The healthcare bill is once again, being shaped and molded behind closed doors. There is really only one truth in Washington; large bills hide large lies. The bigger the bill, the bigger the lies and unfortunately, big lies in Congress usually come with an equally big price tag too. The healthcare bill, at nearly 2000 pages, is among the largest bills ever to worm its way through Congress and it is already known to be extremely costly. This bill is being shaped behind closed doors, we have not seen the “manager’s amendment” that was added at the last minute before the House vote and there are widespread rumors that there are at least attempts to hide the real cost of this monstrosity by shifting some of the costs to other bills or by using deceptive language in the amended copy.
Let’s see…the President said he will not sign a bill that is budget neutral. Well, budget neutral is Washington speak that simply means there will be enough tax increases and service cuts to pay for the proposal. Since it has an “adjusted” price tag of $1.2 trillion dollars, that equals an admission by Congress that this bill has $1.2 trillion dollars in tax increases and spending cuts; all taking place while the nation is in a deep recession. The truth is that independent analysis says that $1.2 trillion dollars is a laughable assessment and the actual cost over the first ten years will be closer to $3 trillion dollars.
At $3 trillion dollars, it will still be “budget neutral” because one of the big lies hidden in that 1900 pages is a tiny little provision that give Congress the authority to raise whatever funds are needed. What would happen to an economy that is already dangerously unstable if the Federal Government added another $2 trillion dollars in tax burdens? Washington is not totally crazy. They realize that raising taxes again would spell disaster in the next election so they will take the path of least resistance. More cuts to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates which will shift the burden where it does now; to the State’s budgets and to the privately insured.
Why would Congress blatantly raise taxes when they can force the States to raise their own taxes to cover the shortfall created by federal reimbursement cuts? Why would Congress blatantly raise taxes when they can allow doctors and hospitals to raise their prices and shift the shortages to private insurance? Why jeopardize your own political future when you can jeopardize someone else’s?
Sometimes I think the indoctrination into the ranks of Congress began way back in grade school. The “spit-ball” assailant that watches in silence while another student is dragged out of the room to answer for a crime he did not commit. The stick ball player that breaks a window and hands the bat to the kid he wouldn’t even let play the game, then runs away before the grown ups show up. If you watched the old movies like “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” or “Meet John Doe”, the idea that there is honor in the halls of Capitol Hill is laughable. Congress has always been portrayed as a hive of villains that create law after law; not to benefit the American people but to handsomely reward that small circle of people that keep the politicians firmly ensconced as members of Congress for decades and decades.
This bill has hidden provisions that reward the latest generation of power brokers. Community organizers are suddenly transformed into part of our national healthcare system by providing funds to them for community outreach programs. A recent story taking place in Chicago showed public housing units, funded by Congress and run by these same community organizations. The units were neglected and maintenance personnel working for the property said that they didn’t even have the funds to buy steel wool to stuff in the rat holes that laced the property. Of course those same community groups had plenty of funds when it came to voter registration drives and to organize rallies to support the healthcare bill but somehow, the budget to care for the properties they acquired with Federal funds for the needy, is curiously empty.
The Unions get their rewards too; particularly, SEIU. A provision in the bill would provide funds to hospitals for nurse training provided that the hospital seeking the funds is a union hospital. Isn’t it funny that the SEIU covers healthcare workers and that SEIU’s Andy Stern is the most frequent visitor to the White House according to the recently released visitors list?
So let’s see if I have this right? The bill cuts $500 billion out of Medicare and raises taxes on people with good healthcare insurance plans, the wealthy, medical device manufacturers and through additional employer mandates in the name of healthcare reform but then provides cash subsidies to support the interests of SEIU and for programs administrated through the incredibly large number of ACORN affiliate organizations? The same SEIU whose members proudly wore their SEIU shirts while they viciously attacked a man in Ohio for attending a Tea Party Rally? The same ACORN that has just had their records and computers seized as part of an investigation by the Attorney General in Louisiana? The Same ACORN that has been labeled a criminal organization by a Congressional Committee?
Something is very wrong here and to be honest, I think that is what really needs investigation. Everyone is jumping on ACORN for their actions but I am a firm believer that fish stink from the head down. We have a healthy portion of the stimulus money that has not been spent yet. I honestly believe that the best place that money could be spent; the most effective action we could take to stimulate our economy and restore balance would be to use those funds for a complete and independent audit of every penny that has come out of Congress in the past ten years.
The Federal government only has the money that is has collected from us and with the way it is being spent; I will just go ahead and say “stolen” from us. It is a disgrace that billions are passed through for programs that average Americans easily recognize as ridiculous. Even though our economy is in serious trouble, the United States is still the largest stake holder in the United Nations, The International Monetary Fund, The World Bank plus a myriad of other international programs to create infrastructure and transportation systems in other nations around the globe. All of this is being spent without the knowledge of the American people or at least, without a complete understanding of what it does for the interest of America.
As the largest stake holder in the UN, we still have only one vote. As the largest stakeholder in the IMF and the Word Bank, all we get is an international bureaucracy to tell us what our financial obligations and policies should be. Infrastructure and transportation systems for foreign countries while our own infrastructure and transportation systems are crumbling? Why??? For all of the money this nation has spent in foreign and humanitarian aid, we have never bought a friend. In fact, all we have done is to create an ever growing population of those that wish us harm.
Paul
Let’s see…the President said he will not sign a bill that is budget neutral. Well, budget neutral is Washington speak that simply means there will be enough tax increases and service cuts to pay for the proposal. Since it has an “adjusted” price tag of $1.2 trillion dollars, that equals an admission by Congress that this bill has $1.2 trillion dollars in tax increases and spending cuts; all taking place while the nation is in a deep recession. The truth is that independent analysis says that $1.2 trillion dollars is a laughable assessment and the actual cost over the first ten years will be closer to $3 trillion dollars.
At $3 trillion dollars, it will still be “budget neutral” because one of the big lies hidden in that 1900 pages is a tiny little provision that give Congress the authority to raise whatever funds are needed. What would happen to an economy that is already dangerously unstable if the Federal Government added another $2 trillion dollars in tax burdens? Washington is not totally crazy. They realize that raising taxes again would spell disaster in the next election so they will take the path of least resistance. More cuts to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates which will shift the burden where it does now; to the State’s budgets and to the privately insured.
Why would Congress blatantly raise taxes when they can force the States to raise their own taxes to cover the shortfall created by federal reimbursement cuts? Why would Congress blatantly raise taxes when they can allow doctors and hospitals to raise their prices and shift the shortages to private insurance? Why jeopardize your own political future when you can jeopardize someone else’s?
Sometimes I think the indoctrination into the ranks of Congress began way back in grade school. The “spit-ball” assailant that watches in silence while another student is dragged out of the room to answer for a crime he did not commit. The stick ball player that breaks a window and hands the bat to the kid he wouldn’t even let play the game, then runs away before the grown ups show up. If you watched the old movies like “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” or “Meet John Doe”, the idea that there is honor in the halls of Capitol Hill is laughable. Congress has always been portrayed as a hive of villains that create law after law; not to benefit the American people but to handsomely reward that small circle of people that keep the politicians firmly ensconced as members of Congress for decades and decades.
This bill has hidden provisions that reward the latest generation of power brokers. Community organizers are suddenly transformed into part of our national healthcare system by providing funds to them for community outreach programs. A recent story taking place in Chicago showed public housing units, funded by Congress and run by these same community organizations. The units were neglected and maintenance personnel working for the property said that they didn’t even have the funds to buy steel wool to stuff in the rat holes that laced the property. Of course those same community groups had plenty of funds when it came to voter registration drives and to organize rallies to support the healthcare bill but somehow, the budget to care for the properties they acquired with Federal funds for the needy, is curiously empty.
The Unions get their rewards too; particularly, SEIU. A provision in the bill would provide funds to hospitals for nurse training provided that the hospital seeking the funds is a union hospital. Isn’t it funny that the SEIU covers healthcare workers and that SEIU’s Andy Stern is the most frequent visitor to the White House according to the recently released visitors list?
So let’s see if I have this right? The bill cuts $500 billion out of Medicare and raises taxes on people with good healthcare insurance plans, the wealthy, medical device manufacturers and through additional employer mandates in the name of healthcare reform but then provides cash subsidies to support the interests of SEIU and for programs administrated through the incredibly large number of ACORN affiliate organizations? The same SEIU whose members proudly wore their SEIU shirts while they viciously attacked a man in Ohio for attending a Tea Party Rally? The same ACORN that has just had their records and computers seized as part of an investigation by the Attorney General in Louisiana? The Same ACORN that has been labeled a criminal organization by a Congressional Committee?
Something is very wrong here and to be honest, I think that is what really needs investigation. Everyone is jumping on ACORN for their actions but I am a firm believer that fish stink from the head down. We have a healthy portion of the stimulus money that has not been spent yet. I honestly believe that the best place that money could be spent; the most effective action we could take to stimulate our economy and restore balance would be to use those funds for a complete and independent audit of every penny that has come out of Congress in the past ten years.
The Federal government only has the money that is has collected from us and with the way it is being spent; I will just go ahead and say “stolen” from us. It is a disgrace that billions are passed through for programs that average Americans easily recognize as ridiculous. Even though our economy is in serious trouble, the United States is still the largest stake holder in the United Nations, The International Monetary Fund, The World Bank plus a myriad of other international programs to create infrastructure and transportation systems in other nations around the globe. All of this is being spent without the knowledge of the American people or at least, without a complete understanding of what it does for the interest of America.
As the largest stake holder in the UN, we still have only one vote. As the largest stakeholder in the IMF and the Word Bank, all we get is an international bureaucracy to tell us what our financial obligations and policies should be. Infrastructure and transportation systems for foreign countries while our own infrastructure and transportation systems are crumbling? Why??? For all of the money this nation has spent in foreign and humanitarian aid, we have never bought a friend. In fact, all we have done is to create an ever growing population of those that wish us harm.
Paul
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