Hope and Change 2008

VIA SBINSIDER NEWS\OPINION |May 26th, 2024

In the 2008 campaign for President, Obama’s team used the tag line “ Hope and Change”, which energized American voters who were weary of foreign wars started on false pretenses and a disastrous crash in the housing market directly caused by government nonchalance regarding home loan lending. (Best movie “The Big Short”).

Obama easily won over neo-conservative John McCain. (McCain was not well liked by Arizona conservatives because he always had nasty words for the right-wing of the party but rarely criticized liberals.)

Obamacare

The only thing of consequence that Obama accomplished was to enlarge the welfare state via health care, AKA “Obamacare” by which we are all suffering today.

Obama said repeatedly during the course of the battle for Obamacare that it would cut costs for insurance, it did not. He said that you could keep your doctor. Turned out that thousands of long term practitioners quit rather than try and adapt to lower pay and onerous recording requirements. So, in the past 10 years I have had 5 primary care doctors. Today, the average office visit is not longer than 15 minutes and the provider you see is not an M.D.

Doctor’s income median income for Internists (the most common M.D.) continues its downward trend in an relentless effort to control costs.

One positive change was that those people with pre-existing conditions were required to covered by insurance-which Republicans stubbornly could have solved years before and relieved much of the pressure to hand over health care to government by simply addressing that one issue. But, I belong to the dumb party.

The Real Goal

In 1992, Hillary Clinton as the wife of the President tried to reform health care which was derisively called “hillarycare” as it was a monstrous attempt to make health care a direct service of the Federal Government-socialized medicine. It failed in spectacular fashion.

Still, the lust by the Left to finally bring about this take over of health care was unrelenting. (We were reminded endlessly that every modern country already had enacted a form of it.)

Hillarycare failed because her scheme completely eliminated the 3rd party payers, the insurance companies, but Obama was much smarter and kept those really big players in the game.

The Real Problem

Unlike most good or services, there is no limit to the demand for health care. For those who skipped or avoided Economics study in college, that means unlike hunger which can be satisfied by eating until you are sated, or for transport you can only drive one car at a time. Health care, not so much.

The Pearl Problem

A personal example. My now passed grandmother lived in an assisted care facility until she died at 96. The care center was in a small town in a rural area with no local medical services. She was living on Medicare and social security. She did not get many visits from her far-flung relatives except by phone and her situation was not unusual. Day by day was boring; Endless TV, some chat about family and three drab meals a day. In fairness, The staff did try to play games and other provide other amusements for the folks. (Recall Jimmy McGill calling bingo numbers in Better Call Saul.) 

Party Time!

Every week a small bus arrived to ferry the residents to a larger nearby town with real doctors. The residents dutifully lined up, were taken to the medical center and examined. All was quiet.

But returning home was a chatty party! Everyone has something new to talk about! Everybody shared their latest diagnoses and test results. It was new and more importantly, meaningful. Upon their return, they could share their stories with anyone who would listen and then call relatives with the news.

In sum, most of the health care was not acute care, but instead, boredom care.

The taxpayers are providing weekly amusement for the residents are a very high cost under the guise of health care.

The Facts

Government heath care programs all over the world have been forced to ration care in order to keep it from going broke. Besides unlimited demand, people in the Western nations especially are demographically upside down, meaning too fewer taxpayers are bearing the burden for more and more retirees. It cannot last.

Borrowing by our government, currently running at $ trillion a year and aggregated into $33 trillion dollars, has been able to underpin the out of control spending. Other governments have enacted a myriad in taxes, many of which the US has, excluding the big kahuna the Value Allowed Tax.

The Ultimate Goal of the Left

The fact that everywhere it has been tried, government run health care has failed to meet the level of care at a reasonable cost that the private sector can provide. The Left wants the US system to reach a breaking point so that the government can save us all. That would mean centrally directed allocation of medical school seats, which specialties will be allowed, government owned medical clinics, hospitals and urgent care center. No private party ownership. Socialism will triumph.

The Value Added Tax will add Federal taxes every time ownership of goods changes hands including delivery of services, resulting in effective tax rates of over 60% as is true in most of Western Europe.

Too, the US will have to reduce military spending to meet the social demands and the American will slow fade, the fate of all empires.