More Glenn Beck

[chris_gerrib]

I went to get a haircut yesterday. Now, the barbershop I used to go to always had the game, or Channel 7, the local ABC affiliate, on the TV. But that place closed, and the new place has Fox News on. During a 4:00 PM haircut, that means, Glenn Beck.

It's not wise to get in a political discussion with a guy cutting your hair, unless you want an accidental-on-purpose reverse Mohawk, so I didn't, but Glenn's show just boggled my mind. He's apparently decided health care is a plot to do to America what the iceberg did to the Titanic (literally - lifeboats were discussed). He also decided that the US Government is going to nationalize Walgreens drug stores.

Huh?!?!?!?

Here's the "logic." Walgreen announced that they are not accepting any more Medicaid patients in Washington State, presumably because the patients are not profitable enough. "Of course," Glenn says, this will "logically" cause Walgreens to fail, and since Walgreens is "To Big To Fail" the feds will have to take it over.

There are a number of questions I wanted to ask Glenn, namely:
1) What percentage of Walgreens business is represented by filling Medicaid prescriptions?
2) Why wouldn't the other drugstore chains pick up this business?
3) What are Walgreens financials like in the other 49 states?
4) Why couldn't the Feds just increase their reimbursement rates and/or work with Walgreens to get the meds at a better discount?

If he believes this shit, I have to seriously wonder what he's putting in his coffee. If not, well the guy should be a televangelist.

Comments

[daveon.livejournal.com]

"To Big To Fail"?

Hmmm... having the major 4 or 5 banks in your economy fail at the same time is too big to fail, but while Walgreens is my most convenient drugstore around here (Washington State) there's 4 or 5 others I could turn to instead, including, for prescription drugs, my preference of Costco.

[(Anonymous)]

It makes me really nervous and sad about our world that so many people believe the crap that some news reporters say. People can't seem to think for themselves and say, "this guy is nuts--what he is saying does not even make sense." So many people just blindly believe that with ANY healthcare reform, we are going to become Cuba or China or Russia.

--Krista B.

Political discussion with a barber

[(Anonymous)]

On the contrary, it likely would be very wise to get into a political discussion with a guy cutting your hair. Small business owners generally have a pretty good pulse on society, government, politics, and religion. You might learn something!