Gibbons off track again

Gov. Jim Gibbons has been out front in bashing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on health care reform, parroting Republican talking points.

After issuing a few polemic screeds in the guise of ÒnewsÓ releases, Gibbons aired his views on the friendly confines of Fox News Channel last week, declaring that ÒEvery Nevadan is going to suffer fromÓ the health care bill.

ÒIt is literally making the Grand Canyon out of this recession,Ó he said, claiming the state will be forced to raise taxes to pay for the plan.

Speaking with Fox host Shannon Bream, Gibbons bashed the deals made as part of the bill.

ÒShannon, if you and I had done the backroom deals and the payoffs that this bill took to get passed for every one of those votes, you and I would be guilty of corruption,Ó he said. ÒWe would have been arrested for corruption.Ó

Bream asked Gibbons about his Òstrong language,Ó noting the governorÕs liberal use of words like corruption.

ÒThis is the Bernie Madoff of the federal government not controlling your health insurance,Ó Gibbons said. ÒThis is the worst thing. The federal government should never, ever, ever be involved in the decisions between you as a patient and your doctor in health care decisions.Ó

Gibbons has, once again, shot his mouth off on something he knows little about. He is wrong on point after point. We would think that a man who spent time in both the Legislature and Congress would understand that deals are made in legislative bodies. ItÕs not corruption, itÕs a process called compromise — something the governor knows little about considering his refusal to work with anyone.

Remember that after he submitted his budget to the Legislature last year, he walked away from the process, telling lawmakers that he had fulfilled his responsibility under the state constitution and it was up to them to either approve it or modify it. It was no surprise, then, that he set a record for the number of vetoes and the Legislature set a record for the number of vetoes overridden.

Regarding the bill being some sort of Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, we didnÕt know that Madoff planned to reduce the federal deficit, as the health care proposal does. Invoking MadoffÕs name is a shameless, despicable way to scare people.

Gibbons and Republicans complain about the price of the bill while ignoring the skyrocketing costs of health care, not to mention the toll the uninsured take on the economy. Taxpayers shell out billions of dollars in the form of public hospitals and higher insurance premiums to cover the uninsured. Because the uninsured typically seek care only when problems are serious, the costs are higher because the problems are exacerbated by the time they get treatment. By providing them insurance and access to regular care, the costs should go down.

Many Republican objections to the health care bill are ludicrous. We have yet to hear of a situation in which the government would come between a patient and a doctor. Republicans say they are afraid that health care will be Òrationed,Ó yet they are oddly silent about the current system in which private health care insurers ÒrationÓ services all the time by limiting the medications, tests and treatments they will pay for.

The reality is that the health care bill that passed the Senate would be helpful to millions of Americans, and not just for those without insurance. It would prohibit companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes. It would also lower Medicare premiums for many seniors and provide many small businesses and individuals with tax credits to buy insurance.

If Gibbons and his colleagues want to argue health care, they should quit using scare tactics. Tens of millions of Americans cannot afford health care and that is a drain on the economy and taxpayers. What do they plan to do about it? Oh, thatÕs right. They donÕt have a plan.