Its The Elephant in the Room...

Well actually it is two (2) Elephants in the Room...

Or more to the point, it is two (2) Elephants, each in a different Room.

The Two Rooms represent the differing types of Health Care being promoted in America and the Elephants are .. well just stay tuned.

In the most recent Mid Term Elections, the Democrats did better than I had predicted for one reason...they focused on Health Care whereas Trump focused on the need for the Wall.  I thought Trump's issue would ...pardon the pun - Trump - Health Care but I was wrong and in that respect, learned a good lesson.

Next to food security, I now believe people generally are concerned about their health and the health care available to them.  The Dems will use this again in the coming General Election of 2020 and could well do it again successfully.

But permit me to digress a bit, first off I have to be totally honest with you... I do not understand how health care works in America. For instance, polling shows that up to 90% of Americans are happy with their health care.  How does that jibe with the horrors one hears all the time about how deficient their health care is e.g. disqualifying preconditions and so on.

These studies go on to say that but 10% of Americans find themselves shut out of health care.  So I am most simplistic, given that America spends more on health care than any other country on earth and given 90% like their care ...couldn't pocket change be used to incorporate the disenfranchised  10%?  In other words if the current system is viewed favourably by so many, why do both major parties argue for an entire revamp of the process?

But let's return to the two (2) Elephants in the room.

The Elephant of the Democrats they who want to mirror our Canadian model where Health Care is paid by the State, delivered by bureaucrats and drastically rationed.  It satisfies no one.  Just the other day I heard a radio announcer tell his audience that his daughter was born with spina bifada and in need of an MRI.  The wait list here in Canada was between 6 months and a year here in Canada.  Heaven help you if you want to get a new knee.  This same announcer the told of moving sshortly thereafter to the US - took his daughter to a Doctor who too suggested the need for a MRI and one was done at the time of their appointment.  If the Canadian system is adopted, those good outcomes will be relegated to history.  So the Dems are on the wrong track.

But so to are the Republicans since they are in the grip of a strong private health care companies, especially the Pharmaceuticals.  That's their Elephant and at one point with Debt and Deficits getting so high, less and less people will be able to afford proper care.  Permit me to give you an example.  Until recently we had a condo in Florida and while there the past November, I got to know a clerk in one of the stores we frequented.  One day she was not there and her replacement said she was off sick and he went on say 'if she takes off sick...she is really, really sick'.

Flash ahead to my next visit.  Female clerk is back and I inquired if she had recovered from whatever illness she had had.  Yes she told me "I had a temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit - (that is getting into fatal territory) and I stayed in my bath tub for several days until my temperature broke ..trying to keep cool."  I asked her why she had not just gone to the nearest Emergency but she said she could not afford it ...apparently her health policy had a $6,000 deductible and as clerk making 7 bucks an hour ...that was out of her range.

I was dumbfounded...and presumably because she had coverage... albeit sorely deficient, she probably does not count in the 10% of Americans without coverage.

So the Elephants in the Two Rooms are Public vs Private Health Care.

Whereas studies show that the best health care systems are in Europe where hybrid public and private systems are the norm. They are cheaper, better run and result in much improved outcomes.

America would save bundles of bucks, at the same time Health Care improved for all.

But it won't happen of course.  Republicans will continue to rely upon Big Private Health and Democrats on Big Public Service Unions and given the 50/50 split in America, no compromise will be possible.   Pity.

As I See It...

K.D. Bell


Humour Corner:  

There is a lesson to be learned from typing the wrong email address.

A Michigan couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out and planned to stay at the same hotel they stayed at 20 yrs ago where they honeymooned.  Because of schedule conflicts the husband flew down first.

He checked in and immediately went to the computer room to email his wife however left one letter out of her email address.  His email went somewhere in Houston where it reached a widow just returning home from her husband's funeral.   She read the email and then screamed and fainted.

Her son who was in the next room heard the commotion and came running to find his mother passed out on the floor.

He also saw the open computer screen which read as follows:

To: My Loving Wife    Subject: I have arrived      Date:  January 10, 2019

I know you're surprised to hear from me.  They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones.  I've just arrived and have been checked in.

I've seen that everything has been prepared your arrival tomorrow and am looking forward to seeing you then.  I hope your your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S.  Sure is freaking hot down here !!!

Trump Ends Government Shutdown and

Update:  It was announced earlier today that President Trump will not shut down government again but rather will Call for a National Emergency  and order the completion of  the Wall himself.  Heard that outcome before?  Oh yea, see my recent Blog below. But  I can tell you that I could not find many (anyone?) who believed with me.

Before finishing here I must apologize for being silent of late...I have volunteered for a number of non-profit projects and it has taken up most (e.g all) of my time.

It was not a hard prediction for me to make...it simply made sense and no matter what you think of Trump - he does not like his numbers to fall and a further shutdown would have done that.  That is not to say his calling for a National Emergency may too turn out to be unpopular on both sides of  Congress but dear reader ...he is on the side of the angels. Without proper defensible borders a nation does not qualify for independent status...it is but a failed State.

So what's next...as I say below it will now become a battle between the Executive and the liberal Judiciary. Nothing will get settled until it reaches the Supreme Court and even then the odds are but 50/50.  And a favourable outcome for Trump will depend on whether or not this gets concluded in his favour in time to get the Wall built.
                                                                ----------------


He won't make that mistake ever again...i.e. once burnt...twice shy.

Indeed, there is a greater chance the Dems will use the 3 week hiatus as an opportunity to compromise with the President but that too almost amounts to wishful thinking.

Rather, before the 3 weeks is up, Trump will use his power under the Constitution to Call the Need for A Border Wall a Military Emergency and will call upon the Armed Forces to pay for and build it.

(As an aside, Sheer and / or Bernier  here in Canada would be smart to do the same using the Peace, Order and Good Government provision available to them under the British North America Act to see the desperately needed oil and gas pipelines built on an emergency footing too).

I have for sometime believed this was Trump's only viable option and in late December finally got around to firing off a note to him recommending the same.  (Below is the answer I received).

And this was before he, or anyone for that matter, had publicly suggested that this avenue might be open to him.  I am not vain enough to think that my missive had anything whatsoever to do with his ultimate decision but at least I know that I was on the same wave length.  Some of you no doubt may find that to be a scary thought on my part.

                Trump's Reply:

THE  WHITE  HOUSE   January 2, 2019

Instead of setting politics aside and putting the safety of our country first, Democrats in Congress have continued to obstruct. In doing so, they have refused to come together with Republicans to pass commonsense legislation that provides adequate funding to secure America's borders and prevent a partial government shut down. As I have said throughout this process, I remain committed to finding an agreement that reopens our Government and ensures that our Nation's borders are safe and secure. I urge Congress to rejoin me in Washington to immediately pass appropriations legislation that properly addresses the critical issues affecting our Nation's security and prosperity. Thank you for your email. Sincerely, DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT

I know when it comes to the Wall there are many detractors but tend to think that much of it has to do with 50% of America viscerally hating Trump.  It seems simplistic to me but still valid... a country that cannot control its own borders is not worthy of its Nation State Status.  And this pertains as well here in Canada where Canadian Customs and Immigration states for the period January 2017 to March 2018  25, 645 refugees entered Canada illegally and the flood continues.

The problem Trump will have once he makes his military necessity pitch is that the issue will then quickly go before the Courts ad tedium.  Once the matter finally gets before their Supreme Court - the Trump position stands a good chance but how long will that take and more to the point will it be adjudicated in sufficient time before the next election?

If not, then it is assured the Wall will only get built if Trump is elected to a second term.

And that leads me to Government by the Judiciary which appears to afflict Western Nations in this new Millennia.   Its another impairment to Democracy's underlying principle of majority rule. Our Courts have stridently moved from interpreting laws...their legitimate role, to making laws and our politicians being the quick studies they are realize that if the Courts deal with the hard issues of Society it spares them the grief.

The trouble with this of course is that Society cannot hold a handful of independent judges accountable.

Now back to the Wall, Trump campaigned on it and indeed it was one of his major..if not his main election promise and he was elected President based upon his platform.  Add to this the fact that as President, he is now the Commandeer in Chief of America's Armed Forces and protecting its borders is a prime function of this role.

So we have the Dems pushing him into taking this stand and now the Courts taking up their fight where they left off.  All the while the Media cheers both on. 

And don't even get me started on the drubbing Capitalism is taking.

I HAVE YET TO WRITE AN ENDING HERE BUT AM GOING TO PUBLISH THIS NOW AND GET BACK TO IT...k

Or Rather I have decided to let you do the ending.  If you have any thoughts in that regard, please let me know.  In the meantime I am going on to my next Blog which will be about an Elephant....in fact, two Elephants...so stay tuned.   Please don't forget to read 'Humour For This Day'...directly below. 


And now Humour for this Day:    I just paid for my 12 month gym membership and my bank called to see if my credit card had been stolen.