A CNN poll before the health care vote in congress showed an overwhelming 59% of the public oppose ObamaCare. With a long history of liberal news media over sampling Democrats, I won't be surprised that the true number is about 5-8 per cent higher than reported. Regardless, there's a significant number of Americans who think ObamaCare is bad for the USA. Why do Democrat politicians vote to approve it anyway despite the public outrage and the fact they they know they will probably be decimated at the polls in November?
To the politicians that voted YES, it is larger than their political office. It's about chasing after the Democrat's socialist utopia or fool's gold–a perfect society where everyone is equal except the government officials. It's about party power and reprogramming the American people to think and accept "free" entitlements. Politicians love the cradle to grave entitlements because it's like a carrot they can dangle in front of gullible voters who will vote the politicians back in office by offering to protect their entitlements. It's also about slowly defunding the military when the government will take money from military programs to fund social programs as in Europe where the USA spends a lot of money for their defense needs. It's about the redistribution of wealth and blaming the rich and large corporations for all the nation's ills.
It's one thing if government runs the programs it creates or mandates effectively. The big problem is almost everything the government runs and sticks its finger in – social security, Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, VA, education, US post office, Amtrak–are failures or near death or in deep trouble. And let's not forget the government's role in creating the environment (1997 Community Reinvestment Act) that ultimately led to the 2008 financial collapse. Yet, all you hear about is greedy bankers and speculators. It's never the government's fault. I digress.
Obamacare will be a historic colossal mistake. The world is full of examples why socialized medicine does not work. Yet, our so-called leaders are so insistent that it will be different and will work for the United States. I come from a country where private medical facilities are popping up left and right because people do not like the poor quality government run hospitals and the long lines for medical services. Even the Canadian Newfoundland and Larador Premier knew better by going to the USA for medical treatment.
There are so many flaws in ObamaCare that I don't know where to start. To begin with we have about 300 million people who are satisfied with their medical insurance. Politicians love to throw the over 46 million number of people who have no medical insurance based on the US Census statistics. If you look closely at the census statistics used to derive the 46 million uninsured, only 9.7 million are citizens of the USA. Deduct the number of people who can afford to buy insurance but chose not to or people who qualify for medicaid and SCHIP but never bordered to apply for it, the number of truly uninsured is much lower than the 9.7 million figure. And let's not forget that it is against the law for hospitals to deny treatment to patients who show up at the emergency rooms. For discussion, let's assume that there are 10 million uninsured. Instead of trying to find a solution for the 10 million people without insurance, the politicians have gone overboard by fixing insurance for everyone and wasting time in more important issues such as the economy and helping the private sector create jobs.
I don't think anybody is arguing there isn't a problem in American health care. However, it has not reached the crisis level the Democrats claim it to be. It is a manufactured crisis.
There are many common-sense solutions that can be implemented to fix the health care problem. For starters, we could have found a way to cover catastrophic health insurance for the relatively few uninsured. It certainly would be cheaper and easier to implement than the 2010 healthcare law that calls for a complete overhaul. This point alone shows the Democrats are not being level with us about the true intention of jamming ObamaCare down our throats. Other solutions include allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines, preventing frivolous lawsuits that drive up costs, allowing individuals, trade associations and small businesses to pool together to get insurance at lower price, giving the same tax breaks to those who don’t get insurance from employers and expanding and creating bigger incentives for HSAs. All you hear about is the 46 million uninsured figures, isolated sob stories, and the evil insurance companies. Truth be told, if we confiscate the meager two percent insurance profits from all medical insurance companies, it will only cover the American's health insurance needs for two days. It's also interesting why we never hear from Democrat politicians about tort reform or about the evil attorneys who pocket most of the money from lawsuits. This issue alone has caused a dramatic jump in insurance premiums. Don't believe me? Just ask a doctor how much he or she is paying to cover malpractice insurance.
I'm going to touch on just a couple of the flaws I see with the new 2010 health care legislation. Google the topic and read up on the topic. There are also web sites touting the goodness of the programs and web sites against ObamaCare. Read both pro and cons and then decide for yourself. I have studied both POVs and concluded it isn't for me and is bad for the country.
1. Ban on denying pre-existing condition. A key feature of Obamacare mandates insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions. Who doesn't like it? However, politicians with their infinite wisdom do not think of the unintended consequences. Why do people buy insurance in the first place? Think of your homeowner's insurance. You buy insurance to cover catastrophic damage to your house right? You do not buy insurance after your house burns down. You do not buy insurance to cover minor plumbing or other minor problems. You handle the minor problems yourself. Won't it be great if you don't have to buy insurance until your house burns down (pre-existing condition)? Likewise, you buy auto insurance mainly for major accidents not for the tire wear and tear. Now imagine if the insurance company is forced to cover plumbing, tire wear and tear problems. What do you think it will do to the insurance premiums? There are too many people who don't even know the true purpose of insurance and many people think that they buy medical insurance to pay for their day-to-day medical coverage including catastrophic health crisis. Health insurance is never designed to guarantee people good health because no insurance companies can make a profit guaranteeing people good health. Unfortunately, today health insurance has evolved into health coverage where people expect or demand day-to-day medical coverage.
The government mandate to prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for preexisting conditions will result in healthy people not buying insurance thus saving a substantial premium costs. People know that if they were to become seriously sick, they can get immediate medical insurance coverage. Think about this for a minute. If you run an insurance company, you won't be getting a lot of premiums from healthy people but you are paying an arm and a leg to pay out to seriously sick people. How long can you stay in business without increasing premiums? Democrat politicians realize this loophole and created a penalty for people not carrying insurance. But the penalty is a lot lower than having to carry insurance. For example, the average cost of a single person medical insurance is about $4,800. An individual who earns $50,000 would face a fine of $750. Would you rather pay a fine of $750 or pay the $4,800 in insurance premium? The $4,800 is a figure used for employers subsidized insurance. The difference between the IRS penalty and non-subsidized private medical insurance is even higher. Depending on the deductible and family size, the annual insurance premium can run between $8,000 to $20,000 for a family of four. So for many people, they would be fools to buy insurance now. I bet this flaw is by design to drive out private insurance companies so government can come in later to "fix" the problem and impose universal health care and be the sole insurer. If that's the case, we are all in deep shit.
2. The high cost. ObamaCare comes at the worst times when we are already in a deep financial crisis. The new health care bill is projected to add another trillion in new federal spending. Coupled with $46 trillion of unfunded Social Security and Medicare entitlements, and other TARP obligations, it will be a disaster for our current and future generations. The government CBO says there will be billions in savings in the new plan. Rubbish. The CBO scored the program based on rosy Democrat assumptions which will never materialize.
The health care overhaul robs $52 billion from Social Security (government-run) that is already in trouble and run like a pyramid scheme. It also cuts about $500 billion from Medicare and another government-run program in trouble. It also does not count the hundreds of billions required to pay doctors who treat elderly patients.
The plan will add millions of people to Medicaid, a failing program that many pharmacists and doctors are refusing to participate in. Mayo Clinic and now Walgreen have decided to pull out of Medicaid because it is unprofitable. My friend who is an eye surgeon told me that her Medicaid payment will be cut by 20% and she may be forced to not accept Medicaid patients as it is too costly. It's the same story told by my relative who is a dermatologist. What good is Medicaid if private doctors won't treat them or pharmacist won't fill their prescriptions. This is yet another unintended consequences in the making. If the government keeps on slashing payments to providers the end result will not be pretty as providers exit the market thereby making the situation worst than before and it will also stifle innovation.
3. Increase insurance premium costs. Obama claims that the average insurance premium will will be lowered by $2,500 with the new health care bill. This saving will only happen if you believe the tooth fairy is real. How is it possible when the government mandates a ban on insurance companies from denying insurance due to preexisting conditions and not to mention the other mandates including...mental health and substance disorder coverage, psychological treatment, preventive and wellness service, chronic disease treatment, oral and vision care, etc. The list goes on and on. Make no mistake, insurance rates will sky rocket.
4. Loss of American jobs. Politicians, especially the Democrat species, love to bash big corporations for moving jobs overseas. Yet, they are the ones that come up with stupid legislations like ObamaCare that hasten the movement of jobs overseas. As explained earlier, Caterpillar estimated that it will cost the company about $100 million a year to implement ObamaCare. ATT will face one billion dollars in additional expenses. Other large companies such as Metronic, Verizon, and John Deere are saying the same thing. Metronic has even gone a step further by saying that they may have to cut 1,000 people or more because of ObamaCare. The economy is already in a bad shape and to add ObamaCare on top of it will be a disaster for the American economy. What do you think companies will do to lower their cost? This is clearly another sad example of unintended consequences.
Note to Republican politicians. If you think you are sitting pretty now because people hate ObamaCare and people will automatically vote for you in the next election think again. People are furious at most politicians for getting America in such a bad shape it is today. Unfortunately, you got all the blame in the last election. Had people really studied the issues, they would have found out that Democrats are more to blame for the current mess we are in. But you also had six years to fix health care and other issues facing the nation and you sat on your ass. If, and when you return to power, you owe to the American people the work to fix the mess or the citizens will throw you out too. You came to power in a landslide in 1984 but you got intoxicated with power and money. Let's not forget that! What you promise to do in the future better be real and not just a campaign slogan.
Note to voters. Elections have consequences. If you dislike ObamaCare you have a chance to speak your mind in November by voting the politicians who voted for it out of office. Most citizens will not see the inevitable acceleration in insurance premiums until January 2011. In other words, citizens may not be angry enough to go vote in November 2010. They will be angry after they get their new insurance premium notices in 2011. This timing is by design by crooked politicians. Don't wait until the 2012 election cycle to do something about it. Go vote in November 2010.
If you support ObamaCare, remember one thing. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Socialism works great until you run out of other people's money. Going against ObamaCare doesn't mean people who oppose it do not care about the poor and the sick. We do but there are smarter ways to achieve medical insurance reforms. America is so fortunate to have people who will happily open their wallets to charities to help the less fortunate. As a matter of fact, Americans are #1 in the world when it comes to charity giving. The politicians who claim they care about the poor are usually the ones who are very tight with their own wallets. Google and check for yourself their poor donation records (% of their earnings) to charities. It's OK for them to spend other people's money yet they are unwilling to walk the talk.
Liberals cannot walk the talk
The Big F'ing Deal
V.P. Biden is correct when he whispered to Obama that the new health legislation is a big F'ing deal. Charles Krauthammer astutely pointed this out on Fox News...
With Franklin Delano Roosevelt, we had the NEW DEAL.
With Harry S. Truman, it was the FAIR DEAL.
And today, with Barack Obama, we have the BIG F'ING DEAL.
"You can't make this stuff up in this country." said Krauthammer.
This big f'ing deal will eventually screw us all!
The plan will add millions of people to Medicaid, a failing program that many pharmacists and doctors are refusing to participate in. Mayo Clinic and now Walgreen have decided to pull out of Medicaid because it is unprofitable. My friend who is an eye surgeon told me that her Medicaid payment will be cut by 20% and she may be forced to not accept Medicaid patients as it is too costly. It's the same story told by my relative who is a dermatologist. What good is Medicaid if private doctors won't treat them or pharmacist won't fill their prescriptions. This is yet another unintended consequences in the making. If the government keeps on slashing payments to providers the end result will not be pretty as providers exit the market thereby making the situation worst than before and it will also stifle innovation.
3. Increase insurance premium costs. Obama claims that the average insurance premium will will be lowered by $2,500 with the new health care bill. This saving will only happen if you believe the tooth fairy is real. How is it possible when the government mandates a ban on insurance companies from denying insurance due to preexisting conditions and not to mention the other mandates including...mental health and substance disorder coverage, psychological treatment, preventive and wellness service, chronic disease treatment, oral and vision care, etc. The list goes on and on. Make no mistake, insurance rates will sky rocket.
4. Loss of American jobs. Politicians, especially the Democrat species, love to bash big corporations for moving jobs overseas. Yet, they are the ones that come up with stupid legislations like ObamaCare that hasten the movement of jobs overseas. As explained earlier, Caterpillar estimated that it will cost the company about $100 million a year to implement ObamaCare. ATT will face one billion dollars in additional expenses. Other large companies such as Metronic, Verizon, and John Deere are saying the same thing. Metronic has even gone a step further by saying that they may have to cut 1,000 people or more because of ObamaCare. The economy is already in a bad shape and to add ObamaCare on top of it will be a disaster for the American economy. What do you think companies will do to lower their cost? This is clearly another sad example of unintended consequences.
Note to Republican politicians. If you think you are sitting pretty now because people hate ObamaCare and people will automatically vote for you in the next election think again. People are furious at most politicians for getting America in such a bad shape it is today. Unfortunately, you got all the blame in the last election. Had people really studied the issues, they would have found out that Democrats are more to blame for the current mess we are in. But you also had six years to fix health care and other issues facing the nation and you sat on your ass. If, and when you return to power, you owe to the American people the work to fix the mess or the citizens will throw you out too. You came to power in a landslide in 1984 but you got intoxicated with power and money. Let's not forget that! What you promise to do in the future better be real and not just a campaign slogan.
Note to voters. Elections have consequences. If you dislike ObamaCare you have a chance to speak your mind in November by voting the politicians who voted for it out of office. Most citizens will not see the inevitable acceleration in insurance premiums until January 2011. In other words, citizens may not be angry enough to go vote in November 2010. They will be angry after they get their new insurance premium notices in 2011. This timing is by design by crooked politicians. Don't wait until the 2012 election cycle to do something about it. Go vote in November 2010.
If you support ObamaCare, remember one thing. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Socialism works great until you run out of other people's money. Going against ObamaCare doesn't mean people who oppose it do not care about the poor and the sick. We do but there are smarter ways to achieve medical insurance reforms. America is so fortunate to have people who will happily open their wallets to charities to help the less fortunate. As a matter of fact, Americans are #1 in the world when it comes to charity giving. The politicians who claim they care about the poor are usually the ones who are very tight with their own wallets. Google and check for yourself their poor donation records (% of their earnings) to charities. It's OK for them to spend other people's money yet they are unwilling to walk the talk.
Liberals cannot walk the talk
The Big F'ing Deal
V.P. Biden is correct when he whispered to Obama that the new health legislation is a big F'ing deal. Charles Krauthammer astutely pointed this out on Fox News...
With Franklin Delano Roosevelt, we had the NEW DEAL.
With Harry S. Truman, it was the FAIR DEAL.
And today, with Barack Obama, we have the BIG F'ING DEAL.
"You can't make this stuff up in this country." said Krauthammer.
This big f'ing deal will eventually screw us all!
 Let me get this straight......we passed a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a president that also hasn't read it and who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke. What the hell could possibly go wrong? |
