William G. Horter – 7/10/08

This page was last updated on July 10, 2008.

Where does Specter get these ideas?; William G. Horter; Beaver County Times; July 10, 2008.

When Mr. Horter isn’t bashing Republicans in general, and President Bush specifically, he tries to push a taxpayer-funded, government-run healthcare system (some examples are here, here, and here) on U.S. citizens.

History also shows you need to do your own due diligence regarding the “facts” Mr. Horter presents in his letters and the comments he posts on the Times website. Here’s just one example.

Along with other letter writers I’ve mentioned, I wish Mr. Horter could get a regular column in the Times.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Watching our U.S. Senate at work Monday, I was quite amazed at some of the statements made by Pennsylvania’s senior senator, Arlen Specter.

“His take on the Clinton health-care proposal was that it would put a vast bureaucracy between the people and their treatment. What the heck does he call the insurance companies’ legions of bureaucrats in place now? Hundreds of companies, with multiple policies, so much bureaucratic maze that doctors and hospitals have to have specially trained staff to deal with it all.

“And he thinks one single payer with one set of rules would be tougher?”

[RWC] The above is the same old taxpayer-funded, government-run healthcare monopoly stuff Mr. Horter’s been pushing in the letters mentioned above.

“And he had some other amazing stuff to say about gasoline prices, saying we need to open more leases for the oil companies.

“Surely he knows they haven’t drilled on 68 million acres of leases they already have.”

[RWC] Mr. Horter’s been peddling this on the Times website. I covered it in my critique of a recent letter by William A. Alexander, a fellow traveler of Mr. Horter.

“In this current gasoline crisis, it seems market forces — supply and demand— have been suspended.”

[RWC] What crisis? Do high prices now constitute a crisis?

“There is no shortage, and demand has actually decreased. There is one area where something has increased, and that is in futures speculation — up from $13 billion just a few years ago to more than $250 billion today. After the Enron debacle, I hope Specter has some questions about these markets.”

[RWC] “[D]emand has actually decreased?” The answer is yes and no, but mostly no. The EIA expects U.S. petroleum consumption to decrease by 400 MBPD during 2008, but expects worldwide consumption to increase by 900 MBPD in 2008 and another 1,400 MBPD in 2009. Because the oil market is a worldwide market, the worldwide demand is more relevant in this context.

“But I do have to admit, Specter was on top of the NFL taping scandal involving the New England Patriots.

“Now there was an important issue.”

[RWC] Even a stopped clock is right once or twice a day.