Barack Hussein Obama signed the ill-named Financial 'Reform' bill today, a massive tax increase and socialist piece of legislation Zero had the nerve to sign in the Ronald Reagan Building.
Increasingly, we face government by diktat at the expense of our freedom, and my latest at American Thinker takes this head on, using ObamaCare and the financial 'reform' bill as prime examples:
The Obama administration and its Democrat allies in Congress have been able to impose serious detrimental changes on America virtually by fiat, with comparatively little notice. I found out about it in an innocuous enough-seeming story...just a short piece in the New York Times, way back in the paper on page a-16, in a story that purports to be about health care. Note the opening paragraph:
The White House on Wednesday issued new rules requiring health insurance companies to provide free coverage for dozens of screenings, laboratory tests and other types of preventive care.
This means no more co-pays or deductibles for things like lab work, tests, screenings, routine vaccinations, prenatal care, and regular wellness visits for children and infants. It even extends to counseling for smoking obesity and AIDS tests.
But the most important thing is where these "new rules" originated. There is a whole slew of newly created government bureaucracies in both ObamaCare and the new financial reform bill that have no legislative oversight and are answerable to no one except the White House. They can arbitrarily decide to stick their hands in the pockets of private businesses as they deem fit with new rules and regulations, exactly as they're doing here.
But wait -- isn't making this kind of preventive care free supposed to reduce costs by making it more affordable and accessible?
Aside from the fact that argument ignores the constitutional principles involved (government taking of private property, for starters), it's also factually bogus. Never forget that, as the Obama administration itself finally admitted, ObamaCare is designed to be a tax bill and a transfer of wealthto people the regime feels are more deserving.
What happens when you own a hot dog stand and announce you're giving away free hot dogs every day, all you can eat? Everybody shows up, including people who normally don't bother with hot dogs or who choose to spend their money elsewhere. Hey, why not? It's free, isn't it?
You get a lot more "business" -- but it doesn't put a single cent in your pocket. As a matter of fact, it substantially ups your cost of doing business because of the increased use of utilities, materials, wear and tear on your facilities, and increased payroll because your employees have to work longer and harder to satisfy the new demand. Some of them actually quit because of the increased workload and stress and just do something else.
This increased "business" will also undoubtedly affect your quality, as you must constantly look for ways to buy cheaper materials and hire cheaper labor to try and survive and offset what it's costing you to stay in business.
Even worse, your real customers, the people who used to like to come to your stand because you provided quality hot dogs at a very reasonable price with good, friendly service, start avoiding your business like the plague. Because it now takes literally hours to get a hot dog from a rude and harassed staff, parking is a nightmare because of the crowds, and the hot dogs themselves now smell and taste like cheap, canned cat food.
Substitute your local HMO, Medical Insurance plan, or health care provider for the hot dog stand, and health care for the hot dogs, and you've just gotten a preview of what's going to happen to your health care...only with two important differences.
Read it all here
These things are just experential common sense to most people with any real world experience. What is Mr. Obama and his team trying to do? I don't think this ever was about improving health care. It was always and is about increasing government power.
ReplyDeleteNext on the agenda will likely be cap and trade. Passing it should be quite easy. Simply pass it in the House where the D's have a majority. Pass it in the Senate where the D's have the majority. Pick off just enough R's to avoid a filibuster. Works for the D's every time.
The arrogance of this Administration is amazing. With a transfer of wealth scheme such as this what makes them think they are qualified or capable of deciding who is deserving or who isn't.