Resistance Begins at Ohm!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Abraham Lincoln, a lesson not learned (oh yeah, he was a Republican, too)

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

......Abraham Lincoln

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Sure, that makes sense (?)

Health care is too expensive. So we need reform to lower the costs. Oh, and we need to pay for health care insurance for the uninsured. So we are going to tax health care insurance (if you have a decent plan) with a 35% surcharge.
And if health insurance now needs to provide coverage for all the assorted things congress is now going to require - whether you need it or not - won't a policy cost like $8000 a year, especially if a high deductible is not permitted?
Won't that make having good insurance as expensive as not having insurance??? Unless you can't get insurance in which case it will be free.
Somehow, I don't think this is about the cost of insurance or health care. I think it is about making sure everyone has the same crappy coverage and lack of alternatives.

Where have I heard this before: The government is going to collect a tax and put the money away so they can pay for future health care costs???? Oh yeah, that was medicare, which is bankrupt because the government spent the money instead. Now that they have to pay for medicare, they need to go collect some more money for another future promise. Bernie Maddoff anyone?

Friday, September 11, 2009

Just the facts Ma'am

Comments on the alleged lies and distortions:

A physician would rather amputate someone's foot than treat the underlying diabetes. OK, only a lawyer would think like that. Physicians, while not perfect, are in business to care for people. If all you care about is the money, maybe you are practicing plastic surgery. This is insulting, but then again, consider the source.

A person who intentionally lies on an application for insurance is not a victim when the insurance company finds out an cancels the policy. The insurance company is a victim of attempted fraud, which in most places is a criminal act. The story about the woman who failed to report acne and had her policy canceled turns out is not entirely true. Another case of "I'll do anything I want in order to get what I want, nuthin wrong with that."

The solution to this problem is not to nationalize health care. It is to keep medical records private so that insurance companies can't go snooping around looking for a nail sticking up. And neither could the government. But that's not the plan. Instead, Congress proposes to connect your health records with your tax records.

If that's the best reason Obama can come up with, I really don't see a reason to reform health care. I see a reason to reform personal values, but then again, consider the source.

“What's your solution?” Obama said. “And you know what? They don’t have one. Their answer is to do nothing.” I think that's a case of finding only what you are looking for. And since Obama is not looking for alternatives, he isn't finding any. But here they are, dozens of alternatives, plenty of suggestions (download pdf) Well, he hasn't read the house bill, either so consider the source.

And the people of the USA need government run health care because we are the only industrialized nation that doesn't have it. But wait! Half the health care cost IS covered by government run health care -- called medicare and medicaid. But we need health care reform because medicare and medicaid are going to bankrupt the country, he says. Well duh, why on earth would we order up more medicare and medicaid then????

We should have the public option because the government is much better at doing these kinds of things and managing these kinds of programs. To wit: Fannie Mae, Sallie Mae, the US Post Office, Veterans Affairs... If I had that for references, I couldn't get a job cleaning gutters.

It doesn't add up, but then consider the source.

Legal reform ala health care reform

Dr. Richard B. Rafal has a plan for legal reform based on the same ideas in Obama care. Definitely worth the read: WSJ Satire