Actually the Dems’ plan to effectively turn the USA into a Banana Republic would work if the process of closing down American factories and destroying our production capabilities as a country continues. What will turn the country more red is the construction (or reopening) of factories throughout the country as jobs will be created out in those rural areas more and strong tax bases will return to our counties across America. On the contrary, the shutdown of factories is the main driver of pushing people to work in the central business districts of very urban areas and its been giving the blue sanctuary sections plenty of power. So whether or not Trump can succeed in building a strong GOP base across the country depends on what happens to manufacturing.
Nevertheless I am still very alarmed at how most people at FreeRepublic.com are not paying close attention to how the failure of the federal government to enforce the Sherman Act against the medical/pharma industry monopolies/racketeering is going to destroy us financially and destroy our country. What is going on is not “free market” but a form of legalized plunder. ObamaCare is part of the symptons of this issue. But the financial symptoms are already reeking havok on the government and household budgets across America; and will destroy us if we don’t fix it. Our federal government spent 37% this past fiscal year on health care and that amount has been growing 9% per annum. This is not an issue that can wait much longer as it’ll soon detonate (unless we fix it soon) the global financial market fuse of worry about whether the US government will really make good on its debt obligations. If that fuse is lit then its over and just a matter of time before the USA republic officially goes the way of the Soviet Union and many failed empires in world history.
What needs to happen? Congress should immediately pass legislation that will cut off all funds to medical/pharma entities that refuse to be completely transparent on their pricing and that make it a crime for anyone to try to strongarm them from complying withg this law. If a private person/entity wants to get health care services from a private provider without there being transparency then that is fine/dandy for them to choose that path. But the federal government should not be paying for obfuscation/racketeering that has been going on extensively in this industry. And President Trump should announce (and have the DOJ follow up) that any entity/individual who tries to violate the Sherman Act to try to coerce any entity/individual to be cutoff from funding by being non-transparent. Doing this will help ensure that the state/local levels of government can pass appropriate legislation & do proper enforcement of sensible consumer protections for health care.
Oh btw a big part of why the factories have been shutting down here in the USA is because of the “health care” issues I’ve described above. The out-of-control price gouging and monopolization that’s going on has been scaring away investment capital. If we could restore the free market in health care then we have a hope of the USA having a real recovery in manufacturing.
I would add that the threat of federal prosecution using laws already on the books that have been used to successfully prosecute/convict criminal individual/enterprises in the past can be an effective deterrent to those organizations such as the AMA that have in the past strongarmed doctors/pharmacies to not publish price lists. There is no reason why the procedure codes & pricings for health care costs can’t be published for all consumers and decision makers to make their choices? Having worked in the health care industry many times myself (i.e. as a computer programmer) and as one who worked in high school in a doctor’s office (i.e. for my dad who is a retired family practice physician) and both of my brothers are in health care (i.e. one is a MD and now a family practice resident; the other is 3rd year in Medical School) so I am well-aware of the concerns of health care providers.
The Hobbs Act should also be employed to prosecute these POLITICAL offenders.
The Hobbs Act 18 U.S. Code § 1951, passed in 1946, is a federal law that prohibits robbery or extortion, or attempted robbery or extortion, that affects interstate or foreign commerce.
The Act originally was designed to target racketeering in labor-management disputes that were common at the time.
More recently it has been used to prosecute and jail politicans involved in graft and corruption b/c this is seen as impairing interstate commerce.
Would the Sherman Act get these big companies that are now merging into monopolies?
Something has to be done about the incestuous relationship between Congress, Big Pharma and the FDA.
Trump Transition team contact
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Transparent medical pricing is very hard to do. An example would be two patients going into surgery for an identical procedure. Patient A is healthy, young, no medical or social issues. Patient B is older, with a laundry list of medical problems and social issues which causes more work for the health care provider. You cannot charge the patients the same amount of money. Patient B should cost more.Also,Issues crop up in the process of health care delivery which is not foreseen. How can you be transparent and accurate from the beginning when the patient first walks into your clinic?