Crazy Talk

In an effort to learn more about those who would make America worse I've begun reading Fox News. This is a truly extraordinary measure because I subscribe to Turn Off Fox. Speaking of extraordinary measures, here's the link to an opinion piece about "Obamacare."

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/01/26/james-p-pinkerton-extraordinary-measures-obamacare-review/

Take a moment to read it and we'll dissect it.

Mr. James Pinkerton, the author has decided to compare President Obama's health care plan to the movie "Extraordinary Measures." There are a whole lot of problems, with this starting with the fact that the movie stars ultimate B-list personality and former "George of the Jungle" star Brendan Fraser.

Of far more concern is the fact that Pinkerton makes the comparison without ever really mentioning the health care plan. Instead he focuses on the movie as inspirational, which, in fact, it is. "Extraordinary Measures" is an inspirational story about how individuals can make a huge difference. Unfortunately, America does not have a philanthropic problem, far from it. What we do have is a broken health care system.

President Obama's health care plan actually does precisely what Mr. Pinkerton wants it to do. From the article... "Whereas the Obamans want us to have less health care, “Extraordinary Measures” wants us to have more medicine, more cures."

Dismissing the first part of that for what it is - a lie, the Obama plan would extend health care to millions of people and doesn't take health care away from anybody - I'd like to focus on what both the movie and the President want us to have: more cures.

One of the best ideas in President Obama's plan is to focus more on preventive care, thus ultimately saving money on expensive treatments in the long run. In fact, President Obama wants to make preventive care free!

From the Obama Health Care Plan found here...http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

"An increasing number of Americans are suffering and dying needlessly from diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma and HIV/AIDS, all of which can be delayed in onset if not prevented entirely. One in 3 Americans—133 million—have a chronic condition, and children are increasingly being affected."

Furthermore, President Obama's 2011 budget calls for an additional billion dollars for medical research for the NIH, the most in eight years...http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6103GB20100201

I think it's time to take a truly extraordinary measure and pass health care reform this country desperately needs. Many thanks to Mr. Pinkerton and Brendan Fraser for helping us realize that.