Are the American people stupid? That's what Democrats seem to believe. The hype is that the government can shrink the uninsured gap to about 6% while at the same time reduce the deficit! And, pray tell, what is this magic spell which Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maine, Tennessee, Oregon, and others, facing steep above-projection costs, never managed to cast on their own? HINT: Are the states allowed to print their own money?
If you really believe that sausage making of health care "reform" behind closed Senate Democratic doors is the Holy Grail of Democratic politics: keep in mind what Harvard Medical School Dean Jeffrey Flier recently wrote:
In discussions with dozens of health care leaders and economists, I find near-unanimity of opinion that, whatever its shape, the final legislation that will emerge from Congress will markedly accelerate national health care spending rather than restrain it.If anyone seriously doesn't know what happens when you have a larger number of people chasing the same limited number of medical personnel, the same level of technology or medical supplies, he or she has never participated in an auction.
Investors Business Daily points out some of the gimmicks being used: tax-first-pay-later, dubious Medicare cuts (when Democrats themselves fought against Medicare cuts in prior years and at the same time Medicare has over $30T in unfunded liabilities), and tax hikes to the upper class or health care sector companies (which will eventually get passed on to their customers like any other cost). Stealth, if not later explicit tax hike, not to mention imposed rationing, on the middle class--just to fix something that really isn't a problem: people choosing not to buy a perverse type of insurance, which goes beyond catastrophic coverage. Anyone want to bet how long it will take Democrats, after the bill is passed, to suddenly "discover" there aren't enough rich people to pay for their health care spending spree mandates?
Fireworks at the Joint Economic Committee: Kevin Brady (R-TX) vs. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner (Tax Cheat)
There was a sharp clash between Brady (whom makes no secret of his disdain for the job Geithner is doing) and Geithner. Geithner operates like any true Obama crony: what would Obama do? Wait a minute...it's coming to me...it's coming to me...It's BUSH BASHING! Brady pointed out that Geithner was serving on the Federal Reserve before and during the economic tsunami. (Score, Brady! Game, set, and match!)
Bush bashing has become such as established Democratic tradition, I wonder if Obama has submitted an application to get Bush bashing established as an Olympic sport; after all, the rest of the world has been playing the same popular sport almost as long as the Democrats. No doubt the IOC, taking a cue from the Nobel Prize committee and eager to please Obama after denying Chicago the 2016 Olympics, will award Obama a gold medal, based on the expectation that he will soon swim in the White House swimming pool....
Political Cartoon
I like the way Glenn McCoy captures here the essence of Bush bashing:
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Pat Benatar Song
I believe this is also Pat Benatar's signature song. Simply a brilliant performance of a powerful message song by someone I consider the best female rock vocalist. (I also like a live version of the song preceded by a short introduction of another song, "Suffer the Little Children", but I couldn't find a relevant video.) Child abuse, whether physical or emotional, is inexcusable and unconscionable; children are gifts from God.
