Publisher's notebook
The devil we know... or worse
Publisher Bruce Trogdon
While the news is still filled with the back and forth about whether President Barack Obama wiretapped Donald Trump, the real crisis is health care. Obamacare, Trumpcare, Ryancare, call it whatever you want.
It's a big deal.
Oh sure, a president wiretapping a competitor's phones would be a big deal, too. I doubt that there will be any definitive conclusion though. The word wiretap was probably not used properly (imagine that) by Trump.
My guess is that there may have been some snooping going on. But what they will find will be extremely alarming to Republicans and a big yawner to Democrats. Just like what they will probably find with the Trump team's conversations with Russia. No real fouls will be seen by the Republicans and it will be termed the greatest disaster ever by the Democrats. "Impeach! Impeach!"
Yada, yada, yada. There are some really critical problems to be solved, like health care, and we just keep fixating on mud.
In our Weekly Poll last week, almost half (49.3 percent) of you felt that Trump’s allegation that Obama tapped his phones at Trump Tower was just “fake news.” The other half either thought that Trump should have (a) showed more evidence, (b) should not have gone public, or (c) were flat out outraged at President Obama.
I am not sure how this is even possible, but as John McLaughlin would have probably said: "Wrong! The correct answer is that you were all right."
Let's move on to something real. Like the fact that The Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) is in shambles. To me, it was a mess when they passed it and now it has imploded. The only way to save it would be a massive infusion of even more money. Basically to prop it up like the dead guy in "Weekend At Bernie's." But it would still stink.
I am not sure which stench is worse. Obamacare or the proposed new American Health Care Act (Trumpcare, Ryancare, Obamacare Lite - whatever). What they have, so far anyway is just as bad as the predecessor.
Oh sure, my Democratic friends (yeah, I have a few) are waxing poetic about how great Obamacare was. Well, I guess it was if you don't mind working people paying a fortune for their health care with so that other people can get better care for free.
My Republican friends (what does "Republican" even mean any more) think that Obamacare was the work of the devil. So they propose replacing the devil we knew for a new one we don't. Talk about jumping from the frying pan into the fire!
In fairness, we should temporarily withhold judgment on "Ryancare" for now. I call it that because he seems to be the only one that knows what's in it. I don't think Trump does. I think he just rolled out poor Paul Ryan to get something out there to get the ball rolling. What we are seeing now probably has no chance of being what comes out in the end, but let's debate it anyway.
Trump likely would prefer to just punt and watch Obamacare collapse from its own dead weight. But he ran on repealing it and replacing it. Ah, there's the hard part.
Hopefully the country will come to it's senses (don't hold your breath) and get rid of both the old Frankenstein and the newly proposed one and start over. Both were built on a house of cards and won't survive long anyway. There are the pockets of the health care lobby, the insurance lobby and the greedy politicians to satisfy after all.
Republicans: you can't just let people die. You also can't give a family a $3,000 tax credit and expect them to run out and buy a $16,000 insurance policy (with a $6,000 deductible to boot). You must drive costs down immediately or the patient will be dead before the medicine arrives.
Democrats: yes Obamacare did give poor people health insurance that they couldn't otherwise have afforded. It also helped a lot of people to decide that maybe working isn't worth the hassle. Not working often gets you better insurance. The hard working middle class, at least the ones that don't work for the government, are paying through the nose for their own health care to keep the costs down for everybody else. That's why your candidate lost.
Could we not extend Medicaid to people who need it but make sure it is not a better deal than what the people who are paying the bills are getting? Is that really so complicated?
Think I am wrong? Let me know by voting on this week's poll question "How does the new House Republican health care plan stack up to Obamacare?" Cast your vote and feel free to comment at thepostnewspapers.com (or your hometown Post website). You have until Tuesday to set me straight.
It's a big deal.
Oh sure, a president wiretapping a competitor's phones would be a big deal, too. I doubt that there will be any definitive conclusion though. The word wiretap was probably not used properly (imagine that) by Trump.
My guess is that there may have been some snooping going on. But what they will find will be extremely alarming to Republicans and a big yawner to Democrats. Just like what they will probably find with the Trump team's conversations with Russia. No real fouls will be seen by the Republicans and it will be termed the greatest disaster ever by the Democrats. "Impeach! Impeach!"
Yada, yada, yada. There are some really critical problems to be solved, like health care, and we just keep fixating on mud.
In our Weekly Poll last week, almost half (49.3 percent) of you felt that Trump’s allegation that Obama tapped his phones at Trump Tower was just “fake news.” The other half either thought that Trump should have (a) showed more evidence, (b) should not have gone public, or (c) were flat out outraged at President Obama.
I am not sure how this is even possible, but as John McLaughlin would have probably said: "Wrong! The correct answer is that you were all right."
Let's move on to something real. Like the fact that The Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) is in shambles. To me, it was a mess when they passed it and now it has imploded. The only way to save it would be a massive infusion of even more money. Basically to prop it up like the dead guy in "Weekend At Bernie's." But it would still stink.
I am not sure which stench is worse. Obamacare or the proposed new American Health Care Act (Trumpcare, Ryancare, Obamacare Lite - whatever). What they have, so far anyway is just as bad as the predecessor.
Oh sure, my Democratic friends (yeah, I have a few) are waxing poetic about how great Obamacare was. Well, I guess it was if you don't mind working people paying a fortune for their health care with so that other people can get better care for free.
My Republican friends (what does "Republican" even mean any more) think that Obamacare was the work of the devil. So they propose replacing the devil we knew for a new one we don't. Talk about jumping from the frying pan into the fire!
In fairness, we should temporarily withhold judgment on "Ryancare" for now. I call it that because he seems to be the only one that knows what's in it. I don't think Trump does. I think he just rolled out poor Paul Ryan to get something out there to get the ball rolling. What we are seeing now probably has no chance of being what comes out in the end, but let's debate it anyway.
Trump likely would prefer to just punt and watch Obamacare collapse from its own dead weight. But he ran on repealing it and replacing it. Ah, there's the hard part.
Hopefully the country will come to it's senses (don't hold your breath) and get rid of both the old Frankenstein and the newly proposed one and start over. Both were built on a house of cards and won't survive long anyway. There are the pockets of the health care lobby, the insurance lobby and the greedy politicians to satisfy after all.
Republicans: you can't just let people die. You also can't give a family a $3,000 tax credit and expect them to run out and buy a $16,000 insurance policy (with a $6,000 deductible to boot). You must drive costs down immediately or the patient will be dead before the medicine arrives.
Democrats: yes Obamacare did give poor people health insurance that they couldn't otherwise have afforded. It also helped a lot of people to decide that maybe working isn't worth the hassle. Not working often gets you better insurance. The hard working middle class, at least the ones that don't work for the government, are paying through the nose for their own health care to keep the costs down for everybody else. That's why your candidate lost.
Could we not extend Medicaid to people who need it but make sure it is not a better deal than what the people who are paying the bills are getting? Is that really so complicated?
Think I am wrong? Let me know by voting on this week's poll question "How does the new House Republican health care plan stack up to Obamacare?" Cast your vote and feel free to comment at thepostnewspapers.com (or your hometown Post website). You have until Tuesday to set me straight.