Democracy and freedom win the battle on Obamacare, not the war
I was very proud this week to watch President Obama stopped dead in his tracks as he tried to bully through his healthcare agenda as the next step in the "change" that he promised in 2008. What made me so proud was that he was stopped by democracy. The process actually worked. The collective voice of Americans saying "NOT SO FAST" was heard in D.C. loud and clear.What made it even better was that I was in Canada when it happened. The patriotic music played in my head as Canadians worried that their American option to avoid their own government-run healthcare was about to no longer be an option.
Even though Obama in his weekly address blamed Republicans for preventing this legislation, it should be noted that the Democrats have majorities in both houses of Congress. It is his own party that has put on the brakes and forced an uncareful president to stick his foot in his mouth when calling for passage of the healthcare bill by the August recess. Perhaps they remember the disaster Democrats faced when they last tried this in the 1990's and the G.O.P. swept the 1994 election.
Obama continued filled his mouth with foot the next day by jumping to conclusions on the Professor Gates situation. I agree that Gates should have been let off the hook (I think "disorderly conduct" is a phony crime), but feel that the president of the free world should probably be worrying about something else. Oh, well.... I will not let him successfully distract me from his first major political failure since running against Bobby Rush for a House seat.
So without further ado, here is a list of problems a simple working-class Northwest side Chicagoan has with the Obama-care initiative:
1.) It has been rushed through in a roughshod Daley-style fashion. It is no surprise that he tried to do it this way. It is best to rush through things that you know ahead of time will be unpopular and he learned it from the king of this, Richard Daley. Daley rushed through a parking meter reform bill without public debate. It is a undemocratic maneuver and it will not work in Washington the same way it works over here in Chicago's City Hall. Could we at least have real public debate on this, before we fundamentally change America? Obama says no.
2.) It takes away freedom. Americans are free and this is what makes us so unique in history. We are not a bastion for tyrants. The power truly does belong to the many in our country. And freedom is the cornerstone. We are free in America. We are allowed to take risks and this is why we we so often succeed. The other side of freedom is failure. How many businesses must fail before a Microsoft or Apple come along? We are allowed to fail so that we can succeed. Government healthcare will eliminate freedom to some degree. We are not allowed to choose for ourselves. Obama claims that there will be a choice, but the government program will leave little option in the end. When one of your choices is half paid for by taxpayers, it will be so much cheaper than the other programs that to not choose it would be lunacy. After all, whether you are in the government program or not, you are going to still be paying for it. Why not pay for healthcare once. So there is no choice really.
For government employees like myself, there will be even less choice. I will not be able to choose my plan and once in the government plan, I cannot choose what to do with my own body and for my own health as I see fit. A government bureaucrat, even if he has an M.D. after his name, is still a government bureaucrat.
3.) Speaking of choice, I will not have the choice to be pro-Life. The new program already has words in the bill that refer to government sponsorship and payment for abortions as a health procedure. I am not one to march up and down the streets in the 35 year-long abortion debate America has been having. Even so, I am upset when my tax money will be used to fund abortions, which I do not agree with for religious reasons. Abortion clinics, which have seen a sharp decrease in business lately, will be bailed out by Obamacare.... and with my hard-earned money. It is cute to hear reps talk of this plan creating a budget surplus over time... proof that we will be taxed into ruin.
4.) Taxes. This is going to be expensive... very expensive. Our government is in debt, owes trillions in bonds to Chinese banks, and is running with a serious budget deficit in a bad economy. Why would this new burden be placed on us at this time? Why not wait until the health of our economy improves? Taxes have gone up all over the place and at every level of government. Americans are really beginning to feel the squeeze and we have a proud history of throwing bums out of office who raise our taxes.
5.) Fat taxes? Will I pay a penalty for being overweight and for being a burden on the struggling government? Will we be paying fat taxes soon? Who will decide what is the correct weight for me? Will smokers have to pay higher taxes than they already do? Will drivers pay more for their insurance? These questions have not been answered by our representatives because...
6.) The Senators and Reps voting on this bill have not read it and they admit it. They simply vote the way they are told by their caucus leaders. Well, usually when we regular people do not do our jobs, we are fired.
7.) It takes away incentives. Any government-run healthcare system is going to come with a pricing structure that dissuades incentives to create cutting edge medical procedures and medical research by doctors and big pharmaceutical companies. Obama seems to think that making profits is a sin of some sort, but really profits and riches are the goals that keep the big American medical industry moving forward. Capitalism is what cured polio. Capitalism is looking for a cure for AIDS. And since we are one of the last countries on earth where this kind of research is rewarding, Obamacare could spell the end of our innovative medical research, research that has improved the quality of life for billions of humans around the world. 8.) Poor people can get healthcare already. Capitalism, which has so many benefits, does have some drawbacks. No system of man is perfect. Under capitalism there are HAVES and HAVE NOTs and we need to be careful as individuals to take responsibility for those less fortunate than us. People receive care in our country even if they cannot afford it. Many hospitals and doctors will give discounts to people based on their ability to pay. Some state-run programs like Medicaid go a long way to helping individuals who cannot afford healthcare in the most innovative health system in the world. Big pharm has drug programs for those based on their ability to pay. If worse comes to worse, people are protected by bankruptcy laws in our country. Luckily, health is not something that can be repossessed. Not only can poor people access healthcare, they have access to the best, and most innovative healthcare system in the world.
9.) Problems with our system are overstated and based on class envy. We hate those damned docs and those damned pharmaceutical executives and those damned insurance companies with their swimmin' pools and limos. Class envy is not a just political tool and Obama should figure that out soon enough. America is not Nazi Germany where such arguments can meet much success. In America, we have hope that we can rise up and move up the chain. This is why class envy is short-lived political trick and not a sound basis for policy-making.
The American healthcare system has problems, but it is not bad enough to knock it down and start from square one. The system is fat, bloated, and needs to be stream-lined. We need to find out what makes it so pricey. We need to look at malpractice lawsuits. We need to cap awards or, perhaps, institute loser-pays laws to discourage frivolous lawsuits. Under the current system, a doctor has to rule out every possible diagnosis, even if he or she is sure about what they are seeing. Docs have to run every single test and the prices go up, up, up.
10.) It is about Obama, not America. This is Obama's baby. This bill signifies his political might and will be his mark on history. He will be the brave president who made America look more like the rest of the world. He will be our hero. Why don't we Americans just shut up and let him do what he needs to do and FAST?
11.) It eliminates jobs. There are real problems in this country with unemployment and Obama said he would help alleviate unemployment somehow. The Dems have dreams of a New Deal era wherein Americans will work on public works projects and money will be controlled by the Democratic majority in Congress. They are acting like solutions to economic problems from 80 years ago will work in a hyper, globalized economy of today.
That is beside the point, Obamacare will eliminate jobs that only Americans can do. Jobs will be cut in hospitals. Medical coders, medical billers, insurance reps, pharmacists, and technicians will be out of work. Doctors will be forced to take drastic pay cuts. A huge and profitable American industry will be gutted at a time when unemployment is out of control. I worked for a time in the industry and I am sure in this new era, my job following insurance claims would become obsolete.
12.) It hurts small businesses. Wal-mart puts Ma and Pa businesses out of business. It is what they do. If Ma and Pa sell shampoo for $2.00 a bottle, Wal-mart ships production overseas to China where they pay workers 20 cents a day to produce the same shampoo (hopefully) at $1.85 a bottle. (It really costs a few cents a bottle, but the difference is hidden profit.) This plan has been paid for and pushed by outsourcers like Wal-mart. Big companies can make even more profit if they shift payment for their workers' healthcare to the workers themselves (i.e. taxpayers). This is why Wal-mart has paid for air time urging the public to support Obamacare.
13.) It solves for a symptom and not the cause. Obamacare puts a band-aid on a massive wound. We need to solve the real problems affecting this country. Why can so many not afford healthcare? Because they have no jobs. Many people, especially those with high school or trade school level educations, have seen their jobs go south to Mexico with the passage of NAFTA. In Mexico you pay someone 55 cents an hour for the same work it costs $7 an hour to do in America. Then the jobs went across the ocean to China where the government allows people to make about 20 cents a day. Even cheaper labor is available in places like Haiti and Indonesia.
Americans love the low, low prices and cheer on the Wal-mart happy face as he jumps around the ads rolling back prices, but then we are unemployed. We get what we pay for. And then we are out of work, cutting pills, and unable to purchase our own insurance or healthcare. The money we would have made is put into Chinese banks, which buy American government-issued bonds, and we are no longer in control of our own destiny.
This is a problem. But Congressmen won't touch it because it benefits big stock-holders who need profits and perceived growth and who pay for lobbyists to make sure the gravy train never leaves town.
14.) Who will decide if I live or die? Under Obamacare, my opinion is not worth a dime. If I am in my eighties and need a pacemaker to live, will I be an investment that the government will consider worth making? Maybe this is why part of the bill expands funding to hospices. Maybe it is already presumed by the bill's writers that many Americans will be denied the right to decide whether they should live or die. I would love to know this for sure, but Obama wants it passed right away without delay or discussion (unless he is leading it.)
15.) Government-run business is not efficient business. The government has proven its efficiency in dealing with problems. It is a slow-moving giant. I do not need a slow-moving giant when I am having a heart attack or need a life-saving surgery. I am already disgusted that Obama felt it was his place to step in and take over General Motors, but taking over healthcare is going too far. Now my life is at stake. I know the lines I wait in for my driver's license and do not look forward to those lines in the ER.
Okay, so there it is. I just want to debate this a bit more and I have already urged my Senators and Congressman Mike Quigley to do so. I also acted by sending a small check to Mark Steven Kirk for the Senate. The past few months have proven that it is already time to throw the bums out of office.
P.S. I was right about a few things in my last post. It seems Giannoulias wants to be Senator. He and his criminal ties will fit right in at the Capitol. Look forward to my support for Kirk, who just came back froma tour of duty in Afghanistan.
