IGM Interesting Quote

Inter-Galactic Memo

To: All Personnel
Fr: W. Leavitt
Re: Interesting Quote
9-20-09

It is Sunday afternoon and my brain just exploded because I was watching George Steponallofus interview President Obama. It was an accident—I was channel surfing. They were talking about race in politics and the President artfully side-stepped the issue, rightfully deciding that most Americans didn’t care about his race. But then it turned to Health Care Reform. George wanted to know why the President was having so much trouble with the reform
Obama seemed a little nonplussed as he answered. I can’t quote him because the transcripts won’t be out until tomorrow morning, but it went something like this:
“I’m not sure George. I think I’m making a modest proposal. I’m not suggesting any radical new programs or changes.” That’s when my brain exploded. (Don’t worry . . . I found most of the pieces and put it back together with a mixture of flour and water—I’m organic all the way. The glue will eventually disappear to be replaced by calcium carbonate, so there will be a little rigidity slipping into my thought processes, but they’re so rigid already you probably won’t notice.)
But he wasn’t done. Then he claimed that his reform wasn’t designed to add much in the way of expenditures.
Here’s the thing. I was paying attention, watching his body language. He was absolutely sincere. He really believes these proposals are “modest”, and that there is nothing radical going on at all. I believe that his sincerity is troubling. He doesn’t see it. His world view, his political and philosophical foundations, are so out of touch with mainstream America, (And when I say Mainstream America, I mean me) that he actually believes most of us are jake with the wholesale deconstruction of the culture and social landscape of this country.
Now, I know a lot of us like this guy. I have nothing against him, at least not like a did with Clinton or Carter, or Bush senior. I know a lot us are concerned about the welfare of the uninsured. So am I. I absolutely agree that change is needed.
But it is worrisome when the President refers to these draconian proposals as “modest”, insists nothing radical is going (when his friends and appointments are all self-confessed radicals of one sort or another) and then strongly implies that it won’t cost much. How is 2-3 trillion dollars “not much?” He blithely admitted that this new health-care was going to cost about thirteen percent of the income earned by someone making about $66,000 a year. 13 percent! And George said, “And that doesn’t include co-payments or prescriptions,” and they both smiled. Then; “you can see how people might view this as a big tax increase.” (I didn’t hear the answer because by then I was bending over and picking up pieces of brain and it was making me light-headed. Get it?) How is going from private-sector health care based on a hybrid capitalist-Federal oversight system to—let’s call it what it is—socialized, government-controlled, rationed health-care, a “modest proposal?”
Even the people over at Moveon.org should be able to see that he seriously misspoke. (But they won’t admit it because it goes against their official dogma).
Wouldn’t it have made more sense, and wouldn’t his supporters (as well as detractors) have felt better about his remarks, if he’d said something like; “you know George, it’s a huge mess. And it’s going to take a huge fix. We have to make major changes. It’ll take a lot of time and a lot of money, and when we come out the other side, yes, things will look different. But I was elected with a mandate. My job is to secure major changes and improvements in health care in this country and that’s what I’m going to do.”
That’s what I would have said. And I don’t even own a teleprompter.