[IP] It's Broken -- Can We Fix It?

From my blog -- http://johnmacrants.blogspot.com/2009/12/its-broken-can-we-fix-it.html

It's Broken -- Can We Fix It?
by John F. McMullen

No matter what side a person stands on the issues involved in the Health Care Debate, it should be obvious that the system is broken. Lawmakers saying things that they know are untrue – extortionists like Lieberman and Nelson holding the Senate up for concessions far beyond the will of the majority. The whole process is dysfunctional – why? A major reason is the role of the almighty dollar. Lobbyists for the health care industry set a new record this year for contributions to members of Congress (with the banking industry, usually first, in second place – and the lawyers must be up there for no action on tort reform).

So we wind up with a bill that is not “Health Care Reform” but rather “Health Care Expansion” It:

brings 30 million new folks into the health care system with mandated coverage – 30 million new customers for the insurance companies (and, for those new customers who cannot afford the insurance, the federal government (you, the taxpayer) will subsidize the coverage).
has no “single payer” or “public option” or “expansion of medicare” or elimination of the anti-trust exemption enjoyed by the insurance companies – any of which would drive down the costs of the system.
has no loosening of the restriction on eh import of Canadian drugs.
as no “tort” reform which will bring down doctor’s malpractice insurance and, in the words of one doctor friend, reduce the amount of ‘cover-your-ass” testing that goes on.
provides for extortion payoffs to a number of Senators (Nelson is the most obvious and some say that the “Medicaid one” violates the Constitution; Lieberman’s wife, supposedly, works as a consultant to the insurance and pharmaceutical companies in CT – if so, that payoff is more of a stealth one).

We could debate the merits of any of the above points from a political philosophy or economics vantage point – and this is what Congress should have been doing. Instead, it should be obvious to all that the whole debate was corrupted by influence; influence paid for by lobbyists with monies that eventually result in higher consumer prices.

Ok. – it’s broken! What do we do about it? Some look for public financing of elections as the answer; other look for restrictions on campaign contributions. Some are against these ideas as “restrictions on speech”; others say that such restrictions are unworkable anyhow.

It seems to me that we can’t just give up – there must be some way to channel this groundswell of anger from all sides of the political spectrum into some constructive action.

Any ideas?

(johnmac -- you may certainly pass this on to anyone who might care to receive it)

--
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." -- Daniel Patrick Moynihan
"When you come to the fork in the road, take it" -- L.P. Berra
"Always make new mistakes" - Esther Dyson
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable
from magic"
-- Sir Arthur C. Clarke
"You Gotta Believe" - Frank "Tug" McGraw (1944 - 2004 RIP)

John F. McMullen
http://www.google.com/profiles/johnmac13
Editor - Web2.0 The Magazine -- www.web2themag.com
Poet -- www.lulu.com/content/5504063 (8x10 softcover and PDF); www.amazon.com/ -- and search for "Cashing A Check" (6x9 softcover & kindle version)
Senior Member, ACM
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Sent from Yorktown Heights, NY, United States

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