September 22nd, 2009
Quote of the Day: “How do you know a politician is lying? His lips are moving.” — a proverb
Subject: Do you need the government to provide non-profit health insurance?
If some magic could be used to prevent politicians from lying, would they have anything left to say? We ask this question only partly in jest. Deception really does seem to be the dominant mode of speech for politicians. The latest example comes from claims being made by the President and Congressional leaders that . . .
* There’s too much profit in the health insurance business
* We need more non-profit health insurance providers
* The government should foster non-profit insurance by creating co-ops
John Lott punctures these claims in a column that’s well worth reading . . .
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in DownsizeDC.org | No Comments »
September 3rd, 2009
by Michael Cloud
“Do you believe health care is a right or a privilege?” the CNN host asked two guests.
“Health care is a right, not a privilege,” said speaker after speaker at televised memorials for the late Senator Ted Kennedy.
“Is health care a right or a privilege?” ask hosts and guests on NPR, PBS, CNN, and MSNBC. You’ll read the question dozens of times on Big Government Blogs and websites. In essays and articles by Big Government partisans promoting Government-run medical care, or Government Monopoly-Funded medical insurance.
The Right Answer: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Is health care a right
Posted in Center for Small Government | 1 Comment »
September 3rd, 2009
Quotes of the Day:
American Colonel: “How dare you relax our rationing system, when there’s a widespread food shortage?”
Ludwig Erhard (German economics minister):“But, Herr Oberst. I have not relaxed rationing; I have abolished it!”
Subject: Are free market prices and government rationing the same thing?
If you tell someone that government-controlled healthcare will lead to rationing, they may respond by saying, “Healthcare is already rationed, by prices. If you can’t afford a treatment, you can’t get it.”
This seems like a powerful argument, but it isn’t. Here’s why . . . Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: health care rationing
Posted in DownsizeDC.org | No Comments »
August 19th, 2009
by Michael Cloud
Imagine that the federal and state governments imposed laws, regulations, restrictions, and mandates on medical care that drastically increased the cost – without improving medical care.
What if it were possible to cut your medical care costs by 20% or 30% or even 50% now – while keeping current levels of quality and service – by repealing and removing these government-created burdens and barriers?
If this were possible, would you want it?
Would you want the U.S. Congress to repeal and remove these laws, regulations, restrictions, and mandates?
Would you want your state legislature to do the same?
Yes? Well, these government-imposed burdens and barriers DO exist – and your federal and state legislators CAN repeal and remove them.
Would you like to see a small sample? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: cutting health care costs
Posted in Center for Small Government | 6 Comments »
August 19th, 2009
Quotes of the Day:
“You could theoretically design a co-op plan that had the same attributes as a public plan.” — Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services
“Well, I think in theory you can imagine a co-operative meeting that definition.” — President Barack Obama
Subject: Beware the surrender on the so-called “public option”
The Big Government health care bill doesn’t have the votes in the Senate and it’s taking a beating in public opinion. The latest Rasmussen Report shows that 54% of Americans now think passing no health care reform at all is better than passing the current plan.
The President and Congressional leaders have responded by appearing to surrender.
President Obama claims the so-called “public option” (tax funded health insurance) isn’t crucial. They would settle for something called a co-op instead.
Beware of politicians appearing to surrender. They’re almost always “Greeks bearing gifts.” The co-op alternative to the “public option” is a Trojan Horse.
Michael F. Cannon sums it up perfectly: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: health care co-operative, public option, Trojan Horse
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August 18th, 2009
Quote of the Day: “In 2006, Massachusetts snuck a health care boondoggle past the voters by pushing 20 percent of the cost on to the federal government and 60 percent onto private individuals and employers, according to data from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.” — Michael F. Cannon of the Cato Institute, writing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Subject: Another shocking fact about the true costs of the big health care bill
Yesterday we told you that the big health care bill delays the full implementation of its programs until after the 10-year period evaluated by the CBO (Congressional Budget Office). This serves to hide the fact that these programs will probably cost at least 50% more than the $1.2 trillion reported by the CBO.
But it gets worse . . .
* The $1.2 trillion cost reported by the CBO only includes ON-BUDGET items
* The bill also imposes other huge costs on taxpayers that won’t be reflected in the federal budget
This is one of the tricks Republican Governor Mitt Romney used to pass his train-wreck health care bill in Massachusetts, and now the Democrats in Congress are pursuing the same fraudulent course.
We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again — you won’t get what you want just because a politician holds office who happens to wear the partisan label you like. The labels mean nothing! You will only get what you want by raising a stink, and doing it constantly, with overwhelming pressure. Now here’s how the Democrats are using Mitt Romney’s playbook to defraud you . . . Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: true cost of health care reform
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August 18th, 2009
Anonymous, Used by Permission
Written June, 2009
Introduction
The government already has promised more than it can deliver to those on Medicare. If it now makes more promises that it cannot keep, the system could collapse for everyone. Certainly the Obama health care plan will require scaling back medical care for those on Medicare — by rationing services.
If press reports are at all correct about what will be in the Administration bill (still being kept a secret from the American people), it has become the author’s view that Seniors are among the groups which will be most disadvantaged by the Administration bill.
Top Ten Reasons
1. The Obama proposal is based upon the faulty premise or hypothesis that there are 46 million Americans without health care. This statement has been repeated so often that it has become almost a “mantra,” but it is not true. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: health care reform, Medicare, seniors
Posted in The Coalition Presents | 1 Comment »
August 17th, 2009
Quote of the Day: “Democrats are using smoke and mirrors to hide the impact of their health plans. Existing estimates, therefore, reflect only a fraction of the total cost.” — Michael F. Cannon of the Cato Institute, writing in the Atlanta Journal-Constition
Subject: The politicians aren’t telling you about all the costs
The politicians are lying to you about the true costs of their massive health care plan.
In fact, they’re lying to you in several ways, using fraudulent accounting tricks and sleights of hand.
We’ll be exposing their tricks this week. Here’s the first one . . . Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: true cost of health care reform
Posted in DownsizeDC.org | No Comments »
August 17th, 2009
by Carla Howell
This column was originally published April 13, 2006. The cost of insurance premiums have risen steadily since then.
Socialized medicine’s true believers – who dominate the ranks of mainstream news reporters and politicians – try to bludgeon us into believing that the lack of medical insurance is a crisis, a disaster, and a never-ending emergency.
Here’s an example of how a news report typically casts the “uninsured”:
“The number of uninsured or underinsured people in the United States is estimated to be about 46 million… they sit on the edge of catastrophe.” (Journal Times, Wisconsin, February 27, 2006)
But “uninsured” Americans are usually nowhere near “catastrophe.” They have plenty of access to urgent care when they need it.
Moreover, they save themselves a boatload of money by steering clear of one of America’s biggest money pits: health insurance.
We don’t need more insurance in America. We need much less.
The black hole of medical insurance Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: uninsured
Posted in Center for Small Government | 2 Comments »