WHEN POLITICIANS start talking about paying for programs by cutting "waste and abuse," you should get nervous. When they don't provide specifics -- and when the amounts under discussion are in the hundreds of billions of dollars -- you should get even more nervous.All good points, but here's my question: Obama says he'll pay for at least part of Obamacare by eliminating waste and abuse in the federal health care system. If such waste and abuse exists (and it surely does), why aren't they fixing that now? What's stopping them from correcting problems in the system now instead of allowing them to continue?
President Obama outlined, in his speech to Congress last week, a sensible framework for health-care reform. But here are a few questions he has yet to answer:
-- What exact combination of new revenue and spending cuts is the administration proposing?
-- Will that financing be adequate to underwrite the cost of expanded coverage -- not only within the 10-year budget window but beyond?
-- What mechanisms does the administration envision, if any, to control costs if they are greater than anticipated or if projected savings don't materialize?
In reality, they have no idea how to eliminate waste and abuse, nor do they have any plan to deal with it. Their only concern about waste and abuse is using it as a prop to promote Obamacare.
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I have been thinking about David Brooks gushing over Obama and looking for a direct quote. Find this, probably one among many gushes, oddly enough, at the Huffington Post: "He may revitalize the concept of dignity for a new generation and embody a new set of rules for self-mastery."
I'm not going to explore the context because I'm not that curious, and I don't know what Brooks is talking about, but I just point to Brooks as someone who thought Obama was the best thing since sliced bread. Obama the intellectual.
Okay. So why is Mr. Brains comparing his health plan to so many failed government institutions? If we are to want more government, why does he remind us -- even as he lobbies for it -- of the many times government has let us down.
The Post Office. Please. Now "waste, fraud and mismanagement" the litany of the truly brain-damaged.
Brooks presents another datem that makes me think the quaint thesis that Obama is a Mesmerist has merit. Each of us would be persuaded by different temptations, and one thing I will credit to Obama is his ability to sell cars (some pun intended). He looks into your soul (via your outward behavior) and tells you exactly what he thinks you want to hear. And if you're David Brooks or Chris Matthews or various other romantics longing to be subdued, you faint, have your vapors and climb on board.
And if you're the sensible American people, you ask the price up front and start kickin the tires.
But you have to hand it to him! Waste, fraud and mismanagement you can believe in! Now we've heard it all!
What's the big rush with Obama trying to get Obamacare passed out of necessity so quickly when he can save millions of dollars by cutting out fraud waste, and graft/greed.
Why not start by cutting out the fraud, waste and graft, then over time move on to Obamacare and do it sensibly? Something is definatly wrong here.
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