The Pelosi Pole Vault

Nancy Pelosi has promised (Jan. 28) that the health care bill written by lobbyists and leftists that Americans don't want will be snuck into other bills.

"We will go through the gate. If the gate is closed, we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we will pole vault in. If that doesn't work, we will parachute in. But we are going to get health care reform passed for the American people for their own personal health and economic security and for the important role that it will play in reducing the deficit."

This is not new--think of all the times social programs or other pork have been tacked onto troop funding. She's being honest about what she thinks of the American people for once in her life.

Recently we've seen the EPA just go right around our elected Congress to do their own pole vaulting for Cap and Trade, a boondoggle that will probably give us a higher tax bill than "health care reform." I have difficulty reading the research articles in JAMA, but the social and political stuff isn't too hard. In the January 13 issue (Vol. 303, no. 2) there is an interesting article on "Human, animal, ecosystem health all key to curbing emerging infectious diseases" (p. 117-118). Yes, the 2006 spinach e coli outbreak can be tied to global climate change (OSU researchers found E coli in domestic and wild animals linked to unusual weather conditions contaminating irrigation systems). So at a November conference hosted by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council it was recommended that we must have new strategies locally, nationally and globally because our surveillance system is inadequate.

Keep an eye on cross fertilization of your tax health dollars and regulations among US Department of Agriculture (USDA), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the US Agency for International Development (USAID, the National Institute on Environmental Health Services, wildlife management, all universities and research dealing with veterinary medicine, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and "global effort." Cha-Ching. Of course, compared to billions and trillions, an initial investment in this system of $800 million is a drop in the government bucket which has a hole in it. It's those 12 recommendations that came out of the conference that include the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Office International des Epizooties and the goal of creating a funding stream that worries me. That and Nancy's pole vaulting skill.