Reuters Jim Pethokoukis on the healthcare summit

When it comes to the intersection of business and politics, we love to get Reuters Jim Pethokoukis to join us. He’s a terrific writer and analyst, not to mention new media superstar with his blog and superb twitter feed.

Tonight, the focus was on this week’s healthcare summit. We talked about the political theater, the style and the substance. We also took a lot of calls from the great WRKO listeners.

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What is Pundit Review Radio?

On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 6-8pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Here we go again, Obama’s words versus deeds

Congressional Quarterly on the latest, and perhaps most expensive, difference yet between Barack Obama’s words and deeds,

One Tough Sell: Paying for Health Care Overhaul

Last year, candidate Barack Obama zeroed in on a feature of John McCain ’s health care plan that would have taxed workers’ benefits, branding it history’s largest middle-class tax increase and saying it was too radical a proposition to seriously consider.

Eight months later, President Obama appears ready to roll the same type of tax hike into his ambitious plan to overhaul the U.S. health system — if enough Democrats in Congress are willing to go along.

Finally, a few on the political left are awakening to the reality that Barack Obama is not a new kind of politician. He’s as double talking and cynical as they come. Here is David Sirota at Salon, a leading liberal news site,

Obama’s trail of broken promises
The prophet of hope now doesn’t even bother with explanations when he reneges on his campaign pledges.

It’s true that politicians have always broken promises, but rarely so proudly and with such impunity.

We once respected democracy by at least demanding explanations — however weak — for unfulfilled promises. Then we became a country whose scorched-earth campaigns against flip-flopping desensitized us to reversals. Now, we don’t flinch when our president appears tickled that a few poor souls still expect politicians to fulfill promises and justify broken ones.

The worst part of this devolution is the centrality of Obama, the prophet of “hope” and “change” who once said that “cynicism is a sorry kind of wisdom.” If that’s true, then he has become America’s wisest man – the guy who seems to know my kids will laugh when I tell them politicians and voters once believed in democracy and took campaign promises seriously.

If he read Pundit Review during the campain, he’d be a lot less surprised, that’s for sure.

UPDATE: Well, what do you know, here’s another reversal,

Washington Post: Obama says OK to mountaintop mining

DURING THE campaign and after his election, President Obama left environmentalists in coal country with the distinct impression that he was going to do away with mountaintop removal mining in the Appalachians. That’s where coal companies expose coal seams by stripping the dirt and rock covering them or blasting the tops of mountains to bits with dynamite and then, under legally defined conditions, dump the debris into valleys. It’s a particularly destructive practice, but it’s legal. And it will remain so under a memorandum of understanding the Obama administration will announce today.

…While Mr. Obama may have wanted voters to believe otherwise, he never flat-out said he would end this brand of mining. His decision reflects energy and political realities.

Oh, so it’s not a broken promise but a broken insinuation. That makes sense. Here’s a tip for Obama supporters, ask to see both hands next time he’s telling you what you want to hear,

The Failure of Romneycare Further Demonstrates Romney not an “Economic Conservative.”

One of the biggest reasons those who support Mitt Romney for VP is that he is supposedly an “economic conservative” who will shore up support among “pocket book conservatives.” As I and others have been saying for quite a while now, Romney’s actual record proves that he is neither socially conservative nor fiscally conservative.

Today’s Wall St Journal editorial provides further proof that Romney’s “signature” achievement as governor, his government run quasi socialist “universal” healthcare plan, has been a total bust which is no surprise since government mandates and price controls always lead to contrived scarcities, decreased quality, and inflated costs.

Here is what the Wall St. Journal had to say about Romneycare:

Most of this growth in coverage has instead come via a new state entitlement called Commonwealth Care. This provides subsidized insurance to those under 300% of the poverty level, or about $63,000 for a family of four. About 174,000 have joined this low- or no-cost program, a trend that is likely to speed up.

As this public option gets overwhelmed, budget gaskets are blowing everywhere. Mr. Patrick had already bumped up this year’s spending to $869 million, $144 million over its original estimate. Liberals duly noted that these tax hikes are necessary because enrollment in Commonwealth Care is much higher than anticipated. But of course more people will have coverage if government gives it to them for free. The problem is that someone has to pay for it.

Thus the extra tab of $129 million, which may need to go higher because it relies on uncertain federal funds from Medicaid. For now, Mr. Patrick wants one-time (yeah, right) charges of $33 million on insurers and $28 million on providers, plus some shuffling of state funds. The balance comes from an estimated $33 million boost in the state’s “pay or play” tax: If businesses don’t offer “fair and reasonable” insurance to their employees, they get hit.

This is a textbook example of how business taxes evolve into “pay or pay,” the first recourse of state-funded health systems. Politicians love levies on business because they disguise the overall bill from voters. But such taxes are merely passed along to workers in the form of reduced take-home pay, since all health costs are part of compensation.

entire article here

With healthcare reform already a major issue in the election, the last thing McCain needs is to pick a running mate like Romney whose signature healthcare plan/economic reform that was endorsed by Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and Planned Parenthood, has been a total failure.

And while the WSJ limited its analysis to the economic effects of Romneycare, it is worth noting that his healthcare plan accomplished what no other Democrat has been able to in establishing tax payer funded abortion with a 50 dollar co-pay as a “healthcare benefit.”

If McCain picks Romney, McCain will lose whatever tactical advantage he may have right now on the healthcare issue in my humble opinion.

Navigating the VA: “A Journey Without Maps”

Tonight we discussed veterans healthcare with a specific focus on traumatic brain injuries. We spent an hour with Bruce McQuain from QandO.net and Annette, a dedicated wife and care giver for Eric, who was severely wounded in Iraq. Bruce spent 28 years in the Army and provided some perspective on the challenges the VA is facing, while Annette told us about the consequences. The unfortunate thing is that her story is not unusual. It tracks perfectly with this editorial from Lawrence Downes of the New York Times,

For Wounded Veterans and Their Families, a Journey Without Maps

At a recent hearing in Washington before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the men’s families told anguished tales of trips through bureaucratic hell in the transition between the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs. That terrain is notorious for its paperwork mountains and tripwires of red tape, but especially treacherous for those with traumatic brain injuries, the signature affliction of this five-year-old war.

Mr. Bunce lost an eye in a roadside bomb blast that also thrust shrapnel into his frontal lobe. His father, Peter, said his care was so “stovepiped,” with nobody knowing what anyone else was doing, that doctors working on his head ignored his broken leg. Technicians nearly did an M.R.I. on his brain, not realizing — because scans had not been done — the danger from the metal in his skull. Nobody tried to coordinate his many medications.

Time and again his parents had to cross the country looking for the right therapies and treatment. Whatever expertise they found they stumbled on; there was no one but them to manage his case. The V.A. relied on the brain-damaged young corporal to evaluate his own mental state, and once sent him a letter threatening to cut off benefits because he could not manage his affairs.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has been tremendous IMHO, gets it and is making changes,

FORT BLISS, Texas - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday said the military had made mistakes in treating returning combat troops including in their physical and mental health care and by providing some sub-standard housing.

In a visit to Fort Bliss, Texas, Gates announced a change in government procedures to encourage troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) without fear of losing their security clearances and harming their careers.

The announcement came just a day after closing arguments in a San Francisco federal court case in which veterans allege the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is unable to deal with the growing number of PTSD cases emerging from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

As Bruce mentioned, PTSD and brain injuries are very different things. That said, neither situation is being adequately addressed by the VA, for a variety of reasons.

Annette was a very compelling guest, helping us understand the frustrations and consequences of dealing with an overwhelmed VA system. She is a relentless advocate for her husband Eric. We admire her tenacity to get the best possible care for him. After listening to her describe the challenges, everyone, liberal and conservative, should be saying WE HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THIS.

All of our interviews are also available for download at iTunes and Podcast Alley via the Pundit Review Radio Podcast.

What is Pundit Review Radio?

Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

No Wonder Romney Never Discusses His Healthcare Plan…

Shikha Dalmia, senior analyst at the Reason Foundation has the latest figures on RomneyCare, and they don’t look pretty.

“…premium increases of 12% for this year — double last year’s national average.”

“The state health-care bill for fiscal 2008-2009 is expected to touch $400 million — 85% more than originally projected.”

“Before the hike, the cheapest plan for uninsured couples in their 50s cost $8,200 annually. Now, unless government bureaucrats hand them an exemption, they might well find it cheaper to pay the penalty — up to half the price of a standard policy — than purchase insurance. That is, pay to remain uninsured. This is legalized extortion: TonySopranoCare.”

entire article here

I have said many times that Mr. Romney’s healthcare plan that he signed on his way out the door in Massachusetts (billed as his “signature accomplishment” at the time) was inherently anti-competitive/anti-free market and would inevitably lead to contrived scarcities, inflated costs, and higher prices for consumers- the same things that always result from socialistic/command style systems- not to mention that inconvenient little fact that it established $50 dollars a pop abortions as a “healthcare benefit.”With all the talk about Romney being the only “economic conservative” it bears mentioning that his actual record tells a very different story.

Tom Blumer of Bizzy Blog has more

And more from CNSNews.com here

Can Al Gore torpedo universal healthcare in ten seconds or less?

The debate over universal healthcare will be the #1 issue, sadly, in the presidential election cycle. Sigh. We got a glimpse into our future this week through the eyes, er, the teeth of the British,

People with toothache are resorting to pulling their own teeth because they cannot find a NHS dentist, a study out today says. Almost a fifth of those questioned in the biggest patient survey of its kind said that they had missed out on dental work because of the cost.

Ah, the beauty of government run healthcare. Well, Al Gore is speaking out now on how universal healthcare is a “right” for all Americans. Really? I don’t seem to see that anywhere in here?

Anyway, I digress. Al Gore is truly a political genius. In exactly TEN seconds, he demonstates why government run universal healthcare would be an unmitigated disaster.

“I strongly support universal single-payer government-provided or government-funded health care”

“Single payer” and “government funded”…sounds so nice…so inexpensive…unless you already know that anything that is “government funded” is actually funded by OUR TAXES. It’s not REALLY single payer OR government funded. IT’S OUR MONEY AL.

The upside of government sponsored univesal healthcare is that it does help the citizenry develop that can-do attitude, that “I can do anything I set my mind to” spirit that defines the American dream. I mean, if the Brits can learn that in order to have their teeth fixed, they just need to pull out themselves…This type of entrepreneurial, can-do spirit could really propel the USA forward in the new millenium.

Will the Real Mitt Romney Please Stand Up?

Will the Real Mitt Romney Please Stand Up?
by Gregg Jackson
Human Events Online

Posted: 10/02/2007

Former Governor Romney goes to great lengths in a Wall Street Journal article entitled “Where Hillary Care Goes Wrong,” (WSJ op/ed, p. A-13, Sept 20,2007) to dispel the notion that the healthcare plan he signed into law (Romney Care) as he was leaving office in 2006 is essentially similar to Hillary Clinton’s recently unveiled “universal” healthcare plan.

Romney says, “Let’s be clear here: My plan in Massachusetts worked very differently from the way Senator Clinton’s plan would.” Actually, his plan was quite similar to Hillary’s “universal” plan-paradoxically titled “Healthy Choices”– in that it increased government mandates, regulation, costs, and bureaucracy with less choice for consumers. It was also the same plan that was praised by Hillary herself (Ted Kennedy too).

rest here