Quote of the day:
A good listener is a good talker with a sore throat. - Katharine Whitehorn
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Anyone who comes out of the operating room, or hospital is greeted by news of the collapse of the financial markets, and the nationalization of investment banking, real estate markets, and other institutions. These large institutions seem distant and not related to our daily lives, however their 'greatness' has been built from the ground up.
Will the same occur to health care....is universal payor really a politically correct synonym for "socialized medicine"? Of course it is.....
Federal government 'bailouts', emergency loans and subsidies which are capitalized by printing money, fancy terms such as
In brief formal remarks outside the Oval Office, Bush sought to show that the administration is moving swiftly and aggressively by taking "extraordinary measures."
are all going to be paid by you....the taxpayer. In addition our dollar valuation has collapsed....only supported by infusions of more imaginary financing from undisclosed printing presses.
The really frightening aspect of this scenario are the things that are occuring now, behind the scenes, the news of which is suppressed and not disclosed.
A year ago we were hearing how fundamentally 'sound' our economy is despite the housing bubble and implosion.
Voodo economists can graph just about anything. This
graph represents that the cost of gasoline actually has not increased. Sure, tell that to my wallet!!!
Perhaps the "no child left behind" act should have been extended to congress and the administration. Obviously they cannot do math, or think intelligently.
In health care we have become "victims"
despite our proactive, take charge and take responsibilty for our actions drummed
into all of us and which at least was ingrained in me during my education and training.
The "thinkers" at the highest level have approached the looming healthcare crisis as controlling costs. They looked at the total cost of health care, and related it to GDP. In actuality this is not what they did. They controlled reimbursements, not costs
Costs to the provider, and hospitals have actually soared due to inflation and the change in demographics.. Providers did a great deal of creative and innovative changing, developing, IPAs, PPOs, even the dreaded "mangled care" models. This however is a bit like dealing with 'imaginary numbers' such as the square root of minus one. The calculus of all this is quite imaginary as well.
Politicians know full well that they will be gone in four to eight years (if they are lucky), and will leave the 'mess' to the next "I can fix it" 
McCain " Don't leave me" Bush, "It's okay Johnny, just get your hand off my crotch" Bush, "I'm going to be unemployed, where's my COBRA?"
Aside from all this gloom and doom, on the horizon as the sun sets, and the moon rises in the east is the new "Consumer Driven" Health Care model
From the Piper Report
Any relationship between this and going in circles is accidental, and the reader should discount any suggestion that this is a circle.
It would all be so funny, if it were not true....
Live, from New York...it's Saturday night!!!!!
Which one of us should meet with Sarah Palin?