There was little local news yesterday. The hugest story is featured again as the top headliner in the Asheville Citizen-Times today, and that is that Congressman Heath Shuler played basketball with President Obama. This two-day story is even more important than the president getting a Nobel Prize. I do not have any thoughts about the award, as politics does not involve thought. It’s visceral and rooted in greed. Lest that sounded non sequitur, the “scientific consensus” has for years upheld that Nobel Prizes are awarded politically.
While we’re in this news vacuum, and the pundits are saying the Americans must not fall asleep at this stage in the healthcare debate, I am wondering why I have not heard more about repealing legislation that supports insurance, pharmaceutical, etc. monopolies. I don’t think it is because Representative Henry Waxman is the only person, with his aides, who can draft legislation anymore. Rather, there is too much legislation to search, and it is likely any favors would be written in euphemistic code, rendering key-word searches futile. So, at this point, those of us who sit back are settling for a promise of the same coverage for the same number of people with more government control and more fees passed to the private sector.
