The big question on magazine covers six weeks ago was “Do Republicans have a candidate who can beat Obama?” A Fox News poll released last Monday that showed President Obama was beating all of the GOP hopefuls. But less than a nail-biting week later — when it was almost Valium time — a brand new Rasmussen Poll shouted that ANY Republican Party’s candidate would beat President Obama, 48 percent to 43 percent.
That was followed by a Gallup Poll which had any Republican over the president 47 percent to 39 percent, a margin of 8 percent. So who will that Republican be? As of this writing, former Governor Mitt Romney is leading the pack. Will he stay there? I hope not. I am not a fan of the GOP hopeful and it has nothing to do with his religion. I’m more worried about his Romneycare, which is Obamacare Light, and you know how I feel about Obamacare.
In comparing the two, the Wall Street Journal wrote both “have an individual mandate requiring most residents to have health insurance or pay a penalty. Most businesses are required to participate or pay a fine. Both rely on government-designed purchasing exchanges that also provide a platform to control private health insurance. Many of the uninsured are covered through Medicaid expansion and others receive subsidies for highly prescriptive policies. And the apparatus requires a plethora of new government boards and agencies.”
Oh, sure. All the ills of America will be cured by creating more bureaucracies.
Would you believe that Romney has the nerve, the gall, the brass, the chutzpah to say that his plan is working very well in Massachusetts? Really! Since his plan, which was suppose to lower healthcare costs was passed the cost of Medicaid and other healthcare subsidies went from $1 billion to $1.75 billion a year. That’s an increase of 75 percent in less than three years. A family that buys health insurance in Massachusetts pays a premium 27 percent higher than the national average. Then there’s the almost a quarter of a million newly insured who pay nothing. Their costs are subsidized by the taxpayers. Did anybody mention redistribution of wealth?
The rationing of care has also set in. Many in the medical field have already left the Bay State for greener pastures, and a study by the Massachusetts Medical Society found that 56 percent of internal medicine physicians no longer accept new patients. The average wait for an appointment is seven weeks. Yes. You read it right. I said seven weeks, and if you don’t believe me you might want to contact Dr. Sandra Schneider, vice president of the American College of Emergency Physicians who said, “Just because you have health insurance doesn’t mean there’s a physician who can see you.”
The question my roommate now asks is, “If Romney runs for president in the next election, will you vote for Obama?”
Are you kidding? If Sam, my Labrador Retriever ran against Obama my vote goes to the canine.
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On June 28 dozens of flights at JFK were delayed because 150 turtles were spotted crossing the runways to lay their eggs. Florida had a similar problem across Highway 27 and received $3.4 million in federal funds to build a 13-foot tunnel for the Testudines. Hey there, Mr. Raisman. How do you feel about your tax money paying to protect Florida’s wildlife? I am StanGershbein@Bellsouth.net asking, if these creatures are so important to the Sunshine State, why not use STATE funds to pay for the tunnel?
