None Dare Call It Fascism

Townhall.com ^ | November 16, 2013 | John C. Goodman

[Kaslin]

Here is something that is odd.

For the past six years President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have waged a relentless attack on the health insurance industry. In the most recent iteration, the president assures us he is not responsible for the wave of health insurance policy cancellations. The insurance companies are.

Okay, so where is the other side?

When is the last time you saw an insurance industry executive interviewed on a TV talk show, presenting the industry's answer to all these attacks? You can't remember seeing that? I can't either.

Well what about the health insurance industry trade groups, the folks who are supposed to explain to Congress and the general public the industry's position? When is the last time you saw one of those representatives on TV? Can't remember? Nor can I.

Okay, let's try one more option. When is the last time you saw someone from a university or independent think tank giving the health insurance industry side of all the complaints that are being slung their way? Don't bother responding. We both know that answer as well.

I submit that this is not a small matter.

A free society requires the free flow of information. In any public policy dispute, if only one side is heard from, we are likely to get further and further away from the truth. The attackers will find there is no penalty for getting minor facts wrong or shading the truth. That will embolden them to make more serious errors, eventually resorting to downright lying. If the only entity providing any push back is the Washington Post fact checker, we are in real trouble. Roughly 99.99% of the population doesn't read the Washington Post.

But what threatens the foundations of a free society most of all is when it is the government (and its allies in the private sector) who are doing the attacking, and when the reason there is no response is that the victims of the attacks have been threatened and bullied into silence.

I believe that is where we are today ? not just with respect to health insurance, but with respect to health care generally. I'm afraid other industries are not far behind.

During the debate leading up to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, I talked to a number of CEOs of large health insurance companies. I frequently heard such comments as, "Don't tell anyone I told you this" or, "If you use this information, don't mention my name" and even, "Don't tell anyone that we ever had this conversation."

As far as I can tell, things have gotten worse. In fact I don't know any employee of any health insurance company that is willing to go on the record with any statement that is critical of the Affordable Care Act.

Now it's possible that my experience is unique. And I know that there are many readers of this blog who also interact with folks in the industry. So if I'm wrong about this, please correct me in the comments.

The result is unanswered charges that are getting more and more reckless. Within the past two weeks, for example, we have had the president himself, David Axelrod, Zeke Emanuel and others all asserting…

[BTW, have you ever noticed how Republicans in public tend to speak their own mind and as a result all seem to say something different? That doesn't happen to Democrats. When they go on TV they are the epitome of the disciplined message. They all say the same thing, even using the very same words. Have those words been tested before focus groups prior to the Democrats even appearing before the cameras? I would bet so.]

Anyway, back to the most recent charge, which is that under the pre-Obama system insurers cancelled policies after people got sick. Really? So says the president. And Axelrod. And Emanuel.

Hmmm. I remember when one insurer got hit with one of the biggest judgments ever because the insurer would not approve a bone marrow transplant to treat breast cancer (a procedure we all now know doesn't work). Are we supposed to believe that these same companies routinely cancel policies and refuse to pay medical bills just because someone gets sick?

Please, give us an example. I don't believe you.

In the early 1980s (while there was still a Berlin Wall), I went through Check Point Charlie from West Berlin to East Berlin. On either side of the wall, there were the same people with the same culture, same genes, etc. The only difference was a difference of political systems, and because of that difference East Berlin was of course poorer.

After about an hour of touring, though, I sensed that there was some other difference and it took me a while to pin point it. In East Berlin, no one smiled. No one laughed. No one joked. People looked at us and at each other with hesitation and even apprehension. Were we really tourists? Or might we be posing as tourists to report on their behavior?

If I could summarize everything in one word, it would be "fear." The East Germans were afraid. You could see it in their eyes. And that was something you never saw in the West.

So why am I telling you about a 30-year-old experience? Because I sense that same feeling again ? right here, in the United States of America.

[liberalh8ter]

I believe just as Obama lied to Americans, he lied to insurers. They thought they were getting a law that forced people to buy their product and have since come to find out he was really moving to single payer. They obviously can't come out and admit they were ‘all in’ when Fedzilla was unconstitutionally forcing you to be their ‘client’. Hence the silence.

[RipSawyer]

“THAT is the difference Culture makes. We’re on the ride and we’re going where it’s going. We have ceded control.”
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

So true that is. A hundred years ago this month my father was a newborn. Had someone described what is going on now with the government of this country to a third grade dropout he would have been met with disbelief, no one would have believed that the American people could ever be so stupid as to let this happen, yet some of the staunchest supporters of this insanity have been college professors and others who are supposedly highly intelligent people. I reckon people didn’t understand that you can have a high IQ and still be a bombastic fool spouting absurdities.

Most of what comes from the mouths of Democrats and some Republicans now makes the following scene from Blazing Saddles look sensible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke5Mr5eCF2U

Watch IDIOCRACY now and if it does not seem an awful lot like a documentary of the current conditions you are not paying attention.

[Jack Hydrazine]

I read in a National Geographic mag about one of their field agents who went to North Korea. The one thing that stood out to him was how quiet it was in terms of people speaking to one another.

[Gritty]

In the early 1980s (while there was still a Berlin Wall), I went through Check Point Charlie from West Berlin to East Berlin... In East Berlin, no one smiled. No one laughed. No one joked.

I can relate to that. In 1963, I did the same thing, except as part of a military convoy.

The only smiles we saw were secretive, furtive ones at us. Everyone except some kids (boys only) kept well away from us and even then the kids would only approach us if they were in a group but it was obvious some were lookouts while others were talking. You could see the adults constantly looking around with anxiety and fear in their eyes and they obviously dreaded to be seen near us. The kids freely told us how bad things were and how little they had to eat. But when a stranger approached, they sensed the danger, scattered, and ran. That was a lesson I have never forgotten about totalitarianism - the fear and anxiousness in eyes of most adults (the exceptions were probably the undercover secret police or informers).

As the author notes, we see a lot of that today among many who are in a position to and should be speaking up. Instead, they fear the Stasi. You can see it in the way they fudge or ignore the truth to avoid being singled out for retribution. This is not without a good reason and it is a reason we ignore at our peril.

[Hardastarboard]

The best I can tell is the insurance companies were fully aware of Zerocare's impact and in fact were part of the process that created the monstrosity. There are big profits in mandating insurance coverage for 40 million people and increasing the "quality" of coverage.

They are relatively quiet because they are more than happy to have the blame on Democrats. And know any fix created will only increase their profits as congress will have to subsides the cost to force compliance.

I have to agree. The insurance companies heard "40 million new enrollees", and "subsidies for those who can't afford it", and they were all in.

As a poster below graphically notes - it was a deal with the Devil.

[livius]

Great quote! Thanks for posting it.

[ripley]

It’s not fascism, it’s progressivism and progressivism, run by progressives, is love, kindness and salvation for humanity.

/Sarcasm/!!!!

IMHO

[Former Proud Canadian]

From an outside observer, yeah, this guy is right.

Besides the layers of political correctness that have been laid over western society to "protect" certain groups (women, gays, minorities of all kinds) it is not possible to talk about many things.

This is particularly worrisome in the US which has constitutional underpinnings guaranteeing free speech. Big Brother would be proud of the way things are going.

[griswold3]

Crony capitalism...

[griswold3]

And the beatings will continue until morale improves...

[GOPJ]

But what threatens the foundations of a free society most of all is when it is the government (and its allies in the private sector) who are doing the attacking, and when the reason there is no response is that the victims of the attacks have been threatened and bullied into silence.

Or maybe the big players on in on the take...

[MagnoliaB]

I can see that. Could be, they are quiet now because under Obamacare the rates are going up. I don't see a down side for the insurance companies until single payer takes over which is the end game. What happens to insurance companies when that happens?

[Jacquerie]

One is either at the table or on the menu.

[devolve]

- Obama is playing poker with professionals this time

He contracted with the insurance companies and now he wants to ignore the contracts

-They have Obama cold and he is flailing around wildly attempting to bluff his way through once again

Chief Justice John Roberts cannot rewrite those contracts and save Obama again this time without realizing that would guarantee his own impeachment and removal from SCOTUS

Here we see the evidence : http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?feature=player_embedded&v=VRgQaOOZRo4

[devolve]

[Talisker]

Chief Justice John Roberts cannot rewrite those contracts and save Obama again this time without realizing that would guarantee his own impeachment and removal from SCOTUS.

What a bizarre statement. Roberts didn't rewrite anything - he merely pointed out that Obamacare was using a statute that was already in the tax code, and which had already seen plenty of use in similiar fashion.