Sen. Mike Lee (R- Utah) addressed CPAC this afternoon talking about, among other things, the government’s ability to kill civil society. Obamacare, massive regulation, and nonsensical taxation are some of the major ways government can suffocate the people’s economic security and aspirations. When you factor in envy -– which George Will aptly noted is inherent in liberal policy messaging -– progressives are able to rally their base in a blind fury for the dependency agenda.
Sometimes Republicans are complicit in this slow bleeding of American society. Some Republican governors have agreed to the Medicaid expansion provision in ObamaCare. It’s one of the most expensive parts of the new health care law, and:
adding millions of people onto an already strained program doesn’t help anyone. The Medicaid program is already struggling to provide care to its core obligations—a diverse group of low-income children, disabled people, pregnant women, and seniors. So dumping more people into the program will make matters worse. Research shows that Medicaid enrollees already have worse access and outcomes than privately insured individuals.
This will have real effects on America’s needy, including children. Dr. Hal Scherz has seen the problems Medicaid creates firsthand. He practices in the only pediatric urology group in the state of Georgia, and more than half of his practice is made up of Medicaid patients.
But Medicaid already doesn’t cover the costs of many procedures, and expanding the program is only going to stretch the doctors’ even further—while they get paid less.
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In fact, 40 out of the 50 states are projected to see higher costs—not savings—from expanding Medicaid.
Forbes’ Avik Roy has labeled the program an “humanitarian catastrophe,” and reforms will be almost impossible with Democrats being intransigent on entitlement reform.
Concerning red rape, Jim Pethokoukis of AEI posted that we’ve become a regulation nation.
Taxation is the scariest area since you see an increasing number of Americans receiving benefits from a government that they’re not paying for. George Will astutely noted at CPAC in 2010 that this is a situation of moral hazard, and that these folks have zero interest in halting the expansion of government. The job creating and investing class, aka the “rich,” already pay the vast majority of federal income taxes. In fact, the top 10% pay 71% of all income taxes, while the bottom 50% paid 2%. With Obamacare’s full implementation coming in 2014, the burden of the state will inevitably increase, and CPAC isn’t really talking about it in depth – which is tragic.
Under Obama, government’s ability to kill civil society has only been accelerated.
And don’t miss Next Generation’s members-only coverage of CPAC 2013 — featuring former Congressman Allen West and Michelle Fields. Click here to learn more.
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