The Easthom Page

With the release of Michael Moore’s new film, “Sicko”, attention may be given to the Democratic Presidential candidates and their healthcare platforms.  Media coverage of the Presidential candidates’ platforms have left much to be desired.  Can you name the only Democratic Presidential candidate with no intention of offering a universal health care plan in a first term? (Answer: Hillary Clinton.)  Can you name the only candidate to offer a detailed truly universal health care plan that offers choice of providers? (Answer: John Edwards.)  It’s not surprising most readers don’t know this.  A recent poll shows more Americans can name the last “American Idol” winner than Chief Justice Roberts. This is not surprising given the way in which the print and televised media cover news.  There is a lot of scrutiny for the messenger (Edwards) rather than addressing the message.  Let’s face it; our next president will be rich by any standard.  As a barometer, Mitt Romney’s worth ten times more than Edwards.  Somehow, suggesting thinking about the less fortunate (Edwards) gets more media scrutiny than proposing to give yourself a huge tax-cut (Romney). In “Sicko”, Senator Clinton is revealed to be the largest Democratic recipient of Health Care Industry dollars.  This may or may not affect her ability to reform healthcare but it’s disturbing that more Americans know about the hygiene and living habits of candidates than who is bankrolling their candidacies and what their actual policy proposals are. Edwards is not the Washington DC establishment choice.  In a way, Edwards should be happy that he is an outsider.  Congress is about as popular as the plague, with Republicans puzzled by the President’s Immigration (“Amnesty”) plan and Democrats upset that their party folded on Iraq.  Campaigning, as an outsider and an “advocate” for the American people that Congress forgot could be a good strategy if the media ever talks about actual policy. I have no doubt that FDR could not be elected president today with today’s media.  He came from old wealth on both sides of his family, he liked to sail, he was paralyzed from the waist down, and he talked a lot about the poor creating the greatest anti-poverty program of all time – social security.

There has been some talk lately about the fate of Horace Williams Airport and the UNC doctors that came to the House Appropriations Committee subcommittee meeting to plead to keep it open.  Some legislators listened and sympathized.  As reported by the N&O, doctors were saying they may have to close their clinics due to the “additional inconvenience”, and poor children would be “left behind if we don’t come there as frequently.”     I participated in AHEC programs as a student at UNC Dental School, (but did not fly to my locations of service).  I realize how important the AHEC program is in serving the patients of the state.  I very much support the doctors and appreciate their service to those in need throughout the state.  However, I do not feel that a 25 minute trip to RDU, versus the 10 it might take them to get to HW, is something that would prevent these doctors from serving those patients.  The message seems to be, “because I have to drive 15 more minutes to get to the plane, I am not going to come to you and treat you.”   Are the doctors that are so committed to these patients unable to squeeze in 15 more minutes in their schedule to get on the airplane?  I’m sure the argument is that it takes much longer to get to RDU and do the same thing.    Yes, it has been nice for the doctors to have the luxury of hopping on the plane right in their backyard.   But maybe there are alternatives to the picture that most of us have about travelling to RDU and flying somewhere.  We all think that we have to get there, negotiate parking and get from parking to the terminal, check in with tickets and bags and wait in long lines.  If UNC has its own hangar at the airport, has its own transportation shuttle set up for doctors travelling from Chapel Hill to the airport, etc, easy access to the plane with no bags to check, etc…..then maybe the picture might be a little different. On a related issue, has anyone ever thought of the security issues these days when it comes to airports being located next to large buildings such as those that may be a part of Carolina North?  I hope that the legislators will see through the portrayals of an inconvenienced doctor having to drive down I-40 that may force them to close their clinics to the poor children of the state.  I suggest the future picture may not be as bad as it may seem.