The Dream and the Nightmare

[GaryC 7]

The Dream and the Nightmare

Sen. Hillary Clinton, fresh from a landslide re-election, spoke the other day to the Association for a Better New York. She was coy about her presidential aspirations, saying, "I will look at the possibilities, but I . . . haven't really had the time to talk to people about it. It's been a busy election season that worked out well, so I will think about it. I'm open to thoughts."

But she "was clearly looking ahead to the next Congress," when she will be part of the majority for the first time in four years. And she offered this blast from the past:

She . . . said Democrats would focus on improving the quality and affordability of health care--a touchy matter for the former first lady, who in 1993 led her husband's calamitous attempt to overhaul the nation's health care system. The failure of that effort helped Republicans win control of both the Senate and House the following year.

"Health care is coming back," Clinton warned, adding, "It may be a bad dream for some."

It may be a bad dream for Mrs. Clinton, at least if she does decide to make a bid for the West Wing. In a 2003 blog entry, liberal economist Brad DeLong explained why (ellipsis in original):

My two cents' worth--and I think it is the two cents' worth of everybody who worked for the Clinton Administration health care reform effort of 1993-1994--is that Hillary Rodham Clinton needs to be kept very far away from the White House for the rest of her life. Heading up health-care reform was the only major administrative job she has ever tried to do. And she was a complete flop at it. She had neither the grasp of policy substance, the managerial skills, nor the political smarts to do the job she was then given. And she wasn't smart enough to realize that she was in over her head and had to get out of the Health Care Czar role quickly.

So when senior members of the economic team said that key senators like Daniel Patrick Moynihan would have this-and-that objection, she told them they were disloyal. When junior members of the economic team told her that the Congressional Budget Office would say such-and-such, she told them (wrongly) that her conversations with CBO head Robert Reischauer had already fixed that. When long-time senior hill staffers told her that she was making a dreadful mistake by fighting with rather than reaching out to [sen.] John Breaux and [Rep.] Jim Cooper, she told them that they did not understand the wave of popular political support the bill would generate. And when substantive objections were raised to the plan by analysts calculating the moral hazard and adverse selection pressures it would put on the nation's health-care system . . .

Hillary Rodham Clinton has already flopped as a senior administrative official in the executive branch--the equivalent of an Undersecretary. Perhaps she will make a good senator. But there is no reason to think that she would be anything but an abysmal president.

London's Daily Mail, meanwhile, reports another great moment in socialized medicine:

A man fixed his front tooth with superglue after failing to find an NHS [National Health Service] dentist.

Gordon Cook, 55, has used the bizarre "DIY dentistry" technique on a loose crown for the last three years--with each fresh application of glue lasting around two months.

If health care à la Hillary is "coming back," it may a bad dream for anyone who needs medical or dental services.

http://opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110009249

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Basically, HilaryRotten is of the MyronBaloney school of administration.

As (Canadian) Tory leader and PM in 1990, Mulroney forced out 2 MP's--Alex Kindy of Calgary and David Kilgour of Edmonton--for voting "conscienciously for constituents" against his proposed GST. Unlike Mulroney, she has not learned from it (of course, Mulroney's "learning" was demonstrated by his resignation from party-leadership/PM-ship shortly before the Tories' 1993 trouncing--like Trudeau, he wanted to escape the well-deserved blame).

I think eight years of that termagant was more than enough to impose on the US!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Whether or not they try to put forward a proposal for some sort of nationalised healthcare - I wonder if you would be willing to admit that the system as is, under the monolithic profit-first/care second health insurance industry in need of reform and some sort of regulation.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

But there is no reason to think that she would be anything but an abysmal president.

Well, we've had an abysmal President for the past six years and will continue with such for the next two. Abysmal Presidents are nothing new. There were some before, too. Hope that we can do better than that next next time around. And no, I wouldn't want to vote for Hillary for President. I couldn't imagine that I would except if she actually runs and the Republicans have nothing better to offer. If she was running against McCain, for example, he'd have my vote hand down. If she'd be running against Condi, I'd vote for Hillary. Wouldn't like it much but it'd be the better of two bad choices.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I don't understand the fascination with Hillary Clinton. The last thing the US needs is a Margaret Thatcher.

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

If she was running against McCain, for example, he'd have my vote hand down. If she'd be running against Condi, I'd vote for Hillary. Wouldn't like it much but it'd be the better of two bad choices.

check mccain's track record on illegal immigration and you might change your mind. either way it's a lose lose proposition.

I don't understand the fascination with Hillary Clinton. The last thing the US needs is a Margaret Thatcher.

nor have i understood what the deal is with her. she's like a freaking boomerang, she just won't go away.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

If she was running against McCain, for example, he'd have my vote hand down. If she'd be running against Condi, I'd vote for Hillary. Wouldn't like it much but it'd be the better of two bad choices.

check mccain's track record on illegal immigration and you might change your mind. either way it's a lose lose proposition.

I am not sure that I'd agree with McCain on every issue but that would probably be true for any candidate out there. McCain comes across as a guy that I could see being President, though. A guy that, quite contrary to Bush and his pack, would work across party lines.

[Dr_LHA 3]

London's Daily Mail, meanwhile, reports another great moment in socialized medicine:

A man fixed his front tooth with superglue after failing to find an NHS [National Health Service] dentist.

Gordon Cook, 55, has used the bizarre "DIY dentistry" technique on a loose crown for the last three years--with each fresh application of glue lasting around two months.

A NHS dentist is hard to come by in the UK these days!

However at least in the UK if you're out of a job and get into a car accident, you don't get landed with a $500 ambulance bill, $15000 ER bill and a letter from the lawyers saying you're being sued because some guy's faking whiplash.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

London's Daily Mail, meanwhile, reports another great moment in socialized medicine:

A man fixed his front tooth with superglue after failing to find an NHS [National Health Service] dentist.

Gordon Cook, 55, has used the bizarre "DIY dentistry" technique on a loose crown for the last three years--with each fresh application of glue lasting around two months.

A NHS dentist is hard to come by in the UK these days!

However at least in the UK if you're out of a job and get into a car accident, you don't get landed with a $500 ambulance bill, $15000 ER bill and a letter from the lawyers saying you're being sued because some guy's faking whiplash.

Nor do you have to declare bankruptcy and get three jobs just to get by.

Still you must admit, anyone who would superglue their teeth is clearly an idiot.

The Daily Mail doesn't have a very good reputation in the UK, nor does its vicious readership.

Edited November 17, 2006 by erekose