People throughout history have fallen for myths from time to time. There were figures such as The Minotaur and Medusa. Some people used to think that babies were delivered by storks. We have all heard of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster and even the Easter Bunny. And now we have a present-day myth intro- duced by our new President as part of his platform while campaigning in 2008: The one that promised health care reform out of one corner of his mouth and no taxation to the middle class out of the other.
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I suppose we can take the naive route and just assume that this Harvard graduate didn't understand the math and expected that the government could simply chop down more trees and make paper for the purpose of printing as much money as is needed to pay for health care reform. Or maybe he thought that he could take that too-well known debonair glance into the camera while reading from his teleprompter and the money would just appear from the universe based on charm, charisma, and an over-read copy of "The Secret" sitting on his bookshelf. Or could it possibly be that it was more important for him to take office and use his puppeteer staff members to right his ship? After all, this would only mean that there would be mere collateral taxpayer damage for John Q Public. It wouldn't matter that many of us would have to foot the costs and possibly have our new tax bill stretch us beyond our budgets and fixed incomes.
I suppose we can take the naive route and just assume that this Harvard graduate didn't understand the math and expected that the government could simply chop down more trees and make paper for the purpose of printing as much money as is needed to pay for health care reform. Or maybe he thought that he could take that too-well known debonair glance into the camera while reading from his teleprompter and the money would just appear from the universe based on charm, charisma, and an over-read copy of "The Secret" sitting on his bookshelf. Or could it possibly be that it was more important for him to take office and use his puppeteer staff members to right his ship? After all, this would only mean that there would be mere collateral taxpayer damage for John Q Public. It wouldn't matter that many of us would have to foot the costs and possibly have our new tax bill stretch us beyond our budgets and fixed incomes.
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I will at least give President Obama credit that he didn't make the same mistake that Bush 41 made in 1988 and actually use the words "...read my lips...", which turned out to be that president's demise in the 1992 election. Bill Clinton ate him alive by reminding everyone of the debacle over and over. No, Obama is a little more subtle. He knows that some people (even those we consider highly intelligent) just won't get the message if it isn't voiced specifically. No, he understands too well that being a smart, well-spoken person is good enough for many and that the legitimacy of any of his claims will not even be considered as....well....mythical. No, he might as well be The Headless Horseman since none of us will ever be able to read his lips regarding his planned (or what is just as bad, unplanned) method for handling his proposed health care strategy. It is ironic that the term "No taxation without representation", which was originally coined due to unfair taxation of the Colonies by Britain, can now be fittingly used for this proposed health care reform nightmare. Health care without the proper "representation" of Congress or, frankly, even their proper knowledge of it.
I will at least give President Obama credit that he didn't make the same mistake that Bush 41 made in 1988 and actually use the words "...read my lips...", which turned out to be that president's demise in the 1992 election. Bill Clinton ate him alive by reminding everyone of the debacle over and over. No, Obama is a little more subtle. He knows that some people (even those we consider highly intelligent) just won't get the message if it isn't voiced specifically. No, he understands too well that being a smart, well-spoken person is good enough for many and that the legitimacy of any of his claims will not even be considered as....well....mythical. No, he might as well be The Headless Horseman since none of us will ever be able to read his lips regarding his planned (or what is just as bad, unplanned) method for handling his proposed health care strategy. It is ironic that the term "No taxation without representation", which was originally coined due to unfair taxation of the Colonies by Britain, can now be fittingly used for this proposed health care reform nightmare. Health care without the proper "representation" of Congress or, frankly, even their proper knowledge of it.
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With all of this being said, however, I still get a feeling that if the government takes over my health care, everything is going to turn out all right. After all, that's what the Tooth Fairy told me on the phone today.
With all of this being said, however, I still get a feeling that if the government takes over my health care, everything is going to turn out all right. After all, that's what the Tooth Fairy told me on the phone today.
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