A Brilliant Distraction by the Obama Administration; health care reform, the social problem, and what I would do to fix it.

A few days ago President Obama gave an hour-long speech about his proposed plan for health care reform. Up until that point, I had been on board with the idea. I did (and still do) believe that we should have some sort of socialized medical system in place for those who genuinely need it. However, after an hour of vague ideas and irrelevant rhetoric, I was left with a feeling of little confidence that the President could pull this off.

I do believe that something drastic needs to be done, but I’m afraid that the proposed health care bill wrapped up in so much bureaucracy and red tape, that it will end up being just as slanted as our current system. The end of the meeting solidified what I had been feeling, when the President was asked what I believe to be a very intentional question about how the Cambridge police handled the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, a prominent black professor at Harvard University. The President’s reply was that he did not know enough about the case, but that he believed that the ‘police acted stupidly’.

Those words struck a major nerve with the American public. More importantly, it seemed to cause temporary amnesia. For the next few days (and still currently), everyone was talking about the President’s brash, and possibly racially motivated, comment. Everyone seems to have forgotten that the reason we were even there was to discuss the healthcare bill…

Well played.

Just to prove my point, I did some online research and captured images of the front pages of all of the major news networks (taken Thursday July 23, 2009). Guess what I found? Only 1 major news network (Fox News) listed the Health care topic as their main news story. Every other network chose to focus on the President’s comments about a local police matter.

Click on the images below to view the full sized image of the websites.

ABC News “The President stops short of an apology”	BBC “Obama regrets Stupid comments”	CBS News “Choice of words on Gates ‘Unfortunate’”
CNN “I didn’t mean to slight the Police”	Fox News “Conserative Dems warned over vote on Healthcare Bill”	MSNBC “Poor choice of words in black scholar’s arrest”
The New York Times “Obama regrets his language on Gates arrest”	Yahoo News “Black officer at scholar’s home supports arrest”

Do I think this is some grand conspiracy involving all of the major news networks?

No! Absolutely not. There is NO conspiracy at play here.

So what exactly am I saying?

People are funny, and most of them don’t want to focus on the major issues surrounding their lives. They’d rather turn a blind eye to an issue that’s clearly going to impact their lives because they know they have absolutely no control over it. To quote one my all time favorite movies, “99% of all subjects accepted the program as long as they were given a choice”. Given the choice, most of the masses will choose to stay closed minded and focus on the items which, in the long run, will have little or no impact on their lives because it’s easier for them to accept.

What would I do differently?

	Minimize the amount of government provided health care coverage to people who are clearly not taking care of themselves. Yes, this means smokers, and most of the obese people who eat at the Cheesecake Factory. I’m sorry but if your ass can’t even fit into a chair, I’d say that spending money on your health is a losing gable.
	People who are here illegally should not have legal health care coverage. If we can mail them their insurance card, then we obviously have their address. Either deport them or send them a citizenship application. They don’t need free college, either. I work my ass off, pay my taxes and do everything legally, and the person who does none of that gets free college education. Something is wrong with this picture. Chances are, if they came here illegally they are already accustomed to poor living conditions. If we denied them health care, they probably wouldn’t know the difference.
	Weekly drug testing for people on welfare and other forms of government aid. If Tyrone wants to check into rehab, sure, I’ll chip in; but I don’t see the need to help pay for his crack. If people who honestly deserve welfare are receiving it, then there should be some stipulations attached. Which brings me to my next point ..
	Welfare Barbie does not need any more beer, cigarettes or children. Cap the maximum welfare allowance for up to (and no more than) TWO children, and I’d bet my house that her ovaries magically dry up. It would slow the population growth rate by a factor of nx-2 , which I would also be willing to bet would have a positive impact on job security and crime rates.
	Finally, If we really are all equal then we should all pay an equal portion of taxes. No more whining about how people who earn more money should have to pay a greater percentage of the taxes to help pay for the people who are earning less than he is. That doesn’t sound fair, does it? In fact, if Joe earns more money than I do and we are all paying a flat tax, then he IS paying more taxes than I am. Let’s use simple math to prove my point: Let’s say we had a flat tax of 25%. Let’s say that Joe earn $100,000 this year, and Barbie earns $30,000 this year. If they both pay a flat tax of 25%, then: Joe would be paying: 100,000 * 25% = $25,000 paid in taxes Barbie would be paying:  30,000 * 25% = $7,500 paid in taxes. Wow, look at that. A flat tax means that people who earn more, pay more. Hm….

So that’s where I stand. I don’t consider myself republic or democrat, I just consider myself intelligent.