Looking Back 5 Years on Some Obamacare Thoughts

With a new story coming every day about the travesty that is Obamacare, I thought I would take the time to look at some prognostications I made back when the argument was fresh.  Feel free to comment with your thoughts and opinions.  These articles were first published on a different space, in a different time, but they still feel relevant now:

August 6, 2009

The Coming Crisis (part 1)

The good news is, if you read the words that I'm about to post here, and you don't like them, you can feel free to report me to the federal government and agents will drop out of black helicopters and snatch me up, wherever I may be, and I'll never be heard from again (I wish I could say that opening was me being facetious, but alas, it is not.)

You can check out this link for the info I'm talking about, if you prefer to not click on strange links, I'll make certain to post the info at the end of tomorrow's blog.

There has been a lot of talk in the news over the last several months about how we have to "save" healthcare and how this is the "most important" issue in our nation today, and that if something is not done now NOW we will never have this opportunity again. Never mind that 85% of Americans are satisfied with their health care plans, or that the cost of this health care scheme that is being forced on us would cost conservatively $1 TRILLION in its first 10 years. One trillion dollars. To put that in numbers that might be understood, if you started at exactly year 0 (and I'll grant, there was no such thing at the time, but in hindsight we are allowed to go back to that time) and spent $1 million a day every day since then, you would have spent $733,787,000,000 (including leap years, and extending through 12.31.2009), meaning that you would still have $266,213,000,000 or nearly another 729 years of spending that $1 million a day to get what the government is going to spend to "fix" health care in the next decade -a system that by all reports is the best in the world and is enjoying rave reviews.

Now, it is being pitched as an altruistic idea, one that is designed to bring Americans together in a show of unity (despite the fact that according to polls only 36% are in favor of this scheme, while 46% are opposed) to help create a sense of fairness. I believe the important question to ask yourself here was when was the last time that the government was looking out for you, in an honest and true manner? Whom amongst us expects that government, especially on the federal level, is looking to give any of us a fair shake? I do not, for one, and for once, I believe that I may not be alone.

A couple of important questions to consider before we cut this short for today (there will be more tomorrow and perhaps Saturday, unless the knocking on the door is the harbinger of doom...then adios!)

• Are we going to trust our government, the very same government that has brought such stellar service to our men and women who have put their lives on the line to protect us to provide our citizenry with the same bangup service?
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• Will our elected officials opt out of their high-priced golden coverage (provided, of course, at taxpayer expense) and join the public option that the rest of us plebians are expected to enjoy?


• Do we really want to hand over 1/7 of our nation's economy to the same "leaders" who have brought us the running debacles that are medicaid, medicare, and social security? Are we really that stupid?