Two New Things

It appears this week has produced two firsts in my life. I have been reading some of what is being bantered about as health care reform. I prefer the term "government run medicine" no matter what politicians on the far side of the aisle say. What a twisted mess of rubble it will make of this country!

I was upset enough to write my first letter to the editor. I made the mistake of using the internet to send it off to the Orlando Sentinel. Poof! Off into the Ethernet without a trace or copy. Now they can misprint it and I will never know. And if they do or do not print it I also will never know, because I don't subscribe to any paper. So why did I bother?

I could say, "Well, I'm old, I won't be around long enough to see it destroy the country" and forget it. Why do I believe this will be the straw that broke the camel's back? Because it will create a monster that will be impossible to police. Large health insurance companies have already found insurance fraud difficult to detect. When the government steps in, as they seem determined to do, it will only heighten the problem.

Take defense contractors as an example. Everyone knows the government pays five to ten times what it should for many things from nuts and bolts on up to the space program. "The government is paying for it" seems to be enough reason for many to jack the prices up, and the field of medicine will be no exception.

Look at what doctors and hospitals charge with only medicare and medicaid fingers in the pie. Wait until they get their arms in up to their elbows. Then you will see unnecessary testing and treatment explode. When the government cracks down on it, there will be people who need tests and treatment that won't be able to get it. So it will work against us two ways. It will cost more and cause taxes to go up, and we will get less for our money.

We will be very fortunate indeed if we get out of this without another great depression. Spending is much like it was in the 1920's prior to the crash. Time to climb down from the soap box. All these thoughts about reckless spending are making my head swim, and this is only the tip of the iceberg.

The internet has brought out a new and different side of me that I was not even aware existed. Thinking, writing, communicating like never before has become more than just something to do to pass the time in retirement. Hopefully it holds some value to someone. To me this has become somewhat of an addiction, shaping me as drugs to the addict and alcohol to the alcoholic. I am not the same person I was before, and I sincerely hope the result is not OCD. I crave the internet, friends and acquaintances I have found on it, and a place to record my thoughts. This is not where I wish to place my dependency. But I have digressed.

My second "first" is that I have coined a phrase. Well, borrowed one from somewhere and applied it to a new area. Many people have said, "Normal people are not successful." This is often quoted by hawkers of books with titles similar to "Ten Secrets to a Successful Life". My phrase taken from it is, "Interesting people are not normal -- normal people are not interesting." You may quote me on that.