Tuesday, May 19, 2009

ObamaCare: Insanity at the Highest Levels of Government


It's an oldie but a goodie. The Nine scariest words in the English Language: "I'm from the Government and I'm Hear to Help". Our dear leader, President Barack Obama just can't seem to stop saying it. Apparently he's never heard the "scariest words in the English language part".

So far he's expanded the Role of Government in the Auto Industry, the Banking industry, the Mortgage industry and Now he's got his sites set on Health Care. The President's socialist, yeah I said it, Socialist agenda will include as Promised: ObamaCare with a price tag of $1.5 Trillion in New spending.

How does Obama plan to pay for all of this? You, silly. Now don't expect him to come right out and Say "You", instead he will discuss those that "Have" needing to help out those who "Have NOT". Let me explain something to you, if you have a Job, you are a "Have" in this scenario. Oh so you don't think you are a "Have" because you're currently struggling to make ends meet yourself, Too Bad. Tell it to Obama. He's got Big plans for YOUR money.


See his Obamacare will be funded through higher taxes on Soda, Booze and oh yeah Health Care. Remember those attack ads Obama ran just prior to the election mischaracterizing John McCain's plan to "Tax your Health Benefits" calling it the "the largest Middle class Tax Hike ever", it seems Obama has decided it wasn't such a bad idea after all, he just prefers a more direct approach. Instead offering the "Tax Credits" suggested by McCain, Obama is going to Tax you directly. Yep, More money coming out of your Paycheck, Can't you just feel the Change?

If you are currently employed and have health insurance, Obama wants to Tax your benefits to help cover those 'less fortunate'. Never mind all that you have to do to earn your Health benefits, you know like going to work and spending time away from your family, these people are Americans therefore, they Deserve Health Care and you are going to Pay for it. Whether you like it or not. Got it?


Rich Lowry explain it this way, in an op-ed in the New York Post:

The casual listener could be forgiven for thinking that Obama's passion is for reducing spending, not raising it, and for working with the private health-care industry cooperatively rather than over regulating it or supplanting it.

The groups' letter lends a superficial plausibility to the argument of backers of Obama-style reform that covering more people is consistent with painlessly cutting costs. The argument goes that, currently, the costs of providing health care to the uninsured are shifted onto everyone else.

Yes, but it's a tiny effect. A study in the journal Health Affairs found that this phenomenon accounted for at most a 1.7 percent increase in insurance premiums. Nor does more preventive care or health information technology -- a couple of Obama's favorite talking points when touting cost reduction -- produce miraculous, or any, savings, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Massachusetts enacted a health-care reform in 2006 that included an individual mandate to buy insurance, exactly on the theory that it would save money by ending cost shifting. Instead, costs have exploded. Public spending on health care has jumped 42 percent since 2006. At risk of becoming the Iceland of health-care reform, the state is scrambling to avoid getting bankrupted by its cost-saving program.

Nationally, the most significant cost-shifting is arguably the product of Medicare, which pays doctors and hospitals preset fees per procedure, and so encourages overuse of resources and prevents the emergence of meaningful prices in health care. The program overpays for some services, underpays for others and spreads gross inefficiency throughout the system. It is also a fiscal basket case, sporting an $86 trillion unfunded liability.

This is why it's so perverse for Obama to suggest the creation of a "Medicare for all" program as salve to our health-care system. This is sold as a "public option" that people can choose only if they want it. As a practical matter, government will stack the deck in favor of its option to the detriment of private insurance. Businesses will be happy to dump their employees into the public system.


Ironically, Obama's state of Birth, Hawaii, has already tried "Universal Health Care" and it lasted all of Seven Months before they pulled the plug... Why was it such an Epic Fail?

Gov. Linda Lingle's administration cited budget shortfalls and other available health care options for eliminating funding for the program. A state official said families were dropping private coverage so their children would be eligible for the subsidized plan.

"People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free," said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. "I don't believe that was the intent of the program."


After just Seven months the State realized something that should have been evident to any rational thinking person from the Start: People don't want to pay for their Health care, while watching their Neighbors get it for "Free". It deincentivizes people who would normally work and pay their own way. Which is why the programs have failed every time they have been tried.



Even supporters of ObamaCare are forced to admit that it's going to Cost a significant amount up front, but insist that it will Work despite all the evidence to the contrary....

“Reforming the system will likely require an upfront investment, but I’m confident it will pay dividends in the future for our health, our economic competitiveness, and our federal budget,” Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said in a statement. “The bottom line is that we can’t afford not to act. Without health care reform, health care spending will reach $4.4 trillion by 2018. These policies lay out a wide variety of options for making that investment.”


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22675.html#ixzz0Fxr74boZ&B

"We can't afford Not to Act"...Hmm, where have I heard that before? Oh I remember just before they passed all those Spending Bills they didn't take the time to Read and we all know how that is turning out....

In an article for NationalReview.com, Sen. Jim DeMint outlines the Problem with Government entering and taking over a Market:

The most comprehensive and reliable study of the public option, conducted by the Lewin Group, concluded that once the government enters the market, businesses will simply stop covering their employees. Whatever penalty fees they have to pay will be far less than the costs of insuring their employees.

The Lewin study estimated that of the 130 million Americans likely to enroll in the public option, 118 million will do so after losing their employer-sponsored plans. Add those 130 million to the 100 million now covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs, and we will have three-quarters of the American people dependent on the government for their medical care
.

This isn't complicated stuff folks. As the organization, Conservatives for Patients Rights, points out "Any serious discussion of health care reform that does not include choice, competition, accountability and responsibility — the four "pillars" of patients' rights — will result in our government truly becoming a "nanny-state," making decisions based on what is best for society and government rather than individuals deciding what is best for each of us."

ObamaCare ignores all of those Four 'Pillars' instead, backing the Nanny state alternative. There's another saying that comes to mind "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results", well We know that Government sponsored health care hasn't worked Ever, yet Congress plans to pass it anyway, Talk about Insanity! In fact Speaker of the House, not to be confused with "Liar of the House" a title she also holds, Nancy Pelosi,is hoping to shove this down our throats by the end of July. It seems to me that We The People can't Afford Not To Act, We need to Tell Congress, "Vote NO On ObamaCare" before we are all forced to Endure this "Help" from the Government.

In the immortal words of Susan Powder, America, "Stop the Insanity!" Contact Your Congressional Representatives Now!