I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Sarah Palin's VP acceptance speech last night. Just in case you missed it, I have attached a copy of the text that was submitted to the AP. (The highlights on it are mine.) Click here to check it out. Mrs. Palin did move off-script on occasion - I loved her hockey mom shtick: "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit-bull? One wears lipstick." But as she brought home her message, I couldn't help but appreciate John McCain's pick for a running mate. We are definitely in for some fun in the next 60 days!
There was lots to like in her speech. I have highlighted some of my favorite "zinger" lines in the down-loadable copy. For example, her retort to those who have fussed about the thinness of her credentials for Veep was delicious: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."
But there was more to this speech than just well delivered barbs. It articulated a decidedly different view of government, and the view suits me much better. The difference is simple: Obama wants to take more of your money so he can give you more restrictions. McCain/ Palin want less of your money and want to get government out of your way.
I am sure there is a lot about Sarah Palin that is unknown. The media are feverishly parsing Palin's words and scrutinizing her life in search of cracks and flaws. But if her speech is any indication of who she is and what she stands for - knowing her will only improve the odds of John McCain winning the White House.
Palin delivered a wonderful talk and I'm sophomoric enough to laugh with glee at the one liners.
Their is one thing though that I hope her and McCain can get right on, and that is health care.
I'm pro-life, from conception to death and I think that includes when someone is sick. I will never forget the night in Feb when my daughter had to be rushed to the emergency room of Cooks childrens home bc/ she was sick. We walked into the emergency room at about 10 pm. The emergency room was wall to wall with people there with sick kids bc/ they don't have health insurance. We walked in, directly into a room bc/ I was forunate enough to have health insurance.
I'll never forget the moment. As a dad of a sick child I took the room, I just wish all the dads in the waiting room holding their sick kids also had the chance.
I hope McCain and Palin can get health care better figured out, after all, I think health care is also a pro-life application.
Posted by: bubba matthews | September 04, 2008 at 01:39 PM
Honestly, I've never considered that. You get so caught up in the talking-points.....
Posted by: Jeff | September 08, 2008 at 12:22 PM
Health care is one area absolutely in which Obama wants to take more of your money and give more restrictions. The Obama plan will cost an astounding $452 billion a year but will cover only a little more than half of the 47 million uninsured. As rising health care costs continue to threaten affordability for all American families, the Obama plan clearly views more spending as the solution. Approximately 23 million people will remain uninsured while millions will face huge tax increases.
The money you will spend on premiums will be higher - the Obama plan would cause a significant shift in the current health care plans that most families now enjoy. It would force more than 82 millions Americans into high option PPOs and a national public plan would become the dominant health plan offering - so premiums will go up not down. It translates into an additional financial burden of more than $3000 per family rather than the $2500 premium reduction claimed by Obama. While Sen Obama talks about the need to help the middle class, it appears that his health care plan will take even more out of already tight paychecks - increased consumer costs for health care and decreased wages.
Analysis of the play-or-pay mandate alone would cost about $179 billion per year, which means higher taxes on businesses that would limit job and wage growth at a time when government should be encouraging job creation rather than hitting employers with additional costs. The employer mandate would result in an annual tax of $2000 per worker for employers not offering coverage and the impact on job creation in the current economy would be devastating.
Employers will likely shift most of the costs of the $179 billion a year employer mandate to their employees in the form of lower wages or higher premiums or simply dropping coverage and paying the tax penalty. The Lewin Group evaluated a similar plan by John Edwards, which also combined an employer mandate with a national health care plan and estimated that nearly 52 million Americans would lose employer-sponsored coverage.
The Obama government run health care plan as proposed will be bigger than Medicare and as the plan gets bigger with time at the cost of private coverage so will the taxes to finance the new Washington bureaucracy. The access to care will diminish as will the quality of care as more families are forced into the emergency departments and fewer and fewer physicians and hospitals continue to provide care in the face of greater restrictions on appropriate medical care, hospital lengths of stay etc.
Posted by: Dennis | September 17, 2008 at 01:45 AM
Right on, Dennis!
Posted by: Jim Fleming | September 19, 2008 at 11:14 AM