From the Left to the Right: John Stossel

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Obamacare Warning – Questions: What Does the Full Implementation of The Affordable Care Act Mean For Americans? Is the ACA Truly Affordable? Why not Ask? (Part I)

Written : Apr. 27 and May 1, 2013

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Sounds great – free healthcare for everyone… but is it really free?

If solely the Republicans in Congress had sought exemptions from The Affordable Care Act (The ACA, a.k.a. Obamacare) for themselves and their staff members, one could say that they did it out of political motivation. Those rascally righties are out to do anything to undermine President Obama, they’d say. However, congressional Democrats also tried to extricate their memberships and staffs from the new health care law. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) implied that the bill is not “workable for everyone.” Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), who crafted The ACA, called it a “train wreck” last week, and then announced his retirement. As Hamm the piggy bank says in the original Toy Story movie (as he raises one eyebrow), “Something’s screwy here.” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebilius said that there will be losers under Obamacare. I think she’s right, and I’m not just saying it to oppose the president, I am truly worried.

Okay, I’ll admit it. It sounds great to get everyone health insurance coverage. A problem occurred, though, when the Democrats crafted the law without Republicans. No, we’re not jealous; it’s just bad policy to create a law from only one side of the aisle. You have to admit that when that happens, they end up not considering all the angles, and that’s not good. The founding fathers created checks and balances to prevent such a travesty. Let’s face it, Democrats would never stand for Republicans going to the back room and jamming a law through as they did. And, it would be just as wrong!

Republicans warned us about Obamacare early on, and they claim the law is bad for business. Why? It exempts companies from providing insurance for their employees if the number of workers is less than 50. What’s a poor business to do? Keep the number under 50. In addition, the law makes it okay for businesses to not provide insurance for part time workers, so, what will they do? Hire part time workers. It pays in some cases to hire two part timers when one full-timer is needed.

Many conservatives see Obamacare as a big problem no one sees coming. Is it?

The dichotomy is easy to see. Democrats don’t mind paying more of their incomes to the government, and Republicans believe that higher taxes hurt the economy. Liberals say health care is a right, while conservatives say more government regulations create undue burdens. (Hey, I’ll bet there’s a middle ground there, somewhere!) Republicans believe that Obamacare will hurt us, while Democrats say not to worry. As the left feared President Bush’s policies, Obamacare scares the heck out of me.

I’ll post Part II next week.

Tragedy of the Commons – John Stossel on Sharing and other Liberal Ideas

Nov. 29, 2011

What’s best, public or private? In a family, as a general rule, everyone shares equally in the successes of the others. On the Stossel TV show on FOX News Channel over Thanksgiving, the socialism of the family was shown to work because all the members know each other and, as a result, are willing to work together and share. Liberal causes try to push this into the public sector, but it’s an ill-conceived idea. It seems so nice. It also sounds like common sense: If everyone shares, society would be a better place. John Stossel revealed why public ownership falls short.

Examples abound. When sheep are herded in a socialistic setting, where everyone owns the large meadow (a commons), each sheepherder will add sheep until the land becomes ruined by over-grazing. If the land is divided amongst the people, however, each person tends to use more care over the land and will stop adding sheep before his field becomes overcrowded. When the pilgrims first arrived in America, they wanted to share the land, and share in the profits. It sounds wonderful, but they nearly starved. Gov. Bradford, after two years of his colony’s failure, gave parcels of land to individuals, and the settlement prospered.

In the communal setting, if I let the other people work hard and I slack a bit, that’s ok because I’ll get my share anyway. But when I own it, as is the case with private property, I’ll tend to take care of it with more diligence. Stossel cited the example of Bryant Park in New York City. When publicly owned in the 1980’s, the park suffered a steep decline. Now it is privately owned and the park is well manicured, fun to visit, and safe. In general, liberals fear such an arrangement because they don’t trust any corporation in charge of anything. Yet, Bryant Park is a shining example of what private ownership can do.

The American and Canadian Indians find themselves in quite a predicament. Stossel said, “No group has been more taken care of than the American Indian, and no group has done worse.” A Canadian Indian appeared on the show to point out that when Indians make use of private property rights, they prosper. When they don’t, they remain impoverished. Oh, and one last thing. To use a question asked on Stossel’s show: What comes to mind when you hear the term, “Public Toilet?” Aha!

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From the Left to the Right

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Obamacare Warning – Questions: What Does the Full Implementation of The Affordable Care Act Mean For Americans? Is the ACA Truly Affordable? Why not Ask? (Part I)

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Tragedy of the Commons – John Stossel on Sharing and other Liberal Ideas

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