Tuesday, October 28, 2008

McCain Economic Advisor - Our Health Care Plan Sucks

Now this is a major embarassment. McCain's senior economic advisor, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, made the following admission about the tax credits that are the centerpiece of their health care plan:

Younger, healthier workers likely wouldn't abandon their company-sponsored
plans, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior economic policy
adviser.

"Why would they leave?" said Holtz-Eakin. "What they are getting from their
employer is way better than what they could get with the credit."


Oops. Needless to say, Obama pounced on that statement immediately, and no doubt we will be seeing it in tv ads later this week. Not that we'd expect anything radically different under a Republican administration than what we have now. Which is nothing.

I really wish this nation could get its act together and enact universal health care. Every high-tech industrial democracy in the world has universal health care? Why not here? Why does the ancient and rusty charge of "socialism" (read: Soviet Communism) still work? I've been suffering from the worst toothaches today, thanks to my molars, which came in crooked and are squeezing my upper teeth in a vice grip. It's painful as hell. I sure wish I could go to a dentist and get it taken care of, you know, without going bankrupt.

I'd also like to see a doctor without going broke. Is that asking for too much? All I'm asking for is something the rest of the world already has. Rich countries that didn't turn communist. Like any of you remember what communism looked like. A whole generation of you grew up after the Soviet Union died. Are we supposed to still be afraid of the Ottomans, too?

So, really, folks, let's get our game together. Let's take a long, hard look at what everybody else is doing for health care. Then we steal all the best ideas, and treat health as a basic human right. And have I mentioned the US spends twice as much on its health care as the rest of the world? No wonder the economy is kaput. Thankfully, my teeth are behaving again.

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