Posted on 07/08/2009 6:59:46 PM PDT by Kaslin
The Obama administration might like to "spread the wealth around," but its proposed "health care reform" wouldn't spread consumer choice around. Rather, it would constrict consumer choice substantially — except for the very rich.
That's the great irony of President Obama's ambitious health care agenda: His administration, which seems to feel little empathy for the rich, is paving the way to a two-tiered system in which only the very rich would have a choice.
Under ObamaCare, the rich would continue to get the care they want — whether here or abroad — by paying for it out of their own pockets. The rest of us would stand in line and wait for rationed care.
Most Americans want consumer freedom. They want to be able to shop for health care value — for the best care, at the best prices. They'd like to have a lot more freedom to shop for such value than they currently have. That's why Democrats are couching their proposed expansion of government-run health care in the language of competition and choice.
Listen to the president as he pitches the centerpiece of that agenda — a "public option," a form of Medicare for all. He says it's merely a way to give Americans another choice: People can buy private health insurance, just like now, or they can instead choose the government option.
But millions of middle-class Americans who are happy with their employer-provided insurance would soon find the choice isn't theirs to make.
The government would make it cheaper for employers to contribute to the government-run option than to keep providing private insurance.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
That’s pretty much the score with Medicare, only 0’s solution is going to make things a lot worse.
The entire country is getting the shaft as well as any future generations.
The Fuhrer is destroying the country with the aid of the Congress. Vote Them Out or Impeach Them Now
BTT!My ex lives in Texas.
The middle class is getting the shaft and the rich have to pay for it. Can I apply for illegal alien status?
“He says it’s merely a way to give Americans another choice: People can buy private health insurance, just like now, or they can instead choose the government option.”
But they wouldn’t let Bush do this with Social Security.
True. Galveston was the smart one years ago.
Government provided health insurance in any form is socialism. Obama is a socialist. Romney is a socialist. Dump socialism!
Rebellion is brewing!
DONT TREAD ON ME!!
When the new system is imposed, many doctors and other health care professionals may set up private clinics and hospitals in Mexico and the Caribbean and advertise in the U.S. to attract patients for surgery, cancer treatments and other procedures that are rationed under single-payer “reform.” They might offer airfare and resort discounts in combination with the medical services.
True
I was thinking this recently too; I think there will be an explosion in “medical tourism.”
Yup right out of the Saul Alinsky playbook. The middle-class is what makes this country what it is. Destroy the middle-class and you destroy the country. This is exactly what Hussain is doing, and the majority don't see it.
Go to any government run clinic today and behold the future under Obamacare. The poor have that now, so they won't be as affected, the middle class used to private or employer insurance won't have this anymore. They'll be screwed but it'll be too late at that point.
[I think there will be an explosion in “medical tourism.”]
The marketplace is powerful force.
Exactly! It doesn’t take a genius to see that offshore clinics will proliferate once 0bamacare takes effect, but either the dems (they’re all “geniuses”, you know) don’t see this, or don’t care. Will they go after these offshore clinics like they are going after offshore banks?
I do not know if I agree with every bit of this article below but certainly some of it. It must be remembered Reagon was a Free Trader but he was for FAIR TRADE unlike the others.
America’s real economy was transformed by decades of unfair trade policies that destroyed millions of U.S. jobs. As an attempt to mask the reality, economists and politicians have highlighted the “Information Age” as the engine of the “New Economy,” promising higher living standards for all. But we have seen slightly different results.
Rather than higher living standards for all, the “New Economy” has brought higher living standards to much of the developing world, corporate executives and wealthy shareholders of U.S. corporations.
Meanwhile, working-class Americans have been left out of the picture. In fact, because there is a finite amount of wealth to divide, it’s clear that America’s wealthy elite and much of the developing world have seen their living standards increase at the expense of working-class Americans.
Rather than higher living standards for all, this proclamation of a “New Economy” has provided a smoke screen for more permissive free trade policies that continue to destroy working-class America, while enriching corporations and workers from developing nations. It’s been socialism for corporations and developing nations at the expense of working-class Americans.
Not by coincidence, the current bailouts advocated by Washington bear a striking resemblance to their own policies of economic extortion through the mechanisms of free trade.
As a replacement for jobs that produce real goods, America’s “New Economy” is now characterized by a service economy that’s based on scavenging wealth from the huge Ponzi scheme designed by Washington.
America’s “Old Economy” created good jobs during a period when U.S. imports were in high demand around the world. As a result, America was the world’s largest creditor because it served as the global leader of manufactured goods; real products needed and demanded by the world – the best automobiles, consumer appliances, textiles, and basic materials.
During the “Old Economy” Americans had a healthy savings rate, a one-income household was the norm, healthcare and higher education was affordable, there were no credit cards, there was no need for cheap labor off the backs of illegal aliens, and America was a net exporter of crude oil.
Towards the final stages of America’s “Old Economy” Asia began modernizing its own manufacturing industries. Rather than automotive plants and consumer electronics, much of Asia’s manufacturing efforts were focused on providing goods for its own consumers so as to decrease dependence on imports. At first, they weren’t so good at it.
But once free trade became the status quo, it enabled Asia to enter the market place with unfair advantages while using illegal trade practices. Furthermore, as more American firms sent manufacturing plants overseas, Asia became the recipient of the unintended but inevitable transfer of intellectual property from the United States.
This enabled Asian companies to gain access to critical manufacturing and design secrets. Even Japan has benefited from U.S. intellectual property as the result of free trade. In many cases, huge companies are being sold off to foreign competitors because they simply cannot compete on U.S. soil due to free trade.
http://www.avaresearch.com/article_details-274.html
In return, U.S. corporations have increased their profits while providing cheap goods to U.S. consumers. The only problem is, Ponzi scheme never last indefinitely. At some point you need a real job to buy goods. Credit cards can only take you so far. Now we are seeing this Ponzi scheme unravel. Unfortunately, it still has a long way to go.
http://www.avaresearch.com/article_details-154.html
As a direct beneficiary of intellectual property from the U.S., Asian imports have evolved from cheap trinkets into automobiles, consumer electronics, prescription drugs, and so on. For many years now, Asia has dominated the consumer electronics manufacturing industry. Now, Japan dominates the automotive industry.
China has already destroyed the U.S. textile, chemical, steel and other industries, using unfair trade and pricing practices. Meanwhile, Washington has sat idle, as has the World Trade Organization.
You ask why? How can this be?
Washington doesn’t have much bargaining power since China is the principal player in America’s Ponzi scheme, providing financing to keep interest rates low, which keeps U.S. consumers shopping “till they drop.”
Of more detriment, U.S. consumers are buying mainly imports from Asia, Europe and Latin America. This indirectly leads to even more job losses in America. As you can imagine, this fuels a perpetual loop that is virtually impossible to escape from without a major collapse; a collapse much larger than we see today.
Due to the toxic effects of free trade, China will soon dominate the automotive and drug manufacturing industries. Without radical changes in free trade and the implementation of universal healthcare, America will continue its competitive decline in global trade.
If you want to devise a system of free trade, all participants must play by the same rules. Otherwise, competitive advantages will be established favoring one or more nations over those operating under less favorable rules.
http://www.avaresearch.com/article_details-74.html
As it stands today, America has no chance to mount a permanent economic recovery without radical realignment of economic and trade policies. Until free trade has been restructured into fair trade, millions of additional jobs will be sent permanently overseas. And the only replacement of these jobs will be service-oriented professions catering to the wealthy, similar to what you see in third world nations.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article11885.html
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