Government officials have lied thorough their teeth about the income tax (rates would not go up, Ha), Federal Reserve (the dollar’s purchasing power would be stabilized), Social Security (rates would never go up, income subject tot the tax would never up), Medicare (future costs would be reasonable, doctors would be fairly compensated) and Medicaid (costs would be reasonable, doctors would be paid fairly) over the past 100 years to get their big government legislation passed. If you believe government officials about the future costs about any new tax or social program, I have a bridge to sell you.
Six months in advance of a planned exit from NJ, UnitedHealthcare no longer covers care provided at Hackensack University Medical Center for people who bought coverage on healthcare.gov.
Archive for the ‘Healthcare’ Category
Low balling the costs of government programs is “normal”
Hillary Clinton: queen of the non sequiturs
At yesterday’s Planned Parenthood conference Hillary Clinton said the following: “We need to defend Planned Parenthood against partisan attacks. If right-wing politicians actually cared as much about protecting women’s health as they say they do, they’d join me in calling for more federal funding for Planned Parenthood.”
Hillary Clinton the law school graduate, must have flunked constitutional law. Where oh where in the US Constitution, specifically Article I, Section 8, which outlines the authorized activities of the federal government, is a woman’s health or a man’s health or a child’s health the responsibility of the federal government. Cleverly, Hillary and her ilk, including Republican politicians, support the notion that if people have a “need”, there must be a federal government program to deal with it. This is unadulterated Marxism: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.
And that’s the real issue facing America–the Marxist culture that is now mainstream.
If Hillary and Bill and Chelsea want to help women, they should use their multi million dollar foundation to address women’s health issues. That’s the right way to help women.
End-of-Year Update
New Jersey:
Bridgegate: I live one mile south of the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee where the notorious three-tollbooth lanes designated for local traffic were restricted to only one for a few days in early September. Traffic in Fort Lee was horrendous. Gov. Christie asserted that these three tollbooths were used only for Fort Lee residents. This is a gross mischaracterization of the traffic going to the bridge during rush hour. Motorists from Fort Lee, Cliffside Park, Fairview, Edgewater, Guttenberg and probably other communities use that particular entrance to the GW.
What were Port Authority officials thinking when they restricted access to the bridge claiming they were conducting a traffic study to see the impact of closing two lanes?
Transportation studies can be conducted using a computer simulation to determine the effects of the lane closures without disrupting the actual traffic of an area being analyzed. In short, there was no need to close two of the lanes. Whatever the motives were of Messrs. Wildstein and Baroni, two smart Christie appointed officials who resigned in the wake of this brouhaha, the fact is politicians should not run key sectors of the economy. Why? Because their motives and goals are much different than managers of businesses who have to satisfy shareholders or risk their own capital.
The bottom line is very simple government should get out of the transportation business. At the very least, transportation professionals not political appointees should be making decisions about the use of bridges, tunnels and highways.
Steve Lonegan’s trivial—and imploding–campaign
Steve Lonegan’s campaign is imploding faster than a sinkhole in Florida. Instead of focusing on the major issues of the day–Obama’s probable military attack on Syria, the NSA spying program on the American people, the Federal Reserve’s unconscionable money printing, the unsustainable federal budget, the reckless federal government expansion into health care known as ObamaCare, and dozens of other issues–Lonegan is getting press for his critique of Cory Booker’s handling of crime in Newark and his remarks about the mayor’s sexual orientation.
Alieta Eck’s remarkable campaign
Despite losing to perennial candidate Steve Lonegan in the Republican United States Senate primary on August 13, first-time candidate Dr. Alieta Eck garnered 21% of the vote. With virtually no statewide name recognition and a paltry campaign war chest, Alieta received nearly 30,000 votes.
Call me a crackpot libertarian
In his Star Ledger column, “Crackpot libertarianism at the convenience counter,” Paul Mulshine tries to make the case that Senator Richard Codey’s bill to increase the age to legally buy cigarettes from 19 to 21 is not an infringement on individual liberty. He fails miserably.
Chris Christie gives a great big bear hug to expanding Medicaid
In his budget address to the legislature, Governor Chris Christie announced that New Jersey would participate in an expansion of Medicaid as part of Affordable Care Act known to most people as Obamacare.
Ban hospitals
The Wall Street Journal article, How to Stop Hospitals From Killing Us, is a sober reminder that life has enormous risks. When highly trained individuals are responsible for nearly 100,000 deaths annually due to medical errors, where is the outrage among the gun prohibitionists, who claim that gun ownership must be severely restricted because of the needless deaths associated with gun violence. If the number of deaths is considered the standard by which we should judge whether something should be prohibited or restricted, then an excellent case could be made that hosptials are three to four times more lethal than gun owenership.
The SCOTUS: You have arrived—the end of the road to serfdom
Yes America, the Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 decision to uphold Obamacare. The Court ruled that the federal government can force you to purchase something you may not want and compel you to pay a penalty (the Obama administration’s argument) if you don’t and still be constitutional because it is a tax (the SCOTUS rationale).
Ungrateful New Yorkers: Praise the Lord for Mayor Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg’s net worth of $22 billion makes him the 11th richest person in America; he is also serving in his third term as mayor of the nation’s largest city. If you have a net worth of $22 billion, you are one hell of a smart person with an IQ greater than the average Joe or Jane.
The AAPS Town Hall forum videos
The videos of the May 18 town hall forum on healthcare is must viewing. The presenters explain the issues as well as anyone and discuss nongovernmental solutions to rising healthcare costs.
Ron Paul, the Supreme Court, Obamacare and Individual Liberty
How did it get this far? Even a naturalized citizen like me and tens of millions of others who took an oath to uphold the Constitution can clearly see that the United States is no longer a constitutional republic with limited powers. Article I Section 8, which enumerates the federal government’s powers, has been ignored by Congress and the Supreme Court for nearly two centuries. Congress has passed laws that presidents from both major parties have signed that egregiously expanded federal power.
Dr. Alieta Eck: The insights of Bastiat and its relevance to healthcare
Dr. Alieta Eck, president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, argues that we need to embrace Frederic Bastiat’s insights why a free society demands a government of limited powers. Under such an arrangement, the people will use their income and resources to address the issues the advocates of big government assert can only be solved by intervention in many sectors of the economy, especially healthcare.
Tom Moran’s lame critique of champions of liberty, Ron Paul and Mike Doherty
Tom Moran, editor of the Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest newspaper, does his best to be a journalistic “hit man” in his piece, “NJ State Sen. Mike Doherty’s Ron Paul endorsement is revealing.” Moran, an unabashed left-winger, lists a couple of Rep, Paul’s core positions—eliminating the income tax and abolishing the Federal Reserve. In addition, Moran correctly points out that Rep. Paul “considers Medicare and Medicaid” to be unconstitutional.”