A Portend of Things to Come?

USA Today reported in an article that “hospital care [is] fatal for some patients.”  Apparently about 15,000 Medicare patients die each month partly from shoddy hospital care.  On a regular basis we hear of abuses in VA Hospitals or, as in this case, with Medicare recipients.

Medicare, Medicaid and VA Hospitals are all run by the government.  So will ObamaCare.  Government-controlled health care will have all the problems, regardless of what it is called.  Is that the kind of care you want?

Any time you read “VA Hospital” or “Medicare” or “Medicare”, you can substitute “ObamaCare” with little chance of misrepresentation.

There is a commercial on television where a man is bitten by an animal and goes into the emergency room.  The receptionist tells him that someone will be with him in 28 days.  Michael Moore to the contrary, this is typical of poorly run, over-extended socialized health plans.  Scarce resources will be rationed and unless you are well connected, they won’t be rationed to you.

I applaud the lame duck Congress in not funding ObamaCare in the last session.  I hope the new Congress will take a very close look at the bill and be very careful in what they do fund.  True, there are some good provisions.  Those should be funded and promoted.  It’s good politics and it’s good public policy.  However, the rest should be allowed to die.

It may require that the rest of the government be cut back to a shoestring budget to prevent diverting other money to ObamaCare, but would cutting back everything else really be a bad thing?

Sauce for the Goose

You probably know the saying, “What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.”  It flies in the face of double standards.  It says that if you can do something, so can I.  Conversely, if some consequence for bad behavior for you is fitting, then the same consequence is fitting for me if I do the same thing.  Everybody plays by the same rules.  It’s the antithesis of means testing. Let’s look at this with a bit of retrospective regarding last year’s failed Swine Flu (H1N1) pandemic.  Please don’t get me wrong.  My heart goes out to all the families who lost loved ones due to the disease.  My criticism is with its handling.

States do means testing for their benefits and tax policies.  Hospitals do means testing for how much they charge their patients.  Rich patients or those with insurance pay more than poor patients with no insurance.  State-run clinics means test for how much patients pay for their services.  Means testing determines Medicare coverage.  Means testing determines how much of your Social Security income is taxed.  Means testing is a way to regulate the supply or cost of a good or service by manipulating the price paid by the consumer.

Businesses don’t do means testing but they do practice supply and demand.  The price of oil goes up therefore making gas more expensive.  Some people modify their driving habits to use less gas and thus not spend as much.  If things cost more then either you spend more or you cut down on your consumption.

Means testing is as well ingrained in the health care industry as supply and demand is in the rest of the capitalist system.  So why are states upset when pharmacies vary their charges for Swine Flu or other vaccines?  Some claim price gouging such as what happens when stores jack up the price of water after a hurricane cripples the water supply of a town or region.

The problem? There were claims this last flu season that the varying cost of Swine Flu vaccine from state to state and within a state, sometimes by as much as $75 across the state, was price gouging.  Ignore the fact that some pharmacies have to mix their own formula for children’s doses (ever hear of increased labor costs?  Ever hear of malpractice insurance?  Someone has to pay for them to take the risk of mixing the vaccine themselves.)  Ignore the fact that the vaccine itself was in short supply in some places.  One place charged $49 and another charged over $90 for the same dose.  Often these were in the same area and it was relatively easy to get from one place to another.

The solution?  Chris Dodd, retiring Democrat Senator from Connecticut, wanted a government investigation and the Mississippi State Attorney wanted people to report any price gouging they found.  Of course this begs a very important question.  What is price gouging here?  If the drug store I visit charges $90 I should report them, right?  Forget the fact that I can go to another pharmacy across town and pay only $49.  The government needs to do something for me because I’m too lazy to shop around!  His committee investigation should have its results about a year and a half after the Swine flu has long subsided and the next flu season that’s coming kicks in so don’t hold your breath for meaningful results.  Perhaps they’ll have something before the next manufactured “crisis”.

I don’t know what Dodd’s committee intends to accomplish.  Maybe he’s jealous over the competition for medical care dollars.  Maybe he’s looking for ways to get pointers on how to ration health care under the guise of caring what happens to you.  Maybe it’s good that he’s retiring.

I don’t see how the variation in prices for H1N1 vaccine was price gouging but then again, I’m not a government hack, so what do I know?  It’s supply and demand.  You want what I have, here’s the price.  If enough people refuse to pay the price and go somewhere else, maybe I’ll consider lowering my price before the vaccine I’m holding goes bad or isn’t needed.

Don’t like the price, maybe WalMart has a better price.  Not everyone advertises “Always low prices … Always” (or at least used to.)  Use your phone and call around.  By the way, at what price is it gouging?  Who sets the standard?  Maybe we need to fix the price and be done with it.  Hmmm… Sounds like socialized medicine is one more step closer.  The current year’s flu vaccine is currently about $25 at my local food store pharmacies.

What do you think ObamaCare will do?  Means testing is the centerpiece of government programs.  Government bureaucrats, not your doctor, will regulate how much health care you can get.  They will limit the supply regardless of the demand.  They will limit it depending on your income, age, and current health.  Ignore the fact that health care is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution as a federal responsibility.  They will control your access to health care and you will lose your freedom of choice about it.  Get used to it.  It’s coming.

People look to the UK for the model of government- run health care.  The claim is that it is second to none, and it is … when you can get it.  The trick over there is convincing the government that you truly are worthy of being treated for your ailment.  The same will be true here.

Socialized medicine only works when the government has enough of your money to spend freely.  As the amount of your money decreases, so does the quality of the health care they’ll allow you to receive.

I can hear the campaign slogans in the New World Order: Want a vaccine?  Then vote for me!  I’ll make sure you get it or die trying.

Can Businesses Bailout the Government? – Part 3

In Part 1, I discussed the problem of overspending and how government cannot get us out of the mess it has gotten us into.  Part 2 discussed some of the signs that we may be at the point of no return and some of the consequences.  Here I’d like to discuss some of the solutions.

Follow the US Constitution.  If it’s not there, you can’t do it, even if you think it will “promote the general welfare”.  That phrase is a platitude, not a mandate.  The mandates are clearly spelled out.

Eliminate all programs not constitutionally mandated.  If the rationale is “it’s for the general good” without some justification from a Constitution’s specific Article and Section, it has to go.  Here are a few examples.

Welfare is not the responsibility of the government.  It is the responsibility of the Churches, Synagogues, Mosques, socially-conscious atheists and the states in which the people reside.

Bring our troops home.  Not necessarily right this instant from Iraq or Afghanistan since there is unfinished work there.  Rather bring them back from Germany, the UK, Korea, Japan, Iceland, and the dozens of other places that they are deployed.  Our troops exist to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”, not the friends of the government.  They’re not there as the pawns of the UN when it doesn’t like something.  If some country wants our expertise and training, let them pay for it fully.

Cut the pay and the days that Congress is in session.  There was never an intent for professional politicians when the Constitution was created.  Make them work in the real world so they understand real world problems.  Congress onlyunderstands what it is spoon-fed through its taxpayer-provided boondoggles and junkets.  Let them see first hand in their own businesses what they’ve done to the American people.

Eliminate Congressional pensions.  They’re the servants of the people, not the employees.  They should serve and then get back to their outside jobs.  Entrenchment in government only brings contempt toward the people they are called to serve.

Make Congress subject to every law they impose on the rest of us.  This means that their private pension plan will be folded into Social Security and they’ll get the same benefits the rest of us get.

Dismantle Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  This has to be done over time without pulling the rug out from under anyone but entitlements like this have got to stop.  I’ve not thought out how to do this completely yet, but when I do, I’ll write about it.  I’d like to hear your views.

Pass an Amendment to give the President line-item veto authority.  Congress passes the bills it sends to the President and the President getst the blame because he is forced to sign bad legislation to get one small good item.  Let him cut out programs that he feels are wrong.  Congress can always override his veto if they disagree.  Right now the President gets blamed for a lot of bad legislation that is really Congress’ fault.  Give him (or her) line item veto authority and then the blame will squarely fall on the Oval Office.

Promote the arts through public service broadcasts and strong copyrights, not failed giveaway programs.  The Constitution has limited authority here which does not include the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts, or National Endowment for the Humianities, among other give-away programs.  Make these organizations not-for-profit or non-profit entities and let “we the people” support the ones we feel are worthy of our dollars.

Promote the sciences by having strong patent laws that are vigorously enforced.  Let Science and Society decide what to work on through corporate and private funding.  If Branson wants to build a rocket ship to go to the Moon, we should let him and let him reap the benefits.  Our space program should be limited to national security.  Granted that includes some research but I don’t think “the breeding habits of Belgian endive” ranks as a national security issue.

Article 1, Section 8 is not a sand box for faceless bureaucrats who mandate social programs in our schools.  Federal grants must be limited only to programs that directly support the Constitutional mandates for the Federal government.  “Oh, I’m sure there is a military benefit there someplace” is not sufficient.

Freedom of religion is not freedom from religion.  Let everyone (not) practice as he or she sees fit.  Nobody says you have to look at my Nativity scene or his Menorah.  What’s the matter?  Got a guilty conscience?  Allowing something is not promoting it.  After all, isn’t that the argument these same people use to justify giving out condoms in schools?

Strip the courts of their “legislation from the bench” rulings.  If it’s a good, constitutional idea, put it into law.  If not, nullify it through the judicial oversight powers granted in the Constitution.  The same goes for extra-constitutional Executive Orders from the White House.  If it’s your jurisdiction, then by gosh and by golly, step up and do your job!

I believe Congress does not nullify these judicial legislators and executive orders because (a) they like what they mandate but the elected representatives don’t have the honesty to go on record to put it into law, or (b) they’re so busy doing their own unconstitutional activities that they don’t have time to do their constitutionally-mandated responsibility of being the check and balance over the Presidency and the Judiciary.

Eliminate Labor Union welfare.  Congress is getting read for yet another labor union bailout.  All this does is attempt to buy the votes of the labor unions at the expense of the American people.  What did the Chrysler buyout gain the US citizens?  They’re still losing money and Fiat is struggling to get them profitable.

Eliminate “corporate welfare” by ending subsidies to farmers, manufacturers and businesses.  If they can’t stand on their own, they should fail.  This will immediately encourage competition that will make goods and services better and cheaper.  Small, family-owned farms can get tax breaks if necessary but let’s let food be cheaper for all of us.  Farmers know the benefit of crop rotation and letting soil rest.  If necessary, encourage that through a tax break but let them assume a lot of the responsibility themselves.  In no way should we ever pay a farmer (corporate or “little guy”) not to plant crops.  Remove quotas for tobacco, sugar and other crops as well.  If they want to grow it, let them compete like the rest of us have to.

Eliminate import quotas. Soft drinks use corn syrup because sugar is too expensive.  It’s too expensive because we have import quotas.  This same explanation holds for other foods and goods as well.  Quotas limit supply which drives up prices.

Ethanol from corn is a horrible idea.  It takes corn away from the food supply for both people and animals, thus driving up prices for food.  Ethanol or methanol from farm waste or other crops that rest the land is a much better idea.

Man-up on unfair trade.  Don’t waste years of hand wringing over countries undercutting their prices and currency.  If they violate a trade agreement, call them on it with sanctions immediately.  That’s one Constitutional mandate Congress seems to forget about until some country has destroyed some segment of the US economy.

Promote manufacturing here at home.  Cut taxes of companies that build or renovate manufacturing facilities.  Technology is wonderful.  Use it to automate factories and train workers to be the technicians that run the technology.  You’ll save the environment, too, by not having to ship raw goods overseas and finished goods back.

Unravel the health care mess Congress created. Congress created the health care “crisis” with its over-regulation in the 1960s and its foisting HMOs on the unsuspecting public in the 1970s.  Real health reform is when the individual, not an “insurance” company or HMO bureaucrat, along with the doctor decide what is needed.  Put in real medical tort reform to bring down costs and make people pay for “scheduled maintenance”, just like they have to do for their cars.  I don’t put in an insurance claim every time I change my oil.  Why should I do it for a runny nose?  Expand the use of tax-free medical Health Savings Accounts for normal visits and allow all people to set up one.  Save insurance for the truly catastrophic and expensive events.  That’s what you do for your house, right?  What’s your home insurance deductible?

Abortion is a medical and moral decision, not a political one.  It should be handled like every other medical procedure with states allowing and limiting how and when they can be performed, just like they limit who can perform an appendectomy or write a prescription.  On the moral side, let the debate be handled at the state level.  In addition, parents or legal guardians must be involved when minor children have this procedure.  The political cop-out here is that the courts can appoint some hack to approve the abortion for a young girl even when the parents are still “fit” to be parents.  Politics have made a complete mess of this (and other) situation.

I know that as we dismantle the unconstitutional programs that there will be a lot of bureaucrats and hard working people who will have to get real jobs in the real world.  Nevertheless, with all of the extra money people and companies will save through reduced taxes and reduced regulation, new opportunities will open up.  Many can become entrepreneurs and small business owners in their own right.  They can do it, that is, if they haven’t forgotten how to do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. 

OK, maybe they can’t do it.  However, we should not eliminate Corporate Welfare only to replace it with Bureaucratic Welfare.  Oh, right, we already have Bureaucratic Welfare.  It’s called “Government Jobs”.

These are Exciting Times

Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes in all sorts of places, economic and political chaos, allowing biometric chips (ostensibly for health care), and the list goes on.  It almost sounds apocalyptic, and that’s just the commercials on TV.

Seriously, though, is everything caused by Man-Made Global Warming?  Not only the earthquakes but the recent volcano in Iceland are blamed on Global Warming.

Speaking of Iceland, I find it strange.  That tiny country declared bankruptcy a short while ago.  People fled to the Scandinavian countries and now the volcanic ash is following them.  Ah, but Global Warming must be a tough master.  Think of all the heat, CO2, and sulfur compounds per capita and per square mile that Iceland produces.  Per person they’re responsible (if people are responsible for their countries geothermal activity) they have to generate more heat into the atmosphere than anywhere else.  Now with their glaciers melting (due to the volcanoes and hot springs, I must add), they’re almost single-handedly flooding the earth!  Can’t they get a break?

On another front, every day there are new revelations about what’s included in our recent health care bill and what it can mean to us lowly taxpayers.  We now have provisions for putting microchips in people.  Apparently a Health Identity Card is insufficient.

On one level it makes sense.  If you have an embeddable RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) microchip implanted in your arm it will be difficult for someone to impersonate you and they will know which body is yours.  Efficiency is improved and fraud is reduced.

The chip would be used to validate your pharmaceutical purchases as well.  Every pharmacy would have the scanners, but so would every grocery store that has a pharmacy.  It’s a small step to go from scanning you just for your drugs to scanning you for everything.  After all, you can and do buy medicines with your food items, and they’ll need to make sure that the cough syrup you bought won’t interfere with the medications you take.  I don’t think this is a big stretch and it’s all in the name of public safety and health.

Next step?  Well, if the government is running your health care, they’ll want to make sure you don’t overdo your cholesterol or alcohol levels, and then there are tobacco products.  How can they “advise” you of your health decisions if they don’t know everything about your eating and personal habits.  It’s all in the name of efficiency, you know.

Step by step.  Intrusion by intrusion.  You’re too stupid to take care of yourself so the government will do it for you.  Just don’t move to Iceland or you could be killed by a volcano.

Broken Health Care, Broken Promises

Is health care fixed?  President Obama seems to think so.  He signed the bill.  Apparently the Senate didn’t think so, however.  Even before the ink was dry they were trying to “fix” some of the problems with the bill.  Remarkable.  If the bill was flawed, why did they pass it in the first place?

Apparently they didn’t think it was flawed until they found out that more than 50% of the American public wanted the bill to be killed and now the same more than 50% of the people want the bill repealed. When polled about the health care bill’s real costs, more people agreed that the bill was too costly than disagreed.

Do we need changes in health care? Most people think so, but there are some simple solutions.

Obviously, the Congress knows more than the people who elected them, otherwise they would not have pushed through a bill that is so unpopular, costly, and detrimental to our economy.  But then again, maybe they’re a bit scared.  We’ll see how they spin this.

This bill, and probably its “fixes”, too, pushes the country further down the road deeper into government-run socialism and totalitarianism, the logical, but hopefully unintended, consequence of taking over yet one more segment of the economy.  (Don’t forget.  The feds have already co-opted the banking industry and are now on the way to controlling the insurance industry.)

So, what has happened since its passage?  AT&T, AK Steel, John Deere, and Caterpillar, to name a few companies, have already elected to take the one-time write-off for health care that the Obama plan allows.  This accounts for billions of dollars in expenses they’re claiming due to this bill.  It’s a provision allowed by the health care bill that Obama pushed and Congress pushed even harder.  The White House response?  Denigrate these companies as being “extremist” and trying to embarrass the President.

But this writing is not just about a broken health care bill.  It’s about broken promises as well.  Which ones did Obama break?  Here are two.

Candidate Obama promised so much transparency in government that we were encouraged to call his current residence “The Glass House”.  He said that before he signed any legislation, he would put each bill on his web site for at least 5 days.  This one didn’t even make 5 minutes.

As to the content of the bill, Obama vowed that this bill would not to raise taxes on individuals making less than 200,000 and families making less than 250,000.   Maybe he meant 200,000 lira or something because it can’t be US Dollars.  There are 12 new taxes.  Some may be called “fees” but if you have to pay it to the government, it’s a tax.

This year, Social Security will be upside down, meaning that it will have to pay out more than it takes in.  Ever since when the Social Security “trust fund” was folded into the general budget, Congress has been spending that money.  Now they have to start paying it out.

Social Security itself will, by necessity, increase deficit spending if only because it must pay out money that it does not have.  Why insist on increasing our national debt even more with costly overhauls that aren’t needed?