Sea Street

"YOU LIE"

Two words that have recently circled the globe and are still the subject of the twenty-four hour news circle are "You lie." These words, shouted by Congressman Joe Wilson, stunned me. They were, to be sure, against the protocol of the Congress; but taken in a larger context, how outrageous were they? Anyone who has watched a session of the British House of Commons knows that that atmosphere can become quite raucous. The British, of course, do not go as far down that road as say members of the South Korean Legislature who have been known to end sessions with fisticuffs. And, it should be remembered that there have been some pretty rowdy Congressional get-togethers in the American past.

In the public arena, President Obama has never been called the things that President Lincoln was called. Lincoln was called a baboon. And not everyone in today's America condemns Representative Wilson. When the marchers of the Tea Party Rally in Washington were asked by a reporter from CNN what they thought of Wilson on Saturday, thousands of them broke into roars of approval. Much was made of Wilson's opponent in the upcoming election raising four hundred thousand dollars within twenty-four hours of Wilson's statement. Conversely, Wilson has raised over a million dollars to date. And the question can fairly be asked, "Would the increased scrutiny of the Health Care Bill have taken place without Wilson's statement; would I be writing this blog without Wilson's statement?" The bottom line is that there is a fair amount of prevarication on the president's part. The president said flatly that no illegal alien would be given health care under H.R.3200 but when Republican Committee Members tried to insert specific Prohibitions into the bill, they were voted down along party lines. To put all of this in real terms, let's suppose for a moment that an illegal alien who is pregnant or an illegal child who is sick with a fever, or an illegal man who has been injured present themselves at the Cape Cod Hospital Emergency Room. We all know that they will be treated; the question is, "Who Pays?"

Now, let me make one thing clear at this point, I support a Health Care Bill but it has to be realistic and honest and it must be free of political hypocrisy. The Republican responder to President Obama's speech on Wednesday night was Congressman Boustany of Louisiana, himself a doctor. A great hue and cry rose out of the Democratic Caucus about the fact that Representative Boustany had received over four hundred thousand dollars in campaign contributions from the medical establishment. Now, here's the hypocrisy, Nancy Pelosi, Charlie Rangel, Steny Hoyer and many other Democrats have received more money than Boustany from the medical establishment. Charlie Rangel has received more than twice as much.

Another unrealistic facet of H.R.3200 is the stipulation that insurance companies cannot deny or cancel coverage. The medical insurance industry in America makes a three to four percent profit on every dollar grossed. According to my figures, this industry ranks eighty-sixth in corporate earnings. It's not Exxon Mobile and realistically it cannot, under present circumstances, meet the stipulations laid out in H.R.3200.

President Obama suggests that Government Health Insurance will force the insurance industry to be more competitive-more competitive than what? You can't get blood out of a stone!

Obama talks about paying for all of this with increases in efficiency; this causes me to laugh. Does he mean an efficient Government Program? As a Veteran, I have dealt with the Veterans' Administration which is government run health care. It's a mess, and I'm being kind.

None of this would matter so much if the United States weren't broke. The United States is not only broke; it's way past being broke. It's trillions of dollars in debt to lender countries like China-the main supplier of the junk at Wal-Mart. The real problem with all of this and many other things too, is that Americans, on the whole have their collective heads up their collective behinds. They have no concept of reality at all and wouldn't want to have one. Now, does that make me the one who's being rude?

My four surviving children, as a group, find it hard to believe that I don't support Obama in everything. My oldest son accuses me of prejudice. I don't think of myself as prejudicial, I do think of myself as being consistent and I have consistently called Obama an ego tripper and a jive master. At the same time I must say, "He's very good at it! One of the best." But I suggest that the American people should listen to him more closely and carefully examine what he says. I know one thing for sure, and this is a little bit selfish, but health care on Cape Cod is generally quite good. Here we have some world-class doctors and one of the best hospitals in America and although I agree with health care reform in theory, I don't want to see our situation on Cape Cod changed for the worst.

P.S. My wife, Karen, doesn't always agree with me and after reading this blog she said, "I think Wilson had a couple of drinks before he came to the Joint Session and I think he was really rude and disrespectful and I think he hates the President because he's black; after all he's from South Carolina."

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Be sure to watch David Rojay on The Dan and Dad Show each Saturday night at 9:30 on Channel 17. Read THE LONG BRIDGE RUNNER and A RED STATE HERO by David Rojay on capecodtoday.com. Check out David Rojay on YOUTUBE. For more information, Google "David Rojay".