The Health Care Farce

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/03/the-health-care-farce

President Obama, health care speech to Congress, September 9, 2009: "I am not the first President to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last."

Speaker Pelosi, yesterday morning: "Once we kick through this door, there'll be more legislation to follow."

The House reportedly is scheduled to vote on a health care bill on Friday or Saturday, but The Washington Examiner quotes Ms. Pelosi as saying yesterday, "We don't have a bill yet."

As the Washington Post's Ezra Klein notes, "The absence of a single bill that's not changing or being merged or being amended has meant that Democrats can't explain what's actually in the bill with any confidence or clarity." And he supports ObamaCare.

The public may not know what is in the bill, but the drug industry does and is happy with it, reports Politico: "The drug industry, which has held off running ads until officials sign off on the final reconciliation bill, is growing more comfortable with the emerging legislation and is preparing a substantial pro-reform ad buy in 43 Democratic districts, according to a senior industry source."

It's a farce, a circus, a joke, really. Is this the best the country can do in the face of health care costs growing so quickly that they threaten to engulf federal and state budgets, and a health care system in which medical errors kill more patients every year than car accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS? Is it any wonder the public is cynical?

by Ira Stoll  |  Mar 16, 2010 at 2:54 pm Related Topics:  Health Care, Politics, President Obama receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list