By Henri D. Kahn

The cost of health insurance should be controlled and subsidized by federal taxation at all income levels. All hospitals and medical providers who want to serve the public at large must register as "certified providers."
Certified providers would charge allowable fees as determined by a statewide medical provider panel with representatives from an all-medical provider and consumers advocate panel with geographic modifications.
Any medical provider that wishes to serve an upper socio-economic, aka wealthy, clientele may apply for a "private provider" certification and establish their own fee schedule for no more than 25 percent of their patient load.
Prescription medicine should be provided at a 60 percent discount for senior citizens and capped off at a maximum of $200 per month for all persons in the USA. Federal taxation imposed on all "certified providers" should be reduced by 15 percent.
Insurance agent commissions should be capped off at 10 percent on individual policies and six percent on group policies with reductions for bigger groups.

The only full-time job I have ever had besides being an insurance agent is a pharmaceutical detail man selling physicians on the idea of prescribing my employer’s product. I called on pharmacies to make certain the products I was "pushing" were adequately stocked. I called on a pharmacist whose drugstore was located smack in the middle of downtown Houston, surrounded by imposing skyscrapers.
Mr. Anson Jones (not his real name) had owned the pharmacy for decades.
Thieves had broken into an electronics and appliances store just half a block away from Jones pharmacy the night before my regular stocking call.
Mr. Jones commented, "I’m sure it was the druggies, damn shame."
He went on: "There was a time that the purchase of heroin was not illegal. Every payday the heroin users would show up here to buy their week’s supply of heroin. The price was very affordable, the addicts were never violent, and they neither resorted to thievery nor people mugging."
Point blank nape assassinations, throat slittings, and drive-byes were not commonplace, and working people’s tax dollars were not being squandered on a multitude of jailed unrepentant reprobated and losers.
I wish we could go back to those days. The war on drugs, as it is being waged, is an exercise in futility.

Elected officials call themselves servants of the public. "We work for the good of the people." "Please give me your vote and I will work for you." "I will appreciate your contribution to offset my campaign expenses."
Gosh durn, here we have an elected official to whom I am giving my money to defray his campaign expenses so he can fulfill his personal agenda and either earn money or gain business clout. Great!
What tees me off is that every time I go to a public event, the politicians always get the best seats in the house and first place in the chow line plus, "We are deeply honored to have here with us the honorable senator, Will Takeitall, who has so graciously agreed to attend this event."
How about, "I am honored to have my fellow citizens and their guest [in case someone brought a Mexican citizen] here with us as well as the public servants we elected to look after our best interest in Austin and Washington."
I would like to hear one of them say, "I am here to serve you, valued constituent, and please sit at the head table so you can get served first!"

By the way, why does a candidate for public office think that the endorsement from a firefighter or police officer will impel me to vote for him? Will fires be put out quicker? Will more thieves get apprehended?

How come the City of Laredo and the County of Webb are fighting over whom gets the new bridge concession?
Will the city use the money for the benefit of a certain sector of the citizenry instead of the sector preferred by the county?
"My bridge -- no, my bridge -- my bridge -- no, my bridge. Washington like me best, etc., etc."

The exit speed at off-ramps on IH-35 is 30 miles per hour. I am living for the day most drivers respect the speed safety request instead of exiting at 60 miles per hour. The autos on the access road are just as bad; they rarely obey the yield-to-off-ramp traffic sign. There would be that chicken in every pot that politicians promise us plus steak on Sunday within six months if the police department starts issuing traffic citations for the scampy off-rampers and yield-sign violators.

Guess I just feel righteous and grouchy today, but ain’t this all the truth?