Very Unhealthy
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I’d rather be writing songs than writing about health care, but some days duty calls.
I was politely challenged by a Democrat and left-leaning to the point of toppling over friend on my assertion that Barack Obama’s proposals, aside from being socialist and thus by definition un-American, were a series of slow motion train wrecks. My alleged friend allowed me to monologue on any single topic. Given that I’m sick of this long presidential race, healthcare seemed like an appropriate subject.
Obama’s proposals (shifting as they do like the sands of the Sahara) are semi-permanently documented on his campaign web site. Ignoring for the moment that there is nearly zero Constitutional authority for any of his schemes (which is odd considering he once taught constitutional law) we see the following logical and economic disasters in waiting (note that the proposals are directly copied/pasted from Obama’s site):
Proposal: Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so all Americans regardless of their health status or history can get comprehensive benefits at fair and stable premiums.
This proposal requires two elements of force: First, it requires insurance companies to cover people with known risks. The modern parallel is the subprime mortgage mess where government required banks to lend to people with known risks (low income, spotty credit histories, etc.) The natural response for any businessman would be to raise prices to cover these risks, but Obama promises “comprehensive benefits” (i.e., everything is covered) at “fair and stable prices” which would require price fixing. So Obama will raise insurance company risk while restricting their revenues which will lead to bankruptcies and people losing their coverage.
Great plan Barry. But Barry was dumb enough to snort coke so his risk assessment skills are pretty low.
Proposal: Prevent insurers from overcharging doctors for their malpractice insurance and invest in proven strategies to reduce preventable medical errors.
Rephrased, Obama will restrict insurance companies from charging the rates they need to survive the onslaught of ambulance chasers. This squeeze will result in companies getting out of the malpractice insurance business. Unable to find malpractice insurance will cause doctors to go out of business and be forced to practice in HMOs … and we all know how popular HMOs are.
Proposal: Make employer contributions more fair by requiring large employers that do not offer coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of their employees health care.
In other words if you do not provide your employees health insurance then we will force you to provide it anyway, and to provide as much as we tell you to. This could result in employers dropping more than insurance coverage — they’ll drop employees. I’d rather have a job and buy my own insurance than have no job and no insurance to boot.
Proposal: Establish a National Health Insurance Exchange with a range of private insurance options as well as a new public plan based on benefits available to members of Congress that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health coverage.
Barack foresees a government run exchange (as opposed to the existing public exchanges) with the addition of a set of taxpayer subsidized insurance plans that compete with private plans. This will drive private insurance into the grave because private insurers do not receive subsidies from the taxpayers. This will insure “universal health care” because soon there will be no alternatives to government coverage.
Proposal: Lower drug costs by allowing the importation of safe medicines from other developed countries, increasing the use of generic drugs in public programs and taking on drug companies that block cheaper generic medicines from the market
The problem is that the drug prices in other countries for American designed drugs are lower because foreign countries set the price below market value. To compensate and make back the billions of dollars they spend on R&D, the drug companies raise U.S. prices. If Obama has his way U.S. drug companies will not be able to make back their R&D money and thus will quit inventing new drugs, effectively killing the American pharmaceutical industry and a few Americans in the process.
Proposal: Reform the insurance market to increase competition by taking on anticompetitive activity that drives up prices without improving quality of care.
Problem here is that the government created an anticompetitive insurance industry at the request of … the insurance industry (I’d love to not have competition too). You are not allowed to buy insurance from the state or country of your choice, and states (with Congressional support) mandate the services you must pay for, even if you don’t use them. For example my gay friend David bitches that he has to pay his insurance company for contraceptives and in vitro fertilization service that he obviously will never use.
If all this sounds good to you, then you need socialized medicine and need your head examined.
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7 Responses to “Very Unhealthy”
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If you have polite and articulate comments, please provide them. Rants and flames are discarded.
‘being socialist and thus by definition un-American’
I can hardly believe I just read that, who is it who can ‘define’ ‘American’, and somehow imply that America should never change it’s values, as if what is ‘American’ must always remain ‘American’ what ever that apparently is.
What about Native American, I guess that doesnt count..
America’s essence is freedom (ignoring that nasty episode of slavery).
Socialism is a restriction on freedom.
Ipso facto ….
‘America’s essence is freedom’, this is only your own opinion, it is nowhere written in stone as to what Her essence is, or was, or ever will be.
Were the Native Americans granted their freedom from the Invaders?
There seems to be remorse about the issue of slavery and yet none torward what happened to the Indians.
I expect that how you think of socialism is quite different to how I think of it, I’m afraid I think I am some kind of radical communist, either that or a radical anarchist…
But one of the best things that could happen I think, would be for there to be globally only one Nation, with it’s own constitution, written into the conscience of each person, without the need for written law, using our own judgement only. A kind of collective species enlightenment would have occured, whereby we realised that we are one people, from one source with the same self.
And I think the world wide web is a kind of metaphor for the process.
First, allow me to agree about how the Indians were enslaved. Though not in the traditional “ownership” definition, their marginalization and slaughter was a form of slavery. No arguments from me.
But freedom as the essence of America is so complete that it causes us problems today as the liberals try to remove freedom (say gun control or socialized medicine) and the conservatives try to restrict freedom (passing laws against same sex marriage). But each side fights like mad to earn or keep their freedoms so the passion lives.
The specific point though is in our constitutional theory, which is “all rights are retained by the people and only limited powers are allowed to the government.” Well, that is the theory at least — practice is something else. The point is that individual freedom is the central founding concept of the nation and the constitution.
I’d oppose a one world government. We see how concentrated power leads to mass death of innocents. A one world government would be the most oppressive force in history, or even the end of history as we know it. The other extreme is also untenable — as nice as the lack of written law sounds there is little social order and thus perpetual danger.
Jefferson had it right when he described the “sum of good government”. Paraphrased he said good government kept people from hurting one another, didn’t rob them blind with taxes, and otherwise left them alone. Jefferson is spinning in his grave over modern events.
You seem to be saying that your view is ‘american’ and a socialist’s view is ‘unamerican’ because Jefferson said so.
It’s like me saying your view is ‘unamerican’ and a socialist’s view is ‘american’ because Obama, a socialist, seems to have the majority vote.
The views of the ‘Founding Fathers’ is not necessarily a perfect match with the views of the American people today, it is their choice after all, it being a democracy and all.
And anyway, what is ‘american’ is surely a flux, a constant change. To hold onto the Constitution so tightly seems to me to be somewhat anal retentive. :)
Whether you are a socialist or not obviously depends on your individual personality. Perhaps you value your freedom and independence above all else, others may value the notion of living within a state which is a kind of extended family, whereby people help each other out. They want to help homeless, or sick people, but need some kind of infrastructure to put that help where it is needed.
Do you believe in the survival of the fittest only, or giving support to all… is it right for the craftiest to amass their own personal fortunes, while the less ‘able’ or less competitive struggle to find healthcare…
As for one global nation, I think we are already having to think globally in terms of the economy and finance, as well as the enviroment, so a global nation seems almost like a logical progression.
The problem seems to be as you mentioned in another blog entry
‘Politicians are in the game for power. People who crave power are by nature corrupt or corruptible.’
Timothy Leary said that politics take place on the second circuit level in his 8 circuit brain model.
‘The Anal Emotional-Territorial Circuit. This is imprinted in the “Toddling” stage when the infant rises up, walks about and begins to struggle for power within the family structure. This mostly mammalian circuit processes territorial rules, emotional games & power tactics, or cons, pecking order and rituals of political domination or submission.’
http://dedroidify.blogspot.com/2008/09/8-circuits-circuit-2-megapost-emo.html
Considering there are 8 circuits, the higher of which we have barely began to explore, it seems a shame to be dictated to by grown men and women acting like toddlers..
It’s intersting that the second ciruit is catalysed by alcohol, a legal drug. (I think it’s quite scary to think that as happened, according to you, during the Libertarian convention important political decisions are made with the aid of ‘power drinking’.) Other substances such as psilocybin catalyse the higher more psychic sixth circuit and marijuana catalyses the more heart based fifth circuit, perhaps until these substances are legalised or respected and explored we can never move on from this kind of toddler politics. (The war on drugs seems to be my particular bugbear.)
Jefferson merely summarized what the American people had already codified in their Constitution.
“The people” ratified the Constitution and in the same act certified the only ways in which the Constitution could be changed — via the amendment process. Thus the Constitution was the express written will of the American people, and remains so because we The People own the amendment process (we’ve altered the document 27 times thus far, including backing out stupid mistakes like slavery and prohibition, and there is one amendment method we have not even exercised yet).
Thus the Constitution is still the express written will of The People. The fact that Congress continually tries to legislate beyond their (temporarily) granted powers and the courts abdicate their responsibility to enforce the express written will of The People is annoying set of affairs.
I would caution against finding value in the rather unscientific analysis of Mr. Leary. A friend of mine was the President of Harvard Theological Seminary when Timmy was there dropping a lot of acid and encouraging everyone else to do the same. Leary was not entirely “there”. That having been said I’d defend his right to drop whatever chemical compounds he prefers … I’ll stick to Jack Daniels.
Maybe Timmy over did it, it’s quite possible.
As Alan Watts said about psychedelic drug use – “When you get the message, hang up the phone.”
The trouble with alcohol is that it causes brain shrinkage, but maybe you have enough brains to spare. ;)