Spiders, Dentures and CheneyDear Mark: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi babbled about how an "itsy bitsy spider" approach to health care reform was not going to work. What the heck was she talking about? — Nancy Nonsense in Nantucket Dear Nonsense: You are not alone in wondering what comes out of the speaker's mouth. She was belittling the Republican's idea of starting health care reform from scratch and coming up with a new, truly bipartisan bill. The president and Democrats are against this concept, claiming a new bill could take up to 10 years to pass. That is now their justification for cramming their bill down our throats — or, in polite terms, reconciliation. Even Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, disagrees with Speaker Pelosi. The problem with Washington is that monstrous legislation hides corruption, loopholes, carve-outs, earmarks and special interest favors. The road to large legislation may be paved with good intentions, but it always results in the loss of more individual liberty and freedom. The current health care reform bill is no exception, as it forces businesses and individuals to purchase the exact coverage mandated by Congress. An "itsy bitsy spider" — or, in other words, an incremental — approach could immediately solve many of the problems in health care with little cost to the taxpayer. Smaller legislation can be easily debated, easily understood, easily verified and quickly enacted. For example, Congress can begin locating the $500 billion in fraud, waste and abuse that is in Medicare without a major bill. Allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines would solve the problem Californians are having with Anthem Blue Cross and their 39 percent rate hike. Insurance portability and pre-existing conditions could be addressed in one simple bill.
Dear Mark: I carefully watched the health care summit and found parts of it informative and compelling, but the stories sounded more like desperation than substantive. When New York Rep. Louise Slaughter discussed one of her constituents who chose to wear her dead sister's dentures because she had no health care coverage, I realized the meeting was a farce. How are we going to make any progress in our country when our elected leaders resort to this type of theater? — More Questions Than Answers in Alabama Dear Questions: Personal anecdotes and emotional pleas are often used in sales to pull at the heartstrings in order to induce an emotional purchase. In this case, President Obama and his fellow Democrats are trying to sell Americans a highly flawed and overly priced piece of legislation. During the summit, Republicans did an outstanding job of presenting the facts that are actually in the Senate's bill. Unfortunately, facts and figures make for boring sound bites. The political theater comes into play because poll after poll has shown that a majority of Americans do not favor this proposal, and Democrats believe that if enough heartstrings are pulled maybe the wool over our eyes will also be pulled. As for the dead sister's dentures, that story smells as much as the feet politicians have been stuffing into their mouths throughout history. Dear Mark: Is it true that President Obama called former Vice President Cheney after his recent heart attack to wish him well? If so, what a nice gesture. — Smiles in South Bend Dear Smiles: Media reports do corroborate your e-mail. What was not reported was that while Obama was on the phone with Cheney, Vice President Biden was having pizza, beer, doughnuts and bratwurst delivered to help Cheney with his recovery. Dear Mark is a public platform for your enrichment and entertainment. E-mail your questions to marklevy92@aol.com. To find out more about Mark Levy, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM
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