Nominee for Rhetorical Question of the Year
Via Reason, who notes that “RomneyCare is probably not a very good model for federal health care reform:”
[Massachusetts] Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill – a former Democrat running as an independent for governor – said the local [health care] plan enacted in 2006 has succeeded only because of huge subsidies and favorable regulatory changes from the federal government.
“Who, exactly, is going to bail out the federal government if this [Mass-Care] plan goes national?” he asked.
And there you have it – nominee (and early front runner) for the rhetorical question of the year. If you don’t think this question is rhetorical, I don’t know what to tell you, other than I’ll likely find your answer implausible. But I’m willing to hear you out.
Cahill made his remarks after Gov. Deval L. Patrick, a Democrat, accused him and Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker of being silent amid the state and national health care debates.
Cahill cited quotations in which he has called for the state to abandon its plan, and for the federal government not to match it.
He also gave reporters a copy of a recent state ledger sheet, showing the state’s Medicaid program ballooning from $7.5 billion to a projected $9.2 billion since the plan was adopted. Meanwhile, of the 407,000 newly insured, only 32 percent paid for private insurance wholly by themselves.
The full article is here.
Maybe China will bail us out… aren’t we too big to fail?
Since the US bond rating is on the verge of being downgraded, I imagine that a Chinese bailout of the US would come at a hefty (read as: implausible) interest rate.
Germany told bailout-needt Greece to suck wind, or in the alternative, sell some of its islands to pay its debt. Maybe China would ask for California or Alaska as gainful consideration for the trillions the US owes it. Or the value of the minerals, oil, and gas on federal lands (national parks included). Of course, we’d trade our interests in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan first.
What is China’s end game strategy for the US defaulting on its debt, or continually devaluing the dollar so as to make the debt relatively smaller? I’ve gotta think it’s something they’ve given thought to both scenarios.
[...] Nominee for Rhetorical Question of the Year | Dueling Barstools [...]