Who has been minding the store? I step out of the country for a few days to go sailing and, Pow, ObamaCare™ and all that it entails slouches towards Washington to be born.
As I’ve often noted in this space, what travels under the rubric of “health care reform” is only incidentally about health care and hardly at all about reform, i.e. improving things. Really, it is about increasing the government’s control over your life, partly by handing over the machinery of health care to its phalanx of bureaucrats, partly by the familiar mechanics of choice — limitation that such “reform” involves: more regulation, more bureaucracy, and last but most assuredly not least higher taxes. As Ronald Reagan noted more than a quarter century ago, “One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project.” Sunday was a sad day for individual liberty and a sad day for America.
But I did not return from the Caribbean to bellyache. As the philosopher Yogi Berra observed, it ain’t over till it’s over, and it ain’t over yet. No one should underestimate the gravity of Sunday’s vote. By a narrow margin, the Democrats have pushed the United States that much closer to the slough of socialist dependency and fiscal suicide. But the victory may yet be a pyrrhic one. All across the land people are awakening from their dogmatic slumbers. Tea partiers from Washington, D.C., to California are brandishing the insignia of freedom. Never in my lifetime has there been such a strong field of conservative political candidates. A week, as Harold Wilson once observed, is a long time in politics. But it looks now as if the November 2010 will mark an historic victory for the partisans of freedom and prosperity. What can be enacted can also be repealed, as the fate of the ill-judged 1988 Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act reminds us. One scant year after it passed, it was repealed. That antistrophe might provide a useful model for those wishing to respond to this latest assault on freedom.
>try to imagine what you might find in the yet-to-be assembled Nancy >Pelsoi Papers at the University of California at Berkeley. Not >pretty, is it?
What a horrifying question. I imagine it would be about 90% “me, me, me.” Nary a word about ethics or morality.
Obama really meant what he said about “fundamentally changing america”. So…how would an ardent Leftist go about doing this? He wouldn’t bother to deal with marginal issues (e.g. gay rights, abortion) that would only dilute his political capital without fundamentally changing the country. No, the way to create permanent change is to exponentially grow the size/power of govt. And the best way to do that is to create a massive new entitlement, because we all know that no entitlement program has EVER been scaled back…much less repealed. So, the new entitlement creates a mountain of unsustainable debt which will FORCE massive tax hikes, thus furthering the grip of govt over the middle class. The final objective is massive taxation resulting in virtually complete control of the electorate by civil servant elitests (politicians will come and go; it’s the bureaucracy that really runs things).
PelosiCare is a more appropriate title. From all appearances Obama is little more than a thick layer of foam superimposed on a foul brew concocted by this strange, alien creature from the distant planet San Francisco.
AND, the Baroness has blown away the “Social Justice” vapor in a single paragraph.
Unfortunately, we have no one of Dame Thatcher’s stature in the U.S.A today. When a president’s only goal seems to be the take-over
of this country for his own un- democratic purposes we have only
a Benevolent God to have mercy on us, as undeserving as we are.
Oh, how Roger loves to quote Reagan, although he neglects to say that RR was making the same doomsday arguments when he opposed the passage of Medicare. He also neglects to mention that RR, just like W, expanded government power and, in RR’s case, raised taxes several times.
As for Thatcher, well, let’s just note that for all her rhetoric, she assured voters that the socialistic National Health Service was “safe in our hands” when she ran for reelection. And indeed it was.
As I watched this debacle play out in Washington, the image of some woefully misguided gang of teenage thugs terrorizing a neighborhood of decent, hard-working people kept coming to mind.
O and the Democrat Congress are out of touch with reality; we need to remind them that the Washington political game is not political reality.
Mr. Kimball,
Tone deaf much? You were out sailing on the Caribbean? lah di dah. As an independent who voted for Gov. Romney, this is why the Republicans will never get it. It has always been about me, me me for you guys. Yes to personal responsibility but Darwinism (as in survival of the fittest and the rest be darned)? I thought you guys were against all of that. Anyway, R.I.P. Reagan
Matthew 25
How do we abort this bill that most people didn’t want?
The health care reform that just past will be transformative. If the Republicans had voted for it, they easily could have improved it mightily. Instead of getting rgeat legislation, we’re left with simply good legislation. With Republican support, the leadership would not have had to cut deals with individual Democrats and we could have also gotten things like tort reform that could have lowered malpractice insurance rates and therefore the cost of care.
Two steps to fix this mess. Takeover the House in November and takover the White House in 2.5 years.
Paul Ryan for President.
a dumb population a strong state, an intelligent population a weak state.
try to discern this you dumb asses, go cuddle a lion you perceived to be friendly or will your friends live to tell the tale.
Thank you for the Thatcher quotation. She is the embodiment of what it means to be a moral actor, exercising free will. The collectivist ideal, on the individual level, is corrosive of individual responsibility and civic virtue. Case in point: Compare the charitable giving patterns of the citizens in red and blue states. It does not reflect well on our leftist preening moral betters.
Ms. Pelosi will lose her gavel in January and maybe that is worth the added deficit her HC Bill will bring. Main Chance will see her more and us less.
Nancy D’Alessandro is much more old ethnic Baltimore than San Francisco. Her strength is her will to win. Her weakness is her will to win at all costs. This bill was less about health care than about winning or losing. Failure would have allowed her ancient nemesis (from Baltimore), Steny Hoyer, the means to replace her. (To understand their rivalry you have to go back in history to the competition within the Baltimore Democratic Party between the Irish and the Italians). Ironically the most vulnerable Democrats in the House are those who were the most lukewarm to her leadership. As it stands now her position as the leader of the House Democrats in the next Congress is much more secure.
In the end Margaret Thatcher resigned in order to thwart her enemies in the Conservative Party and to advance her own candidate, John Major. Nancy would never have resigned, even if that meant losing the next general election, if for no other reason to position herself to win the next following election. Keep in mind that Thatcher retired at the age of 65 and Pelosi, who became Speaker at age 66, will turn 70 this Friday. The same age as Marius’ 7th consulship.
Well, now we have narrowed down the decision tree of possible futures…
Future history A: The US (and most of the rest of the developed world) will be bankrupt within a few years. China and other foreign investors will stop buying our debt for the same reason that VISA refuses to give a maxed-out spendaholic another credit card. The Fed will buy the debt that other investors refuse to, in an effort to keep interest rates low, which means we will be printing even more money, which will lead inevitably to wheelbarrow hyperinflation.
Future history B: The Republicans gain enough seats in November to stop this slide into socialism and stop further progressive progress. We’ll still be broke, but we’ll only need 5-gallon buckets instead of wheelbarrows.
Future history C: Someone tries to assassinate Obama and/or other progressive politicians, which leads to a government crackdown on the tea party folks, which leads to a “real” revolution.
Margaret Thatcher was truly remarkable. She publicly attributed Ayn Rand in her thinking.
Nancy Psychosi, on the other hand, had the nerve to cite the Declaration of Independence in her HCR victory speech, and then to rub salt in the wound by claiming that the Founders would have wanted the bill because it protects inalienable rights by keeping people healthy so they are free to pursue those things. What a psycho.
Madame Pelosi is not intellectually capable of discerning any issue more challenging than choosing the color of a scarf. But; she can twist arms and bribe fellow House members. The ugly stain of this spectacle will not wash clean and won’t be forgotten by November 2010 or 2012. She and her ideological twin Harry Reid richly deserve their approval ratings in the single digits nationwide. Richly deserve.
You have a nice pro/anti Repeal button on your page. Too bad both buttons take you to a Pro-Repeal Sign-Up. Pot calling the kettle black, maybe?
Good Lord, Don`t quote Thatcher or take any stock of her thoughts…
Her Ladyship was an absolute disaster for the UK and its economy, she only stayed in power through engineering a war in 82 and the fact that the British Labour Party at the time being effectively unelectable!
I`m a Blair fan and please don`t say basic health-care is socialism, its actually an essential for any civilized nation! You can have both public and private health care systems within a modern democracy…Public funded healthcare is a basic safety net for all and it is desirable to show compassion within a nation which values its people.
Otherwise what do you stand for?
“The Fed will buy the debt that other investors refuse to…”
I understand they are toying with the idea of making us buy the debt with our 401K / Pension Plan money (all under the guise of ‘giving us options’ of course).
rm #21:
1. liberty
2. individual rights
3. limited government
4. rule of law
5. private property rights
enough already.
Pelosi-Obama-Reid bribed their own party members with our money to buy their votes.
Compare the picture of the signing of that entitlement bill with the pictures of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. One of those pictures demonstrates a shallow yet expensive victory.
Joseph said:
“Oh, how Roger loves to quote Reagan, although he neglects to say that RR was making the same doomsday arguments when he opposed the passage of Medicare.”
Uhhh … Joe, he was right; Medicare is going bankrupt.
This bill stinks on ice BECAUSE it extends TODAY’S health insurance.
People who have never studied economics miss the argument from word one:
Insurance IS the problem!
Imagine insurance — paying a monthly rate in exchange for heavily discounted or “free” provision — with other products:
Gasoline.
Food.
Bubble gum.
I each case, as with health services, the same thing happens: Overconsumption. All the talk of “pools” etc BREAKS DOWN COMPLETELY WHEN THE SERVICES ARE SOMETHING PEOPLE ACTUALLY WANT.
Individual incentives to purchase only what is “worth it” are destroyed. Restless legs? Take a pill!
Power chair? Free from the Scooter Store! Is the value — the benefit to the individual receiving it —
more than the cost? WHO CARES WHEN SOMEONE ELSE IS PICKING UP THE TAB!
Health insurance would WORK when it only covers things PEOPLE DON’T WANT:
Splenectomy yes. Chiropractry no.
Chemotherapy yes. Aromatherapy no.
Nobody sane wants “free” radiation therapy. So it’s an insurable risk — there is no INDUCED DEMAND simply by being “covered.”
It is the INDUCED DEMAND that’s bankrupting the system. Drug companies know this — they WANT “Insurance for all.”
Most health spending is palliative. This should be paid out-of-pocket — preferable with pre-tax dollars from Health Savings Accounts, which have been resoundingly successful and popular (eg. at Whole Foods, Safeway, and the PUBLIC EMPLOYEES in Indiana). Catastrophic coverage would take care of those expensive, nasty thing NOBODY WANTS.
Chronic conditions, especially congenital, should be subsidized out of compassion IMO.
By not addressing INSURANCE as ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM, this process, bill and law is a farce. That’s why it does nothing (per CBO) to reduce PREMIUMS or SPENDING. It only SHIFTS costs from employers and government to taxpayers … BUYING VOTES with TAXPAYER DOLLARS.
Real reform may come … but this isn’t it.
Dick Marsden: “Universal health care” is not a safety net – because it covers everyone. It is in essense, welfare socialism. BTW, don’t forget that before Thatcher, UK was a sick country in Europe, there were talks about Britain becoming a third-world country, unions were ruining it. Funny how people forget history.
RR: When Reagan was elected the top income tax bracket was 75%, when he left, it was 25%. Is this the tax increase you are talking about? Moreover, just as Reagan predicted, Medicare is going bankrupt, and Obama is making it even worse by taking out 500 billion dollars out of Medicare fund. In short – Medicare promise is broken.
Cindy: We are protecting what we earned from the looters and thieves like you. I think it’s quite noble, really. And if you really are against the “me-me-me” screams – well, stop looting, and things will get better.
We the people will not be trampled by usurpers & tyrants who call themselves representatives, senators, or president; Obama & his cadre of Communists have lit a match in a nuclear reactor with ObamaCare’s forced partisan passage. I believe the blowback will happen long before November…
10 Most Influential Persons in World History
1. Obama
2. Muhammad
3. Isaac Newton
4. Jesus Christ
5. Buddha
6. Confucius
7. Johann Gutenberg
8. Christopher Columbus
9. Albert Einstein
10. Galileo Galilei
Well said Penny #4
And AlexB #9
What in the world are you talking about? If Republican’s would have bent over Obama and Pelosi would not have had to bribe Democrats to vote for the bill? If the bill was as good as Obama, Pelosi and union thugs say, why did any Democrats have to be bribed at all? Are you really comfortable with bribes as a means of governing? Are you comfortable with government accomplishing your desires at any cost?
Do you hate those who earn their money yet love the liberals who gain it by selling your freedom?
#30 Pat
Your understanding of history and its interpretation is clear from putting Isaac Newton ahead of Jesus Christ… Isaac Newton was a Christian and wrote volumes on the subject – he wrote more about religion than about science.
(Not to mention putting anyone else ahead of our Lord and Savior)
But Obama as number one? You and the Nobel Prize committee might be smoking the same substance.
Putting the name of a great lady like Margaret Thatcher next to a socialist loser like Botox Pelosi is a crime. Margaret Thatcher will always go down in the history books as a courageous conservative leader with morals; Pelosi will go down on the ash heap of the failed policies of socialism.
Come November, America will take back Congress and pelosi, after having her allotment of 15 minutes of fame, will revert back to being insignificant in the world. Then in November, 2012, America sends obama, already after only one year, the worst president in the history of the United States, back to Kenya.
What’s frightening is that we’re talking about open bribery and corruption on both sides of the aisle…as if it were perfectly normal and acceptable behavior.
A lot of people talk about it, but no one does anything at all to change it or stop it.
We’ll just elect our team and that’ll make things better!
…but it never does…
Of course, we’ve all been corrupted and bribed, ourselves. Tax ‘refunds.’ Social ‘security.’ National ‘security.’ Conservative NGO’s.
Government entitlements and spending is all well and good, when it is spent on something we want.
It’s always evil and bad when it’s for something we don’t like. Government ‘welfare.’ Government ‘healthcare.’ ACORN.
Government financed political campaigns are good for our team…but it’s evil and bad when the other team uses the system to their advantage.
Government pork is always eevil…unless our guy sends other people’s money to our town and state…
Government deficit spending is always evil…but it’s quite alright for us to live in credit, buying things we don’t need and can’t afford with money we don’t have…
When are we gonna wake up and get a clue, people?
We no longer live in a free society and Americans no longer think and act like free men and women on the land.
Obama is the most influential person of all times? Hm. Well, I thought it was Jimmy Carter.
#22 Mr. Marsden: “Public funded healthcare is a basic safety net for all and it is desirable to show compassion within a nation which values its people.”
Yes, I couldn’t agree more. We the people of these united states should show more compassion for people. We should show compassion. Politicians like to been showing compassion with our money, but the government cannot show compassion.
Mr. Marsden: “Otherwise what do you stand for?”
Freedom and liberty to show compassion for my neighbors with my own money and time as I see fit.
21. Richard Marsden…come now Richie isnt that the Call to Prayer from the local Minaret I hear? Better toddle off…and while kneeling to give thanks for the New Britain..say
a prayer for Tony for all he did for Britains brave new future.
If British National Healthcare is about “social justice”..about a spirit of benevolence and sharing and concern, of all working for all….why is the one thing I notice in Britain is the miserable dour faces, the non-stop whining about “the system” the constant conniving of every man to scam some perk or another without the slightest bit of gratitude? The disgusting sense of “entitlement” while seething all the while with resentment? The passivity with periodic outbursts of violence?
The desire for providing all people medical care is emotional. I would like to see all people covered. How do we do it effectively?
If the government runs it, price controls are inevitable. Price controls cause a mismatch in supply and demand, for example, NY rent controls mean buildings deteriorate, gas price ceilings mean long lines. Government control also means layers and layers of bureaucracy to make everything fair. Bureaucracy means escalating costs and treatment delays. In an effort to make everything fair, we only end up guaranteeing that everyone will get lousy health care.
The problem with Democrats, and to almost the same degree, Republicans, is that these simple facts about organizations and economic principles are unknown.
The margin of error of budgeted Medicare costs to actual costs is 10X – ten times budget! IF Obamacare stays on budget it will be a huge financial disaster for the nation, but if experience is a guide, it will go over several times budget. We will have to print money to fix it, and there are those of us who think that there are negative consequences to this course of action.
So the answer to those who believe that socialized medicine is a demonstration of how a nation shows how it cares about it’s citizens is at best naive, because the actual structure of socialized medicine cannot deliver on its promises, and will leave all of use worse off.
So this requires a bit of tough love. No you cannot have universal health care because it cannot work in practice. Yes, we can have good health care, and we can fix the government intrusions that have done more to protect insurance companies and increase the costs of health care with other useful and common sense reforms. Empowering the consumer and increasing real competition with insurance companies is the simple answer.
prediction: Barack Obama will not turn out to have been nearly as “transformative” as was Margaret Thatcher.
I can concieve of no way the GOP will have the courage to repeal this fiasco. At best, the Anti-Obamanates will insure financial collapse will occur at 3rd gear instead of 4th. Conservatives like dependency, they just don’t like the Democratic version. How’s that Medicare prescription Plan working for you John Boehner?
If this is truly a milestone on the road to slavery, we need to take the pledge. Treat Everyone associated with government as a part of the slave trade-like the abolitionists of old. Do not Be dependent or work for government. Government enslaves and impoverishes. Do not sell to them and make those involved with government ashamed.
If someone has no health insurance, take up a collection in church. If a church member is unemployed, let the businessmen of that church employ him. Look to your famly and friends. Is this not the meanng of individual responsibility? Is this not what Jesus means about who my neighbor is?
That this must sound strange to some, yet was the way Americans got along until recently, is how far we’ve come. How insincere all these words.
gaetano catelli: prediction: Barack Obama will not turn out to have been nearly as “transformative” as was Margaret Thatcher.
Well, yes, of course. O’s arrogance and narcissism assures a more Conservative nation. We ain’t Great Britain, thank God!
#42, ObamaCare will be repealed because we the people DEMAND it to be done given it was forced in the first place. The Democrats have destroyed themselves in the end though. Pelosi will be eating so much crow that she will not have time for any botox injections.
Why will ObamaCare be repealed? After November, the rates of private insurance goes up 300%. It will be repealed.
Australia had a form of ObamaCare, yet it was all repealed back because the politicians worked against the people’s will…
re: lc
rm #21:
1. liberty
2. individual rights
3. limited government
4. rule of law
5. private property rights
enough already.
Admirable (and points most good people share) but isnt a fundamental individual right in a rich-democracy, the right to know each individual has access to life-saving care and medical treatment?(even if your personal circumstances leave you not a position to afford that treatment in the initial outset of an injury or illness!)
Hyphenated American:
“Dick Marsden: “Universal health care” is not a safety net – because it covers everyone. It is in essense, welfare socialism.”
Well I am sure you would be the first person to tell someone whom has just been run over on a freeway (and whom hasnt got sufficient insurance to cover the bill…)” Sorry Bud, but I cant do anything for you as you cant pay for your treatment!” Welfare isnt socialism its a case of having compassion in a civilized society…That does not mean it has to be unlimited!
Thatcher certainly did one good thing in breaking the Unions, but the cost to British manufacturing and jobs was immense…She was a figure of huge hate within the UK.
ehunter:
If any British govt were to suggest limiting the NHS in anyway, then that hypothetical Uk govt would fall within a week!
“Why is the one thing I notice in Britain is the miserable dour faces?”
Probably down to the British weather where we enjoy about 4weeks of sunshine, if we are lucky!
However I would not want to move anywhere, other than our green and pleasant lands…And healthy debate and grumbling is something in Britain that makes us who we are…I wouldnt have it any other way!
Call to Prayer? Well only to wish for more good in the world…
Hyphenated American:
45. The right to life is the right not to be killed by the malice or reckless behavior of others. You are not, however, entitled to compel someone to save your life against their will. Mercy is love, and love ceases to be love if it is forced.
As for the influential figures, while influence can be for good or for ill, that list was just temporally biased. No one has ever affected more people than Jesus.
# 45. Dick Marsden: “Blather.”
[also check your whos and whoms]
rm #45:
“…but isn’t a fundamental right…”
no.
Besides, I do not believe that people are routinely denied access to the best medical care in the world (that would be health care in the US). Examples abound of poor people receiving life saving emergency care, including life flights, extended hospital stays, etc etc.
But tell me, why is the solution to your perceived problem to turn to the government; why is greater (huge) government control the solution so many seek?
Roger, isn’t standard operating procedure for the likes of Pelosi, Hillary, Obama to have records sealed?
I seem to recall that regarding a term paper that Hillary wrote for college.
Or, am I imagining what isn’t there.
Thanks.
Obama, more influential than Jesus or any of the others? Only in his own mind.
I missed the part on this thread where it was acknowledged that Margaret Thatcher always claimed to support the NHS. Which kind of means, by the standards of most here, she was either a closet socialist or a horrid liar. (Personally, I never believed her support for the NHS was genuine)
>>“Why is the one thing I notice in Britain is the miserable dour faces?”
I don’t think you’re more likely to encounter dour faces in Britain than you are in the US, but I suppose it depends on where you hang out.
Harris Tweed:
# 45. Dick Marsden: “Blather.”
[also check your whos and whoms]
# 47. Harry Twee: ” You Twat!”
[ Although sometimes used as a reference to the female genitalia, the word twat is more often used in various other ways:
As a derogatory insult, a pejorative meaning a fool, synonymous with the word twit - 'You are a real twat and a half' (often used in the UK) ]
I keep hearing from the libs/dems well there was opposition to medicare, social security and the USA survived. That has to be one of the most stupid rebuttals, medicare/medicade is broke, social security is now paying out more than it is taking in and the baby boomers are just starting to retire. Conservatives, Tea Party people and most Republicans have been trying to make this argument that the USA can’t afford any more entitlements, that and taking our liberty and rights away.
“Free”, when used by conservatives, is a code word meaning “separate and weak”, which is just how they like individuals. Not even vast hordes of evidence — like the better outcomes /and/ lower costs /and/ universal coverage in every country with any form of public health care financing — will convince them that doing something as a society is useful, desirable, or valid.
But this is entirely understandable coming from those who have a vested interest in keeping our lack-of-a-system inefficient due to their profiting by it. A great man once said: It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. How to explain why some who would benefit like the rest of us still rail against it must be left as an exercise for the reader.
I’m not completely certain, but I believe your Reagan quote actually comes from a public service announcement the pharmaceutical industry lobbyists paid him to use his voice for. So to say that it is his quote is a bit misleading for people that read your logs.
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Seems like the government has major expertise on what areas to target to bait the whole society and clearly, as to what the topic is all about, in the form of healthcare reform. What could be next?