the Lowden chicken healthcare plan
This week Nevada Senate hopeful Republican Sue Lowden stated not once but several times in several news and political venues that part of her plan to bring down the cost of healthcare was to reintroduce barter. She cited, and repeated, as a specific example how our grandparents in simpler times would pay for a doctor's visit with a chicken. Setting aside for a moment that doctors in those simpler times, when the life expectancy was 35, were handing out laudanum for everything from headaches to menstrual cramps, using leaches to suck out humors, and had never heard of anesthetics, antiseptics, or antibiotics -- the economy was fundamentally different then. That doctor's visit cost a dollar and a chicken was worth nearly as much. Today you would be hard pressed to find a legitimate medical procedure that cost the same as a chicken. Even a fully cooked and dressed chicken with all the trimmings.
Incumbent Harry Reid, whom she hopes to unseat, was quick to point out that the barter system was not viable for such specialized and high-cost matters as healthcare. Several Republican leaders chided him for trying to distract people from serious dialog with barnyard animals, conveniently ignoring the fact that he was responding to what one of their own had not only said but continues to say. (BTW: If you visit Ms. Lowden's site, linked above, you'll note that her poll about healthcare reform is running 2 to 1 in favor of the bill recently passed.)
It should come as no surprise that many humorists have latched on to the whole pay-your-bills-with chickens thing.
My favorite is this very helpful site:
The Lowden Plan: A simple healthcare plan anyone with a few thousand chickens can use.
It's a chicken converter.
Incumbent Harry Reid, whom she hopes to unseat, was quick to point out that the barter system was not viable for such specialized and high-cost matters as healthcare. Several Republican leaders chided him for trying to distract people from serious dialog with barnyard animals, conveniently ignoring the fact that he was responding to what one of their own had not only said but continues to say. (BTW: If you visit Ms. Lowden's site, linked above, you'll note that her poll about healthcare reform is running 2 to 1 in favor of the bill recently passed.)
It should come as no surprise that many humorists have latched on to the whole pay-your-bills-with chickens thing.
My favorite is this very helpful site:
The Lowden Plan: A simple healthcare plan anyone with a few thousand chickens can use.
It's a chicken converter.