An Equally Monumental Issue

Sure, the Supreme Court’s decision is important. But there’s more to it than that.

Obviously, the high court’s decision on Obamacare will be monumental. That’s because it deals with two clearly defined foes, pitted against each other. One believes the Constitution tells us what government can and cannot do to us. The other believes that concept is old-fashioned. We might call them the “play-it-by-ear crowd.”

But there is an equally monumental issue at play beyond the court — a clear majority of Americans do not want Obamacare. They have not wanted it from the start. The more the president pitched it, the less they wanted it. They remembered that the more their moms pitched spinach, the more they hated it. 

Now, politicians sometimes shove new laws down our throats. Laws a majority doesn’t want. But these normally deal with small aspects of our lives, economy, and society. Obamacare deals with a huge chunk of our economy. It affects every one of us. And since a majority of us does not want it, our elite lawmakers ought to listen.

The reason that folks reject the Obamacare plan is clear — many believe it is wrong for government to force us to buy something. In this case, health insurance.

Many believe we have enough government already. The plan adds hundreds of new bureaucracies to the jungle in Washington. It adds many thousands of new bureaucrats. That includes 4,000 new IRS agents to chase down the fees and taxes. Just what we need, eh? Anyone who looks at an organizational chart of these bureaucracies and how they connect must believe the chart is a joke. It would confuse even Rube Goldberg.

Many dislike the lies and sloppiness. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the president promised the plan would cost an extra $900 billion. Now they say it will cost twice that. And the CBO always, always under-estimates costs. Medicaid cost 10 times what the CBO promised. Folks don’t like that deceit.

The president solemnly promised insurance premiums would go down. They have gone up — a lot. He promised no one would lose health insurance from an employer. Now government reckons at least 3 million people will lose their insurance. For starters. Folks don’t like stuff like this.

To lots of folks, Obamacare is like a house built by a guy who only knows how to build with steel. The powder room is stainless. The bathrooms, too. The floors as well. Because this guy knows only steel. The guys who designed Obamacare know only government. You ask them to solve a problem and their only material is government.

In other words, we could do better. Sure, we can improve health care in this country. But we can do so without armies of new bureaucrats. We can do so without increasing government’s powers and without allowing government to gorge on more of our economy.

How can we do this? Let us have government lay down some rules. Some standards. Some requirements. Then let individuals and businesses and hospitals and doctors operate within those rules. In this way, government fulfills its responsibilities. It protects its citizens — by laying down rules that accomplish this.

If this sounds naïve to you, consider the IRA industry. And the 401(k) and 403(b) industries. One hundred million workers. Trillions of dollars. All the players perform within guidelines from government. Guidelines that protect workers’ money. There is no big IRA or 401(k) department in Washington. There is no army of bureaucrats spewing out mountains of regulations.

We could do the same with health care.

Why, then, did the president and Congress create the stainless-steel monstrosity they did? Virtually none of them have worked in the private sector. Virtually all are millionaires. Their government health-care plans are free or cheap — and comprehensive. Their pensions are so rich they would make you gag.

In short, they are a pack of elites. And they never bothered to climb down from their plateaus to ask us lowly peasants what we might want in health-care reforms. 

Maybe if the Supremes kill this monstrosity, our leaders will go back to square one. And at square one, perhaps they might listen to a few voices from outside their beltway bubble. 

They could do a lot worse than this. That is the problem. They already have. 

From Tom...as in Morgan.                

Tom Morgan writes about financial and other subjects from his home near Oneonta, in addition to his radio shows and new TV show. For more information about him, visit his website at www.tomasinmorgan.com