Re the congressional hearing on H.R. 676, "The United States National Health Insurance Act," held in Houston on July 18, 2008.

A "congressional hearing" is meant to find out what citizens think about a given subject. But the July 18 meeting was no hearing. It was a carefully orchestrated power-play presided over by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Congressman John Conyers, Jr., to force socialized medicine down citizens' throats.

From all reports the meeting was held in a manner faithful to dictators and their ilk the world over: The politicians showed up an hour and half late (a tactic designed to reduce attendance by tiring people's patience and driving them away), dominated the podium with interminable talk outlining their point of view (designed to present an appearance of unstoppable force), and refused to take questions from the floor (designed to squash all opposition).

The comic relief was provided by Mr. Conyers who claimed that "This issue isn't about ideas or theories or philosophy or idealism. It's about providing healthcare." Given what's revealed by this statement, one can only conclude that for Congressman Conyers the term "learned" is an oxymoron.

When healthcare does not deal with ideas, theories, philosophy or idealism, it can only deal with "practice" -- the practice of non-thinking, uneducated, brain-dead zombies who will stick a knife into you without an idea, theory, philosophy or ideal to guide their action. That's what socialize medicine boils down to. No wonder those speakers described themselves as "bleeding heart liberals." That organ, too, is no longer viable, having been bled out.

There is no legal penalty against egregious lack of knowledge, but one might hope that there would be punishment for elected officials, such as Conyers and Lee who treated their constituents with such unpardonably arrogant disdain. One might hope they will be booted out of office ASAP.

Sincerely,
Sylvia Bokor
Albuquerque, NM

Labels: LTE, TX

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Over the past three years, some 7,000 M.D.s have flooded into Texas, many from Tennessee.

Why? Two words: Tort reform.

In 2003 and in 2005, Texas enacted a series of reforms to the state's civil justice system. They are stunning in their success. Texas Medical Liability Trust, one of the largest malpractice insurance companies in the state, has slashed its premiums by 35%, saving doctors some $217 million over four years. There is also a competitive malpractice insurance industry in Texas, with over 30 companies competing for business. This is driving rates down.

The result is an influx of doctors so great that recently the State Board of Medical Examiners couldn't process all the new medical-license applications quickly enough. The board faced a backlog of 3,000 applications. To handle the extra workload, the legislature rushed through an emergency appropriation last year.

Now many of the newly arriving doctors are heading to rural or underserved parts of the state. Four new anesthesiologists have headed to Beaumont, for example. Meanwhile, San Antonio has experienced a 52% growth in the number of new doctors.

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