Filed under: Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Economy, Freedom, Health Care, Law, Progressivism | Tags: Empty Promises, Obamacare, Smoke and Mirrors
Back in 2008, three eminent Harvard economists who were advising the Obama campaign on matters economic — David Cutler, David Blumenthal, and Jeffrey Liebman — wrote a memo claiming that Senator Obama’s health-care plan could reduce national health spending by $200 billion a year.
Candidate Obama had already claimed that health care costs were spiraling out of control, were going to destroy the economy, wreck the budget, so reducing the out-of-control cost of health care was a very big deal indeed. The advisers took that figure and divided [it] by the country’s population, multiplied by four—for a family of four, and using economist math, rounded it down a little to a nice round number: $2,500. Mr. Obama, delighted, then took that number out on the campaign trail:
And he said he’d lower premiums by $2,500 in his first term as President of the United States. Avik Roy writes the Apothecary blog at Forbes magazine about health care, so with new numbers from the experts working for Medicare’s actuary, he used the same economist math. He took the latest year-by-year projections, divided by the projected U.S. population to determine the added amount per person and multiplied by four—for a family of four. With the best economist math Obamacare will increase health spending by $7,450 for a typical family of four. He even included a dandy graph:
Health care costs have been going down since 2006. New diagnostic tools are in place and paid for. Important new drugs like Statins are saving lives and a lot of heart surgery. It was the president’s claim of $2,500 savings that was completely wrong, but that was the basis on which ObamaCare was sold.
This is a touchy point among progressives. But you might remember that George W. Bush’s Medicare Drug plan is the only government program known to have come in under estimates and under budget. That is because it had a built-in incentive to encourage seniors to select generics when they had the opportunity to, in order to avoid the “donut hole” where they wouldn’t get a subsidy unless they really needed it. Democrats, of course, thought that was mean, (they don’t do incentives) and eliminated the “donut hole.”
On the other hand, Andy and Amy Mangione of Louisville, Kentucky and their two boys are just the family of four that should be helped by ObamaCare. They recently got a surprise in the mail.
The insurance charges for the Mangione’s policy was going to almost triple — from $333 a month to $965 a month.
The notice from their insurance company carried this paragraph:
If your policy premium increased, you should know this isn’t unique to Humana — premium increases generally will occur industry-wide.
“Increases aren’t based on your individual claims or changes in health status,” it continued. “Many other factors go in to your premium including: ACA compliance, including the addition of new essential health benefits.”
People who currently choose to purchase a high deductible, low premium policy that’s more affordable for them, are now being required to add all these new benefits to their policy. (Even if they don’t want them).
This tells you how government bureaucrats do economic estimates, and why everything always doubles and triples in cost. (or more) And why you should never believe their numbers.
Filed under: Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Economy, Freedom, Health Care, Politics, The United States
The Treasury Department collects 2.7 trillion every year in the form of income, payroll, corporate, estate and excise taxes plus fees, tariffs and fines and whatever else, and they have run through all of it. Every dollar it spends from now to December 31 will be borrowed. Heck of a way to run a country.
They spend at the rate of over $10 billion a day. Imagine. And they have no intent to stop or lower their rate of spending, and no interest in doing so. You may sit at the kitchen table, pencil and scratch paper in hand trying to figure out how to cut your family’s budget back to meet the straightened circumstances the government has created for us.
Can you imagine borrowing $1,000 from your IRA and treating it as “income?” That’s what the government does. It borrows $33 billion from Social Security this year and treats it the same way it treats tax revenue, instead of the debt it actually is.
That’s the mindset.”There are no more cuts to make, the Cupboard is bare.” Well, that’s Nancy Pelosi, she tells herself nice stories so she can think well of herself.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their annual Long-Term Budget Outlook. It is a pointed reminder that government spending is still out of control. Budget chairman Paul Ryan responded:
“Are we going to get control of the debt before it reaches a breaking point? The President and Congressional Democrats want to wish the problem away. But that’s simply irresponsible.
The report reiterates the obvious Government spending, especially on health care, is driving our debt. And ObamaCare will not solve the problem. The law was a costly mistake. So we should replace it with real, bipartisan reforms.
Key points from the Long-Term Budget Outlook:
- A Large Debt Hurts Jobs — Debt held by the public is projected to grow rapidly as a share of the economy in the years ahead from 73 percent today to 100 percent in 2038. CBO warns that “the high and rising amount of [projected] debt . . . would have significant negative consequences for both the economy and the federal budget.”
- Spending Drives the Debt — CBO projects that government spending will increase as a share of the economy from 20.8 percent today to 26.2 percent by 2038—a nearly 26 percent increase. The aging of the baby-boom generation, rising health-care costs, and Obamacare are “expected to steadily boost the government’s spending.”
- Obamacare Won’t Help — The report warns that the President’s health-care law won’t stop the explosion in health-care costs. Mandatory spending on health care will increase by 74 percent from 4.6 percent of GDP today to 8.0 percent of GDP over the next 25 years. Over the next decade, Obamacare expansions will account for over half the growth in government
- Higher Taxes Will Cost Jobs — CBO warns that if we raise taxes, as the President and his party’s leaders insist, our economy will hit the brakes. The report says higher tax rates “would discourage people from working and saving, further reducing output and income.”
- Entitlement Reform Still Necessary — Entitlement programs—namely Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—and interest payments are driving our debt. CBO projects that government spending in these areas will consume 100 percent of total revenues by 2043.
This is the liberal mindset. God is to be redefined as human freedom achieved through the right political organization. The State is the divine idea as it exists on earth. The Founders never intended for Americans to empower the government to control their health decisions, and what care they may or may not have. This is making the purpose of the state the perfection of humanity, What ever happened to liberty? Damn control freaks. They just can’t stop themselves.
American Elephants 