Mixed Feelings

Although I disagreed with him on nearly every public policy issue and think he benefited from treatment/forgiveness that would never have given to a Republican, I was a little bit sad to hear that Ted Kennedy had passed. I genuinely think he had the best interests of people at heart. Politics Daily had a well-written post by Alex Wagner about a touching experience her family had with Sen. Kennedy. Her father had worked on his presidential campaign, and a few years later her mother went through terrifying surgery for a tumor in her throat. Kennedy called the hospital several times to help ensure she was getting the best care, which was quite a decent thing to do and beyond what one would expect him to do for the spouse of a former campaign aide. It also highlights exactly what I and a lot of other people who aren't closet Nazis fear about government involvement in health care. When my mom gets sick, will she get the same care under a heavily government influenced system as the mother of someone who worked on a presidential campaign? I fear not.

Bobby Jindal and Health Care

This may the first of many posts about Bobby Jindal. But I have to say I am impressed with any Republican who is digging into health care issues.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/gov_bobby_jindal_details_louis.html

I'm not enough of a policy wonk to know whether his ideas are good or not, but we need more people on our side who can speak articulately about health care. In fact, I think Republicans already start from a disadvantage because we've let the Left frame the issue as a question of how to provide health care to the uninsured, when the problem seems to be the broader issue of health care costs significantly outpacing other increases in the cost of living.

But as long as the MSM beat the 40-million-Americans-are-uninsured drum, this is going to be a top issue on voters' minds. The Democrats' solution sounds simple and caring -- "we are a rich nation and we should ensure that no one goes without health care." The details of how they would do that are complicated and alarming, but most folks don't get beyond the positive main message point. The Republicans' answers -- "let the free market solve the problem," "it's too expensive," "our tax policies are distorting the market," "the 40 million include a lot of illegal immigrants and young healthy people" sound callous or complicated.