Bush feigns interest in healthcare reform

Don’t know why I’ve been so enthralled with the president’s weekly spew-fest radio address lately, but the latest installment [1] was another doozy. Maybe Team Bush is genuine about reaching out to Democrat’s on a pet issue or maybe all the new polls [2] are starting to freak them out. Either way, George Bush weighing in on health care [3] reform is a bit like a Sumo wrestler entering a limbo contest. Honestly, if I lived to the outer marker of my insurance carrier’s actuary-approved 95% confidence level aggregated lifespan predictor, I couldn’t imagine someone less qualified or trustworthy to mess with a system already deep in the throes of failure. Welcome to Pottersville [4] nabs it better than I ever will:

On the radio, Mr. Bush suggested that we should “treat health insurance more like home ownership.” He went on to say that “the current tax code encourages home ownership by allowing you to deduct the interest on your mortgage from your taxes. We can reform the tax code, so that it provides a similar incentive for you to buy health insurance.”

Wow. Those are the words of someone with no sense of what it’s like to be uninsured.

Going without health insurance isn’t like deciding to rent an apartment instead of buying a house. It’s a terrifying experience, which most people endure only if they have no alternative. The uninsured don’t need an “incentive” to buy insurance; they need something that makes getting insurance possible.

Anyone else hearing echoes of Poppa Bush stammering to guess the price of milk? This is a family who rode limousines during the Great Depression being advised by a Washingtonian power-elite who are themselves beholden to corporate interests intent on eradicating employer-based insurance. Not that I don’t have my own myriad problems [5] with healthcare in this country, but every word, every action, every privileged smirk from this administration betrays disdain [6] for the disadvantaged [7] souls they purport to assist. And to be honest, I seriously doubt anyone among this oblivious cabal is even minimally qualified to meddle with a system in which they have a clear conflict of interest.

Comments

Jeannie (not verified)Wed, 2007-03-21 16:03

Re: Bush feigns interest in healthcare reform

The healthcare crisis in this country only seems to be getting worse.  I'm tierd of listening to our leaders offering no real solutions to a problem they have little experience with.  This is an issue that greatly concerns The American Dream Project (http://www.americandreamproject.org), a non-profit organization that is partly focused on coming up with real solutions to today's real problems.  Recently Will Marre, the founder, posted a blog on the website addressing this issue.  He states that it does no good to have access to healthcare for everyone if the healthcare system itself doesn't work.  He states, "We just aren't getting much for the money we spend.  So it's sily to work on access to a ridiculously expensive health system when the system is broken and the cost of subsidizing it will bankrupt us."  To read more visit the site.  We need new leadership that isn't afraid of new ideas and extensive reform.  Let's stop going around the issue, and let's deal with it head on.