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5/25/2010
Who will say No?
Senator Tom Coburn yesterday wrote that it must be politicians that use the treasured word more often.
The kind of change America wants is a more liberal use of the word "no" in our government. They want to hear politicians say no to deficit spending, no to earmarks, and no to policies that expand government rather than individual opportunity.
I say it’s we voters. To once again quote Pogo, “We have found the enemy and it is us.”
Example: Sun Prairie residents. Yup, high speed rail is a big boondoggle. The train is really expensive, a waste of taxpayer dollars. But if we must have it, we can’t support it unless it stops in Sun Prairie. Unbelievable. This must be how all government programs start…. Geeeesh.
Example: Former Wisconsin College Republican Chair and UW-Eau Claire senior Lora Rae Anderson famously renounces the Republican Party and joins the Dems on the eve of last weekend’s Republican convention. Such drama. I don’t know the straight scoop on the seeds of Anderson’s discontent. The Chief disses the Party and Anderson with his attempts at possibly helpful discernment. Perhaps she had a few bad hair days and the Party didn’t appropriately prostrate itself. Who knows…
Anyway, the Dem Party of Wisconsin’s press conference featuring their brand new member included a plea by Anderson for a party that fights – for her!
I need a party that fights for something and I need a party that fights for me. I need a Party that can bring commonsense solutions to the people of Wisconsin.
Ok. Whatever. Then she asks for the handout – even though, be assured, it’s for a very good reason…
The Health Care Reform bill allows young adults like me to be carried on our parents health insurance until we’re 26. Being covered on my parents health care plan while I look for work will save me hundreds of dollars each month that I just don’t have. I’m not looking for a government handout, I just want to get my life started on the right foot.
It’s always something. We just want a train station. I just want help getting started. Always something. When will Americans begin to say No?
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
So, the health care bill that allows a child to stay on the parent's policy until age 26 is a bad thing because it's a handout? Let me see... The parent's policy pays for the child but at a lower cost because it's a group policy instead of an individual policy. In the interest of moral or ideological purity the child should pay more to get worse coverage? We're not talking about a handout. We're talking about the power that group effort has. The just say"no" argument may work just fine for certain items but it doesn't fit for everything. Many aspects of our society work more cheaply and effectively when done collectively, please keep that in mind.
dave allen (Tue May 25 07:17:54 2010)
Dave,
IF all the health care bill did was mandate that insurers allow students to stay on their parents' policy for a certain number of years, there probably would not be an issue.
But the jungle gyms, the sidewalks, the grocery deserts, and all the other ornaments hung on that tree ... thousands of pages ... then the government intervention in to treatment and determining end-of-life issues. All well documented "add-ons" make the health care bill objectionable.
And your attempt to characterize this far-reaching social upheaval as a harmless little provision that we all should agree on is a ridiculous premise. Do you honestly think we can't see through the argument?
Spare us.
The health care bill is what it is - and it's not objectionable because college kids are going to stay on their parents' policy.
Jeff Riedl (Tue May 25 07:39:51 2010)
Health care reform: Where is the responsibility of the individual in this to make healthy choices? The reform should concentrate on education, getting people to start a wellness program, learning to cook and eat healthier. Its easy to place blame, hard to stand up and take accountability for our own actions.
I agree there is little ability to say no but some of that is inherent in our system. Politicians after elected become concerned about being re-elected. Its human nature as it can be their income in many cases - or maybe that is the issue as who really can take the risk to run for public office? Certainly not the person who doesn't have the resources to take the risk as you have no job to walk right back in to when you leave office. So we say we rely on people voting or showing up at public meetings to share their views. Well unfortunately, a small percentage of our population takes the privilege of the right to vote as seriously as the those who fought so dearly to make sure we have it. Additionally, life pulls us in many directions and the average family just can't keep up with the demands, thus their voice is not heard. Its a vicious circle.
Lisa Remiker (Tue May 25 09:09:35 2010)
The young woman Jo quoted clearly wants a handout...from her parents.
Lance (Tue May 25 09:17:02 2010)
"...the health care bill that allows a child to stay on the parent's policy..."
Excuse me? "Allows?"
What is this, Dave? 1984?
Andrew Ellis (Tue May 25 09:54:58 2010)
"We're not talking about a handout. We're talking about the power that group effort has."
...
"The end ALWAYS justifies the means." -Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals
The man would be SO proud of Gamaliel.
Andrew Ellis (Tue May 25 10:05:38 2010)
All the same old "fend for yourself" attitudes. We have the highest health care costs in the world and get very poor value. Walmart buys in bulk and passes the savings on to the consumer. Somehow the College student or recent grad isn't allowed to take advantage of the bulk buying power of his/her parents because it's somehow bad for their soul. Come on. This isn't a handout any more than the parents who get bulk buying power from their employer for health care is a handout. Maybe it is and maybe all employer plans should be eliminated because it's not good for the worker's soul who isn't paying for it directly. This purity of character is quite amazing. Somehow mass power should only be reserved for the big corporations and not be available to the little person?. That is quite frightening. For everyone out there who thinks that young adults should not be allowed on their parent's policy: Try these simple steps.
1. voluntarily drop your employer's plan or Medicare
2. have all your kids off your plan as soon as they reach 18.
After you've done this and maintained your ideological purity come and blog me in about six months. Then you'll see the difference between your comfortable ideology and the how the real world works. By the way, I pay for my own health insurance as an individual policy and it sucks.
dave allen (Tue May 25 13:59:37 2010)
Dave, your arguments ignore the fact that as much as 80% of the cost of health care is BECAUSE of government intervention. Want affordable health care? Keep the government out.
RE: your other arguments. As an elected official I have argued for a policy of "health care equality" for employees. Instead of paying w/o the employees' knowledge for a health plan, the employer pays the cost of the health plan (and retirement plan if they do not participate because of eligibility or other reasons) in wages, and labels that part of their pay as such. Total reimbursement= base wage health insurance retirement plan. You participate, your take home is reduced by the appropriate amount. You do not, your take home pay increases. That way no employee costs more than another, and employees see what their benefits cost-possibly providing incentives to economize.
Note also that if we ALL had individual health plans, the hanging on to a job because of health benefits and pre-exising conditions problems virtually go away.
You want savings? How about paying your health bills directly (out of a MSA or being reimbursed later by insurance? That eliminates much of the bureaucracy that hospitals need by streamlining their cash flow. It also provides incentives for patients to see that they are not overcharged, or otherwise can economize.
Ken Van Doren (Tue May 25 14:22:57 2010)
"Dave, your arguments ignore the fact that as much as 80% of the cost of health care is BECAUSE of government intervention. Want affordable health care? Keep the government out."
Care to back up that statement with something? If that is true then why is it that the US health care costs are twice what people in other countries pay? The UK has a socialist health care system. The government employs health care workers. The cost there is half what we pay here, and by the way results are similar.
Here is a link to back up what I wrote.
http://www.finweb.com/insurance/average-health-insurance-cost-by-country.html
Dean Weichmann (Tue May 25 16:04:14 2010)
I suppose it is only right to dispose of an ideology for the sake of expediency or convenience. Or not to have one in the first place.
Funny you bring up Walmart. If it's just about buying power, hell, lets just put everything into the hands of the Federal Government. They could even blow Walmart's prices out of the water! It's not a handout, Dave. It's just buying power. Imagine how they could get manufacturers in line with safety and el cheapo price standards. How they could get the banking industry in line. Get investors in line. Get hospitals and Dr's in line. Golly, they could just control everything! And we wouldn't have to worry about a thing! Who needs to be concerned about responsibility? Let the government do it! By golly, I can't beleive no one ever thought of this before!....
Oh... wait. Ah, well, who cares! Ideologies and principles be darned! We've got the masses to worry about!
Andrew Ellis (Tue May 25 16:47:27 2010)
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