Misc. Musings III

Written October 3, 2009

1. Obamacare. To my surprise, the LA Times last Sunday ran a front page article about some of the problems with the Canadian healthcare system. Towards the end of the article was a chart showing the wait times for various procedures. For example, the wait for a hip replacement (near and dear to me) is listed at 35.3 weeks. But the chart is misleading. If you read the article you will see that the wait time just to see a specialist, on referral from the gatekeeper, can be a year. Then it can be months to get the necessary MRI. So the actual wait time is about two years! Clearly, the 35.3 weeks wait the chart refers to is from the time the specialist says you need the surgery, even though the chart does not disclose that.

Canada now has a number of doctors opening up private clinics, servicing those who do not want the waits. The question is: will the government shut them down and sanction them? In an opinion article in Investor's Business Daily from 10/2/09, the author comments on some of the states that have enacted healthcare programs for their states. Maine passed their law in 2003. The governor assured everyone that all 128,000 uninsured would be covered. By 2009 only 3,400 (3%) were insured. In 2007 the system was broke and was closed to new enrollees. In Oregon, when you are denied care for serious illnesses they will offer you physician assisted suicide!

Back to the LA Times article. In defending the broken Canadian system, one doctor acknowledged the need for improvements but said their system is more "equitable." And therein lies the socialist mentality - as long as it's "equitable" it's good, quality and delays be damned! Kind of reminds me of the lines to get limited choices of food in the USSR.

And then I heard on TV one of the commentators say that one of the proposals here was heavy fines and even IMPRISONMENT for failure to buy health insurance. In Mass. the fines were too small and many people chose to pay the fines and not buy health ins. until they got sick. So the Feds want a big fine, maybe $25,000., and imprisonment to prevent people from making that decision. If you have not read Mark Levin's "Liberty and Tyranny" now would be a good time to do so. The Declaration of Independence tells us we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. It looks like your Life (health) will now depend on your government. And Liberty - forget about it.

2. Republicans are evil. A congressman on the floor of the House displayed some poster boards describing the Republican healthcare plan. First, don't get sick. Second, if you do, die quickly! Get that? We Republicans just want people to die. And for those of you who may think that type of accusation is an aberration - NO, NO, NO. When John Dean was Chairman of the DNC he said the difference between us and the Republicans is that we don't want kids going to bed hungry! Of course, that's why I became a republican - I hate kids and want them to be hungry. And the court reporter who said to me that she hates ALL republicans because they are evil. Democrats get to call names or accuse their opponents of the worst motivations. No HONEST disagreements possible.

3. Obama the Showman. Charles Krauthammer had another excellent article yesterday. When Obama became the first US President to preside over the UN Security Council on 9/24/09 he already knew about Iran's secret nuclear facility. The French and British urged him to disclose it at that time, as it would have maximum press coverage and impact. He refused. Why? Per White House officials, Obama did not want to "dilute" his disarmament resolution by "diverting to Iran."

Krauthammer: "Diversion? It's the most serious security issue in the world. A diversion from what? From a worthless UN disarmament resolution?" Per the French, Obama did not want to spoil his "image" of success at the UN. Obama has said he dreams of a world without nuclear weapons. Sarkozy was fuming and told Obama: "We live in a real world not a virtual world." Again, Krauthammer: "When France chides you for appeasement, you know you're scraping bottom." (Krauthammer article in the 10/2/09 Investors Business Daily.)

4. The LA Times. On the front page of the 9/30/09 edition, the lead headline is "Iran offers conflicting messages." Just under that is the subheadline: "A tone both defiant and cooperative leaves diplomats unsure if Tehran will take this week's talks seriously."

What a surprise! Maybe I should add these "reporters" to my email list. If they had seen last week's email (or better yet, actually followed the story), they would know that Iran has spent the LAST SIX YEARS "vacillating between talking like they were interested in some deal, and then not talking and refusing to deal." As I said, they successfully used that technique to buy time to build up their nuclear facilities, playing the West for fools.

4. The Mideast. And finally, the Obama Administration has told the Palestinian Authority that they will support the announcement of a Palestinian state within 2 years. It is assumed that Netanyahu will have to cave in; but if he does not the US will supposedly consider sanctions of some form - against Israel! (From the 9/25/09 Jewish Press.) And why not - Obama has abandoned ally after ally in favor of appeasing the dictators of the world. And now, Obama is apparently trying to prevent Netanyahu from working with pro-Israel members of Congress. He wants to make sure the pressure remains where he believes it should be - on Israel! (From the 10/2/09 Jewish Press.)