Saturday, September 26, 2009

Stossel, healthcare, and a life unfinished







This is supposed to be a political blog about a luncheon I attended on Thursday featuring John Stossel. He was there to speak about healthcare, and I was one of a handful of bloggers invited to cover the event for the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Stossel had some enlightening insights, and I fully intend to cover them all. In fact, while there I was tweeting live about the event, so my actual notes are on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/tracykarol -- but more on that another time. You can use the #stossel hashtag to find exactly what I was writing, as well as what the other bloggers wrote.

I had the honor, while there, of sitting next to a UT student, Brianna Becker, who was an intern for TPPF. While we were obviously all very busy, we did exchange a few words and I mentioned that I had graduated from UT myself. She told me she was a student there now. We went on about our business, covering the speech. Stossel had, as I said, some interesting views on healthcare, comparing insurance to "grocery insurance." I will go into more depth in a later article.


I found out this morning that, tragically, Brianna was killed while jogging at UT Friday afternoon, hit by an SUV. I was stunned. She was vibrant, full of life, full of potential. I only knew her briefly, but she had her entire life ahead of her.

So while this story should be about the Stossel event, I am choosing instead to pay homage to a life unfinished - to Brianna Becker. I only knew her briefly, but I could tell she had a bright future. May she rest in peace.

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