I’m not sure I know why this is so complicated.

Perhaps it’s because no one really understands the problem.

We don’t need healthcare reform.  We do need health insurance reform.  The cost of simple procedures is completely out of control.

Recently I had to take a trip to the emergency room at 2am with my son for a condition that turned out to be no big deal really, but as a rookie parent we had to err on the safe side.

I received the bill for that 4 hour adventure a week or two later, totaling over $800.  Interestingly enough, we incurred a $400 charge just for signing in at the window!

How absurd.

So let’s cut to the chase.

Our government is setting out to provide affordable healthcare to everyone, and you can read my rant on the word affordable in a previous post.

Aside from the fact that not a single person in this country even has a right to heathcare, the government thinks everyone needs it anyway.  And quite frankly, the governments record isn’t all that stellar.  Medicare, medicaid, social security… the postal service…

Our representatives have no idea where their constituency stands on this position, as many of them refuse to even find out.

One of my representatives voted for the House version of the healthcare bill even though a majority in his district don’t want it.  On top of that, he didn’t even read the 2,000+ page bill before he voted on it.  Big surprise.

So why is this so hard?

If our government would get back to basics instead of trying to fix problems by baffling us with thousands of pages of bullshit, we’d probably all be better off.  Let’s remember what rights we do have as set forth in the constitution, and not try and level the playing field by asking people who can pay, to pay for people who can’t.

What does a MRI, X-ray, CT-scan really cost, and how can we lower those costs.  The Japanese figured out how to make a cheaper MRI machine and got the cost of a MRI down to less than $100, a $1,400 proposition here in the U.S.

Figure out how we can promote the reduction in costs.  Creating competition in the health sector will be a start, along with opening up health insurance across state lines.

Let the free market work, and quite artificially stimulating it!

Health and Fitness, Politics Congress, government, healthcare, reform

I’m the biggest fan of the U.S. military there is, and if it weren’t for a disqualifying condition I’d probably be flying something with the stars and bars down the side of it.

So when I hear that President Obama is tabling the request to send more troops to Afghanistan at the request of his top commander in the field, gentle terms would suggest I was a bit peeved.

And then it was revealed that he had only talked to his top leaders in the ground once since taking office in January.  What a disgrace.

The President has the ultimate say on troop levels and mission strategy, and he is ultimately accountable for the lives of our soldiers in battle.

Personally I think he owes the families of those serving our great country a bit more time in the briefing room making command decisions than on television pitching some half thought out health care plan or traveling over seas to lobby for the Olympics.

The Commander-in-Chief’s true colors are starting to show, and it’s clear he has a tough time making a very serious and critical decision.

If the man doesn’t wish to talk to his commanders in the field, it’s only right that the troops be called home until we get someone in office that can make decisions about the fate of our soldiers.

Politics Barack Obama, military, Politics, war

I’ve been pondering the validity of these frequent “town hall” meetings President Obama has been holding for some time.  They’ve effectively become (or maybe they always were) an invitation to a select few, on in the most recent case, thoroughly filtered questions submitted by email, that toss up softball questions for the President to knock out of the park.

Well, it seems the media is catching on, and it’s not just the Fox News folks that are starting to question the transparency of the big show.

Even Helen Thomas got riled up over this…

Check it out.

Politics Barack Obama, media, Robert Gibbs