Between their plummeting poll numbers and their being repeatedly shouted down at health care “town hall” meetings, the Democrats are getting desperate to turn the angry tide.
They have Geithner and Summers out preparing the middle class for a tax hike, which, after his repeated statements that people with incomes under $250,000 will not see “any tax increase, not one thin dime", will be to Obama what “Read my lips…no new taxes” was to George H. W. Bush.
And now they have Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius writing an op-ed trying to convince people that ObamaCare will be good for them.
The piece, apparently written for Yahoo, is entitled “Health reform will empower families against market constraints.” (I don’t know whether Sibelius writes her own headlines…most columnists can offer a suggestion but don’t get to decide on article titles.)
Sebelius spins a remarkably Orwellian tale where health care’s problems are caused by a free market and ameliorated by government when the truth is that most of the problems are caused by government as they prevent health insurance from actually existing in a free market.
Sebelius says that special interests have damaged the health insurance industry, somehow neglecting the fact that nothing is as likely to allow special interest talons into the health insurance business as putting the business in the hands of Congressmen and bureaucrats.
She tries to argue that Republicans’ opposition to ObamaCare is nothing more than trying to score political points. But nobody in the real world believes such a thing. Sure, there are ObamaBots out there who believe that any opposition to The One is motivated by idiots or racists. But rational people are slowly but surely coming to understand what the Democrats’ proposal (i.e. the current House bill) stands for. It stands for requirements, coercion, and limits on your ability to get the health care you want.
(Click on image for larger version)
Sebelius talks about rapidly rising health insurance premiums, saying that a government takeover of the health insurance industry will somehow control costs. (To be clear, even if it would, I’d oppose socialized medicine.) But looking at the Massachusetts socialized medicine plan implemented by Mitt Romney in 2006, even the Massachusetts state government – which has every reason to fudge the numbers to make the situation look as good as possible – forecasts the state increasing per capita health spending faster than the national average.
And from a NY Times story on the subject of the Massachusetts health care system:
“Alan Sager, a professor of health policy at Boston University, has calculated that health spending per person in Massachusetts increased faster than the national average in seven of the last eight years. Furthermore, he said, the gap has grown exponentially, with Massachusetts now spending about a third more per person, up from 23 percent in 1980.”
According to an interesting WSJ op-ed about the Massachusetts health care system, “(Local health care system) Harvard-Pilgrim estimates that between April 2008 and March 2009, about 40% of its new enrollees stayed with it for fewer than five months and on average incurred about $2,400 per person in monthly medical expenses. That’s about 600% higher than Harvard-Pilgrim would have otherwise expected.” That’s what you get when you require insurers to take anyone at any time. They sign up only when they need medical care, get the free lunch, and then leave the program. Americans are smart. If there’s any legal way to game the system, we will.
Like “Cash for Clunkers", the government will be outmatched by clever Americans who will take their “money for nothing” at every opportunity. Again, from the NY Times: “In its first full year of operation, Commonwealth Care drew higher enrollment than anticipated, and the state found itself facing an inaugural budget gap. Mr. Patrick and the legislature filled it by assessing insurers and hospitals, raising the penalty on noncompliant businesses, increasing premiums and co-payments for consumers, and raising the state tobacco tax.”
Read that again…understand what it means: Government will underestimate the desire of citizens to get money for nothing, thus underestimate the cost of the plan, and then deal with it with tax hikes, premium increases, and penalties. This is America’s future if ObamaCare passes.
The Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) and Public Citizen (hardly a conservative group) recently put out a report slamming the Massachusetts health care system. Here are two highlights:
(T)he state’s 2006 reforms, instead of reducing costs, have been more expensive than expected. The budget overruns have forced the state to siphon about $150 million from safety-net providers such as public hospitals and community clinics….
Since the state’s reforms passed, premiums under the state insurance program have increased 9.4 percent.
To be sure, these organizations support completely socialized medicine. They want a more left-wing outcome than in Massachusetts, not seeming to understand the maxim “If you find yourself in a deep hole, stop digging.”
By the way, guess what city has the nation’s longest waiting time to see a specialist. Yes, that’s right: Boston. The wait time, 50 days, is essentially double the second longest waiting time, which is Philadelphia at 27 days.
Sebelius uses the same bogus positive language as all Democrats are, talking about a “marketplace", “choices", “rewards", “savings", etc., whereas the truth of the plan is as above: taxes, restrictions and penalties.
Of course, Sebelius isn’t the only one blatantly dissembling about the Dems’ health care intentions:
No wonder Democrats are getting desperate. It’s becoming clearer day by day to all but the most Kool-Aid drinking left-wingers that Obama’s words are meaningless. He is a liar, plain and simple, saying that the Democrats’ health care plan is not a trojan horse to eliminate the private health insurance business when that’s exactly what it is. It’s great to see Americans waking up and telling their elected politicians what they think of this extraordinary expansion of the scope and cost of government – not to mention that this huge power grab is being done by politicians who don’t even read the bills they’re signing.
1 comment
Logic dictates that in order to give care to so many people, with not enough doctors, there will be waiting lists, lines, ques, and rationing. The efficiency of care will be negatively impacted. I have lived under socialized healthcare in Germany and I know what I am talking about. There will not be enough doctors. A government committee will dictate what type of care you will get, not a doctor. If you have a health crisis and you need to see a physician in a quick manner, good luck. You will die. You think the government will care if you die while waiting to see a doctor? The bureaucrats have padded this bill with billions of dollars for non-healthcare items. As usual there is lots of Pork. Their philosophy is why not stick it to the taxpayers again? They are untouchable - what can we do to them? After all, we are just dumb citizens, right? Do you honestly think these government officials know what they are talking about? Of course not. Get real. They will be long gone and we will suffer for years due to their clueless mistakes and lack of leadership. Their continual banal platitudes sound just like a used car salesman’s spiel. Do you want to pay for abortions and free healthcare for illegal aliens? I have read a lot of this bill; I have worked in the legal field and I can tell they have worded this in a very convoluted manner in order to obfuscate the real facts. There are a lot of very important issues in this bill that have not been discussed on television Do you think multi-millionaire like Pelosi knows what a middle class American’s life is like? They are so out of touch with reality. Physicians wages will be lower; without competition, the quality of healthcare will suffer.
Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions.
Look at the chaos going on right now due to the confusion as to what is in the bill. Are they talking about the Kennedy healthcare bill too? Will they combine these? If they start out of the gate with this type of confusion, think what it will be like later. Most of these politicians do not know what is in the bill. Obama does not know what is in the bill, all the while why he tries to cram it down out throat. Imagine, we pay their salaries and they are trying to make us do something we do not want to do. I thought they were supposed to represent us! They are not listening to the American people. They do not care. When did the constitution change? What is wrong with this picture? That is absolutely horrible. What is the rush? I feel because there is so much they want to hide. Obama said he would provide transparency. I don’t see transparency, do you? When the greedy banks and investment firms were in trouble, due to their own greed, greed, greed, our government gave them billions of our tax dollars. Was our government looking out for us then? We could have used those funds for healthcare. Look how the investment firms are still giving out millions of dollars in bonuses and they are just thumbing their noses at the government. Our government cannot run the Cash for Clunkers program in an efficient manner; the bailouts are a laugh, look at the post office problem. Medicare and social security are going bankrupt. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac caused the mortgage problem and our huge financial crisis. All you have to do is look at the past history of this government to predict the future. You have to be stupid to not see the writing on the wall. Americans, where is your backbone and your spine? We are like meek sheep going to slaughter. I have been writing to all of our politicians, telling them we do not approve of this bill. What about you? Have you done your duty? Or are you a typical apathetic, lazy, non-patriotic non-contributor? Too busy to take a few minutes out of your day to save our country? Shame on you. I have lived in other countries and have seen socialism. If you do not wake up now, you will be living like other third world countries before you know it. We are losing our voices and freedoms. If you do not speak up now, you will be sorry.
My father lived during the Great Depression. He was a self made man and worked hard all his life to create success. No one gave him anything. He was extremely hard working, honorable, ethical, and would not have taken a free handout. He served in World War II to protect our freedoms, for he loved our country and was very patriotic. If he were alive today, he would be so shocked, disappointed, sad and ashamed to see what this great country has come to.
Comment feed for this postLeave a comment
Following Obama's Economic Policies
