Of all the stupid change that Obama hopes to pass through the Congress, Health Care Financing is the one most pernicious and deserves our attention. First a summary of the big ticket items on offer.
1. Supreme Court nominee. Sonia Sotomayor is going to be confirmed, it could have been far worse. In fact some liberals are disappointed.
2. Crap and tax (aka cap and trade). This useless paean to the political correctness that "SOMETHING MUST BE DONE" about global warming actually does almost nothing. There was the usual log rolling and minor corruption, all legal mind you, to buy the necessary votes. But this bill is so watered down that it will have little real impact on the economy. Further, it will not be difficult to substitute a carbon tax or repeal this ugly baby altogether if AGW does not prove out.
3. Prosecution of former Bush administration officials for ...? I still can't figure it out exactly. Hatching a CIA plot to kill Osama bin Laden? Issuing amazingly legalistic and detailed legal opinions on the limits of interrogation? This liberal blood lust is actually a welcome distraction. If it slows down Obama's legislative agenda, so much the better. By the way, if you can go to jail for writing the tortured legal prose in the linked article, most lawyers would be in jail today. I'm not saying that's a good thing, I'm just saying.
4. Obamacare. This is the true horror show. As detailed elsewhere, this is not about health care reform, but about changing the financing of health care. Health care will not improve one iota for the average American if any of the pending legislation passes. The key detail to remember, which the left has never really denied, is that eventually, the only health care insurance will be government health care insurance. As detailed in a previous post, the scheme will be priced to drive employers out of the market for providing health care insurance to employees. Further, a little reported on clause in the bill will outlaw private health insurance. H/T Hotair.
Further, the creation of vast new entitlement programs can almost never be undone. The left knows this, which is why they always seek new entitlements. Additionally, now all the talk is about new taxes to pay for Obamacare. It takes herculean efforts to lower tax rates, which is why the left is always proposing to raise them.
Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day.
For these reasons, I think that conservatives and libertarians should put all our efforts into opposing Obamacare, more that any other initiative.
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B-Daddy, I generally agree. I'm to the point where I actually welcome the insertion of 300 pages of unread amendments as I'm hoping it will effectively neuter whatever god-awful legislation is being ground.
ReplyDeleteIt's telling that supporters of health care reform don't even bother refuting or countering the charges made against it.
Agreed. I think cap-and-slave can't get through the Senate. I think, therefore, we need to make sure that every fringe Crat who stands to lose in 2010 and every Pubbie leaning toward accepting Obugger's buggering hear daily from every one of us, day in, day out, until The Wicked Witch of the Congress holds off and doesn't drop this charade on the House floor for a vote until the fall, by which time Obugger's popularity and public mandate for trying the crazy cap he's pulling becomes a public outcry for him trying to pull it.
ReplyDeleteIn short, we need to make him a one-term failure before his first year is out...and he's doing a good job of it already, so any push we give him can't hurt.
Dr. Dave,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the commentary and the alliteration, very funny. I also am in agreement with your sentiments.