Musings
As I ate dinner last night, I clicked on CSPAN to see a bit of whatever Democratic Cattle Call was taking place in Illinois. I was treated to the sight of Dennis Kucinich preaching about single payer, universal health care. Now, reasonable people can disagree over this issue, but what struck me was Kucinich's call for health care and prescription drugs without co-pays, without premiums and without review boards. In other words, unlimited access to whatever health care a person choses to consume. One can only imagine the cost of such a system- both in terms of dollars and in terms of wasted finite resources. Gone would be any incentive to forego unnecessary care- every little bump, bruise or sniffle could result in a doctor or emergency room visit, clogging the waiting rooms of both and delaying care for truly ill folks. I realize that Kucinich has about as much chance as being our next President as I have of being the next Pope, yet what scares me is that there are people who actually see no problem with such a policy proposal. While I have noted before that many, if not most, people do not understand health care economics or policy, surely anyone with a functioning brain would realize the peril of unlimited access to health care. But I suppose it makes for a good sales pitch for a third tier candidate.
The other interesting nugget came just a few minutes ago, while watching the local news station. It referred to Doctor Dean as the most liberal of the Democrats running for the nomination? That will probably be news to the residents of Vermont, who saw him as a centrist, pro-business budget balancer. Can someone please explain to me how Dean can be this "straight talking" non-politician when he has completely remolded himself from pragmatic centrist to liberal rabble rouser?
Lastly, the MoveOn online primary begins tomorrow, as I can gather from the flood of emails I have received from various campaigns instructing me to vote. But I am simply not going to do it. Maybe I am being vindictive, but I do not want to give this Lefty group any more credence than they deserve. I hope that Dean does win the endorsement, with enough votes to assure a fundraising pitch from MoveOn. Then, when he crashes and burns sometime during the primary season I can sit back and enjoy a hearty laugh at all those liberal dollars wasted.
As I ate dinner last night, I clicked on CSPAN to see a bit of whatever Democratic Cattle Call was taking place in Illinois. I was treated to the sight of Dennis Kucinich preaching about single payer, universal health care. Now, reasonable people can disagree over this issue, but what struck me was Kucinich's call for health care and prescription drugs without co-pays, without premiums and without review boards. In other words, unlimited access to whatever health care a person choses to consume. One can only imagine the cost of such a system- both in terms of dollars and in terms of wasted finite resources. Gone would be any incentive to forego unnecessary care- every little bump, bruise or sniffle could result in a doctor or emergency room visit, clogging the waiting rooms of both and delaying care for truly ill folks. I realize that Kucinich has about as much chance as being our next President as I have of being the next Pope, yet what scares me is that there are people who actually see no problem with such a policy proposal. While I have noted before that many, if not most, people do not understand health care economics or policy, surely anyone with a functioning brain would realize the peril of unlimited access to health care. But I suppose it makes for a good sales pitch for a third tier candidate.
The other interesting nugget came just a few minutes ago, while watching the local news station. It referred to Doctor Dean as the most liberal of the Democrats running for the nomination? That will probably be news to the residents of Vermont, who saw him as a centrist, pro-business budget balancer. Can someone please explain to me how Dean can be this "straight talking" non-politician when he has completely remolded himself from pragmatic centrist to liberal rabble rouser?
Lastly, the MoveOn online primary begins tomorrow, as I can gather from the flood of emails I have received from various campaigns instructing me to vote. But I am simply not going to do it. Maybe I am being vindictive, but I do not want to give this Lefty group any more credence than they deserve. I hope that Dean does win the endorsement, with enough votes to assure a fundraising pitch from MoveOn. Then, when he crashes and burns sometime during the primary season I can sit back and enjoy a hearty laugh at all those liberal dollars wasted.
posted by Anonymous at 3:30 PM
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