Great letter from a Dallas resident in this morning's hometown newspaper:

“Cornyn's great health care plan

Located inside the U.S. Capitol is a little-known medical facility called the Office of the Attending Physician. For a low annual premium of only $503, members of Congress have access to the finest doctors and specialists the U.S. Navy has to offer.

There are no additional fees. That's considerably less than I pay every month for health insurance with a $7,000 deductible.

Because Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is an outspoken critic of any sort of government-run health care, I called his office and was shocked to learn that he uses the OAP.

For a lawmaker to oppose government-run health care while benefiting from the finest government-run health care program our nation has to offer is the very definition of hypocrisy.”

But, of course, Cornyn is pushing for the “greater good” for our nation

I've been doing nothing of the kind.

” Insurance isn't health care…yeah I know. Which is why I would rather see the health care insurance industry blown away and replaced with single payer….and they can raise my taxes to do it.”

That's no doubt part of the motive behind any and all “play or pay” and “mandatory participation” details of any legislation that is forthcoming — it gets everyone used to paying, i.e., being effectively (if not by name or legally) taxed to pay for everyone's health care. The moment participation and payment is made a requirement is when the people are starting to be “trained” to pay taxes for universal care.

“Side note again…while I would prefer single payer, I argue for a public option along with private because I know single payer will never happen ”

The obvious choice the Dems faced now was incrementalism of one kind or another (be it Universality Lite, which is what the “public option” crowd-out strategy is, or a piecemeal “iterative” process where only portions of the population at any time are made beneficiaries, but all of them at once — children, the poor, the uninsured, the unemployed, people between ages 50-65, Medicaid, VA, all the obvious groups of choice). The public option strategy is seeking universalism, but indirectly and less immediately than instant “Medicare for All” (“single-payer”), at which the public would recoil currently. (In no small part due to the lib Dems' track record so far this year!)

Your right, we were inundated by all those Republican cost cutting amendments. No wonder nothing has been done.

The longer we wait to get on with meaningful efficiency reforms, the long “the meantime” will last.

” When we've driven the costs down far enough that the middle class can afford it and only the genuinely poor need subsidies.”

And in the meantime, people suffer while they wait for the right and the left. The only group healthy in this situation is the private health industry because they are free to manipulate costs to their benefit.

If wishes were fishes, no man would starve.

I think the right would rather Obama fail.

Nor has anyone on the left.

That, is how it is supposed to work. That is how competition gives me the consumer a better product for less.

“… 55% say they favor a government health insurance plan to compete with private plans, which is largely unchanged from late July (52%).”

http://people-press.org/report/551/

Even more than this fact, that the lib Dems have been increasingly lib 'n' loony this year and that they haven't given up on the public option and blamed evil insurers and Republicans for its loss yet are why I say it is not dead yet — the House has yet to begin bargaining with Senate in conference negotiations.

“The cause is noble so the effect will be beneficial.”

Wow, the means justify and will insure good ends.

“Health Care Opponents Prefer Compromise to Obstruction

A clear majority of opponents [of health-care reform] (62%) – many of whom say they very strongly oppose health care reform proposals – say they would prefer to see opponents compromise with supporters to make the legislation better, rather than try to prevent a bill from passing.

Health Care Supporters Favor Stronger Bill over Compromise

Fewer than four-in-ten [supporters of health-care reform] (38%) say policymakers who support health care reform should compromise with opponents, while 57% say they should try to make the bill as strong as possible.”

(Pew)

Blah, now you are just playing with semantics an attempt to talk down to me. Insurance isn't health care…yeah I know. Which is why I would rather see the health care insurance industry blown away and replaced with single payer….and they can raise my taxes to do it.

I wonder why so many of you wouldn't want to have a similar health care plan.

Ok, I'm in a betting mood. I'll deliver to you a 1971 lime green AMC Gremlin, the pride of Kenosha, Wisconsin, if there is a public option passed this year beyond just something that possibly triggers in 2013. Should there be none, you will deliver to me a 1947 Morgan, concours condition.

Sound fair?