It was
late June and we were trailing momma cows and calves
to the top of the Big Horn Mountains for summer
grazing. We had been on the trail two days, and were
plodding on the county road toward the Little Horn
River. Trailing a couple hundred pair down a road
fenced on both sides can get boring, if it weren’t
for the 20 guest cowboys helping us on this trip.
They always added interesting twists.
There were a handful of calves who had misplaced
their mommas poking along in the drags looking for a
place to escape between the fence wires. Cowboys
know there is an ideal amount of pressure which will
keep them scooting along—too little and they will
make a break for freedom, too much and you will
force them through the fence. Rocky, a plumber in
real life, had been an enthusiastic cowboy for two
days and was figuring things out fast, however this
time he was pushing too hard and shoved a calf
through the fence. My brother, Dana, nodded at me as
he saw it coming too and we both patiently stopped
our horses to see what Rocky would do next. (The
business taught us patience is directly proportional
to how much we charge guests for the true western
experience. For enough cash they could stampede the
entire herd through the neighbor’s alfalfa field and
we would just sit and smile.)
Fortunately, the calf just stood and bawled while
Rocky trotted a couple hundred yards up the road and
opened a gate into the pasture. A second guest
plugged the gate as Rocky slipped around the calf
and eased him along the fence. He did a nice job
quietly getting the calf back into the herd and we
hoped Rocky learned how to avoid repeating the
mistake. Mister Phillips, my high school math
teacher, taught me, “Being accurate takes less time
than correcting errors.” Over the years, I have
found this adage fits math, trailing cows and
politics, which is why I mention it today.
A devastating policy blunder far worse than shoving
a calf through the barb wire, is about to shackle
Americans and red flags are waving everywhere. Will
we recognize our mistake and correct it or will we
blindly plow ahead? Here is my point.
To socialists, big pharmacy runs a close second to
big oil as the Mount Rushmore of evil. All suffering
not linked to big oil and global warming is
attributed to the profit hungry demons of big
pharmacy. The Occupiers on Wall Street are shocked
companies like Pfizer and Merck invest millions of
dollars developing new cancer drugs and then have
the audacity to price those drugs at a profit. The
99-percenters have been indoctrinated this is
highway robbery, and they love to see their favorite
son in the Whitehouse whacking big pharmacy again,
again and again. Both they and he are
wrong…unfortunately for the rest of us, dead wrong.
Profit, the goal of free market capitalism, is the
driving force behind all innovation. This is good.
If you reflexively doubt that, name one miracle drug
whose development can be traced to countries where
the profit motive has been removed from the equation
as it has in Cuba and China. There is none. When
government wrestles control of any industry under
the guise of equalizing its delivery, the quality of
that product always degrades to the least common
denominator. Soon aspirin will become the drug of
choice for every ailment of us common peasants.
Remember, President Obama and the congressional
Democrats used a parliamentary sleight-of-hand to
deem Obamacare as passed, and then exempted the
ruling elite from the very program. Aren’t you
curious why?
With Obamacare choking big pharmacy, last week a new
problem stuck its nose through the fence wires.
Cancer patients are suffering a shortage of
critical, life-saving drugs. In response to the very
problem created by government intervention,
President Obama offered the solution of even more
government intervention. (If something isn’t
working, doing more of it is the universal big
government solution.) Like a green cowboy with a new
hat and a shiny belt buckle, he issued an executive
order instructing the FDA to “take new steps to send
out early warnings about looming shortages” and
intensely monitor price gouging for any drug in
short supply. President Obama is not stupid and this
order is as purposeful as it is meaningless. He is
certain the electorate is so misinformed they won’t
recognize the danger until the healthcare noose is
permanently tightened around their necks.
The lack of drugs and doctors is only the beginning
and once healthcare is fully socialized, all
Americans can expect to receive the same amount of
misery…something there is never a shortage of in
socialism. When your cancer breaks out of remission,
take two aspirin and call your congressman in the
morning.
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