A Cautionary Tale

I recently spoke with a person I'd never met before while trying to assist them in their job search. That's what I do: find people jobs.
For the sake of protecting his identity we'll call him Ian. The following is an excerpt of the conversation that I had with Ian, specifically as it pertains to our current and future healthcare system.
First some background information. Ian is a professional within the IT (Information Technology) industry who also has been heavily involved in the medical/healthcare field for many years. He expertise surrounds setting up and adminstering the systems that various healthcare programs use. He has lived in and worked all over the world mainly in Europe, Canada and Southeast Asia. Ian is highly educated and speaks 12 different languages. He speaks with a British accent and has most recently (last 5 years) become a citizen of the United States. That should be enough to understand where he is coming from.
As we spoke, Ian started to explain that his wife, who lives on an island in the Caribbean is dying. I can't describe how without revealing personal information.
Anyway, as we spoke he suddenly let out a large sigh and said: "You don't know how good we have it here in America, mate." I asked him what he meant by that and he continued: "You MUST resist Obama's attempts to change your heathcare with everything you have." (Now I normally don't talk about politics with clients/consultants but he did most of the talking and I just listened intently).
Ian stated that he used to work in London for a group of doctors years ago whose job it was to "administer" the government healthcare system. He told me: "Once a month these doctors would convene in London to make decisions about who would live and who would die."
I asked him what he meant by that. He said "You see, in this type of healthcare system there is a set budget that they must adhere to and all of the care and equipment costs come out of that budget." " If there is only 5 dialysis machines then only so many people will get a dialysis treatment that month." "You can't go anywhere else either," he continued, "because they are faced with the same issues there as well."
Ian went on for about 15 minutes recounting story after story after story of personal friends that had needed care and either could not get what they wanted or DID finally get it after waiting for months to do so. Some did not make it.
He said that his friends back home in England are very worried about what is going on here in America because this was thier "Ace in the hole" when they couldn get treatment back home. If America goes the way of England and Canada they'll have to find another place to get their treatment.
Ian said very solemnly: "I tell everyone I meet, and I mean EVERYONE that this will be the end of America if this is allowed to happen." He said "You American's don't understand that even though your healthcare system might be broken and it might be expensive, it's still the best healthcare in the world." "I know," he continued, "I've lived all over the world but I CHOSE to be an American."
Ian and I spoke for another ten or fifteen minutes and he finally said: "If you love this country, mate, you'll not let this happen without a fight."
The thing that I love about my job is that I get to talk to people. All kinds of people from all over the country and the world. I was struck by the passion that this man had for a country that he just came to know as his own not even a decade ago.
Ian fears that he will lose his wife soon and healthcare is a subject that is near and dear to his heart. She is dying because of an operation that was performed outside the United States in a healthcare system that was substandard to say the least.
His hope is to bring her here to the United States to see if she can get SOME treatment before it's too late. However, his confidence in that happening is slowly abating.
"Don't let this happen," I can hear him saying, "not here too." "Not in America."

Hey GOP, Look On The Bright Side!

Look, I know all of you Republicans out there are sick to death with what is going on with this country. The reason I know this is because I, as a fellow Republican, feel the same.
However, I started looking at things a little differently lately and I found that I don't feel so bad about the predicament we are in.
Sure, the Dems run the WHOLE GOVERNMENT. Sure, they now have the Super Majority in the Senate so they need not fear any GOP filibuster. Sure Obama is quickly enacting his socialist agenda and probably can't be stopped until much later down the road.
Admittedly, those are all very good reasons to be depressed if you are a Republican or Conservative or both.
However, look at it this way. Now that the Dems control everything, they can no longer blame what's wrong in this country on anyone else.
How long do you think the American people are going to fall for the "it's Bush's fault" argument? Not very long. They might get another 3-5 months out of that one but it is becoming painfully clear that the Dems have become drunk with power, Obama included, and are over-reaching by a huge margin.
American will start to get real tired of hearing them say the recovery is right around the corner and not see any evidence to support that claim. Now they are saying it's 2 years away. When did that change?
Anyway, it is going to be impossible for Dems running for office in the next few years to blame anything on the GOP. That means they will most likely turn on each other.
You'll start to hear things like" Sure, my opponent is a Democrat like me but he is much more conservative/liberal than I am". Just wait and see...it's coming.
So, I suggest that you get involved and start working at the grass roots level to start grooming candidates for future elections. Sit back and gather the ammo that the Dems are sure to hand us as they drive this country into the toilet.
You just know that Al Franken is going to say something stupid. It's only a matter of time. He can't help it. The pressure on him will be too much and he'll break.
Nancy Pelosi is less popular than Dick Cheney. Clearly, she is in deep trouble. She has powerful allies in The House but she'll fall eventually.
Remember, they can't blame anyone else for the angst that future voters will have and are now beginning to feel. They will only have themselves to blame.
The question I have though is this: at what point will the media jump off the Obama boat?