December 5, 2008
The Dark Side of the Elections
I've been full of good cheer. The holiday season, pride in my country's peaceful transfer of power, maybe a little hope and change running up my leg -- I don't know. President-elect Obama's early picks for his economic and foreign policy teams have been superb.
Thankfully, I've a couple of links to bring you down.
Senator Daschle is speaking in my hometown today. Our next Secretary of HHS isn't going to let a little Depression get in the way of spreading socialism:
WASHINGTON -- Former Sen. Tom Daschle, who is slated to oversee health-care policy in the Obama administration, is kicking off the effort to pass a comprehensive health-care plan.In a speech to be delivered Friday in Denver, Mr. Daschle will say, "The president-elect made health-care reform one of his top priorities of his campaign, and I am here to tell you that his commitment to changing the health-care system remains strong and focused."
Mr. Daschle will emphasize the importance of moving forward even amid the economic crisis, noting that rising health-care costs put more pressure on businesses and must be addressed. The speech does not lay out any specific timetables for action on health care by the Obama administration.
There are some videos up at www.change.gov, and they have been getting all kind of good ideas from the public.
First, S.D. from Delaware tells a sad story of his mother who had bone cancer. She got her medication free from the Pharma companies on the Patient Assist Programs. But in a (admittedly horrible) mix-up, the free drugs stopped coming. S.D. knows when the government starts handing out free drugs, there will never be an interruption of service or paperwork run-around.
[A neonatologist who treats premature infants in Pennsylvania is] concerned about the curtailment of services for special needs children and hopes the new administration will be able to provide access to care for “ALL children regardless of the parents’ income.”The strains on the current system are leading a lot of young people to question whether they can truly afford to pursue a career in health care. K.J. is in her second year of medical school in South Carolina.
Young K.J. hopes that government will take over health care so that she can look forward to living la vida loco as a public service bureaucrat after she has completed the rigors of Med School and Residency -- you go girl!
The company I work for will be a prime target for the new pay-or-play rules. We have 300 employees and the heath benefits are, let me say, less than spectacular. Many ThreeSourcers have worked or still work at the same place and I think I hear their screams as they read my understatement. No doubt 298 will applaud Secretary Daschle ordering the big bad Corporation to pay. Yet the next time they would like to hire somebody to help in their department, or feel they deserve a raise, they'll have less of a chance (Monsieur Bastiat, call you office!)
The jobs numbers are off 533,000 today. On what economic planet do they think mandating benefits will reverse this?
UPDATE: Adjusted the jobs number down from 575K. I don't want ThreeSources to be accused of peddling gloom-and-doom.