The Sage draws his breath through thin lips and sighs deeply. There is no shortage of opinions - some well reasoned from the bias of the opinionated - and some hysterical and irrational. Google "Health Care Reform" and you'll find opinions, alright! Some even parade as objective fact, but are nothing of the sort. There are clearing houses that purport to sort out the truth from fiction, but after a couple of paragraphs it's clear that there is an agenda at work beneath the surface. They range for "Let's defeat and embarass Barak Obama" to "Let's punish the wicked insurance company".
The Sage takes this all into consideration and processes the facts to produce a kernal of "TRUTH". He alone has no axe to grind, no hidden (or even brazen) agenda. He speaks only "TRUTH". He is our sole source of unadulterated fact.
Slowly, the Sage begins to speak:
"What is the problem with our current health care system? Is it perfect? Is it even adequate? The answer is that it is not perfect. It is not adequate."
"Why? It is inadequate because healthcare is expensive. Businesses cannot afford to pay for it and remain competitive in a global market. Many individuals cannot afford to pay for it and those that can are often hit by medical expenses that exceed coverage and throw them into bankruptcy. Government cannot afford it, especially if it is paying for several other urgent imperatives."
"What causes healthcare to be so expensive? It is caused by greedy insurance companies, greedy medical professionals, overcautious doctors, overcautious patients and amazing new technology and medicines that treat illness expensively."
"So, what do we do?", asks the Sage as he stares into the virtual flame on his computer monitor. "How do you stop greed? A national healthcare system might do that or it might simply drive the wealth mongers to other endeavors. How do we get doctors and patients to be reasonable about the tests they request? Simply tell them 'tough luck, friend!' or enact real tort reform to reduce the expensive lawsuits that drive doctors to test, test, test? How do we reduce the cost of new treatments for disease? Have the government subsidize the R&D expenses? Tell the pharmaceutical 'tough luck, friend!' and watch the new drugs stop coming to the market while other countries try to take up the slack?"
"Indeed, my friends, we are firmly stuck on the sticky horns of a vicious dilemma. This what Congress is wrestling with as we speak. They're collective wisdom is but a thimble of that which the Sage possesses, but they have been elected. The Sage has not!"
The Sage pauses and warms his virtual hands at the virtual flame. He closes his eyes and breaths deeply and rythmically, gathering all his energy to embrace the TRUTH of the universe. After a few moments he begins again:
"Harken back to the birth of our constitution. Conjure the image of Alexander Hamilton - that proponent of central banking and strong federal governance. Picture Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton's intellectual equal, raging against central government, fearing a quick lurch back to the rule of another King George. This time George Washington. Each gentleman represented powerful interests with motives of greed and phobia. Each wasted no effort in pushing his own agenda."
"What was the country to do? At the time it was not as clear as it is to us. Compromise! Do we guard against greed and avarice? Of course, do we guard against and institution becoming so powerful that it dictates terms to the rest of the nation? Without question! Compromise is the answer - a middle way that uses the power of the marketplace and couples it with the protective energy of all three branches of our constitutional government. Compromise is the answer. It always has been the answer."
So Saith The Sage!
