Posted by
Mark S. Rader on Friday, July 10, 2009 12:00:00 AM
I have written before about my experiences as a campaign worker for the Clinton's years ago back in Arkansas. From time-to-time I am reminded of a conversation I had with a campaign staff member, about what responsibility a candidate has to his/her constituents. I remember clearly how he explained to me that it was "...not what you do. it is what you appear to do..." that is important. Things have not changed much in politics in the last 25 years. President Obama appears to have done a great job in negotiating with the Russians on nuclear proliferation and also with the Health Industry on cost savings for Medicaid and Medicare. The problem is... these agreements are truly meaningless.
Agreement with the Russians
When I heard about the Russian agreement I was taken aback to the comment that the Russian President made when Obama was declared the winner of the election. I wrote about it then because I thought is was so odd, even the press that was reporting it thought his statements might have been tongue-in-cheek. He started by talking about Obama's inexperience and then talked about how "attractive" a candidate he was and how "easy" it will be to work with him (giggle...giggle). Now this would not have been so odd except he and his associates seemed to be enjoying a very funny inside joke as they grinned and laughed their way through the question. I wrote at the time that it was clear to me they felt he was going to be a push-over. In looking at this wonderful agreement it seems to me they must still be laughing. The agreement does little for us but everything for them. It is an agreement that appears to be reducing their weapons arsenals but in reality they have not had the money or the manpower to maintain those weapons anyway. It has been reported that much of Russia's weapon systems are inactive or in a general state of disrepair. Essentially, they are giving up things they do not have anyway. We have to remember that one of the key's of winning the cold war was keeping the Soviets under pressure to spend money they did not have to try and maintain and upgrade their expensive weapon systems. Well, that job just got easier for them under this agreement and without putting them at any additional risk. The thing the Russians really want is to eliminate or reduce our Missile Defense Systems. Why? Because this makes it much easier for them to use their now smaller fleet of missiles if they ever want to take action against us or one of our allies. The last four US Presidents have refused to do that but I think the Russians think Obama will be much "easier" to deal with on this issue especially if they are willing to sign meaningless agreements that make him look good.
Hospitals 150 Billion Dollar Lie
The total cost of something is what it costs, that is the way math works. It might indeed be an inconvenient truth but if the Hospital pays for it... if the Doctor pays for it... or if the Government pays for it... the bottom-line is; we pay for it. Why? Because the Hospital, the Doctor, the Laboratory, the Clinic, the Nursing Home, and the Government all depend on us giving them our money to stay in business. The only way they can make any money is by getting us to give them ours to cover the cost of services rendered. There are no multiple sources of income here. Having said that, how do you think they will get the $150 billion that the Hospitals have agreed not to bill Medicaid and Medicare? All this announced "Agreement" will do is move the liability for cost away from the Government and on to the average American. In other words... if they can't raise your taxes they will conspire with others to charge you more for health services. Again, things cost what they cost. Believe me if HCA Hospitals felt that reducing the cost of services to medicaid patients was going to make them more money they would have done it long ago. Ultimately HCA is seeing dollar signs because they want to become one of the Governments primary providers under Obomacare just like Kaiser was chomping at the bit for Hilarycare.
The reality is, under this agreement these Hospitals will actually be freed from depending on the Government to set profitable rates for services and will now be able to pass the additional costs on to the average American who is not on Medicaid or Medicare. Don't get me wrong... they were doing this already but now they have permission to do it even more and to the tune of $150 billion dollars more. Just like Rich Umbdenstock, CEO of HCA said after the meeting, "..this represents coverage for all, paid for by all...". I think he meant paid for by you.
The refrain of "..its not what you do but what you appear to do..." has become a successful political policy for many politicians. I mean if you actually DO something like... fight a war on terror... someone might get hurt and you might get blamed. Its much better to identify a problem that is not really a problem and then pretend you fixed it. That way one can take credit without taking action and without taking risks.
By-the-way, better stay away from HCA Hospitals... cause you are gonna be paying big for this!