Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (57059)	7/30/2004 9:45:52 AM
From: Andrew N. Cothran	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793791

Alexandra Kerry: Dad Gave Hamster CPR Would-be first daughter Alexandra Kerry revealed Thursday night that her father's habit of saving men overboard didn't end with his Swift Boat rescue of fellow Vietnam veteran Jim Rassman. In a bizarre recollection, Alexandra told the Democratic Convention crowd how the family waited dockside one summer day to embark on a trip, when the cage housing her sister's hamster "Licorice" tumbled into the drink. "My dad jumped in, grabbed an oar, fished the cage from the water, hunched over the soggy hamster and began to administer CPR," the Kerry daughter told the audience. "There are still to this day some reports of mouth-to-mouth, but I admit it's probably a trick of memory." Actually, the textbook definition of CPR is mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, though what techniques may be appropriate for hamster rescue is anybody's guess. Too bad Sen. Kerry didn't have his trusty 8mm camera along to reenact his hamster heroism for posterity

To: LindyBill who wrote (57059)	7/30/2004 9:53:08 AM
From: unclewest	Respond to of 793791

LB, I thought it was an excellent dog and pony show too. The use of smoke and mirrors was outstanding. But the wind is still blowing. Let's see if Kerry can keep that smoke machine working to create fog day and night for three months. If the smoke ever clears, some may begin to recall that Vietnam was a 60s issue and we need solutions for today not then. uw

To: LindyBill who wrote (57059)	7/30/2004 9:59:06 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793791

This viewpoint is doomed, I know. But worth hearing. We could soon find ourselves with a national healthcare system in which those who stay fit are forced to subsidize those who don't — a perverse incentive if ever there was one.......According to a Time-ABC News poll, 87% of Americans said the primary responsibility for obesity lay with the obese person. In a recent Associated Press poll, three in four overweight Americans blamed themselves for their problem and 8% blamed their families. COMMENTARY Before Feds Invade Your Kitchen, Anti-Fat Funding Should Be Voted On By Radley Balko Radley Balko is a policy analyst with the Cato Institute. Balko also writes "The Agitator" blog. July 30, 2004 Federal officials have announced that Medicare is open to treating obesity as an illness. The decision means that many Americans — perhaps as many as 25 million — could soon petition the federal government for taxpayer-funded diet plans, nutritional programs, stomach-stapling surgery and even health club memberships. The price tag for this new coverage could easily climb into the billions of dollars. Yet, Congress didn't vote on the issue. Congress didn't even debate the issue. It should do both. If Medicaid follows Medicare's lead, those billions would at least double. And it's likely that the decision will have significant repercussions among private health insurers too. We could soon find ourselves with a national healthcare system in which those who stay fit are forced to subsidize those who don't — a perverse incentive if ever there was one. Despite all of this, Medicare's decision to cover obesity received no significant public debate. The Department of Health and Human Services simply issued a decree. That's probably because the public would never have supported it. According to a Time-ABC News poll, 87% of Americans said the primary responsibility for obesity lay with the obese person. In a recent Associated Press poll, three in four overweight Americans blamed themselves for their problem and 8% blamed their families. For all intents and purposes, Medicare's proposal amounts to a new entitlement program, one with the potential to rival the recent prescription drug benefit in size and scope (for all its flaws, at least the drug benefit was passed by Congress, and after a lengthy public debate). It's unfortunate that a Republican administration has determined that what's on your dinner plate is now official government business. But the intrusion isn't likely to stop there. Once taxpayers foot the bill for obesity treatments, the government can then make the argument — as it has this time — that we should take precautions to ensure that Americans never become obese in the first place. It then becomes all the easier to enact taxes on fatty or sugary foods, restrictions on food advertising and on portion sizes at restaurants, and various other mandates on the fast-food, manufactured-food and grocery industries. After all, what's the harm in state restrictions on what we can eat if doing so makes everyone healthier and saves taxpayers money in the long run? Like most new government programs, this is being sold to us as a "we should pay a little now so we don't need to pay a lot later" decision. And like most government programs, it will inevitably become a case of paying a little now and paying a lot later. Diet and exercise plans have notoriously high failure rates — by many accounts, between 80% and 95%. We've been telling Americans for 25 years that a healthful diet and regular exercise are the keys to defeating obesity. And for 25 years, Americans have continued to put on weight. Fundamentally, obesity is a private matter. The only way to address this problem is to allow Americans to make their own decisions about their lives, but to also make clear that they themselves — not taxpayers — will bear the consequences of those decisions. The American taxpayer is already on the hook for a projected Medicare liability of about $60 trillion. We can't afford to add another set of questionable benefits to a system that is teetering on the brink of financial collapse. And if our public officials insist on adding questionable benefits, American taxpayers at least deserve a debate and a vote, so we can hold those responsible accountable when the program inevitably fails. We should insist that Congress vote on Medicare funding for obesity treatments. Los Angeles Times