Stan Geiger

Obama's Latest Grand Tour

To health care or not health care, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler to...

Oh, to heck with it.

I caught a news story about Obama's trip to Ohio last night. I found a couple of things interesting. I found one thing annoying.

The president, while warming up his adoring throng, made a comment about how nice it is to get out of Washington every now and then. I had to laugh. Every now and then?! The guy's never there!

I'd like to see a hard count. I'd like to see the number of days Obama has spent in Washington since taking office relative to the number of days he's spent on the road. I'd be surprised if it came out half and half.

I'd also like to see the total amount taxpayers have paid for his travels.

I found a post-speech interview odd. I mean it was like a sportscaster was interviewing a basketball coach after a game. I found the "coach's" parting comment interesting. The reporter asked if the votes were there to pass the big bill. Obama said something about expecting them to materialize.

Translation: The votes to pass the bill aren't there. The only way the bill passes is if a group of moderate Democrats cave. If they do that, they will be committing political suicide.

The thing I found annoying was the focus on the sick woman. She has my sympathy. Anybody that falls ill has my sympathy. And I'm sure the cost of her treatment will be enormous.

Still, we can't make a massive change to social policy in a nation of 300 million based on a tragedy that befell one person.

I thought Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee made a good point during the Sunday morning blitz. He noted that killing this bill would put an end to nothing. The debate would continue. Reforms people could embrace could still be made.

The administration and Pelosi are painting this vote as an all or nothing deal. Either pass this bill or it's the status quo for life. That's not the case. It's not like double jeopardy attaches if this particular bill gets voted down.

If I'm wrong correct me, but I think it was in the movie City Slickers that the wise old cowboy played by Jack Palance held up one finger.

You don't put a body cast on a broken toe. Let's throw the behemoth out the window and start over. Let's pick one problem, debate it and come to an agreement on how to fix it. Then we can move on to the next problem.

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