House of Eratosthenes

It's About Power The point, that is. He looks only at numbers of persons covered, and infers from these that the new health care bill won’t change too much about our everyday lives.

It will look a lot like our old health-care system. Unless you’re uninsured, or on the individual market, this bill is not expected to affect you…Remember this next time you hear some congressman talk about how this bill will revolutionize the American health-care system, either for better or for worse…

What a fool. I know you shouldn’t jump to such a conclusion hastily about anyone who writes for a living; it’s a coveted position to have in life.

But I find it difficult to conjure up respect for anyone who thinks, just because the car’s headed in the same direction for the time being — the situation is essentially unchanged even though different hands are now on the steering wheel. If he isn’t a fool, he’s a manipulator. This is Politics 101 stuff, is it not?

Other opinions on health care:

Bob Dole thinks it’s going to happen.

Congress could be close to passing comprehensive health reform. The American people have waited decades and if this moment passes us by, it may be decades more before there is another opportunity. The current approaches suggested by the Congress are far from perfect, but they do provide some basis on which Congress can move forward and we urge the joint leadership to get together for America’s sake.

“For America’s sake.” Hey Bob, read what Ezra had to say. Won’t change much. Why the drama? The country’s done pretty good for 233 years without socialized medicine.

Karl Rove doesn’t seem to agree with Dole, and he has some heavy numbers to offer:

Passing health-care reform could be harmful to the health of congressional Democrats.

Just look at how President Barack Obama’s standing has fallen as he has pushed for reform. According to Fox News surveys, the number of independents who oppose health-care reform hit 57% at the end of September, up from 33% in July. Independents are generally a quarter of the vote in off-year congressional elections.

Among college graduates, opposition to health-care reform is now 50%, while only 33% support it, according to Gallup’s Sept. 24 poll. College graduates are slightly more than a quarter of the off-year electorate.

Among seniors, opposition to ObamaCare hit 63% in last month’s Economist/YouGov Poll. But the number from that poll that should spook Democrats is this: 47% of seniors said they “strongly” oppose health-care reform, just 27% “strongly” support it. Seniors are the biggest consumers of health care, and their family members will probably take their concerns seriously. Seniors will likely cast about 20% of the votes next year.

I have two proposals to offer. And I suggest both the pro-reform and anti-reform sides take me up on it…although one from among them really won’t like my ideas at all. Nevertheless, there is no reasonable justification for refusing either one of them.

One: Set a target date for the end of next year. As Dole pointed out, we’ve been waiting for decades. We can wait a little while longer. If the plan has to be slammed down our throats, it probably isn’t good. If it’s good, it can wait.

Two: Stop calling it “reform.” The word doesn’t pose a danger until such time as it obscures detail for the benefit of those who wish to pass it…which is undoubtedly the situation applying here. We’ve been fooled too many times by the “reform” shell game. If it’s a good plan, you don’t need to sell it to us with that obfuscating word.

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Klein Misses ItThursday, October 8th, 2009

Klein Misses It
Thursday, October 8th, 2009