Thursday, October 15, 2009

Ramming through healthcare "reform"

Yesterday while leaving the post office, I was targeted for a scam by two conmen (I'll share more about that in another post), and one thing that I realized as I interacted with these guys is how valuable a perception of haste is scamming a "mark."

I've been ruminating over a soundbite I heard from John F. Kerry the other day, something along the lines of, "We've been waiting since Teddy Roosevelt to do this" (in reference to socializing healthcare or whatever he's acting like this bill is going to do). That sounds about right and it's consistent with what I've been reading in Liberal Facism. The Dems' efforts on healthcare seem like a big rush for those of us who appreciate free markets (and free people), but maybe not for people like Kerry.

While radio channel surfing this morning I heard a great interview by Fred Thompson with healthcare expert James Capretta about the blushingly presumptuous (not to mention disingenuous) predictions from the Left about actual costs of current Liberal healthcare reform proposals. For example, the $821 billion estimate presumes $100 billion of reduction in fees paid to physicians that anyone in the know will admit are cuts that will not happen.

Another example was upwards of $100 billion that the Feds are presuming they can pass along to the States. Which was corroborated by candid statements from Gov. Bredesen. Terry Frank links to it at her place. terryfrank.net » Bredesen Predicts Even Larger Costs to Tennesseans

And now there's word (via Drudge) that Harry Reid is admitting the gross underestimate of likely costs for taxpayer-funded health insurance. Let's slow down a little Dems.

7 comments:

wulfmankarl said...

Harry Reid holds seance to channel Ted Kennedy to help put the public option back into the Healthcare Scam Bill!

http://02e56fa.netsolhost.com/blog1/index.php/2009/10/15/senator-harry-reid-channels-kennedy-and-

The Joey Panto Show

Tom Degan's Daily Rant said...

My younger brother Jeff is the shame of the Degan family. He not only lives in France, he actually likes it there. He has a French wife and two gorgeous little French daughters. Honestly I think the guy is a closet commie. Back in August, in a letter to his fellow countrymen and women regarding health care - or "Hell Care" as he called it (What a card!) - he ended it by saying:

"In short, in the US, you pay more, get less, and die younger than we do in Europe. What part of that don't you understand?"

Well, hey there! That's a danged good question! What part of that don't we understand? Why is it that so many of us have to be dragged, kicking and screaming like half-witted little preschoolers, into the brave new world of change? What the hell is the matter with us anyway? How can it be that such a huge number of Americans cheerfully join movements of mass stupidity and salivate on cue to the sound of Dr. Glenn "Pavlov" Beck's bell? It kind of makes you wonder, huh?

http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

ned said...

Naaaah, your presumptions prop up your preference, Tom. Which better explains what you Degans see in lovable, though half-witted, ol' Jeff.

Burr Deming said...

As I understand it, you have proven that health care reform is a scam because everyone knows it. Everyone is defined as Fred Thompson, Matt Drudge, Jonah Goldberg, and a radically out of context quote from Senator Reid, who was actually talking about savings from reform, not cost of reform.

Compelling logic.

ned said...

Actually, it was a health care expert on Thompson's show, a statement by our Democratic Governor, and (probably) Harry Reid acknowledging that the costs of Democratic proposals are being grossly understated. Newsflash: "getting millions of new people healthcare is not costless."

ned said...

. . . and I stand corrected on the Reid assertion; as Fonzie would say, I was wr-, wro-, wron- . . . I mispoke.

But it wasn't too difficult to believe that Reid would be that stupid, was it?

Burr Deming said...

Come on, Ned.

You're getting all factual, reasonable, acknowledging truth, and admitting the occasional mistake? I hate seeing that in a conservative.

Your usual excellent writing makes it even worse.

I do like the Fonzie reference, though.