That’s Right Nate

[We're very lucky tonight to have a guest column by Congressman Jack Kimble (R-CA) who is writing in praise of Senator Joe Lieberman (?-CN)]

I happen to be a great fan of Joe Lieberman.  I took some heat for this in 2000 when he was brainwashed by Al Gore and ran against our beloved President Bush.  I have to admit, I could even feel empathy for the many Democrats who were crestfallen at the thought of Joe being denied the Vice-Presidency in such a close election.    I’ve been a big fan of Joe Lieberman for nearly 20 years since he first won my heart as Willie on the television show Alf.  His deadpan, put upon, whining delivery has served him well as a Senator as well.

Though Joe is older now, I can attest that he looks like a man half his age in a spedo.  He’s living proof that with good living, you really don’t need health care.   Today, he took a lot of flack from his own party, or former party, or whatever the Democrats are when he announced he would not vote for a health care bill with the public option and in fact he wouldn’t even vote to end a filibuster unless the public option was removed from the legislation.

Joe’s problems with the public option is the same as my own:

1. The government cannot handle things like this efficiently and it would do a terrible job insuring people.
2. The public option will increase competition and lower the profit margins of insurance companies at a time when they can least afford it.
3. The public option will lead to communism by 2012.

Joe has said that he would to keep the rest of the bill and in 3 or 4 years revisit things to see if we might want to investigate the possibility of creating a trigger that if reached would possibly bring us the public option.   Without the public option, the current program will work to lower health care costs and insure people by fining people heavily if they don’t buy health insurance   This will help the insurance companies by increasing their profits and help the uninsured by making them by health care.

Joe has once again shown himself to be a figure of integrity and courage.  A lot of people would have been scared to stand against the public option when like Lieberman, they were so heavily financed by the insurance industry.   I had the same problem just last year when I had to make the difficult decision of supporting the tobacco industry despite the fact that they heavily funded my campaign.  I made the right choice and went with my conscience the same way that Joe Lieberman has today.  This is truly what being a member of Congress is all about.

Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka--the 37th Greatest Mormon of All-Time

It strikes me as absurd that liberals want to put down our health care system.   They complain that we pay more than any other country and our health care is only the 37th best in the world right behind Costa Rica and ahead of Slovenia.   Well, that may be true, but is 37 bad?  Heck no.  The 37th best health care in the world is still world class.  When I was growing up a man by the name of Casey Kasem did a top 40 radio show and you know what, they played the 37th top song one time, just like the number one song.  Let’s not stop there though–Here are some other #37s.

The Billboard 37th hottest song right now is Uprising by Muse–I’m sure it’s great.

Rolling Stone rates Bob Marley and the Wailers’ No Woman No Cry as the 37th greatest song of all time.

Internet Movie Database users votes Taxi Driver as the 37th greatest movie of all time.

TV.COM rated CSI: NY as the 37th most popular show on television now.

The 37th greatest tv episode of all time is Chrylser Theatre’s “Kicks” from 1965.

Terry Kath of Chicago was named the 37th best rock guitarist by DigitalDreamdoor.com.

Topper Headon of The Clash was ranked the 37th best rock drummer by the same website.

In 1998 The Sporting News named Hank Greenberg as the 37th best baseball player of all-time.

The Sporting News called Deon Sanders the 37th greatest football player of all-time.

The 37th ranked college is The University of Maryland according to ULinks.com.

The 37th best restaurant in the world is Le Quartier Francais, South Africa according to San Pellegrino’s 2009 awards.

Beeradvocate.com rates Surly Brewing Company’s Furious as the 37th best beer in the world.

The 37th greatest Mormon is Jimmy “Super Fly” Snuka

The board of RandomHouse.com named The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder as the 37th greatest novel of all-time.

The 37th greatest television quote is  “…if it weren’t for you meddling kids! (The bad guy, “Scooby Doo, Where Are You?”) according to TV Land.

So you see, if you intend to call our health care system anything less than world class, then you need to make the same comments about a whole lot of great things.  That’s why no matter what the liberals and democrats may claim, top 40 isn’t that bad at all.

If President Obama has his way, public and private insurance programs will compete against each other in a socialist system not unlike college football’s Bowl Championship Series.   The way that Obama put the public vs. private competition was to compare it to mail delivery, “I think private insurers should be able to compete…I mean. If you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.”

I look at the way that private and public institutions compete and I look at the way that private companies like Aquafina kick tap water’s ass or the way that cabs are better than buses, and while charter schools score considerably lower than traditional public schools on national tests we all know school isn’t just about testing.

To me, the best analogy for comparing the public option is to compare the University of Michigan and public schools of its ilk to private universities like Liberty University or Hampshire College.   Now granted, a student at U of M is going to be spending $40,000 less per year than a Hampshire student, but Hampshire allows its students a chance to design their own educational program while Michigan students get rationed education based on what the administration believes they should have.   If you are not making significant progress towards graduation, the University of Michigan will eventually kick you out just like a death panel.  If you are lucky enough to get a diploma, who is going to hire you with a Michigan diploma?

For the lucky student at Hampshire College, you know you are on your way to future success like PBS commentator Ellen Fitzpatrick or Joe Minton and Robert Eng who created Game Table Online when they discovered a need for nerds to be able to play Risk despite living in their parents’ basement in homes a continent apart.  Hampshire not only gives a first rate college education, but provides a large number of opportunities for it’s students.  It can do that because it’s not burdened down with government bureaucrats like the ones at University of Michigan.

As a safety school, I guess the University of Michigan is OK, but the school fails in all areas.  The academics are suspect at best and their entire course catalogue doesn’t offer a single class in creationist studies.  On top of that, Michigan’s football team was a joke last year.  They brought over Rich Rodriguez to run the spread offense despite that fact that many top recruits don’t want to play in the spread.   How do we know that Obama won’t do the same thing to aspiring doctors who will go to practice in other countries because of Obama’s policies?  We must act now before we wind up with a substandard University of Michigan type health care.

It must be very tempting for Democrats to look at their large numbers in congress and try to ram a health care reform bill through without compromise.   I suggest that instead, they learn a lesson from Charles Darwin.  Charles Darwin is a controversial figure whose theory of evolution struggles to gain acceptance over 100 years since he first discovered it.  The reason why is that he refused to compromise.

Christians Believe:

1. God created us out of his love
2. The Earth is 6,000 years old
3. The same plants and animals on this planet were always here
4. The Earth was created in 7 days.

Darwinists Believe:

1. The Earth was created by a big bang
2. The Earth is 4,500,000,000 years old
3. Plants and animals have evolved into their present form
4. The Earth was created over many millions of years.

What if Darwin had compromised.  Christians obviously would have been sticklers on the Earth being created by God, that it took 7 days, and that the Earth is 6,000 years old.  However, the rest of creation would be open to discussion.  If Darwin had compromised he would have had a much more successful theory of evolution that went something like this, “God created the Earth with love and a big bang.  The Earth is 6,000 years ago.   The first life on the planet were single celled organisms that evolved over the next 7 days into life as we know it.”   This is a theory that I believe the entire country, including Texas, would have accepted.

The Democrats must learn this lesson and compromise on health care.   I know it’s easy to see your own ideas as the best, but that sort of attitude will not bring you acceptance.  Democrats want a public option for people to get their health insurance from the government.   Republicans do not.  Let’s compromise and create a public option, but make it so horrible that nobody would ever take it.  Democrats want to limit the profits insurance companies make.  Republicans do not.   Let’s compromise and limit their profits to twice what their current profits are now.   That way, they would never hit the limit.

The reason America was able to avoid Civil War for almost 100 years was because of forward thinking people adopting the 3/5 compromise and later the Missouri Compromise.  Does the Democratic party have statesmen like this today? Compromise is the key to making health care policy that is acceptable to lobbyists on all sides.   I hope that the Democrats learn this leason before they wind up in history’s where are they now file like Charles Darwin.

As you know, Congressman Jack Kimble (R-CA) has been an occasional contributor to my blog.   He’s been very outspoken on Twitter(@RepJackKimble) lately about health care reform and the dangers of a Canadian style socialized medicine.   I was lucky enough to be able to arrange a phone interview with Congressman Kimble about this subject that is very important to both of us.

Nate: Thank you for agreeing to this interview congressman.   I think your contributions to the blog have really helped give me legitimacy as a blog.

Kimble: Thank you Nate.  I’m always happy to talk to the media and with C-Span playing favorites, I’ve had a hard time getting my message out to the people of this United States and to the soldiers who keep this great land of ours safe also.

Nate: Yes, I too would like to say, “support our troops”.

Kimble: Thank you for doing that Nate.  It means a lot to me.

Nate: Now, you have some serious problems with Canadian health care I know.   I do too.   I dated a very beautiful Canadian girl who lived in Canada throughout high school and college.   She was pretty enough to be a model and in fact did do some wallet and picture frame work.  She was extremely into me and we tried to make the long distance thing work, but I finally had to break up with her because of Canadian health care.

Kimble: Why would you break up with a girl you obviously liked over Canadian health care.

Nate: The problem was every time she’d be coming down to visit me and meet my friends, she’d undoubtedly come down with something and have to cancel at the last moment.   It made me look very bad to my friends and that put a terrible strain on my relationship.

Kimble: Actually, that’s not an uncommon story.   Especially with attractive young Canadian women and some men.

Nate: I’m going to have to play Obama…I mean devil’s advocate here.

Kimble: :::laughing::: Nice one

Nate: What do you say to people who say that the Canadian health care system is much cheaper than the United States?

Kimble: That’s not quite true.   While Americans pay 16% of our GDP for health care, Canadians spend 10.1% of theirs.

Nate: So Canada’s system is considerably cheaper?

Kimble: Not exactly.  You see the life expectancy of an American is 77.1 years while in Canada the life expectancy is 80.7 years.   That’s 3 extra years of taxes that the average Canadian has to pay for their health care.  In the end it very much evens out.

Nate: I hadn’t thought of it that way.

Kimble: You should.  It’s not just doctors either.   Dentistry in Canada is affected too.  Watch an NHL game sometimes and look at how many of the Canadian players are missing teeth.

Nate: Wow, there are a lot.  You explanation of the cost imbalance makes a lot of sense, but anybody can present statistics.   Do you have any anecdotes to help support your case?

Kimble: Yes, I do.  There’s a very brave Canadian woman by the name of Shona Holmes.

Nate: The woman in the commercial with the terminal brain tumor?

Kimble: Actually, she made the brain tumor part up, but anyway at 31 years old she was diagnosed with a Rathke’s Cleft Cyst on her pituitary gland.

Nate: Wow! That sounds serious.

Kimble: It is.  A Rathke’s Cleft Cyst is a benign tumor that can cause dizziness and even blindness if it isn’t treated and the Canadians wanted her to wait a month for treatment so she paid $100,000 out of pocket to go to Arizona and get it removed.

Nate: She had to pay out of her own pocket, that’s terrible.   How do you explain that 85% of Canadians are happy with their healthcare system?

Kimble: Would you like the NFL to have 3 downs instead of 4?

Nate: No, of course not.

Kimble: Would you like to eat your french fries with brown gravy or vinegar?

Nate: Not if my life depended on it.

Kimble: How about the metric systme?

Nate: Oh heck no.

Kimble: The Canadians are happy with all of those things.

Nate: Wow, they really aren’t very bright.

Kimble: No they’re not.   They make great lumberjacks, defensemen, or mounties, but you sure wouldn’t want to ask one to do math.

Nate: Good point.   I know this may be a touchy topic, so you don’t have to answer this, but how do you respond to people who say that the big reason you’re so against socialized medicine is because insurance company lobbyists donate heavily to your campaign?

Kimble: I don’t mind answering.   Look, it takes a lot of money to run for office in this country.  I get a lot of money from insurance company lobbyists, but I always make it clear up front that it won’t affect my vote.  Some of the most despicable people on the planet contribute to my campaign–pay day loan guys, crack dealers, companies that knowingly make defective baby toys.   You think I am beholden to all those people?

Nate: Well no of course not, you’d never be reelected.

Kimble: Exactly Nate.

Nate: Thank you for agreeing to this interview congressman.

Kimble: Thank you Nate.  You asked some real tough questions.  I like that.

One of the nice things about owning my own company is  that I have a graphics department at my disposal.   They’re actually not a department as much as two brothers Cristian [Sic] and Pedro who are very artistic.   Being the world’s best boss, I paid them to make a chart for me detailing the American Health Care System that I could get blown up for the wall of my office.   Now both Cristian and Pedro used this as an opportunity to harangue me for not giving them benefits, but as I told the,  if I gave them insurance I couldn’t afford to pay them $7 an hour.  Apparently, after I went through all this work, it turns out that a Republican congressman had created a chart for Obama’s socialized medicine, but I’m not sure if it was the House bill or the Senate bill and I don’t actually even know what Obama’s plan is.   Still, this chart shows why our current plan works best.

One of the greatest things about this great country is our health care system.   When an American is sick, it only takes a quick phone call to bring the family physician over for a quick house call.  We don’t even have to pay for medical help because our employers pay the bill.  Medical decisions are made by ourselves and our kindly old family doctor without bureaucrats getting in the way.  My friends, the Obama administration threatens to destroy all of this all in favor of socialized medicine.

Now socialized sounds kind of like social–like an ice cream social.  Hmm, ice cream as medicine, what could be wrong with that?  Unfortunately, that is not what socialized medicine means at all.  Socialized medicine is when people are insured not by their friendly insurance agent, but by the federal government.   As has been pointed out by people like Bill O’Reilly and Newt Gingrich, socialized medicine will cost more, provide less benefits, and require long waits for even basic services.  Nobody in their right mind would ever prefer a socialized option over their current insurance company

Obama, however, is shrewd.   He’s not calling for us to go right into single payer socialized medicine.  Instead, he wants to have a public insurance option to compete with private companies.  This move is full of danger.  As Timothy Finnell pointed out in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “The reality is that the interlude between adoption of the current Obama plan and socialized medicine would be short. The demise of the private insurance industry would be brutal. No amount of wishing or promising would thwart the inexorable shift from the free market to government-run medicine. The evidence is so convincing that many believe the current proposal is merely a ruse to create a foothold for a single-payer system, probably along the lines of the Canadian system.”

As people like Bill O’Reilly and Newt Gingrich have pointed out, there really is no way for a private company to compete with the federal government option.   The government’s insurance plan would provide more benefits for less money.  The Lewin Group issued a report stating that they would expect private insurance companies to lose up to 120 million customers to the public option if they competed with each other.  We must not allow Obama to weaken medical care in this country by changing it.   The federal government is too powerful and too ineffectual to be a fair competitor to private insurance companies.