OT: The Health Care Bill & Polls

[Guest guest]

Howdy y'all,

 

Thoughts of the list moderators below. We probably gave as much (or more?)

attention to this than has been given in Congress to the present Bill. ;-)

 

On Oils & Herbs we're beginning to seeing a lot of mail on the above subject

... and since we have over 2,000 list members odds are pretty good that we

have maybe 3,000 or so opinions on this bill .. and we hope we do not have

to hear all of them. ;-)

 

Because folks want to express their opinions .. list management has decided

to allow the discussion. If it gets heated and/or hateful then we might

be forced to moderate a tad.

 

Meantime, Polls are being prepared and will soon be in the Polls Section of

the list. There we can express our opinions and see what the opinions of

other list members are. Nobody except you will know how you voted .. the

List Owner and her Moderators can not know who voted how .. the system is

established in that manner.

 

My personal opinions: I have given the issue special attention for a long

time. The reason is .. one of my military specialities was Political

Military Analyst .. I was trained (at considerable expense to Uncle Sugar)

and then worked extensively in the field. I have taught Political Science

... and I like the subject. Even now, after retirement .. it is one of my

hobbies. One of many things I have learned is that all governments (to

include the Vatican) are more corrupt than the citizens they serve. Those

who enter government with good intentions are soon corrupted. I am not

referring to thievery (though there is some of this) but rather to

corruption of personal beliefs and morals. The two things that have kept

American politicians from totally abusing the system are .. the voters

during free elections .. and the U.S. Constitution.

 

This Bill is the hottest issue in most folks minds at present .. we have

(unfortunately) become accustomed to an enormous budget deficit and high

unemployment .. and we are slowly becoming accustomed to unsustainable

growth of government and increased health care costs .. but for now the Bill

is the hot topic. Even though I am personally not satisfied with the Bill

as written, I am happy that the administration has focused on it because it

has forced our lethargic Congress to realize that they could no longer

ignore the issue .. unsustainable health costs are a reality.

 

But has this bill addressed health costs .. is it Health Care Reform .. or

is it simply Insurance Reform? We will see. If a system works fairly

well for 85% of the folks but not at all for perhaps 15% of the folks ..

should the system be replaced or repaired? We will see. One thing is

for sure .. regardless of what we think we know now .. it will soon change

to some degree. In fact, odds are that some of what I write now might be

old business before this post hits the list.

 

What we think we know about the Bill today will not be what we know about it

a year from now .. or a month from now .. or next week .. or maybe

tomorrow. Odds are that less than 1% of the U.S. population (to include

our elected officials) know exactly what is in the Bill .. they will learn

as time passes .. and as the references to references to references

contained in the 2,000 + page Bill are reviewed to determine the impact they

will have on other issues. Just in the last 48 hours we have seen frantic

attempts to close and open doors that are large enough to drive a freight

train through. It will not be easy for the Congress .. this enormous bill

contains far more pages than the Social Security Act, the Civil Rights Act,

the Voting Rights Act, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S.

Constitution, and the Holy Bible .. combined .. so it requires a tad or two

of reading .. which is not easy.

 

Right now I personally believe that inside the Beltway the major differences

of opinion are based more on philosophy and/or ideology than they are on

improving Health Care .. and perhaps more on motives and methods than on

substance and content. I say this because I do not see all of the

representatives of various states marching to the tune of their party

lines.

 

I think its fair to say that we .. and Congress .. don't really know how the

Bill will affect unemployment .. or future taxation .. or

quality/availability of Health Care. We don't know whether America will

eventually be forced to institute a Value Added Tax .. the U.S.A. is one of

the few countries in the world that does not have a Federal VAT .. there was

a period that the state if Michigan had one but it was repealed on 1 January

2009. If a VAT is eventually approved then all bets are off as to what

Health Care will cost .. as well as what this and that and the other will

cost .. and what will be the impact on the Import-Export of foreign and

American goods and business in general. The unintended consequences of a

Bill this size are rarely known until they begin to pop up as monkey

wrenches in the works.

 

How much of the Bill is doable reality vs how much is white wash, spin or

Utopian desire is also yet to be determined. The road to Hell is paved

with good intentions .. and in so-called civilized societies rare it is

that honorable ends justify questionable means to get there.

 

We don't know what will be the outcome of some planned State challenges to

the Constitutionality of the Insurance Mandate .. Virginia has already

spoken for their folks so the gauntlet has been thrown onto the ground ..

2/3 of the other States are planning actions now. One way or the other the

Supreme Court will probably get involved.

 

A note here .. someone mentioned that Auto Insurance is mandatory .. this is

not exactly true. One does not have to own an automobile .. driving is a

privilege .. not a right. It has not yet been codified that Health Care is

a Right. If a millionaire medical doctor married to another millionaire

medical doctor does not want to purchase Health Care Insurance .. is this a

special case? Should Bill Gates and Warren Buffet be forced to buy health

insurance? We will see.

 

Often the intent of government interference in our private lives can be

honorable and beneficial .. but even the best intentions can open the door

to abuse because if we give our permission to sanctify prohibition or

forfeiture of a right the majority approves of .. they might later decide

that Jelly Beans are not good for our teeth and then prohibit the sale of

Jelly Beans .. and it can go down hill from there. We will see how this

goes.

 

We don't know whether four amendments the Republicans demanded in the Senate

... that were rejected .. will eventually be included because the Bill now

has been forced back to the House for another vote. The Reconciliation

process threw in some things that were prohibited .. like government control

of student loans .. probably the most clearly beneficial addition in the

entire Bill .. but it could not be included at that time so it is being

returned to the House. The four Republican amendments that were attempted

... but failed .. are as follows .. I think the last two could impact the

cost of the Bill and have a bearing on future taxation.

 

1. An amendment from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to prevent convicted child

molesters and rapists from getting reimbursed by the government for drugs to

treat erectile dysfunction.

 

2. An amendment from Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) to require all members of

Congress to enroll in Medicaid.

 

3. An amendment from Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) to certify that no

households earning less than $250,000 will see increased taxes as a result

of health care reform.

 

4. An amendment by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) to certify that Americans will

not have to change their health insurance as a result of the bill if they do

not want to.

 

In addition to all the other things we don't know now .. we don't know the

impact on availability of Health Care that the addition of millions of new

patients will have .. or the impact of the certain eventual legislation on

Illegal Immigration .. or even what normal population growth and other

demographics changes will have. We know that the Doctor Fix was not

included in the CBO estimate of costs but we also know that the Congress can

not ignore this .. they MUST find a way to pay for this or we will find that

folks who become eligible for Medicare will have much difficulty finding a

Primary Care Physician .. they will start to refuse some new Medicare

patients. Mine told me yesterday that I was fine but he will be forced to

make some tough decisions if this is not fixed.

 

One thing we can all probably agree on is that Health Care Reform is needed

... but whether it will come about based on this Bill is unknown. The Cost

of Health Care must be contained .. Fraud, Waste and Abuse must be reigned

in .. Tort Reform must be considered so Neurosurgeons do not have to pay

$500,000 for insurance and pass along the cost to the patients. More

doctors must be recruited and trained and Preventive Medicine must replace

Defensive Medicine.

 

We also don't know what impact the 2010 mid term elections or the 2012

presidential election will have on the future of this Bill. I have

opinions on this and would give odds to anyone who would be reckless enough

to bet against me .. but I will keep them to myself. ;-) But

regardless of how the elections go .. Health Care Reform will be addressed

... it can not be shelved any longer and this is a good thing.

 

So .. good luck to us all .. may we all win .. may America win. If we lose

... until we get it fixed the impact will be felt in other countries.

Inflation or devaluation of our currency .. or implementation of additional

taxes .. especially a VAT .. will definitely impact those who do business

with us.

 

Y'all have a good one .. and keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch ... http://www.AV-AT.com <http://www.av-at.com/>