DEAL OR NO DEAL?

It was an ah-ha moment this week when I pieced the following question together. Why on earth would we want or need to have the healthiest segment of our population in the health care system?

Speaker Pelosi made is sound very magnanimous, that America's twenty-six year-old “children” are now covered, and no doubt, there are those in the 18-26 age bracket who have serious health issues and costly care.

But the vast majority of 18-26 years old men and women are very healthy. I know I was. I visited an emergency room once for a stupid accident I caused (my thumb lost an argument with a fan). Other than that, I didn't even have a doctor. It wasn’t something I was worried about. And with a very low household income, I wouldn’t have bothered with a doctor unless it was a REAL emergency. Doctors became important to us when we started having babies, and babies do need doctors.

My guess is that my situation is pretty true universally among those the government now deems “children.” The healthy don’t mess with health care.

According to The National Conference of State Legislatures: “Young adults age 19 through 29 are the largest growing age group in the country at risk of being uninsured. Young adults account for about 13 million of the 47 million Americans living without health insurance. That amounts to approximately 30 percent of the U.S. population between the ages of 19 and 29 being uninsured.”

Every time we hear the number of uninsured it fluctuates dramatically, but let’s assume the 13 million figure above is correct, give-or-take. Now let’s do some easy math: 13 million “children” now insured by federal mandate means that these healthy kids, who will likely have little need for doctors or hospitals, will now pay-in about $3,000 a year. Multiplied times 13 million and we add a tidy $39,000,000,000 to the cash-strapped coffers.

That was my ah-ha moment. The political reason behind insuring the healthiest portion of our population has less to do with compassion than it does with confiscation, to the tune of $39 billion. They will be paying in, hardly drawing on, and thereby subsidizing (a.k.a. socializing) the system for everyone else.

Oops wait a moment, my kids are not responsible for that coverage — I am. Guess I won’t be putting more in the 401k. Guess I won’t be remodeling that kitchen. No vacations once the kids leave home. Nope, I’ll be responsible for my twenty-six year-olds’ health insurance, all of them.

Such a deal, no?

VICTORY’S MASQUERADE – PART I

I have taken this week to consider all that I have seen in the passing of the health care bill. I watched what we called “debate” on C-SPAN, I listened to pundits on both sides of  the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148), and paid attention to the speeches eager to find glimpses of political reason.

Now that it is law, I hope Americans discovered what I did:

1.) Victory in this case had nothing to do with party affiliations. The G.O.P. was clearly on the losing side. That does not imply the wrong side, mind you, but they were the obvious minority. The Left’s opposition were not the Republicans. They had been rendered politically impotent. The meaningful party of "no" was comprised of Democrats. The opposing voices were members of their own party and the vast majority of America’s citizens who did not want the all-encompassing scope of this bill to become law. The popping of the champagne corks proclaiming victory came at the cost of—and in the faces of—their own party members and the voting constituency they swore an oath to represent. Let the reader beware.

2.) Opposition is irrelevant. It became quite clear that political reason and political integrity was abandoned for expediency. Circumventing convention and due process to pass a bill at any cost has proven that those in power will do whatever it takes to achieve their agenda. Their oath to uphold the constitution meant—and means—nothing. If there was a way around doing things conventionally, it was (and will) be exploited. Let the reader beware.

3.) The legislative branch is being neutered. Once a person or a government body walks down the path of compromise, driving them down that road becomes easier and easier until it becomes commonplace. The House and Senate have taken the walk on the dark side, stretching the purpose of reconciliation beyond its intent to appease the president. They circumvented the system, the checks and balances, and threw their reputations under the bus. This will not be the last time. Expect the White House to crack the whip more, forcing Pelosi and Reid onto that road again and again, until Neutered Street intersects with Irrelevancy Avenue. Patriots beware.

Political Reason will pick up with PART II, so check back soon.