"We have a moral obligation to give health care to everyone."
I've been getting this line (or similar ones) a lot lately. Liberals like to use it to secure a little moral superiority and attempt to make conservatives look like selfish animals.
Since when does the left support making laws that force people to do what one group thinks is morally right?
Seems to me that the crux of many liberal arguments (abortion, gay marriage, etc) is that one group shouldn't have the ability to force their system of morals on the entire population - especially through laws.
With the whole health care debate going on right now, I frequently hear liberals cite the World Health Organization’s rankings for which country has the “best” health care (the US is ranked 37th, by the way).
I've never met a person who decided to travel to Oman for their cancer treatment. I've never read a story about a person flying to Saudi Arabia for their eye surgery, just like I've never heard of anybody going to Colombia for their fertility treatments. Yet I have heard hundreds of accounts of people coming to the US for procedures. Strange that so many people around the world would pay out of their own pocket to receive the 37th best health care.
Of course the liberals don’t understand that the WHO isn't measuring quality of care.
One of their problems is measuring the life expectancy, but there are lots of things that cause premature death that have nothing to do with the quality of health care a person receives. If you remove the deaths from murder and car accidents, the US life expectancy is one of the highest.
Another flaw in the WHO rankings it that they reward countries based on how "fairly" they distribute their health care. That has little to do with the quality of health care they are receiving. As long as everybody in the country receives a fair amount of crappy health care - they will rank higher on the list than the US (not to mention this way of judging a system is completely subjective).
The US also falls short because of the number of uninsured we have. Of the 45 million uninsured, 17 million make more than $50,000 per year, 9 million make more than $75,000 per year, 10 million are here illegally and 15 million are eligible for existing government programs but have chosen not to enroll.
Basically, the WHO rewards socialized systems so it's no wonder we rank so low, but it's a poor indicator of the quality of health care we are receiving. But seriously, please let me know if you’re planning on traveling to Morocco for your medical treatments.
Here are a few highlights from the bill that is being pushed through congress. Obama better act quick before more people (maybe even a few of the congressmen) actually read it.
Page 16: You can keep your current insurance (Obama keeps repeating this half-truth), but the catch is - after this bill passes, insurance companies will no longer be able to create new plans or sign up new people. If you ever decide you want to switch insurance companies (or change jobs or whatever), then congratulations - you are now enrolled in Obamacare!
Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments/benefits a person will receive (Wait, I thought we were trying to avoid rationing treatments)
Page 42: The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your health care benefits for you. You will have no choice.
Page 50: Health care will be provided to illegals.
Page 58 and 59: Government will have access to your bank accounts and finances (Yay! More government involvement in my personal life)
Page 124: No company can sue government on price fixing and there can be no judicial review against government monopoly (yikes, I thought this was going to increase competition, Mr. President).
Page 149: Any employer with payroll above $400,000 who does not provide health care will be fined 8% (Goodbye personal freedoms. Sorry small business owners).
Page 167: Any individual who doesn't have acceptable health insurance by government standards will be taxed 2.5% (That's right, if you choose not to be on any plan, you're going to be punished).
Page 170: To add to the above, if you are an illegal, you won't be subject to that fine (Make sure the illegals know they are more important than citizens).
Page 272: Rationing of treatments to cancer patients (Oops, I thought Obama said there would be no rationing).
Page 317-318: Government will mandate that hospitals cannot expand (Gotta love government telling us what private businesses can do).
Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of special needs people (Sorry guys, apparently you aren't important enough for adequate health care coverage).
Page 429: Advanced care consultation. May include an order for ending someone's life (That's right - the government will be able to order to end your life if your treatments are too expensive - sorry granny).
And I know I posted this on my other blog, but I can't resist the urge to post it again:
I frequently hear people say, "The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer."
It's pretty obvious that the rich are getting richer. We live in a country that makes that possible (maybe that will change in the next few years). But are the poor really getting poorer?
Hmm...the bottom quintile has averaged 3.9% growth. Not exactly getting poorer.
According to the US Census Bureau, the number of households making $25,000 to $75,000 has decreased from 48.2% to 44.3%. The number of households making less than $25,000 decreased from 28.7% to 25.2% while the number of households making more than $75,000 increased from 23.2% to 30.4%.
Sounds a lot like the poor are actually getting richer.
Yesterday, Obama hosted a National Discussion on Health Care Reform where he was supposed to address questions that Americans had about his upcoming health care reform policies.
Of the 7 questions asked, 4 were hand picked by the White House and the other 3 were from liberal groups that proudly and openly support Obama (Healthcare for America Now, Organizing for America, and Service Employees International Union).
Even Helen Thomas, a liberal White House reporter who has been through several administrations said, "The point is the control from here. We have never had that in the White House. And we have had some control but not this control. I mean I'm amazed, I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency...It's very shocking."
Why is Obama hand picking softball questions? What happened to transparency? Why won't Obama answer tough questions and real concerns that people have instead of controlling everything that gets asked?
Obama is mastering the art of talking out of both sides of his mouth.
When Obama was interviewed by the San Fransisco Chronicle in January of 2008, he said:
“You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know, under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I'm capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it -- whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”
He also said, "So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just thatit will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."
So he's already admitted that electricity rates are going to skyrocket under his plan and it will cause loss of jobs, and yet now that he's trying to pass this terrible policy he's saying, "Don't believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth."
Hmm...you mean that misinformation that came out of your mouth last year?
Luckily, only people who make more than $250,000 per year use electricity so they're the only ones who will be paying for this. Oh wait...
I have a few quick thoughts on Obama's proposed health care overhaul.
1. The current proposal is supposed to cost somewhere between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years (yeah, right) and will take the currently 50 million uninsured Americans down to 37 million uninsured Americans (um, that's not insuring every American, Obamateur). That math would mean every person they insure will cost the government $123,000 over the next 10 years. Are we putting these people in gold plated hospital beds and hiring Britney Spears to be their personal nurse?
2. Part of the plan to pay for the health care overhaul is to make cuts to medicaid and medicare. Does this sound completely idiotic to anybody else? The government can't afford the entitlement programs that they already have, but they are going to start taking away money (and therefore, benefits) from the programs already designed to help the elderly and poor receive health care.
3. But the thing that really gets my leg tingling is the part of the plan where Obama says we might start taxing employer provided benefits. Hmm...why does that plan sound familiar? Oh yeah, that's the plan McCain proposed during the campaign that Obama mocked.
