User profile: jldour

"Limbaugh and Obama will not lead you out of this mess -- only you will, by reading between the lines and picking the best people for the job, not the party."
We are close to that moment if not already there. Two things I heard listening to analysis of last nights elections that give me hope were that Independents now out number Democrats or Republicans. Next was Independents broke two to one against the parties in power.
Die hard partisans refuse to see the warts on their elected officials. Bush supporters turned a blind eye to his mistakes and Obama supporters are doing the same. I have got to believe that this is a wake up call, that promises made on the campaign damn well better be kept.

Again I ask what is the mechanism in the bills that will keep the ever increasing costs of a visit to the doctor or a medical procedure in check. If those costs continue as they have been, any savings from this health insurance reform will be swallowed up in a year or two. In fact, it is more likely that the cost of this reform will skyrocket. Why is this only about insurance when there is so much more that contributes to the problem? As far as I know things like tort reform and onerous government regulations aren't being considered. We seem to have gone from health care reform to insurance reform and once again, unintended consequences will be the result.

OK, I get what they hope the public option will accomplish. What I would like to know is what mechanism in the bills being considered would get the skyrocketing medical bills under control. If the price of a visit to the doctor or a medical procedure continues to run wild, the savings of health insurance reform that may be realized will be eaten up inside of a year. I don't hear much debate on that. Seems like a big part of the problem.

Don't just limit it to insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies! List it all. This is where the fouth estate (news media) has truly dropped the ball and has let us down. ALL contributions made by lobbyists should be reported and kept in front of us.

Just watched an interview with Mike Leavitt, the former Sec. of Health. He tried to institute a competitive bid policy for things like scooters ($1000 to the general public, $4000 to medicare), respiratory pumps ($700 to purchase to the general public, $3000 rental per year to medicare). He said as soon as he put this policy into place the medical supply industry mobilized their lobbyists (pimps) and they got after members of congress (whores) and guess what happened. That's right, no competitive policy in place any more. It is absolutely outrageous. If the politicians are beholden to the lobbyists and are only worried about their next election, there will be no change that is meaningful. This is not a republican or democrat problem, it is business as usual in DC. Term limits is an idea whose time has come.