CHICAGO - US Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) yesterday gave a speech on healthcare reform in downtown Chicago. Kirk, who represents the northern Chicago suburbs, is a popular Republican who is widely expected to run for President Obama’s former US Senate seat in 2010. Describing himself as moderate (and quoting an independent analysis of his voting record that placed him exactly in the center of the political spectrum of the House of Representatives), Kirk expressed serious concerns about what he expects will be proposed by Obama and Congressional Democrats.

Kirk believes that the Democratic plan for healthcare reform will likely emulate those currently in place in Canada and the United Kingdom. According to Kirk, the elderly will be the most severely - and adversely - affected by such a program. He described data showing that perhaps as much as 80% of Medicare expenditures occur during the final two months of a beneficiary’s life. In an attempt to save money, Kirk expects that healthcare reform legislation will seek to deny care to people in their 70s and 80s. While this may be fiscally prudent, it will have devastating consequences for the US elderly. He stated that studies have indeed shown such consequences to have occurred in Canada and the UK. Kirk also claims that access to care will likely be both restricted and delayed by such a plan, noting that the members of the Toronto Maple Leafs professional hockey team receive all of their medical care in Detroit, rather than attempting to navigate the Canadian system.

Crazy Cueball wants to thank Chauve Fou for fortuitously having also been present at Rep. Kirk’s lecture and allowing the above image - quite low in resolution but high in artistic content - to be taken. The Cue also wishes to note that this is in fact the first actual “news” post he has made on this site, the above speech real and in fact witnessed by everyone’s favorite bald cartoon iReporter.