The efforts by the Democrats to drift as far as humanly possible from Constitutional limitations on their granted powers from we, the people demonstrates their willingness to do whatever it takes to pass a health care bill that they insist is good for America, will improve health care in America, will be deficit neutral and will not change the current health care coverage or cost to the majority of Americans who like their current health care coverage. Excuse my French, but that is a load of merde.
If it is so good for America, why do the majority of Americans oppose it and why does the Democratic membership have to drift so far from normal procedure to pass it? If it was that good, shouldn’t it pass on its own merits without closed-door arm twisting and without the Vice President making the major gaff of his career saying, I quote, “we will own the insurance companies.” You want the exclusivity of a public option which makes it not one option among choices, which 77% of you favor, but the only option? Well, only 43% of you favor that. If it passes, in roughly five years, according to the bill, that will be the only option. Follow the money.
Look at just the elimination of pre-existing conditions. Nobody disapproves of that on its face, but the bill does not define how that is to be funded. It assumes there is no additional cost to that idea. If it was such a good, deficit-neutral idea, do you really think it would take a hundred years to have that idea? If you think so, you might as well stop reading now; your fantasyland is calling and no other argument will sway you. Currently, there are some insurance companies who will waiver that restriction, but none will do so without an increased premium for obvious reasons. Insurance payouts never were and never will be free money. By Obama’s magic pen, will it suddenly be deficit-neutral, particularly for those folks who cannot afford a premium at any price, increasing the burden for the rest of us? So much for deficit neutrality.
The bill acknowledges higher taxes to working Americans, so even if your insurance premiums flatten out, you are just re-distributing your money from the insurance company to the government. Is that doing nothing to change your current health care coverage, even if you do not have a pre-existing condition? Remember, health care, like any other insurance, is based upon group insurance; you are part of a pool of averaged people. We are going to add 30 million new policy holders without a doctor fix in the bill to do things like add more doctors [as if they multiplied like a money tree]. That’s another quarter trillion dollars. That’s in a separate bill because the cost to do that would exceed the $1 trillion deficit ceiling Obama generously imposed, as if we could afford an additional $1 trillion load on the deficit, of which 1% is recovered each year, if their figures are correct [are they ever?]. When was the last time a 1% reduction actually resulted in an overall deficit reduction considering all the other debts in the budget that are accrued. That will not even cover the interest we owe on our public debt. While we’re on the subject of insurance companies, the evil villain in this affair, if one believes Obama’s mantra, which insurance company is most upside down in insurance payout to funding collection ratio, which, according to Obama, yields profit margin? Humana? Blue Cross? Intermountain? Kaiser? Keep guessing. If you guessed the US government’s Medicare/Medicaid, you win the stuffed pig. And that is before this bill takes effect. So much for cost reduction.
We are being conned. We, the people, and the Constitution. Welcome to fundamental change. You voted for it, most of you. Hope you’re satisfied with the con. Enjoy it, but you’ve been had. - RL Cheney 2010.03.20
