Doug Bachtel and Mexican pot

Doug Bachtel's column on 'unintended consequences' in the push to reform health care is, without a doubt, one of the more shoddy pieces of commentary I've come across in a while. It's completely all over the map and includes admissions of a lack of knowledge about the subject matter, references to marijuana use and a bizarre argument for the Mexican health care system.

For starters, let's look at how Bachtel opens his column ...

I must admit I haven't read the new health care legislation ...

I can't stress it enough, but that's how he begins a column devoted to criticizing efforts to reform health care. He embraces the fact that he has no knowledge of the various pieces of legislation aimed at fixing our health care system before launching into a lengthy 'what if' scenario related to socialized medicine. From a journalistic - and persuasive - standpoint, this is absolutely staggering to me.

If you concede you don't know anything about the actual debate, why in the world are you penning a column on it?

Ugh ...

Canada and the U.S. have a number of similarities and differences. The differences, which include culture, ethnic diversity, rural-urban population distribution and type of government really are a matter of degree. So do Canadians spend more on alternative medicine because of the difficulty in obtaining traditional medicine or due to basic U.S.-Canadian differences? I suspect that when one commodity or good is limited, denied or difficult to obtain, individuals will search for and use alternatives.

Mother of Mary, we're heading down the pathway to the insane. Here, Bachtel willingly admits to blatant ignorance regarding a particular topic - the higher use of alternative medicine in Canada compared to the United States - and then turns that ignorance, later in the piece, into a projection that reforming health care will result in a surge in alternative medicine usage here. Again, aside from one observatory fact, there is no information to justify this projection.

Likewise, in what is rapidly becoming a Bachtel trademark, he closes that paragraph by stating the obvious (though, again, he lacks the corresponding evidence to suggest that the markets will be restricted, thus resulting in any denials).

Then, we get to the Mexico conspiracy ...

The second unintended consequence of the proposed changes in the health care system will be an increased use of foreign health care facilities and practitioners by Americans. Traveling for medical care is a common practice. Canadians travel to use American health care facilities.

Individuals from across the world seek American medical care in well known centers of medical excellence such as the Mayo Clinic, Cedars-Sinai and Emory.

Because of good surface and air transportation, travel to Mexico is relatively cheap and easy. I suspect some Georgians will use the Mexican connection if major health care changes are implemented. And if the new health care changes become problematic, the use of Mexican health care alternatives will no doubt increase substantially.

Um, OK? Honestly, I don't even know how to being rationalizing this nonsense. Bachtel is arguing that increasing insurance coverage, as well as lowering the cost of health care, will result in an influx of Americans flooding the Mexican health care system.

It's as if he was sitting at his computer - doing his best Harry Turtledove impression - just pounding out ridiculous hypotheticals as fast as they popped in his head.