Whatever
That’s pretty much my response to the bill that is not health care reform. It’s not. It’s a smack on the wee wee of insurance companies, doctors, and the medical field for daring set their pricing structure in a manner that makes them profitable given onerous regulations and a semi-governmental-dependent business model that already existed.
Apparently, some congresscritter was bribed with my money to change his vote. The supposed will of the people, bought and paid for with the people’s money. Every poll I read said the majority opposed the bill, it was just a matter of degree. At the current rate, Washington will soon be as financially bankrupt as it is morally. Anyone who believes this will reduce debt and deficit is obviously unfamiliar with the .gov’s past predictions of budget effects of legislation. They can’t even run a whorehouse and make money. And the bill contains a tax increase now but the coverage expansion isn’t until 2014.
You can see a list of what the bill does here. Things of note: fines for not having insurance, government subsidies, state based exchanges, price controls.
Obama has to feel pretty good. After a year and some change, he finally accomplished something.
The fall out of the bills will be market consolidation.
I kind of expect the government to pass huge bills that people don’t want. It’s stimulus part 2. Yawn.
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:49 am
The real danger lies in the fact that this will be very expensive. That will be used as an excuse to ban activities that some argue would increase the cost of the program. Expect that the gun grabbers to cite the cost of treating gun shot wounds, physical therapy, continuing care for permanent injuries, etc. Expect to hear “Is it really worth all this cost to the government every year just so that a relatively few people can have a dangerous hobby?”
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:05 am
Wow – they have basically nationalized the US health insurance industry. Wow.
March 22nd, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Really Tom, that is the worst thing? It will cost a lot? Well fuck, who needed freedom anyway?