Posted on 01/02/2010 6:48:58 PM PST by upchuck
On April 30, 2009, Hernando Today published a piece "Is Anyone Paying Attention?" which posited that "the most compelling macro economic issue facing Americans today is whether Democrats will complete the entitlement trifecta with socialized health care."
It went on to remind readers that filibuster proof Democratic majorities allowed FDR and Lyndon Johnson to put the New Deal and Great Society into law and now we have Barack Obama's third leg of the trifecta being enacted by "an equally unstoppable Democratic Senate that will change the balance of power and our national debt in ways we haven't seen before."
I haven't changed my mind.
It is impossible to wrap your mind around this massive Congressional undertaking to reform 16 percent of our economic output. Nobody has digested the thousands of pages of legislative legerdemain (certainly nobody in Congress), which represent all sorts of political shenanigans to get all 60 Democratic Senators on board.
This monstrosity will be a bureaucratic and lawyers delight for decades to come and will promote an endless number administrative rulings and litigation — and the employment of even more government employees.
And we have the British National Health Service (NHS) the third largest employer on the globe, to thank for this inspirational legislation, which according to their own official government finding, reported in the Times online UK, "is facing the biggest financial crisis in its history requiring tax rises or large cuts to other government departments just to maintain its budget."
The NHS is the granddaddy of modern government-run health care, and the Brits have been at it since 1948. It is nirvana for the Democratic leadership, and their ultimate goal. Democrats are about to put into law the legislative and bureaucratic framework for complete takeover of health care. We have a lot to look forward to. We're already bankrupt, and now this. Many experts think we should tackle health care reform incrementally, including this writer. It is simply too much to digest at one time.
This is what happens when one party has all the power. Penny Skillman of the San Francisco Chronicle said it best in 1988: "The most delusional fantasies can be made to masquerade as sanity if you've got the political power to reinforce them."
And they've got the power.
Democrats insist this is not a government-run program, but as Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Dec. 24, "This is only the beginning ...The work goes on. The cause endures." Once government controls are in place they will never go away. They will only multiply in pages and cost, just like the tax code. Democrats refer to this as a "historic event. So was the Great Depression.
Oliver Wyman Inc., a well-known consulting firm experienced in actuarial analysis and health insurance, reports that premiums for individuals will rise by $1,576, and $3,341 for families under this bill. And, once again, young people get the shaft. But they don't read newspapers.
Premiums for the youngest third of the population will rise 35 percent. This is in line with the judgment of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which confirmed that the Senate health care reform bill would make coverage more expensive for millions of Americans. It stands to reason, given that insurers cannot deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions; and rates can't be raised on sick people.
The CBO did not take into account the previously uninsured will drive up premiums 20 percent, according to an analysis of actual claims by Wyman Inc. Furthermore, logic would dictate that many — particularly the young — will simply pay the cheaper $750 annual penalty until they get older, or sick — or both, and then get insurance.
Karen Ignagni, president and CEO OF America's Health Insurance Plans, testified that "between 2010 and 2019 the cumulative increases in the cost of a typical family policy under this reform proposal will be approximately $20,700 more than it would be under the current system.
But do not be concerned, because President Barack Obama pledged on June 15, "No matter how we reform health care ... if you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period." Sure. The only people who will be able to afford health care will be government employees and members of Congress. And reform was supposed to make health insurance more affordable!
It will be interesting to see how many opt out of "compulsory" health insurance and simply pay the cheaper $750 fine. Since the penalty is treated like a tax, the IRS will be the enforcer. And similar to 1099 reporting, those who provide health care coverage must file a return with the IRS who will cross check to determine if taxpayers have acceptable coverage. This will be a bureaucratic nightmare and require a more intrusive and expanded IRS.
Americans do not have a good compliance track record with government mandates. Forty-nine states have compulsory auto insurance to protect third parties. It's almost a joke, because insurers must also offer uninsured motorist coverage in compulsory auto insurance states, because so many drivers ignore the law. Sixteen percent of Americans refuse to buy auto insurance even though you can get fined, lose your license or go to jail! Regulation is only as good as enforcement and a citizen's attitude towards government mandates. And many believe it is unconstitutional to require a citizen to buy private health insurance — even with taxpayer-funded subsidies being offered.
There are many progressive liberals with good intentions, but they haven't been paying attention to where their leadership is taking them. As the iconic socialist poet-author Carl Sandburg so correctly observed about himself, "I am a idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way."
Admin Moderator: This article was published in the Hernando Today newspaper which is not on Jim Robinson's no-no list. Hernando Today is owned by the Tampa Tribune. It's not on the list either. Maybe you can leave this post alone?
“Maybe you can leave this post alone?”
AM may have, until he read that line.
This Socialized Medicine bill (please STOP calling it “health care reform” as that is only Orwellia NewSpeak), is a paper tiger. By the time it is ready to be implemented, the economy will be so dead it and 5 dozen other federally-funded social services will be bankrupt.
In the mean time, however, the taxes it will impose will be very real. And THAT is what this bill is really about. Taxes and payola to pet projects and groups.
We have the Suncoast Times in neighboring Pasco, and Hernando Today next door. They simply are two of the best local papers I’ve ever read.
No paper can be free of bias, but neither seem to be full of liberal idiocy and there’s plenty of common sense in them. When I read the ST, it reminds me there ARE some sane journalists. The Goebbels that are in control of the industry today just don’t let them into the larger newspapers.
Amazing, isn’t it, how the industry is controlled by fringe elements, and how they have managed to get themselves considered mainstream.
I agree with you. But I prefer the title, government takeover of health care. That's an accurate description. As Mr. Reiniers writes in his article above, "16 percent of our economic output."
Maybe, the truth is they know exactly where we are headed and their intentions aren’t so good to begin with. Maybe liberals ARE bad, greedy, egotistical freaking people, maybe they are the scum of the earth who love power and control, or maybe they are just dumb-ass stupids who have no knowledge of history, but good intended? I refuse to believe it any longer.
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Me too! I may become the loneliest old man on Earth but I refuse to listen to the incoherent, idiotic sputterings of anyone who is too stupid to recognize this “health reform” for the evil that it is. People tell me such things as, “I don’t know enough about the details to know whether I really like it”. Screw the details, anyone with a brain knows that you don’t want the government taking over healthcare, they have screwed it up enough already. Friends don’t let friends drive drunk or vote Democrat. If they vote Democrat they ain’t no friend of mine, I might give them a second chance if they drive drunk 80)
Someone did read the entire House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009
From Michael Connelly - Retired attorney, Constitutional Law Instructor, Carrollton, Texas
Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.
To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.
The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business and put everyone into a government run system. All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats and most of them will not be health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled.
However, as scary as all of that it, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been contemplated. If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.
The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people and the businesses they own. The irony is that the Congress doesn’t have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with. I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authority granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care.
This legislation also provides for access by the appointees of the Obama administration of all of your personal healthcare information, your personal financial information, and the information of your employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide.
If you decide not to have healthcare insurance or if you have private insurance that is not deemed “acceptable” to the “Health Choices Administrator” appointed by Obama there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a “tax” instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment. However, that doesn’t work because since there is nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of property without the “due process of law.
So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much out the original ten in the Bill of Rights that are effectively nullified by this law. It doesn’t stop there though. The 9th Amendment that provides: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people;” The 10th Amendment states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to control.
I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights. Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to “be bound by oath or affirmation” to support the Constitution. If I was a member of Congress I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation. If I voted for it anyway I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.
For those who might doubt the nature of this threat I suggest they consult the source. Here is a link to the Constitution: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
And another to the Bill of Rights: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
There you can see exactly what we are about to have taken from us.
Michael Connelly
Retired attorney,
Constitutional Law Instructor
Carrollton, Texas
I call it Obama’s national socialism.
The author assumes that the Democrats want “health care reform” because they want “health care justice” for the Democrat party base of deadbeats, losers, and parasites. But that’s as silly as thinking that the rats attempted their “global warming” scam because they believed “global warming” was endangering the planet.
It’s all about power and money with those sick scumbags. Remember that.
It’s ALWAYS about power and money.
The rats’ goals with their “global warming” scheme included the advancement of global socialism, a bonanza of new taxes from “cap and trade”, and the enrichment of a few connected benefactors who invested heavily in the “carbon credit” shell game. The rats’ goal with “health care reform” is to get normal, taxpaying Americans dependent on big government.
Power and money.
Our purpose is to make this country and all countries poor as church mice and then they can all be collected and deposited in the world government basket.
If the citizens revolt and there’s a blood bath, all the better, because we want
fewer citizens.
New World Order
Oh - another thing - don’t look to the Republicans to save you. We own them, too. We just let them play political games around election time. We enjoy those games and make bets, but both parties belong to us. Sort of like owning the Colts and the Steelers. Only we own the whole league.
NWO
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