Thursday, March 25, 2010

Is There a Fix?

Medicare and Medicaid, the soon-to-be insolvent social experiments put in place to care for the elderly and the poor, need only a good enema to accomplish their purpose. Through classic government bureaucratic inefficiencies of mismanagement, fraud, and waste, these noble programs have been kicked to the curb. The fix? Obamacare, the newest, largest, and, as we are supposed to now believe, the one government entitlement program that is going to give us "free" care.

Where would all the money come from to keep Medicare and Medicaid in place while concurrently funding Obamacare? Washington would have us believe that nearly one half will come from a newly-found sense of fiscal responsibility. Their idea is to squeeze $500B from the already failing programs it is intended to fix. How could anyone of sound mind and reasonable intelligence swallow this lie?

Could these savings be possible? Of course not, or they would have done this years ago.  But, just suppose it were true, then why is this magical source of income not redirected back into the existing programs? Cutting expenses by one-half trillion dollars could inject new life into the failing programs. Add another half-trillion in new taxes (the ones slated to begin in 2014) to Medicare, and you have a great start to help those 32 million people Obamacare promises to care for. At the expense of the other 85% of the country, of course.

I guess I just don't understand the progressive's belief that the answer to any and all evil is more and bigger government. In any case, the repeal of the Obamacare mandate should be of utmost priority to anyone who believes that a bigger government is the heart of the problem, and not "the fix" at all.

8 comments:

  1. Yeah, something is on my mind! Where the hell was your RAGE when G.W. was at the helm? President Clinton left this incompetent president a negative deficit when he hand him the keys to the W.H. On the other hand, G.W. (with an emotional I.Q. equivalent to an ant (I actually think an ant is smarter) left a 1.3 trillion dollar deficit, staggering job losses, 2 wars (one of which should not have been--Iraq) Remember those WMD? This country was on a downward spiral before President Obama even placed his right hand on the Bible that cold day in D.C. on January 20, 2009. So all you can think about is to hell with those 32 million people in need of healthcare "at the expense of 85% of the rest of us." SHAME ON YOU! I can hear you now: "Please leave me alone in my provincial, useless life; I don't want change." You're heartless and immoral. I'm an E.R. nurse and I have seen the other side, especially the devastating outcomes of pregnant women who could not afford pre-natal care. So you think that it is perfectly all right for the healthcare insurance industry to raise premiums daily at obscene rates? The neo con Republicans and the conservative Democrats care only about Wall Street/Corporate America, not Main Street. They don't care about you! Do yourself a favor and volunteer at a Homeless Veterans shelter or at a V.A. Hospital to open that self-centered, closed mind of yours.

    Bev of Boston, MA

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  2. I think you missed the boat on this one, Bev. Medicare and Medicaid could work as designed, if not for the incompetence and inefficiencies of our huge bureaucracy.

    The reason the majority of Americans are against Obamacare is the fact that it wastes so much money to gain so little. Regardless of your DNC talking points, giving insurance cards to 32 million people will cost $3 trillion over the first ten years.

    Besides this huge expense, what have they actually gained? Where will these 32 million poor souls come up with their monthly premiums which must be paid to keep the policy active. Or the deductibles that must be paid before the policy pays a dime? Or the costs for services not covered by the Qualified Health Plans offered in the exchange? Or the other 40% of covered expenses?

    Obamacare does nothing but offer an empty promise. There is no free lunch. Obamacare merely lines the pockets of the insurance companies (yes, those same evil scrooges) by forcing everyone to buy their product.

    Or, we could have fixed the existing systems, at a fraction of the cost, and provided real care for millions more Americans, rather than a laminated Mutual of Obama insurance card.

    BTW, how's that Commonwealth Care working out up there? No financial surprises yet, I hope?

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  3. I "MISSED THE POINT"? YOU NEVER ANSWERED MY QUESTION ABOUT BUSH; HE LEFT TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DEBT, RAMMED LEGISLATION THROUGH; COMMITTED ILLEGAL PARLIAMENTARY RULES, ETC.

    THOUSANDS OF OUR SOLDIERS LIVES LOST BECAUSE OF HIS PSYCHOLOGICAL NEED TO PLEASE DADDY BY INVADING IRAQ. AGAIN I REPEAT, BUSH WAS AT THE HELM WHEN THIS COUNTRY WENT INTO A DOWWARD SPIRAL. I WILL NEVER FORGET AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO SEE THAT OTHERS DON'T EITHER. BUSH IS MY GREATEST NEMESIS. OBAMA IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK AND YOU ARE DEVOID OF ANY VISION.

    BEV OF BOSTON, MA

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  4. Last chance, Bev, please try to pay attention. The "Blame Bush" train left the station a year ago, and its only Obama and his mindless followers who continue to place all America's problems on the previous administration. Your "great nemesis" is gone, and it is time to move along.

    The post was about the failure of our federal government in the mismanagement and misappropriation of Medicare and Medicaid. Who said anything about Bush?

    I cannot defend a lot of what Bush did while in office. He compiled a great list of failures, and did offer further deregulation of financial markets that Clinton began. Arguably his worst failure was to go into Iraq. I doubt nobody can honestly argue that any good will ever come of it, and the 4300 lives lost (and the trillions of dollars) can never be forgiven.

    But to place our current economic situation squarely on Bush's shoulders only shows that you are not a student of economics or government. It took over 50 years to undo the controls put in place after the Great Depression.

    We are actually finally seeing the consequences of LBJ's "Great Society". It took 45 years for this failed vision to finally collapse, for it was built on the unsustainable foundation of a financial impossibility. In other words, to quote Ms. Thatcher, "...sooner or later you run out of other people's money."

    But the Democrats don't care. They give away (the bait) all this "free" stuff, a chicken in every pot, and then figure out how to disguise new taxes to pay the bills (the switch).

    This is why I am so vehemently against the borrowing of trillions of dollars to start a new system, with the federal government as CEO, as opposed to fixing the semi-functional entitlement of Medicare at a fraction of the cost.

    Oh, I forgot - that wouldn't go down as "historic legislation", and Obama will have none of it, the pious bastard.

    When it's all said and done, the policies of the Obama administration will be remembered in history, but as the greatest failure the US has ever witnessed. The only person who could be happy about that is Jimmy Carter, because it moves him out of the cellar.

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  5. Hey "Dumas:" This is your last chance. "The Bush train left the station a year ago?" It may have left figuratively but not without damaging this country in which President Obama is trying to resurrect. So please stop trying to use that lame excuse; it's old and feeble.

    I WILL NEVER FORGET THE DAMAGE THAT THAT INCOMPETENT MAN HAS DONE TO THE U.S.A. So you better accept that. Like I said before: "The pen is mightier than the sword," and I take full advantage of that by writing, writing and writing to my legislators. I am in full support of the Dems and will do my best to bring down the hypocritical, obstructionists GOP. Why am I bothering with the likes of you?

    Bev of Boston, MA

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  6. P.S. "Dumas:" If Mitt is a serious contender for the presidency in 2012, he will have a lot of explaining to do when it comes to his MA Health Care Reform Bill. The "Buzz" has already taken shape! Not to mention the fiasco of "The Big Dig." Check it out!

    "The Associated Press recently ran a story headlined Romney attacks health care law similar to his own. The Christian Science Monitor wondered, Who is the father of health care reform: Obama or Mitt Romney? Columnist Gail Collins of the New York Times jestingly called Romney a "liberal icon". Even Fox News, largely a communications arm of the GOP, grilled him on his duplicity.

    "A lot of commentators have said this is sort of similar to the bill that Mitt Romney, the Republican governor and now presidential candidate, passed in Massachusetts," Obama said during a recent appearance on NBC News, grinning from ear to ear.

    SOURCE: guardian.co.uk

    Bev of Boston, MA

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  7. "Why am I bothering with the likes of you?" Good question, Bev. Perhaps because nobody else will listen?

    What began as a discussion on a terrible insurance scam by Obama has now turned way off course. No further comments will be accepted.

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  8. Glad to see you're on board with the fact that Romneycare was actually the model for Obamacare. This also means that you must agree how bad Obamacare will soon prove to be for our country, in the same way Romneycare has damaged the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

    Watched Romney on O'Reilly (4/12) try to squirm away from admitting that his health plan sucks. He was not successful and came away looking very badly in my eyes. He stated that Washington subsidized 50%, money which he said used to go to the hospitals. What he failed to admit is that that same 50% now goes to....the insurance companies!

    Yes, those evil big insurance companies. Obama didn't break down to "appease" them, as you have suggested. He pulled back the covers and climbed into bed with them. They get to sell millions of new policies, and Obama gets his place in the sun.

    I certainly hope the GOP can do better than Mitt Romney for 2012. But, when push comes to shove, whoever comes up against Obama will have my vote. Don't read too much into that. It's exactly like the huge anti-Bush sentiment that gave Obama his victory in 2008.

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something on your mind?