After traveling around the country, it was nice to attend an event within walking distance of my home. Even nicer was that it was an important event that will hopefully one day be seen as the turning point in the health care debate when our nation decided that enough was enough.
Westwood is known for rallies at the Federal building, the finest quality medical care in the world at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and the official headquarters of the Tygrrrr Express.
(Not all of this impresses everybody. I mean who cares about a Federal building.)
This was a day for private citizens to peacefully push back against a government that is declaring the debate closed on healthcare, which they do on every single issue. Except in this case, the door has been pushed back wide open. For those wanting to help defeat socialized medicine, several websites abound.
http://www.docs4patientcare.org
http://www.kitchencabinets.org
Hugh Hewitt was the emcee and featured speaker at this healthcare event, but so many contributed.
(No, he does not bother me to keep linking to his site. However, there may be one person somewhere that has heard of me but not him. I do have relatives.)
Tony Katz ran the event, because Tony Katz runs events. Consider that a well deserved promo for him. He offered a very powerful line that should be the mantra of the people.
“The American people gave a second opinion, and the answer is no.”
Yet while Tony Katz has strong opinions, critics will point out that he does not have medical expertise. His brother Dr. Michael Katz does, and Michael Katz had a stinging indictment of the current situation. He has actually quit practicing medicine. Supporters of Obamacare say that this will not occur. Well it did. A doctor threw up his hands and simply quit. Those who believe this behavior to be an aberration will be very sorry when enough doctors decide “who needs this?” Michael Katz must be heard, and so he shall.
“I am a physician who refuses to practice without autonomy.”
“I have quit clinical medicine.”
“To those politicians who want to tell me about healthcare, let me say that you are not qualified.”
“Never confuse getting elected with knowing how to do something.”
Dr. Reed Wilson knows a thing or three about saving lives. That has been his career. He had plenty to say, and America would be wise to heed his words.
“Mary Landrieu can be bought off with 100 million dollars only so many times.”
“They said in the 1960s that Medicare would cost only 9 billion dollars in 1990. It cost 110 billion in 1990. Imagine how far off they will be with this bill.”
“This bill has doctors being paid the same rate all across America. Whether one is in New York, Los Angeles, or Biloxi, the rates are the same. Does anybody think a doctor in New York or Los Angeles can survive earning what a doctor earns in Biloxi. Does anyone think salaries in Biloxi will rise to that of New York or LA? More likely all salaries will go down.”
“To the government, a 40 year old woman is not cost effective. There has been a 30% drop in breast cancer since mammograms took place for women age 40. Yet the amount of money for a 50 year old woman to get mammograms is $1300 per person as opposed to $1900 per person. 40 year old women are simply not cost effective. This is rationing.”
“There was not one oncologist or radiologist doing mammograms on the board that made that decision. There were only number crunchers.”
“The Hippocratic Oath has been thrown under Obama’s bus along with everyone else he has thrown under the bus.”
“Ezekiel Emanuel is Rahm Emanuel’s brother. He has said that the ‘hippocratic oath is the problem with medicine today. It teaches doctors to be too thorough and care too much about patients.'”
“The doctor-patient relationship must be maintained.”
“We must have tort reform. 10% of all costs go to legal costs. When you buy drugs, 10% of the costs of those drugs go to legal costs including malpractice costs.”
“Our healthcare system works. Only 5% of industry is unionized, as opposed to the 13% national average.”
“We need to be able to sell insurance across state lines.”
Dr. Joel Strom spoke briefly, but with serious impact. As a physician, he pointed out what everybody to the right of Chairman Mao understands. The Obamacare numbers don’t add up.
“We are told that Obama care will be saving jobs, provide better care, have no increase in taxes, and reduce the deficit. Nobody I know believes this.”
One British woman spoke from the point of view of a woman who lost a patient, her father. Simple tests would have saved his life, but the doctors in England instead offered verbal assurances and delays. AFter her father died, her mother died soon after “of a broken heart.” The final indignity was when this woman lamented the senseless and untimely loss of her parents, the lack of a bedside manner response she received was “It’s not like America. You don’t get every test you want.”
One point that supporters of Obamacare point to is that in California, auto insurance is mandatory. Healthcare should be no different. This argument has a flaw. Some people have license to drive. They have no car. Therefore, they do not need auto insurance.
One problem with trying to sway people on the issue of healthcare is that unless one is directly affected by the issue, ignorance truly is bliss. The fact is that discussions of healthcare are often exceedingly boring.
To keep people awake, plenty of humor was mixed in with the serious nature of this event. Comedian Evan Sayet entertained the crowd.
“Hugh Hewitt is amazing. He can talk for three hours every day on the radio without a script. Barack Obama can’t talk for three minutes without a teleprompter.”
“Some people say Obama bowed to the leader of Japan. Not at all. He was leaning over so the little guy could light his cigarette.”
“It seems that this rally has saved 20 million jobs. Apparently 19 million of those jobs are for sign makers.”
“People have gone from ‘Yes we can,’ to ‘What did we do?’ Now the people are saying ‘No you can’t.'”
“Nancy Pelosi had the nerve to call the tea party people astroturf. She would know. She’s made of plastic.”
“Can you believe all these pages. This thing is 2,170 pages of cr@p. That’s just Obama’s enemies list.”
“The Democrats claim they want to get rid of waste. By waste, they mean seniors. The program is called ‘caskets for clunkers.'”
“If we want to get rid of waste and fraud, we can fire Henry Waxman.”
“The Founding Fathers gave us a public option. It’s called an election.”
The signs in the audience were hilarious. One female doctor had a sign that I immediately agree with. It read, “No rationing when it comes to breasts.”
I personally did not speak at this event, but before getting to Hugh Hewitt, three things come to mind.
Is Khalid Sheik Mohammed covered under the new plan? Given that he is a private citizen with full Constitutional rights, he must be given top notch health care. Also, amateur homicide bombers that fail to properly do their jobs should be given care so they can get healthy until they get it right.
Also, I favor a bipartisan approach to healthcare. We simply do ideological rationing. We put a provision in the bill that states that if nay rationing occurs, conservatives and others opposed to the bill should get Cadillac care while liberals and others favoring the bill should be the first ones to get rationed. If they are so sure that the bill does not lead to rationing, they should immediately accept this provision.
Lastly, every time I hear Nancy Pelosi talk about astroturf, I think that she is telling us that we can add her to the list of many unattractive women that have spent time in Bill Cllnton’s pickup truck. It can’t be a reference to her playing defense for the San Francisco 49ers. I think they play on natural grass, or some hybrid field turf. It has to be field turf because Bay Area people love their hybrids.
Anyway, every event needs a star to emcee, and the emcee at this event was Hugh Hewitt. A lawyer by trade, he is one of the few lawyers that likes and is liked by doctors. His humor made for a fun event.
“It’s great to be in America, the nation that produces 95% of the medical devices that save the world.”
“I’ll talk slow so that people from USC can understand me.”
“UCLA is not doing to well. I think they are going to the Olive Oil Bowl or something.”
“I recently did a broadcast with Dennis Prager. After Prager stopped talking, I got a full 30 seconds to speak. I told him to stop taking my cigars.”
“When you see Mike Gallagher, let him know that my numbers are higher.”
“This bill is going to cut 570 billion dollars from Medicare. This is a complete breach with our seniors.”
“43% of doctors have said that if Obamacare passes, they will retire or choose a different career path.”
“Also quitting will be millions of doctors in the form of students who won’t be doctors in the future.”
“The people are well meaning on the other side, but they don’t know economics.”
“Obamacare is bad legislation is like a disease. It increases mortality rates, and leads to rationing.”
“Good intentions don’t solve anything.”
“The AARP does not represent seniors, the American Medical Association does not represent doctors, and the Democrats do not speak for us.”
“I hate it when I introduce doctors. They make me feel stupid.”
“All these doctors are here. For those of you planning to have a heart attack, now is the time to do it.”
The only heart attack that will be suffered is the collective heart failure of our nation if the monstrosity that is Obamacare becomes law.
The other side are not bad people. They are just fundamentally wrong. Do not believe lobbying organizations that have staged photo ops where white coats are handed out. I heard from doctors, lawyers and patients in abundance on this day. They say that the only thing that must die regarding health care is this awful bill.
Believe them. Our lives depend on it.
eric