keith

Sound a little extreme to me. I guess the silver-lining in all this is that a lot more Americans are interested in what their government is actually doing. They are actively seeking out information about what their govenment is up to and starting to ask questions (maybe some uncomfortable ones to our elected representatives in Washington) and to me that's a good thing. Perhaps Obama has been an unwitting catalyst for this, but I'll give him credit for shaking the tree and waking people up. Keith

This is precisely why a lot of us are so concerned about any government spending programs (especially new ones). They NEVER go away. They just go on forever and before you know it, entire constituencies build up around the continuous flow of US taxpayer dollars. Just because something has been going on for 40 or 50 years does not automatically make it right....right? Keith

Well, Iran is not an Arab country. It is, howerver, an Islamic state. I realize that does not mean that everyone in Iran is Muslim. Reading a little about her background there wasn't anything to suggest that she was a Christian in a Muslim land, but that's not really the point. I just found it interesting that the one photo that I've seen of her...potentially the martyr, the symbol the protesters might now rally around, has her wearing a crucifix, that's all. Keith

What a horrific and tragic end to a beautiful young woman's life. If the movement in Iran needed another rallying cry, Neda Soltan might be it. One thing I found odd in a still photo of her (or supposedly her) on the net is that it looks like she is wearing a cross on a necklace around her neck. Keith

It's all about perspective, I guess. The left is attacking him as well for not being liberal enough. Bill Maher, especially, has really been going after him hard in the last couple of weeks. Watch out for the Progressives (such a good sounding word, but dangerous philosophy IMHO). They are all complaining that the Democrats have moved way right. I know, go figure. At the 3:50 mark, Maher outlines pretty succinctly what liberals (progressives) want. Keith

This is such a weird thing. You seem so gleeful that it was not ACORN this time. Voter registration fraud is reprehensible regardless who commits it. The big difference is that ACORN receives millions of dollars of FEDERAL funding. Money that belongs to you and me. So that makes you and me party to this act and that, quite frankly, pisses me off. Keith

Regardless of the benefits or dangers of health care reform, has anyone answered a simple question? Are there enough doctors to absorb another 46 million patients? If not, then the only likely solution would be rationing of health care. Who would do the rationing? Keith

We have at least a generation (maybe two) that have had this beaten into them their entire lives. Our populace can barely think for themselves. They are more engrossed in Hollywood's pop culture and what's going on with Jon and Kate than they are with what's going on in their own government. The American sheeple are buying this hook, line and sinker and are willfully marching down the path of enslavement to an ever growing federal government. More and more people are becoming completely dependent on the federal govenment and that's exactly what politicians want. Sad. There is a good parable that has been floating around the net on how to catch a wild pig. I've included it below. Think about it. Keith

They tax my income, they tax my property...*MY* property, they tax everything I spend money on, they tax my savings account, they tax any earnings I'm lucky to achieve on money I invest (money I've already paid taxes on!) and then they will tax me when I die. Basically the government takes a cut of every transaction. Enough is enough, it is totally out of control. Keith

Thanks Rick. There is nothing like a first-hand report from the front line to add perspective to the "crisis." I'm also very suspicious of political demagogues that say we must do "x" by "y" or some horrible thing will happen. We need open debate on this issue. This administration and congress have been pushing through legislation at warp speed. This one especially needs more scrutiny. Keith

OK...here are a few other ideas. Again this is based on the premise that the cost of providing heath care is too high and continues to rise out of control. 1) Tort reform. Cap settlements for medical malpractice. 2) The Federal government subsidizes (funds, guarantees, backs, etc.) malpractice insurance. This would remove a major contributor (the major contributor?) to the cost of health care. This would likely have to be done in conjunction with #1. There are a lot fewer doctors than there are uninsured right? Instead of covering 50 million people, cover 5 million (I have no idea how many there are) doctors. If you can take a big chunk out of the cost then the end product becomes more affordable. 3) The Federal govenment could establish price contols on medical procedures, prescription drugs, equipment, etc. setting standard (lower) rates. Pretty dramatic, but if we are really in dire straits..... I'm really not a fan of 2 or 3, but I'm looking for options that are short of the significant expansion of the role of the Federal government that I think we are in for with the plans currently being discussed. Keith

Interesting perspective. But I think this is just the way it works. Not everyone can afford the nicest houses or the most expensive cars. Is that fair? How far do we take this? I think ultimately the costs of the best and most advanced medical treatments do come down and becomes available to more and more people. Keith

Let's see what North Korea has been up to lately....half a dozen missle launches, tossing out the 1953 armistice, a successful nuclear bomb test, prepares for another long-range missle test and dispatches a ship and declares (for some reason) that any attempt to stop or board it will be viewed as an act of war.....hmmmm. All this and it is entirely likely that Kim Jong-il is insane. I'm beginning to think some strategically placed crusie missles may be necessary at this point. We should engage China and Russia and make this a unified response. If neither agree or want to participate, then at least we know exactly where they stand on this. Keith

I appreciate that you are bringing your knowledge and experience in this arena to the board and that you patiently try to explain the various issues for us, but I disagree with your fundamental premise and I think for those attempting to make a case for health care reform, it is a dangerous place to start. Personally, when I hear discusions start this way it's like hearing Al Gore say, "the debate on global warming is over." This is a huge red flag IMHO. Random thoughts and comments.... Arguably, the United States has the most advanced medical care, medical technology, medical treatment and procedures available in the world today. This just doesn't happen by itself, we enjoy this precisely because of our system. Broken systems do not produce these results. If we say the *cost* of providing health care is the problem (not the cost of insurance), then what are we doing about that? I have seen nothing in Obama's plan that identifies the components that make up the cost of the acutal health care and attacking those. How much of our health care expenditures are defensive in nature (trying to avoid a law suit), how much is discretionary (face lifts, augmentation, life-style driven), how much is spent in the last year of life? We are over medicated and looking for a quick fix in a pill. Here's an idea. Take most of the prescription medicine and make it available over-the-counter. Now if someone wants that pill, they have to pay for it out of their own pocket. I bet you would see a dramatic drop in all the pills people are taking. "can't afford coverage and are scared to death of getting ill and going bankrupt you will understand" I submit that this is not a health care issue. This is a fear thing, an emotional response, probably somewhat irrational and I would say sensationalized by the media. This speaks to the catastrophic health event and the let's assume the worst case scenario arguments. Do these happen? Yes, they do, but what are the odds that they will happen to you? We've all allowed the horror stories that get protrayed over and over again in the media to permeate our psyches. Perhaps our health care system is too good and people are "saved" here (only to become that catastrophic health care burden) when in other countries with less advanced health care, they would not have been saved. "... stating that private insurance companies who are revenue and profit driven will solve the problems on their own is naive." Aren't hospitals and doctors also driven by a profit motive? From the CNN article.... "Obama said he's already identified "hundreds of billions of dollars" worth of savings in the federal budget that could help finance health care reform, such as rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid. He's also proposed reducing tax deductions for high-income Americans." So if we have waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid (Federally managed programs), why will that not exist in the new programs? If this waste, fraud and abuse exists now, what is being done NOW to rectify it? Hundreds of billions of dollars???? If he is not going after that now then it is criminal. Keith

Good advice for our Congress. Keith

So, all those signs the Iranian protesters are carrying and waving around. You know the ones in English. Who are those for? Maybe we already are meddling. I mean they would not create protest signs in the mother tongue of the Great Satan on their own would they? Keith

In my best Jim Mora voice rant...... Leadership? Don't talk about leadership! Are you kidding me? Leadership? Keith

Smells like a setup to me. Hamas (or their agents) probably planted to bombs in the first place only to later "save the day" in a feeble attempt to garner good will. Keith

I can't believe a video of this has not surfaced. Come on, no one was filming? Keith

I'm pretty sure he was talking about an 18 year old camel, so I think everything is OK. Keith

I liked these this passage. "Nourished by Andean snowmelt, the glacier constantly grows even as it spawns icebergs the size of apartment buildings into a frigid lake, maintaining a nearly perfect equilibrium since measurements began more than a century ago." After reading the article, the image I had was a bunch of environmental "scientists" standing around dumbfounded scratching their heads looking at the glacier and wondering why the facts don't match up with their strongly held beliefs. I mean, how could this be? Oh well, I'm sure they thought, global climate change works in mysterious ways. Keith

Thanks Harry for the thorough review. It seems like this is something that you are fairly close to. I've read though your post several times looking for a problem definition and possible root cause and I'm still struggling with this. Before I make a stab at it, I have a few comments and questions about some of the things you have provided, it is definitely thought provoking. Although I've taken some snippets out of your text, these comments and questions are not directed at you personally, I'm just throwing them out there as they came to me. Where does this number come from? Is this for business bankruptcies or personal bankruptcies? If this number is for personal bankruptcies, were these for people with or without medical insurance? Medicare is currently administrated by the Federal government, right? Where does this number come from? Rather than just throwing out a large number like this, I think it would be more meaningful if the circumstances as to why these 46 million Americans (are they all citizens?) do not have health insurance were broken down. If we assume this number is correct and say there are approximately 330 million Americans, that means (330M - 46M) / 330M = 86.1% of all American citizens have health coverage. That's a fairly healthy percentage (no pun intended). I'm sorry to say, but this seems like a liberal battle cry. Given the percentages above that means that 86.1% of all Americans are both healthy and wealthy. So, we are doing all this for 13.9% of the population some of which could most likely afford health insurance today but are either not interested or do not think it is important enough. Didn't we already determine that the government run Medicare system is no good? Costs have certainly been growing faster than just about everything else and is significantly out pacing inflation. The big question is why? How much are we now spending on the last year of life? How much of these expenditures are discretionary? Everyone expects medical miracles these days and wants the absolute best care available. Plain and simple, advanced medical technology costs money. We are fortunate to live in a country that has at its disposal the most modern and advanced medical technology available. What about the other factors that go into the cost of health care? I think this is the key area to investigate and attack IMHO. This is annually, right? That's $3,260 in medical expenses (or is that insurance?) for each and every one of those 46 million people. Are these the sickliest people on the planet? I have a family of 5 and with the exceptions of the years my children were born, I have not come close to those medical expenses for my entire family. I'm talking about actual costs, not my out of pocket costs. If you tell these people they have "free" health care, they will go to the doctor for every sniffle, cut or ache and pain. If, on the other hand, you gave them the $3,260 and said that's your medical budget, you get to keep whatever you don't spend on medical care, they would be very judicious about going to the doctor. There is an old saying, physician heal thyself. That's the weird thing about old sayings, they are almost always right. To me, I think this all boils down to cost. I suspect that less and less of the total costs is actually directly related to providing health care services. In my opinion, if we could get the costs under control and back to some sense of rationality, then most of the other problems would go away. We need one of those pie charts that shows where and what percentage of each dollar spent on health care really goes. I think we'd all be shocked. There is a general practice family doctor up in the New York area that go so fed up with the mess that he decided to stop accepting any insurance. He simply charged a flat-rate fee of $79 for office visits and most procedures. The state government when nuts and told him he could not do that. Huh, what? The state said he wasn't allowed to charge rates that low. They shut him down. There was enough of a public uproar that the state finally backed down and let him run his practice as he saw fit. Keith

Obama seems to have a solution, but I don't think he has adequately defined the problem. The solution seems to be a government take over of, or at least a greater role in, individual health care decisions. Before that happens I really think the problem needs to be clearly defined. Keith

Can someone please explain what the fundamental problem is that Obama is attempting to address with healthcare reform? I mean really boil it down to the one, two or three basic issues. Keith

Now the *right* thing to do would be to share that equally with all of us who did not get one because it you keep it all for yourself.....well that would just be greedy. Keith