Candidate health care plans

After reading Butch Mazzuca’s column, “Universal health care for whom?”, I am wondering what is the point? He starts off with a rambling discussion of battlefield decisions to build an argument that Sen. Barack Obama plans to help insure 47 million uninsured Americans, when 10 to 12 million of that total are illegal immigrants and another 15 million are eligible for Medicaid, but not enrolled (many perhaps out of ignorance of their eligibility). Not to pick nits, but uninsured is uninsured whether voluntary or otherwise. Since Obama’s plan is not mandatory, those eligible, but not enrolled in Medicaid, would not be required to select another plan. Better that they be educated about the benefits for which they are eligible.

Even though the Obama campaign states that is has no intention of providing health insurance for illegals, Mr. Mazzuca’s credulity is strained by the fact that Obama continues to use the 47 million uninsured figure in his speeches. He goes on to state that “unless he (Obama) makes a clarifying statement very soon, they (the voters) will have no choice but to assume that Obama intends to spend billions of our tax dollars” providing health care insurance to illegals.

Perhaps Mr. Mazzuca is not aware that Sen. John McCain quotes that exact same 47 million uninsured statistic in discussing his health-care proposals, and is not on record as saying he will not provide health insurance to illegal immigrants. If he is aware, then we the voters must assume that Mr. Mazzuca’s credulity is equally strained by McCain and that, without a clarifying statement by McCain, we must make the same assumptions about McCain that Mazzuca would have us make about Obama. I don’t think this was the point that Mr. Mazzuca hoped to make.

Quote of the day: When faced with a political embarrassment, admit nothing, deny everything and launch a counterattack.”— paraphrased from Karl Rove.