Obama's next target? Outrageous pet health costs.

Pet insurance is a nonstarter for many pet owners, simply because they take a pragmatic approach to their animals. If the cost of treatment got too high, they would choose to have the animal put to death.

But many who think they'd draw the line at a certain dollar amount find their convictions wavering when the time actually comes, said Veterinary Pet Insurance's chief executive, Dennis Drent. The kids are crying, the vet says a treatment would be successful, and some parents break down and spend the money.

In an interview with Veterinarian Today, Obama weighed in on Pet Health Insurance stating "Well, I think it should be a right for every American. In a country as wealthy as ours, for us to have people who are going bankrupt because they can’t pay their pet's medical bills--for my Bo to die of cancer at the age of 15 and have to spend the last months of hir life in the vet arguing with insurance companies because they’re saying that this may be a pre-existing condition and they don’t have to pay his treatment, there’s something fundamentally wrong about that."

But questions still remain as to how to pay for it. Is Pet Health Insurance a right? If so, and the government is responsible for that right, how does it carve out funds to assist?

Obama admits that the first steps should be taken by pet owners:

• Shop around. Policies and premiums can vary widely. Take note of not just the monthly or annual cost but the differences in deductibles, co-pays and caps, which may limit payouts by incident, annually or the animal's lifetime. Ask whether the insurer offers discounts for insuring multiple pets or whether your employer offers pet insurance as a voluntary benefit. The companies to check include PetCare Pet Insurance, 1-866-275-7387; Petshealth Care Plan, 1-800-807-6724; Veterinary Pet Insurance, 1-888-899-4874; and Embrace Pet Insurance, 1-800-511-9172.

• Check with your state. Like human health insurers, pet insurers should be registered with your state regulators.

• Scrutinize policies and understand their exclusions. The conditions most likely to afflict your pet are often the ones most likely to be excluded from a policy.

• Beef up your savings. A Consumer Reports analysis found that pet owners with insurance may actually spend more over time on their animals than those without.

But that isn't enough says the Administration. The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association says pet owners spent $10.1 billion on veterinary care and $9.8 billion on supplies and over-the-counter medicines last year. The American Veterinary Medical Association found that owners spent $24.5 billion on veterinary medicine in 2008. To help Americans curb the crippling cost of pet medical costs, the administration plans on pushing for a public option beginning 2011. Under Obama's public option plan:

• Will reimburses 80% of veterinary bills after you pay the public option deductible
• Pets can visit any licensed veterinarian, including specialists and emergency care clinics worldwide
• Choice of plan options for veterinary visits, surgery and more
• will cover pets as young as 7 weeks old — and no pet is too old for coverage

What remains to be seen is where the funds to cover the public option. According to Rep. Harry Reid (D-NV), he thinks funding could come from efficiency gains in DoD contract appropriations: "we have a lot of waste in DoD appropriations. Americans are very familiar with the $100 hammers and $1000 toilets. Getting a handle on DoD appropriations could easily recoup over $1 Billion a year. If we delay benefits for 4 years and add a VAT to the pet medical supplies industry, we could easily have the public option funded indefinitely."

Regardless of the funding source, Americans are in agreement that something needs to be done to curb the outrageous cost of medical for their pets. What remain to be seen is if bipartisan support can be raised in the House to pass such a bill.

Reid may not be a good politician, but he can sure dance!

Greta Van Susteren interviewed Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) yesterday over his backroom deal cutting with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) referred to as the "Cornhusker Kickback." Below is a partial transcript with my comments inserted in [brackets]. First, it's important to know just exactly what the Cornhusker Kickback is. The deal that was done behind closed doors was a promise to provide additional Medicaid funds for Nebraska, and ONLY Nebraska. Not just additional funds, 100% reimbursement! Why? Senator Nelson was going to vote against the Healthcare Reform bill. It was done SOLELY to buy a vote; his vote. Not to defend Reid, but vote buying has been a staple diet in DC politics for hundreds of years. Why are we outraged now? For a few reasons I suspect.

1. A bill that likely would have died, and rightly so based on numerous polls of Americans' desires, was rammed through by buying votes.
2. The visibility of this legislation shed light on an unethical practice that for years was done in secret and with little fanfare.
3. The American public saw the hypocrisy with "Pay for Play" in the Senate. Blagojevich was impeached for selling a senate seat while the very senate does it all the time!

The partial transcript of the interview:

VAN SUSTEREN: What happened I think is you met with Senator Ben Nelson and gave the Nebraska deal. In Massachusetts, they were absolutely furious about the Nebraska deal. I think that sunk her [Martha Coakley].

REID: Perhaps. But remember, the Nebraska deal was terrific for our country. Why do I say that? Because now everybody has a Nebraska deal. Every state in the union has the Nebraska deal.

VAN SUSTEREN: I don't think a lot of people feel like do you, senator, on that. I think a lot of people were disturbed about the fact on the eve of the vote that two United States senators meet, and President Obama had promised transparency.

And so all of a sudden, Senator Ben Nelson walks out and says "I'm going to vote on this." It wasn't your promise on transparency. I'm going to vote on this and I got a special deal from my state. The other states are saying what about us?

REID: Did you think it would have been better if I let the bill fail?

[What Reid is implying here is, that the end justifies the means. It is okay to do anything as long as we got healthcare for the American people. Most principled people would disagree. Most ethical people would say subverting your principles and ethics in order to achieve a goal is counter to what we expect from elected leaders. This is VERY similar to the use of torture. Why are the majority of Americans against torturing our enemies who would, given the opportunity, torture us? Because to stoop to their methods makes us no better than them. The United States has always held itself to a standard much of the rest of the world strives to achieve. It's the same with Pay for Play.

If we take Reid as a template for the typical legislative Democrat, then unethical Pay for Play is at the heart of their principles. They are PROUD of using secretive, opaque maneuvers behind closed doors to attain their goals. I have a book for them. It's called "Principle Centered Leadership" by Stephen Covey. Reid it Democrats.]

VAN SUSTEREN: I don't --

REID: You're speechless.

VAN SUSTEREN: Speechless? This is the way it appeared to the American people. This senator, Senator Ben Nelson, was for sale. That's the way it looked like. It was a sale that all the other American taxpayers are paying for. And nobody understood, even people in Nebraska didn't understand why he got this?

REID: Greta, let me say this. I know Fox loves to berate anything that is Democratic in nature. But let me just say this. Ben Nelson is an honorable, a really good senator that represents his state extremely well.

[An obvious cheap shot at Fox since it's essentially one of the few networks that doesn't drink the punch, fall in line with the administration and sing praises to the Democrats.]

And Ben Nelson and I worked on a number of issues. We worked on the Medicaid issue. He's a former governor of the state and understands it very well. I knew if I got this for Nebraska I would have it for everybody, and that's what happened. And I'm totally comfortable with that

[Quite perplexing. Reid says if he got this for Nebraska he would have it for everybody. Well, why not campaign in the Senate for the deal for everybody right off the bat? I'll tell you. Because providing Medicaid funds for subsidizing healthcare was wholly unpopular and wouldn't have flown. Greta nails it below. He didn't have a plan for everyone until the deal blew up in his face. He's a con man. A political con man.]

VAN SUSTEREN: Two things. No one ever said that after he walked out. There was a long time before we heard about everybody else getting this. That's the first thing.

The second thing -- I was actually quite surprised that Senator Nelson didn't come out say to his constituents, what are you complaining about, I got you something that no one else got.

REID: I was a little surprised about that myself.

[I doubt that. I'm sure you were hoping that deal would have remained quiet.]

VAN SUSTEREN: The fact that he came out so weak with his hat in his hand made me more suspicious why he wasn't -- I would have thought, I would have expected a different advocacy for it than the one he gave. I thought that added to sort of like, what's up?

REID: I said, "Ben, if I had gotten that for Nevada, I would have yelled from it the rooftops." He didn't and that's a decision he made.

VAN SUSTEREN: If you thought everybody was going to get that day when you Senator Nelson, why didn't you offer it to everybody?

REID: Because I didn't have it for everybody at that time. I thought I could get it as we moved along in the legislation, and I did.

VAN SUSTEREN: You're telling me when Ben Nelson got that, when the two of you sat down, you said Ben, Nebraska's got it now -- obviously my words -- but after we get this passed we go for everybody?

REID: No. He got this for himself. He wanted it. I said to myself, good. That's a way I can help Medicaid in Nevada and the rest of the country, and that's what I did. But I didn't trumpet it to my other senators. By the time we finished this with our meetings in the White House and other places, everybody got it.

[And everybody WILL get it Senator. We'll all get it. The problem is with what "IT" is. It's debt. Lots and lots of debt. It's another failed government program now accelerating the failure of the programs you'll be taking funds from. You couldn't estimate the required funding for something as simple as a "Cash for Clunkers" program yet you expect the American public to drink the punch that you've come up with a fiscally sound program, the largest ever in American history, that will have everyone singing Kum Bah Ya in the long run. You are deluded by the very abortion of the power that you wield. It will be of little consequence for our children who have no voice in the process to say "I told you so" when we're all learning Chinese.]

Watch Greta's entire interview with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

We're back...

So it's been some time since I've last posted. A lot has happened since my last post and I don't think I'm going to try and catch you up here. Suffice to say I plan on blogging more and keeping you up-to-date with the disinformation being put out by those who don't think the Constitution matters when writing legislation.

So today I had the opportunity to attend the Arizona Patriot State Caucus Conference in Phoenix, AZ. Besides getting to hear from Eric Odom, the National Chair for The Patriot Caucus, I got to hear and speak to Pamela Gorman, Arizona 3rd Congressional District candidate. I have to say, not since I worked on Ken Cuccinelli's campaign for Virginia Attorney General ( a VERY successful grassroots campaign), have I heard as principled a candidate. If you live in Arizona's 3rd Congressional District and are looking for a candidate who remembers what it means to work for the people, then I highly recommend you lend her your support.