Is Blair House Another Yalta?

At Yalta the west gave away Europe based upon the ignorance, arrogance, and illness of FDR and the adroitness of Stalin. The sides were unevenly matched and the West, especially the US, was clueless.

Are we seeing the same today at Blair House and who is playing what role. Anyone who has ever negotiated a sensitive deal knows that you never do it in public, except the part where you all agree.

Just to reiterate what we have been saying for more than a year:

1. Any Plan should be a universal plan, no free rides

2. Demand management is as important as supply. Namely we want obese people to lose weight or pay more and we want everyone to pay something.

3. Medicine is evolving rapidly and genetic methods will soon displace the whack and hack of the surgeons. We should not institutionalize the past.

4. Medicare for most who have contributed has been more than paid for by those receiving it. However a balance can be made by indexing both future contributions and payouts. Namely increase the 3% to 4% and move the age from 65 to 72 over some reasonable time period. Medicare should pay for the last 15 years of life not the last 30!

5. The Federal Government should stay out of the practice of medicine. No CER or CCE, no control of who gets to do what.

6. Break down the walls; eliminate antitrust, allow cross state lines, restructure tort liability.

7. Demand individual responsibility, that is you pay out of pocket for a great deal and pay if your life style choice place you at risk.

Simple, but this ersatz Yalta Conference is getting no where.