It could be a very expensive Summer vacation if they are successful.
Posted by Bill in Healthcare Reform
Bill,
it’s really quite simple. The President and the Speaker don’t want the legislators going back to their districts for the long break where they may be unduly inluenced by the voters that put them into office. I think the voters are starting to realize that the bills as written are ill-conceived and flawed so better to vote quickly before everyone knows.
Just another rush to judgement in which the the facts are merely an inconvenience. Speaking of “inconvenient truths”, the recent event involving his Harvard buddies Skip Gates, Duval Patrick and Denise Simmons provides us with yet another example . I can’t wait to see how many “inconvenient facts” will be covered up and glossed over as the coverage of this distasteful mess unfolds.
How ironic if it were something like the Gates incident that finally unveils the arrogance of the politicos. First the banks, then auto, then healthcare, then energy… Sounds like law enforcement is next on their agenda.