the talking dog

Before today's regularly scheduled post, this public service announcement for (and by) Dog Run member Gary Farber.

And now, without further adieu, it looks real good now on passage of a massive $400 billion unexplained Medicare "overhaul", as various Democratic procedural blocks were overridden by the appropriate senate votes..

What's interesting (to me) is what, exactly, Democrats think is in it for them to go along with this classic piece of pork for the well-connected. Enough Dems caved on this to prevent the fillibusters and holds and what not from taking effect, allowing a full vote (where the measure has more than sufficient support to pass). Yes, "Granny will get her pills", prescription drug benefits for the elderly recipients of Medicare a key political pander sure to benefit all. Of course, in this case, no one is quite sure what else is in this Medicare package, other than a hefty $400 billion price tag to be appended to the already large deficit.

Some Democrats (Harkin of Iowa, for example) complain that the bill is just that: a giveaway to drug companies, to whom the real benefits will inure, while the elderly Medicare recipients get a paltry prescription allowance. I am also kind of frustrated with the reporting on this bill: I still have no real idea what is actually contained in this bill, other than huge expenditures. I am kind of appalled at the lack of party discipline by Democrats: it would be better to be called obstructionists than to pass a shitty law, and I suspect this has all the earmarks of a shitty law (i.e., the current crop of Republicans wrote it, so we can be sure that Bill Frist's family owned HCA will reap enormous benefits, while most Americans will not). Maybe I'm mistaken-- but I'd sure like to see some meaningful details reported. (Perhaps some blogger has beaten the press to this...?)

Well, brief public health care diatribe warning. We are a rich country, and we spend more (13% of GDP, I believe) on health care than probably the next 5 or 10 or 15 countries on the list (like we do for defense). A huge portion of that expenditure is in the public sector. Well... almost all of it should be in the public sector. Every other "civilized" country has national, publicly provided health care. Ultimately, this is hurting our economy: our competitors (like Canada, for example) needn't waste resources on employer provided health care-- the state provides it; here, many employers are not taking on new personnel (exacerbating the recession) out of fear of rising health care costs. There will still be plenty of profitable opportunities for drug companies, and doctors will be free to have private practices, but as a matter of social safety net: ENOUGH. Its about damned time we had a government scheme that made sure ALL Americans were insured for health care, either via their employer (who would get appropriate tax credits) or by the government. The whole thing would cost less than the current tax holiday for the superrich we just bought. And if it cost more than that, its STILL a good idea. We have no excuses for our absurd "rugged individualist" bullshit in the health care area. (Sorry: we don't-- maybe only the truly "worthy" can be millionaires, but any damned one of us, rich or poor alike, can contract a serious illness at any damned time.)

My guess is that the current Medicare bill is designed to put off the happy future day when we have SOCIALIZED MEDICINE here in the United States, by driving up the cost of the services in that area we do provide. As such, I'm probably knee jerk opposed to the current "reform". The "plan" would have to be incremental, but the ultimate goal should be to assure that all Americans have access to health insurance, one way or another, pretty damned soon.
But... that's just me.

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Most of the Democrats who caved seem to have concluded that a) half a loaf is better than none and b) being labelled "obstructionist" on their own issue is NOT A GOOD THING, particularly after seeing what happened to Max Cleland and the Homeland Security legislation.

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