The Rob Portman for VP boomlet begins to take shape, and once it becomes a bandwagon, it won't be stopped

Sen. Rob Portman and Sen. Ron Wyden Introduce Bill to Help Lower Medicare Costs by Keeping Seniors Healthy. March 29, 2012.

http://youtu.be/r51NayIBBVc

Personally, despite the avalanche of media stories we've seen in South Florida for months exploring and positing various positives and negatives about Marco Rubio, I've thought that Ohio senator and former OMB chief Rob Portman would be the GOP pick for Vice President for probably about eight months, which is part of the reason why I started a subscription to his YouTube Channel around then, and as you may've surmised, the video above is the fruit of that tree.

Over the weekend, when reading what was new at The National Journal, a magazine that, as I've noted before here, I first became aware of while attending IU, I came across this very persuasive column by Major Garrett making some of the same points that I've been making in conversations for months down here, a few of which are precisely why Rubio is not as qualified right now.

Despite what you may start hearing from the Mainstream Media about Mitt Romney looking to protect his right-flank by choosing one of two former governors, it won't be either Tim Pawlenty or Mike Huckabee, because in my opinion, neither has the ability to move a sufficient number of the tens of thousands of college-educated Independent voters in North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania who are THE voters who will decide November's election.

They are more interested in the economy, cutting government spending and creating jobs than they are in social issues, and Rob Portman is someone whose résumé and personality will appeal to them, especially the entrepreneurs who genuinely want meaningful health care reform, but NOT the sort of over-reach and top-down government tyranny of Obamacare, which will be a job-killer.

The National Journal

ALL POWERS

Rob Portman's the One

Why I think the senator from Ohio is going to be the veep nominee.

By Major Garrett

Updated: April 5, 2012  2:45 p.m. 

April 4, 2012  6:00 a.m.

Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee, Wisconsin sealed the deal, and he will pick Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio as his running mate.

Write it down. And harangue me mercilessly this summer if I am wrong.

Column writing, I have learned, is part provocation and part explanation.

There is nothing provocative about declaring that Portman will be Romney's running mate, except that it hasn't happened and I don't know it an as absolute fact.

But everything tells me it will be so.

Read the rest of the column at:

http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/all-powers/rob-portman-s-the-one-20120404

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http://twitter.com/#!/MajoratNJ

http://www.youtube.com/user/SenRobPortman

Shouldn't actual "facts" matter to journalists even in their Tweets, or, is it every man for themself to get Followers? Just saying...

Below is a copy of a pithy email about last night's GOP presidential debate in South Carolina that I sent out to some media friends and acquaintances across the country last night.

Likely, during a timeout of a college football game I was watching.

That is, unless it was while I was watching Four Weddings and a Funeral for about the 50th time. 
What can I say, I've always been a Hugh Grant fan, and he's been in three of my favorite films, the aforementioned Four Weddings, Notting Hill, and Love Actually, all written by Richard Curtis, who directed the latter.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

My last post mentioning Hugh Grant was on September 28, 2010, in a post titled, Gloria Estefan climbs windows during Dolphins-Jets game, but Hugh Grant was The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. Winner: Grant!

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/gloria-estefan-climbs-windows-during.html

(For some people, I sent a screen grab of the Twitter section in the right-hand column of the LA Times website, for others, I just copied and pasted. The latter seemed easier to post here so it'd be legible.)

It's self-explanatory:

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Just saw this on LA Times website.

If someone is a professional journalist, shouldn't facts matter even in your Tweets, or is it every man for themselves?

Really, tweeting about something you think you might have heard on a streaming event?

It was on TV to make it easy and accessible, so who's watching the streaming version?

L.A. Times politics staff on Twitter

jamesoliphant Hard to tell from feed: I believe Bachmann just said she would get rid of Medicare.24 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

MaeveReston Watching#CBSNJDebate live stream is like listening to a constantly skipping record...31 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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Michele Bachmann sees bias in stray email

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-bachmann-bias-20111113,0,914104.story

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesoliphant

http://twitter.com/#!/MaeveReston

http://www.latimes.com/about/twitter/

http://www.latimes.com/

Give the devil her due: nobody in Florida demagogues & obfuscates like the dreaded DWS; Politico: "Wasserman Schultz says GOP seeks ‘dictatorship..."

Give the devil her due, nobody in Florida demagogues & obfuscates like the dreaded Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20) -Politico: "Wasserman Schultz says GOP seeks ‘dictatorship..."

POLITICO

Debbie Wasserman Schultz says GOP seeks ‘dictatorship … spark panic'

By Mike Allen

July 27, 2011 5:52 PM EDT

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Wednesday that House Republicans are trying to impose “dictatorship” through their tactics in the debt-ceiling negotiations. She said the GOP rhetoric could “spark panic and chaos,” which she called “potentially devastating” to the economy.

Read the rest of the post at:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/60080.html

Meanwhile, north of here in the Panhandle part of Florida I've never ventured into, Tallahassee Democrat Senior Political Writer Bill Cotterell weighs in on the recent contretemps between DWS and Allen West that I wisely avoided writing about since it was everywhere you looked, and you could only NOT know about it if you lived in... well, no, you'd know about it there, too.

Tallahassee Democrat

The art of the political insult

Today's lack elegance, but they get the job done

By Bill Cotterell

6:33 PM, Jul. 27, 2011

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20110728/COLUMNIST03/107280310/Bill-Cotterell-art-political-insult?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

The above piece by the very insightful Bill Cotterell, is an exception to what I've often written here of the hagiography that goes on in the Florida press corps with regard to DWS, esp. at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and local Miami TV stations.

The female reporters in South Florida are especially reluctant to ask DWS questions that are either hard or original, just the same softballs, year-after-year.

It's monotonous with a capital "M."

But then that's why so many female reporters here are simply not taken seriously by well-informed people regardless of gender.

Simply put, too many of the reporters are personally shallow AND happily uninformed and really ought to be in much smaller media markets.

But like DWS -and most of the female sideline reporters at ESPN- they are gerrymandered into their current positions.

In some cases by virtue of this area's low-pay and need to have a certain demographic group represented on TV, regardless of how unappealing they are -dopey women who really do think stories on plastic surgery ARE imp0rtant, and ought to be on within the first ten minutes of a newscast- but nothing short of video of them shooting someone will get them off the air or off the newspaper beat.

The joke is on us, the readers and viewers who have to tolerate the towering mediocrity.

Here's a recent example of the sort of hagiography I meant, which actually compelled me to write in and comment because it sounded so much like a puff piece from her own paid govt. flack.

St. Petersburg Times

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz uses her resolve to fight cancer, lead DNC.

By Alex Leary, Times Staff Writer

In Print: Sunday, July 17, 2011

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/article1180722.ece

Back on the 16th I wrote:

Is there no end in sight to the number of articles that can be written about this woman and cancer? Are there so few compelling political or government stories in the fourth-largest state in the country that this sort of filler must continue to be churned out, over-and-over? Simply put, there is nothing here that hasn't been written a dozen times before -and better.
And I surmise THAT is something that both liberals and conservatives can agree on.

For instance, how about writing about the number of State House and Senate members that DON'T live at the addresses they claim they do, both before and after the election, and how the legislature just looks the other way, despite the fact that it's illegal?
There are three of them in just South Florida alone!
Just saying...

Alex, what happened to you? You used to show such promise.
Is this how it ends, with a banal whimper?

If Obamacare is so great, why do so many people want no part of it, esp. Union members? Barone: O Skirts Rule of Law to Reward Pals, Punish Enemies

The Beltway story du jour involves the ever-reliable and observant Michael Barone of the Washington Examiner explaining something in detail that you may have heard a little about about on the radio or TV, but never got an adequate explanation for -the overwhelming evidence of favoritism among Obama supporters in gaining waivers from provisions of Obamcare they said everyone had to obey.
Or as he puts it, "Examples of crony capitalism, bailout favoritism and gangster government."

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Washington Examiner

Obama Skirts Rule of Law to Reward Pals, Punish Enemies

A Commentary By Michael Barone

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Question: What do the following have in common? Eckert Cold Storage Co., Kerly Homes of Yuma, Classic Party Rentals, West Coast Turf Inc., Ellenbecker Investment Group Inc., Only in San Francisco, Hotel Nikko, International Pacific Halibut Commission, City of Puyallup, Local 485 Health and Welfare Fund, Chicago Plastering Institute Health & Welfare Fund, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, Teamsters Local 522 Fund Welfare Fund Roofers Division, StayWell Saipan Basic Plan, CIGNA, Caribbean Workers' Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Health and Welfare Plan.

Answer: They are all among the 1,372 businesses, state and local governments, labor unions and insurers, covering 3,095,593 individuals or families, that have been granted a waiver from Obamacare by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

Read the rest of the essay at:

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/05/obama-skirts-rule-law-reward-pals-punish-foes

Previous Barone post at: http://washingtonexaminer.com/people/michael-barone

Sen. Marco Rubio on NBC's Meet the Press re federal budget, debt ceiling, Medicare, et al; FL U.S. Senate 2012 possibilities

NBC-TV's Meet the Press video -Host David Gregory speaks to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida about the 2012 federal budget, the federal debt ceiling, saving Medicare, the (Paul) 'Ryan Plan,' and U.S. foreign policy, to wit, Libya.
http://youtu.be/GdtR7s-nqcE

If you are someone who considers themselves pretty well-informed and are watching the video of this morning's Meet the Press program from outside of the U.S., and get the distinct impression that Sen. Rubio, who has been in office less than four months, is being asked to explain -and or defend- public policies in more detail than many longstanding members of the U.S. Congress you can name, who get nothing but softball questions... take a bow.
You are correct.

Sen. Rubio's YouTube Channel is at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorMarcoRubio

U.S. House Budget Comm. YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/HouseBudgetCommittee

American Roadmap YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanRoadmap

The other U.S. Senator from Florida is Democratic two-termer Bill Nelson, who is up for re-election in 2012. He's a nice enough guy, but NOT nearly as dynamic, savvy or articulate as what this complex and crazy-quilt of a state demands, Florida being the country's fourth-largest.

Sen. Nelson's YouTube Channel is at http://www.youtube.com/user/SenBillNelson

I won't be voting for Nelson next year and currently have no GOP preference, but I am AGAINST a few GOP candidates for the office, the most prominent being the myopic, ethically-troubled Florida State Senate President, Mike Haridopolos; he's bad news personified!

I'd much prefer Florida State Senator Paula Dockery or Orange County (Orlando) mayor Teresa Jacobs, both of whom are very smart and articulate people full of ideas who are NOT at all afraid to speak (and vote) against the state political orthodoxy and the establishment of Tallahassee in particular, and Florida in general.
Nor are they afraid to speak against their own party and supporters when they think they're wrong.

For an excellent example of that attitude, read these two Mike Thomas columns from the Orlando Sentinel, since they're positive pieces of a sort that very, very few Florida pols could earn.

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Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/os-mike-thomas-performing-arts-center20101222,0,3790804.column

Teresa Jacobs has to challenge performing-arts center bailout
By Mike Thomas COMMENTARY
8:50 p.m. EST, December 22, 2010

Orlando is $61 million short in getting the performing-arts center off the ground. So the city and arts supporters are hitting up Teresa Jacobs, Orange County's mayor-elect, for an advance on almost half of it.

She might as well get used to people groveling for money.

I have long supported an arts center. But this is like old Uncle Al, flat broke with holes in his shoes, hitting you up for $500 because he's got a sure thing at the track.

Give it to him and you know he's coming back for more.

None of this is a surprise for those of us who have followed the saga of the three downtown venues — the arts center, the arena and the Citrus Bowl.

The county budget-crunchers knew this day was coming back in 2007 when they negotiated the $1.1 billion venues deal with Orlando. They thought Mayor Buddy Dyer and Co. were out of their fiscal minds for taking on this much risk.

So the county built a firewall.

It would give the city enough resort-tax money to build a new Magic arena for billionaire Rich DeVos.

But the performing-arts center and Citrus Bowl would have to get in line behind a long list of priorities already funded by the resort tax.

If Buddy's gamble failed, the county was protected.

On paper, at least. That doesn't take into account the intangible of political pressure that would accompany the request for a bailout. If you don't give us the money, the project will not get built, and it will be your fault.

Now that we are there, what will Jacobs do?

She is, by nature, a cautious fiscal conservative. In fact, it was Jacobs who put a caveat in the venues deal, requiring that the arts center be fully funded before any debt was issued to waste money on a Citrus Bowl renovation.

During the mayoral campaign, Jacobs was criticized for being too focused on details when the job required a big-picture consensus builder. Being branded as the person who killed the arts center wouldn't help that perception.

But there are so many pitfalls here, she could hardly be blamed for doing so. Here are a few of them:

•The city is broke, which raises the question of where it plans to come up with its half of the shortfall. The county also doesn't have a spare $30 million stuffed in a mattress, meaning it could be forced to raid a reserve fund set aside for the convention center. That would be ill-advised.

•This deal would allow construction of phase one of the arts center — an amplified arena for events such as Broadway shows and a small 300-seat theater. Will the city come back for another cash advance when it comes time to build phase two — a 1,700 seat acoustical hall?

•The county could be the money pile of last resort to cover operating deficits. Some of this tab was going to be paid by leasing property next to the center for a hotel and office building. But the economy put the kibosh on that.

There also are disturbing rumors about donors backing out of their pledges, which could create an even deeper fiscal hole for the county to fill down the road.

The problem in dealing with Orlando is that the city is tapped out. So the minute a bulldozer rolls onto the site, the county could find itself sucked into a black hole, from which there is no politically feasible escape.

At a minimum, Jacobs should insist that the city raise its $31 million share of the shortfall first. She then should demand to see an updated list of all donor pledges and the contracts they signed with the arts center.

The county needs some guarantee it won't bankroll operating expenses.

The city must agree not to spend any more money renovating the Citrus Bowl until the arts center is finished and its operating costs are known and accounted for.

Every dime the city spends on that empty stadium is another dime the county probably will have to make up for at the arts center.

Finally, Jacobs should insist the city contact Magic owner Rich DeVos about providing a loan, which would be repaid as resort-tax funds become available. He could take his interest out of the $10 million he has pledged to the arts center.

Jacobs has a lot of options. The worst one is writing out a check for $30 million with no questions and no demands.

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Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-mike-thomas-jacobs-arts-021311-20110212,0,351626.column

Orange Mayor Jacobs gives Orlando a dose of reality on arts center

Mike Thomas COMMENTARY
5:59 p.m. EST, February 12, 2011

Business as usual in this town officially ended at noon on Feb. 10.

That's when Orange Mayor Teresa Jacobs hit the send button and delivered a scathing review of the planned performing-arts center to inboxes across Orange County.

Her staff uncovered millions in waste, slipshod construction contracts, double-billings and overall gross mismanagement. Given that Orlando is ultimately in charge of building the center, she left City Hall in pretty much the same shape that the Air Force left Baghdad in 2003.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer emerged from the rubble hours later to answer questions like: "Are you embarrassed?"

You better believe it. He also was livid. This was a major breach of protocol. Proper etiquette requires that mayoral combat be conducted by backstabbing in private.

This all began in December when the city made the big mistake of asking the county for $30 million to help cover a funding shortfall for the arts center.

Normally, the county would have put up token resistance before succumbing to political pressure and writing a check.

The days of normalcy are over.

Jacobs said no. And then she unleashed her advisers and staff on an arts-center cost-cutting mission. Needless to say, mission accomplished.

Normally this would have been handled behind the scenes.

But Jacobs and her people grew suspicious of the city's good intentions as the process dragged on.

She also believes that full public disclosure is in the best interest of the public. Judging by her landslide election victory last November, the public agrees.

And so Jacobs gave the public what it voted for. She publicly nuked Buddy.

Somewhere, former Orange Mayor Rich Crotty is either smiling or wincing. Jacobs used to nuke him all the time when she served on the commission.

But just to be clear, Jacobs does not launch unless the target presents itself.

There are bigger problems with this arts center than mismanagement of planning and construction.

The city's reserve fund to cover its bond debt is underfunded. The endowment fund that will be used to help cover center operations expenses is grossly underfunded.

The city's downtown taxing district is tapped out.

Construction of the acoustical hall — the venue most cherished by local arts groups — has been put off indefinitely. And each year of delay will add an estimated $16 million to the price tag.

And then there are the things not in the report.

Last year, Fitch Ratings downgraded the city's Magic arena bonds to junk status.

Orlando has borrowed $90 million, with the loan based on the value of Centroplex property that's not worth half that much. Dyer has thrown $10 million at sprucing up the FloridaCitrus Bowl and now is aiming money at the "Creative Village.

The city's tab for pension benefits exceeds $50 million a year.

And this was on our front page last April: "For the second year in a row, the city of Orlando faces a staggering deficit of tens of millions of dollars and will look to erase the red ink by paring city staff and cutting services."

Yet in December, Dyer said he could cough up an additional $31 million for the arts center.

Jacobs is rightly concerned that she is doing business with Greece.

And when Dyer can't pull any more money out of his magic hat, the county will be the deep pocket of last resort once construction of the arts center begins. Even more disturbing is that the city and arts supporters are in a mad dash to get construction going. Their theory is that everything will work itself out once the bulldozers arrive.

It's a faith-based initiative, whereas the county administration building is filled with fiscal atheists who don't believe in miracles.

So what happens next?

The prevailing theory is that Dyer and the board running the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts will tell Jacobs to butt out and try to get the project started without any more help from the county. That certainly should scare the bejabbers out of big-money donors and city taxpayers.

A better idea is for Dyer to go to Jacobs, get her terms of surrender for more financial backing, let her more-experienced staff help salvage this mess and worry about revenge some other day.

Michael Barone on Paul Ryan's AEI speech taking on his budget critics: "Ryan Steals March on Obama as Fiscal Crisis Looms"

AEI video: U.S. House Budget Comm. Chair Paul Ryan answers questions at the AEI HQ in Washington, D.C. and directly challenges critics of his reform plan.
April 6, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYCb-UyHc90
"This is the most predictable economic crisis we've ever had in this country..."


Rasmussen Reports
Ryan Steals March on Obama as Fiscal Crisis Looms A Commentary By Michael Barone Thursday, April 07, 2011

"My worst experience was the financial crisis of September 2008," responded House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan yesterday to a reporter's question about Democrats' attacks on the budget he unveiled earlier in the day.

"What if the president and your representative saw it coming and could have prevented it from happening?" Ryan said. "What would you think of them if they didn't?" A hush came over the audience at the American Enterprise Institute, where I am a resident fellow.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_michael_barone/ryan_steals_march_on_obama_as_fiscal_crisis_looms

See also:
http://budget.house.gov/

http://www.youtube.com/user/HouseBudgetCommittee

http://prosperityproject.org/

Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan discuss the federal budget and why they're against 'business as usual' votes in Washington that preserve the status quo

Fox News Channel video: Sen. Marco Rubio on 'Fox News Sunday' with host Chris Wallace - April 3, 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZRDCHGMILs

Speaking of being articulate and specific about what your own personal policy positions are regarding the looming federal budget battle and the national debt, so that there's no confusion or misunderstanding, as we were the other day with Marco Rubio, the opposite take on that approach causes me to ask aloud whether Sen. Bill Nelson is still among us.

The South Florida news media seems not to be too keen to actually ask Nelson where he stands on any of these things and what he wants to do or cut or anything.

No, they almost seem to be going out of their way to ignore Nelson, which causes me to ask whether that's for his lack of a cogent plan, strategy or framework, or whether it's just that they know in advance that, after eleven years in the Senate, he'll say absolutely nothing noteworthy in his usual earnest, plodding style, and they don't want to waste their time doing that, knowing that it's an hour they'll never ever have again.

Which is one of the reasons that while today is April 3rd, you CAN'T find a single story in the Miami Herald this year where Bill Nelson actually talks about the federal budget and the debt ceiling, and what he thinks should be done or how he will vote.
Go ahead, I dare you.
It simply can't be found -there isn't one.

Yes, with every passing day, collectively, the Miami Herald and the rest of the South Florida news media just continue walking deeper-and-deeper into the black hole of utter irrelevancy...




Fox News Channel video: Rep. Paul Ryan, Chairman of U.S. House Budget Comm.: on Fox News Channel's 'Sean Hannity Show' - March 1, 2011 - "House GOP Will Lead Where the President Has Failed"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-bgVl7EhNI

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Orlando Sentinel

www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/views/os-mike-thomas-medicare-040311-20110402,0,2086543.column

Rubio is right to push for cuts to senior programs

Mike Thomas

COMMENTARY

9:49 PM EDT, April 2, 2011

Marco Rubio says he isn't interested in running for vice president in 2012. And to confirm that, he then said we have to scale back senior entitlement programs.

That got him lots of national attention, and a resounding round of silence from his Republican colleagues in Washington.

They didn't win the U.S. House this year, with an eye on the White House next year, only to risk it all by alienating the people who comprise the biggest voting bloc.

You will not see a Republican pointing to the retirees at a Tea Party gathering and saying, "You're the biggest part of the problem.''

Does anyone remember "A Roadmap for America's Future'' put out by Paul Ryan, the whiz-kid, budget-slashing congressman from Wisconsin who wanted to overhaul Medicare?

Or how about that report by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform that recommended entitlement cuts?

Associate the word entitlement with the words cut or reform and off you go to the Bermuda Triangle.

I hope Marco fares better.

He says he would keep existing entitlements intact for those older than 55, an attempt to appease what former Sen. Alan Simpson calls the "greediest generation.''

This might work for Social Security, where there is time to fix it.

But Medicare is dragging us off the cliff now. It is so daunting and so complex that Washington is paralyzed.

Tackling Medicare not only means taking on the seniors, but the entire medical industrial complex that depends on Medicare's billions. Sending old folks for body scans is a huge part of the economy.

Taking money away is very hard for a political system designed to give it away.

Making matters worse, many seniors believe that since they have paid into Medicare their entire lives, they have earned their benefits. Reducing benefits equates to theft.

But the cost of medical care has risen so sharply that, on average, seniors now pay for less than half the benefits they receive.

This is what differentiates Medicare from Social Security, where workers indeed have paid for most of their benefits.

With Social Security, they get a single check each month for the same amount. That makes planning relatively easy.

But Medicare is an open checkbook that pays for an unlimited amount of services.

The medical industry has adapted by creating a system based on quantity. More specialists. More tests. More procedures. More medications.

Outcomes and cost-effectiveness do not matter.

This has driven up costs while at the same time we have an exploding population of seniors. Medicare is, by far, the biggest driver of our long-term national debt.

Medicaid, which provides care to the poor, would be right there with it but states share this burden. And a growing percent of the Medicaid budget is directed at nursing-home care.

Sure, we can cut fraud and waste, as the refrain goes. But any savings will be dwarfed by the sheer number of baby boomers entering the system.

During the next 20 years, we will add eight beneficiaries to the Medicare rolls for every new worker. And these seniors will be more obese and laden with more self-inflicted chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Help, we need more immigrants!

I am 56. And as much as I'd like Marco Rubio to include me in the existing system, I don't want to make my kids my indentured servants by having to pay for it.

A worker making $20,000 a year should not have to subsidize health care for snow birds sitting in their Palm Beach condos. We need to adjust premiums, deductibles and co-pays according to income.

People are too disconnected from the cost of their health care. And that encourages abuse of the system.

We need more gatekeepers. We need fewer specialists, and they need to make less money. We need more general practitioners and they need to make more money. We need nurses to diagnose the flu instead of doctors.

We need longer wait times for non-emergency procedures.

We need more docs in Walmart and more Solantic clinics in strip malls.

We need more end-of-life planning to avoid the onslaught of machines that only delay the inevitable.

We need more plans and cheaper options.

We need what we can afford.

We have no choice. The Chinese are going to stop buying our debt.

The longer we put this off, the worse it will be.

It is why Marco Rubio is one of the most important people in Washington right now.

Reader comments at: http://discussions.orlandosentinel.com/20/orlnews/os-mike-thomas-medicare-040311-20110402/10

The Mike Thomas blog: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_columnist_mikethomas/

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http://www.spacehelpwanted.com/blog/

http://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorMarcoRubio

http://www.youtube.com/user/RepPaulRyan

http://prosperityproject.org/