Gallup just released a poll which says 58% of Republicans think they understand the issues in the health insurance reform (no use calling it health care reform at this point) discussion.
My first thought was to wonder what percentage of that 58% thinks those issues include "death panels"?
In a column titled "Statement on the Current Health Care Debate," Palin wrote that as "Americans delve into the disturbing details of the nationalized health care plan that the current administration is rushing through Congress, our collective jaw is dropping, and we’re saying not just no, but hell no!"
She questions Democratic promises that the health care reform plans will reduce the cost of health care, invoking economist Thomas Sowell, saying the only way to cut costs is to refuse treatment. [P6: It works for insurance companies...]
"And who will suffer the most when they ration care?" Palin asks. "The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."
That one is known by the company one keeps should disturb both Sowell and Palin...
All this came up as I was reading Charles Blow's column, in which he kinda goes there.
A Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll released last Friday found that 28 percent of Republicans don’t believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States and another 30 percent are still “not sure.” That’s nearly 6 out of 10 Republicans refusing to accept a basic truth. Then again, this shouldn’t surprise me. According to a Gallup poll released last summer, 6 in 10 Republicans also said they thought that humans were created, in their present form, 10,000 years ago.
Let’s face it: This is no party of Einsteins. Really, it isn’t. A Pew poll last month found that only 6 percent of scientists said that they were Republicans.
And for totally unscientific reasons the 6 out of 10 ratio is jumping out at me. It looks like some 60% of the Republican Party is...problematic. Call it a soft estimate of the size of the problem. And it's gonna get softer...also per Gallup:
Selected Trend on Party Affiliation: 2004-2009
Republicans | Independents | Democrats | Republicans | Democrats | |
% | % | % | % | % | |
| 2009 Jul 17-19 | 26 | 39 | 33 | 41 | 48 |
So we're talking 60% of 26%, or 15-16% of the population, 24-25% if you want to count the "leaners". There's a decimal point in the calculation, but that would give the illusion of accuracy to some really seat-of-the-pants calculations.
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A Perfect Plan...
...You know, I understand that the health care issue is complex, but what I’m failing to understand is how it is that a White house, that prides itself on communication in the information age, is at such a loss to explain its stance on the policy it’s trying to initiate!
On a side note, my previous long term girlfriend, who is employed by the intelligence wing of the government (…And who, every time she travelled abroad, something bad seemed to always go down in that same part of the world not long after returning!) was of the ‘Paler Nation’ (...Which I struggled endlessly with!) but maintains a very liberal point of view and pretty much co-signs on anything the Obama Administration does hands down.
Ironically, as fate would have it, my current girlfriend (…Whom I originally met in my youth and could very well be my possible future wife!) is a doctor (OB/GYN) and even though, for all intents and purposes, claims her identity with the ‘Darker Nation’ (Her mom and dad are Asian and Black respectively and both from very humble beginnings) she is not in the least bit thrilled about the Obama Health Care Reform ‘Crusade.’
She genuinely likes Obama but feels that his administration is unfairly targeting her and other doctors like her, due to her income exceeding 250k and that, from her viewpoint, everything about the plan does nothing but cripple her attempts to provide quality health care.
She also thinks that because of Obama’s background as a lawyer, he will never do anything to bring about change in tort reform.
(…Sigh!)
I understand that the costs and risks of being in business for yourself ARE large, but when I go about trying to refute her argument to explain that the plan is actually good for small business owners as well, I find I’m at a loss to provide the specifics! as clearly as I'd like to!
(…Mind you, this conversation only comes about every so often, but each time I think I have something to run with, I get bombarded by her with even more facts and figures speaking to the contrary!)
The only saving salvo I could throw out a few days ago was whether or not she had actually read the plan, to which she had to confess she hadn’t. Feeling I’d finally staved off her mounting momentum, I told her that it was probably in every citizen’s best interest to try and digest the particulars, before speaking out of turn.
(…This was before Sarah Palin and the rest of the town hall crazies weighed in!)
My problem is… I can’t find anything that speaks in clear layman’s terms on HOW the Reform is to be accomplished.
The Obama / Biden plan seems to be a carbon copy of the plan on the White House website and while it speaks to what it wants to accomplish and why, there doesn’t seem to be the specifics that speak to HOW.
The fact that the members of congress are having to partake in marathon sessions just to understand it speaks volumes, I believe.
If you have to school elected officials on it, how does it filter down to the general population in a palatable fashion?
(...Unfortunately, I don’t have the time it takes to sift through the 1,000 some odd pages that they ended up getting schooled on!)
FYI: Just for my own sense of disclosure, that’s because I’m usually knee-deep in raising 3 grandchildren by myself!
(…They’re 17,16 and 13 and a full time project for the last 7 years and way too busy living it to talk about it, but, I own up to the hand I played in them being brought into this world, ‘fighting the good fight” as the say!)
Anyways, I say all of that to say:
“Help me, P6!”
I am sorely in need of ammunition!
(...Lately, I feel like the ”Treadmill Gangster” every time the topic of Health Care comes up!)
Are you sure I should be
Are you sure I should be inserted in the discussion?
As far as I see, no one is targeting doctors who make over $250K. It's everyone, and that's not part of health insurance reform. As for tort reform on malpractice, it doesn't benefit doctors.
Now as for Obama's plan...I can't help you. He's leaving the specific form of the law to Congress. I believe it's because one of his campaign promises was to get the office of the Presidency back in its lane, and creating law is Congress' job.
I guess I should point out there's no Congressional plan yet either. There's at least four bills, one for the rgulatory reform and one to fund it from each house of Congress.
Time Passages...
“…Are you sure I should be inserted in the discussion?”
I’m sorry, not 'inserted’ as much as looking for perspective in which to help formulate an opinion, or rather a jumping off point from which to refute the notion about the medical profession as a whole being the scapegoats for the plan.
(…I was hoping you already had a “Health Care: Good vs. Evil” post up somewhere!)
Some things make sense to me and some don’t, and though a lot of times it’s on a very intuitive level, my instincts usually serve me well.
Then there are times when I really like to connect the dots to confirm my assumptions are correct.
(…I totally believe in embracing my own ignorance!)
I constantly hear what it’s NOT, which I have not doubt the first about, but I don’t hear too much of the what it is, or the what it’s going to be, just what it will accomplish, which has me greatly flummoxed for the moment!
I’ve already started reading all 1017 pages of it.
(...It should all make sense to me in a little while!)
Fight Club...
(...I thought it was just me, but after reading Maureen Dowd’s column today, especially the comments section, I’ve decided I can put the ‘Hari Kari’ blade away!)
I don’t think I’m really any more lost or found on the subject than anyone else:
“I think the President and the leaders in Congress need to come out with a very simple, easy to read, maybe with pictures, guide on what they are hoping to accomplish.
I would use a time line (pictograph) showing what would go into effect, when it takes place, who is impacted and what improvements are expected as a result.
I would suggest something in comprehension between "Dick and Jane" and the instructions given with "some assembly required" furniture. In watching excerpts of Democrats trying to explain what is happening now (as shown by Jon Stewart) it seems something needs to be done, especially when high-ranking congressional members cannot explain it fully either...”
~
“I've been listening to all the debates regarding healthcare and how the majority of Americans as well as the politicians don't fully understand healthcare in general and the reform proposals specifically. And they are right. If I were to say I understand the plight of the healthcare system, I'd be lying. Does Sarah Palin understand...no she doesn't. Does Joe the Plumber understand...no he doesn't. Yes, most of us don't understand how healthcare works, so we really can't chime in and say that what the Obama administration is proposing won't work. We just aren't educated enough on the subject.
So, here's my suggestion. President Obama has some very talented speech writers. He's got some of the brightest, resourceful people surrounding him. Why can't one of them who truly understands the healthcare issue break it down to small pieces that the American public can understand. I know it's a comprehensive policy, I understand that it's a daunting job to sift through the legal jargon and make it understanding and accessible to the American public, but that's how you stop the madness that's going on right now. Educate the people! Show them in clear, concise language how the healthcare system works right now from start to finish. If they knew where the money, THEIR money was actually going, they'd be appalled; they jump on the bandwagon for change.
Please, somebody make the information more accessible for all of us whose life it affects.”
~
“Ms Dowd has obviously forgotten the first rule of Fight Club. Don't talk about Fight Club!!!”
You'll notice I had no
You'll notice I had no hesitation about saying there IS no plan at the moment.
There is no spoon...
"...You'll notice I had no hesitation about saying there IS no plan at the moment."
(...True THAT!)