But I don't think so. The money just isn't there, and never has been. The reason that "30 million will now have health care" is that the Fed.Gov is fixin' to make them buy insurance. They don't buy it now, because it's too expensive. Frankly, the reason that the left is so mad about this bill is because it won't lower the cost, but people will have to buy it or the IRS will fine them:
A middle class family of four making $66,370 will be forced to pay $5,243 per year for insurance. After basic necessities, this leaves them with $8,307 in discretionary income — out of which they would have to cover clothing, credit card and other debt, child care and education costs, in addition to $5,882 in annual out-of-pocket medical expenses for which families will be responsible.Right now, folks are thinking they're going to wake up and it'll be Christmas morning. Actually, it's going to be April 15. Buy a gun, people. And vote.
Thanks to Gator for making me think this one through.
I've read in several places: if you refuse to buy insurance, the bill adds 2.5% of your income to your tax bill. For the family with $66,370 of income, this amounts to 1/4 or 1/3 of the cost of health insurance. As long as you are healthy, wouldn't you rather pay minor expenses yourself, and just skip the insurance?
ReplyDeleteIf you get seriously ill, guess what: the bill requires insurance companies to accept people with pre-existing conditions.
Lots of people can to basic math. This bill is a mess in so many ways...
Borepatch, Bradley, you both misunderstand. Of course this bill will fail. The fascists want this bill to fail, and the faster the better. The real goal of this obscenity is to lay the groundwork for a national single-payer medical coverage system.
ReplyDeleteBradley, my point was that this is no "gift" to 30 million voters. As you point out, it's a tax (and a very regressive tax) on the lower middle class.
ReplyDeleteWolfwalker, you very well may be right, but that wasn't my point.
It is really amazing, the bullshit people will buy/believe from politicians.
ReplyDelete"WoFat said...
ReplyDeleteIt is really amazing, the bullshit people will buy/believe from politicians."
Like the 12% or so of the population who sold themselves into the bondage of "welfare" offered by Woodrow Wilson.
All the stories of selling out to tricksters offering deals that were too good to be true, from a mess of pottage, through magic beans and invisible clothes, to the Bismarkian state.
Borepatch, Your NZ link was excellent. The medicine all countries need.
My brother is a business owner. He pays for 50% of his employees health insurance. This bill, which he says requires him to pay for 60% of the insurance of his employees, he will cut the pay of all of his employees by 8% to cover the difference.
ReplyDeleteSince there are tons of people looking for work, he isn't worried about replacing anyone who quits.
There are still a lot of people ecstatic about this bill. I read comments from them on other blogs.
ReplyDeleteThe "30 million new Democrat voters" (many of whom are citizens) join the millions who voted for Obama, voted for Pelosi, voted for Reid.
For them to admit they've been wrong would be a serious self-contradiction. Not many people can admit that.
Add to that the fact that most of those voters are 20- and 30-somethings who can't see any farther than the end of their noses ("if I think it's good for me, it's got to be good for everyone").
If things don't work out as they expect them to up to the next few elections, they'll just tell themselves, "the only reason it isn't working out is because it hasn't been tried long enough". It failed in Massachusetts - and a few other states - but the argument was the same: it just needs to be tried out on a larger scale.
Remember the lady, during the campaign, who was so happy now that "Obama's going to pay my mortgage"? She's probably a little disappointed now, but I'd be willing to bet she still will vote for Obama and his band of merry men. (I take that analogy from Robin Hood, who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. The difference now is that instead of "stealing", they just call it "taxing".)
The System is gamed to a two-party system. (It was Ross Perot's entry into the fray that got Clinton elected.) Third parties are not going to go anywhere - the "winner-take-all" primary ensures that.
I think our only hope is to campaign mightily (for that's what it'll take) for conservative Republicans - at all levels, from dog-catcher to President. It may well be the last battle we'll have a chance to be in.
Because when Dingell let slip his "control the people" quote, that's exactly what he meant.