Medical Malpractice

The healthcare debate is just winding up. Senator Dodd, a practicing socialist, blamed the rising costs in the medical industry on those nasty capitalists seeking profits. The local hospitals and family physicians are part of this evil cabal.

His solution was predictable. Dodd wants congress to create a national insurance agency to compete with the 350 private medical insurers. He insists that the introduction of this option will cause the private insurance companies to sharpen their pencils.

The illustrious Senator from Connecticut and Obama believe much of the cost of such a program will be recouped by eliminating the endemic corruption in Medicare and Medicaid.

Dodd estimates the costs of these medical entitlement programs could be reduced by 30% if the corruption and mismanagement of the system were eliminated. He’s probably right.

And you will love this. He claimed that costs could be dramatically reduced (maybe 20%) if doctors and hospitals stopped ordering unnecessary tests. These words from the same weasel that refuses to cap the outrageous settlements from lawsuits that force doctors and hospitals to practice defensive medicine.

Does anyone believe that a government insurance company, run by the same bureaucrats controlling Medicare and Medicaid, would be more cost-effective? Those with a cursory knowledge of government efficiency would be inclined to double over in laughter at the suggestion.

Dodd, who directly shared and profited from the shenanigans that toppled the housing industry, understands fraud. As a participant, he has first hand knowledge of insider corruption, which makes him an expert in the field. Thus, his words should not be ignored.

Of course, using the same criteria, it would be a waste of talent if Bernard Madoff isn’t offered the chairmanship of the SEC. Madoff was the master of ponzi schemes. The difference: Madoff confined his greed to mostly milking fat cats, whereas, Dodd has his sights set on duping every American into signing up for second class healthcare.

Dodd reluctantly admitted that about 20% of the cost of private healthcare premiums is used to subsidize the uninsured and the government underpayment of services. Federal bureaucrats in Medicare and Medicaid set the rates they will pay medical practitioners for services rendered.

Their tables of payments are based on the government’s “budget,” and its power to bludgeon the medical profession into submission, rather than the realistic cost of services. The rates paid by the privately insured keep the hospitals and emergency centers open. It’s a hidden tax.

Dodd’s scheme is fairly simple. The premiums set by Dodd’s government insurance company will be substantially lower than those offered by private insurers. Consumers and businesses will sign up for the government plan to save money.

This will drive the private insurers out of business, as they won’t be able to compete with the US Treasury. Within a few years the government will control healthcare. Without the inflated premiums of America’s productive workers and companies underwriting the actual costs for medical services, the government bureaucrats will ration healthcare.

It’s Dodd’s refrain to this Ponzi scheme that brings doublespeak to a new level of hypocrisy. He keeps reassuring Americans that they will continue to be able to select the doctor and hospital of their choice.

He neglects to mention that the quality of healthcare will rapidly decline, many hospitals will be forced to close and the incentive to be a doctor will be eliminated.

Here’s a healthcare solution! Try Senator Dodd for medical malpractice.

Please Start Screaming

The legislative strategy of the Obama/Pelosi/Reid trio is as clear and crisp as a child’s eyes. They are willfully sacrificing any chance for an economic recovery to supplant capitalism with socialism. And the proof is overwhelming.

All their legislation features outrageous spending increases which universally expand access to entitlements, and add laws that curtail freedom of choice and independent growth. Remember that control follows government handouts. Swamping the nation in bailout spending is a pretext to control (and tax) the producers. They already own the welfare hounds.

Whether the legislation involves income redistribution, illegal aliens, border security, healthcare, education or energy, it is loaded with big government goodies that gobble up investment capital, the lifeblood of private enterprise.

And please note that Obama blames Bush, Wall Street and the banks for the current economic maelstrom. He never mentions that the Democratic leadership (including him) encouraged the ransacking of the US economy with entitlement mortgage lending practices. Nor does he mention that his stimulus victory finances more of the same.

Obama is using class warfare to divide and conquer. Be warned! After he controls the rights and the income generating capability of business, he will attack the income of the last remnants of the Middle Class.

He hopes his allies in the mainstream media will pacify the taxpayers with cheerful praise for his legislations’ good intentions, while ignoring the long term economic and security consequences. Most Americans have already figured out that the mainstream media is little more than the public relations arm of the Democratic Party.

But don’t be misled. The media can still sway the lifetime Democrats who would vote for their children’s death warrant if they believed the executions would be paid by corporations. This mindset sent the $878 billion non-stimulus package sailing through congress, which proves the Democratic faithful will blindly eat their young.

And forget the independents. They are mostly Democrats who are too embarrassed to admit they want a ride on the gravy train. They are easy to spot. These are the people who caution others to give Obama’s policies a fair chance, knowing full well the interest alone on the accrued national debt, over the next tens years, already exceeds $4.5 trillion.

As the Democratic pork infested proposals hurtle through congress, in the spirit of bi-partisanship, Obama and company permit the stupid Republicans to nibble away at the edges of the “straw men” in the bills.

This is the same strategy that local and state politicians adopted years ago. They initially propose outlandish tax increases on gasoline, tolls, user fees, or increased sales, income and property taxes knowing the public will go berserk.

Then they miraculously discover they can survive on one-half the funds originally proposed. Presto! The disgruntled taxpayers acquiesce, as the politicians and bureaucrats smirk behind closed doors.

The only people on planet earth who aren’t savvy to this ploy are the Republicans in congress. While they chase after the scraps, the Democrats are carrying off the carcass of private enterprise.

For all practical purposes the Republicans are screaming “Me too.” Whether this country will again prosper boils down to the independent spirit of the American taxpayer. Will they stand up to congress and scream, “Stop destroying the opportunity to succeed in America?”