It Must Be Me

I’ve probably spent too much time complaining and criticizing the plight of the U. S. Congress as they struggle to mix and match and ultimately pass legislation most folks don’t seem to want. I have accused Congressional personnel of behavior that reeks of ignorance, but now I am beginning to think it must be me. I am going to have to admit, finally, and with much sorrow, that I don’t understand how this is going to work.

Here a “case in point.” From an Associated Press story by David Espo:  According to the President of the United States, Much of the cost of the legislation, nearly $1 trillion over a decade, would be financed by cuts in future Medicare payments to hospitals and other providers and higher payroll taxes on individuals earning more than $200,000 and couples over $250,000.

OK! I get that. Old folks on Medicare are going to find more and more health issues not covered by Medicare, or at the very least, the old folks will have to pay more of the bill when they do get health care. And, the “rich” (and I just have to believe that the salary “number” will come down) will pay for the poor folks who can’t afford health care because it is becoming a crime to be financially successful in this Country. OK! I get that.

In the same story, a couple of paragraphs later, I read this: [President] Obama said he was exploring GOP proposals for cracking down on fraudulent medical charges, revamping ways to resolve malpractice disputes, boosting doctors’ Medicare reimbursements and offering tax incentives to curb unnecessary patient visits to doctors.

Now I’m confused (and I’m not even a candidate for Congress). I though he said he was going to “cut” Medicare reimbursements. Can you have it both ways? I can’t make that work at my house. And, if I get a tax incentive for not going to the Doctor, can I say I was going but changed my mind and now I am not going, so I get to deduct from my taxes the cost of the visit I didn’t make to the Doctor? Or is it that the Doctor gets to deduct the amount he didn’t get when I didn’t go because he refused to see me? But even that may not help him because he surely makes more than $200,000 a year so he is actually paying for my visit, if I do go, in the first place. See? So I apologize. Here I was thinking it was Congress that was dumb, when I guess it was me all the time. In fact, that’s probably why I make less than $200,000 a year in the first place.

My solution? I’m going to agree with the Apostle John – “Even so, come Lord Jesus!”