Republican Congressman predicts the repeal of ObamaCare in the upcoming session?
An interesting story, but I am rather skeptical. Fred Upton suggested to Fox News that a bipartisan effort to nix the recently adopted ObamaCare is viable and that a good number of Democrats will join the process. Conventional wisdom suggests that with Obama as president any effort to repeal his flag ship legislation for which so much political capital has been expended is impossible, however there may be enough votes to overturn the veto. A very timely discussion indeed as three new ObamaCare taxes have kicked in yesterday.
This is very significant for several reasons.
First, Republicans must understand that starting with Scott Brown's election the majority of Americans to this day would like to see ObamaCare repealed. The entirety of the 2010 GOP wave (sans Massachusetts) rested primarily on ObamaCare and spending. Although the weak and ineffective GOP Pledge does commit to repeal the rhetoric has been transformed to repeal-and-replace (troubling), but the idea is at least headed in the right direction. While the voting and election process seems to be ineffective to shrink government in today's America given the number of dependents on Federal programs (Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Welfare, Unemployment, Corporate subsidies) at least November demonstrated that politicians can lose their job. Therefore some in Congress at least believe that 2012 might be the end of their legislative career if they turn their back on repeal. The corollary here is that Democrats have watched their 'Blue Dog' coalition get obliterated in November and all Democrats who either won narrowly or still preside in Republican leaning districts/states might think of their own job. Interestingly enough this whole argument flies in the face of term limits, but I digress.
Secondly, Democrats voted for ObamaCare reluctantly. Although I am not one to comment, evidence and rumors suggest that Pelosi ran one of the tightest Congresses in modern history. Dissent was stamped out and opposition snuffed. At the time of Pelosi's reign and with Obama's election it possible that many Congressmen viewed the new agenda as an accurate representation of the people and thus voted on the biggest Federal grab in Medicine since LBJ's "great society". Combined with fear of going against Pelosi and the misread of America's shift to the left many Congressmen made the incorrect vote. Thus it is possible that they will relish the opportunity to right a wrong.
Thirdly and by far the most crucial aspect of this story is the idea. The idea that an expansive, gigantic, expensive entitlement program can be repealed will be unprecedented. With few exceptions Government grows one way, it almost never shrinks. Although Government size is a difficult unit to gauge, we can all agree that today there is virtually no sector or industry where the Federal government is not involved in - including the recent intrusion into the Internet by the FCC. Combined with record levels of spending as a percentage of GDP and record number of people on food stamps and ninety nine weeks of "unemployment benefits" we have a situation where any reversal in Government size is to be marveled. Repeal of this law would be a watershed moment and signify that elections matter, voting matters, activism matters and writing blog entries matters. It would embolden and rally many liberty loving Americans to promote real solutions to our most vexing problems instead of the top-down one size fits all approaches of Congress.
I am cautiously optimistic that Upton may be speaking the truth, but it would be absolutely humiliating and embarrassing for Obama to have this repealed. If Congress somehow crafts a repeal law and gets through the Senate without any of the replacement nonsense then Obama will be in a very very bad situation. He can veto and go against the majority of the people or he can sign it thus admitting that 25% of his Presidential career was a gigantic waste. Ouch.
Ultimately I would love to see the health care debate actually circulate around the real issues. Real issues primarily include spiraling prices and as any lover of the free market spiraling prices indicate that something has gone wrong.
It does not take a genius to understand that whenever a Government provides subsidies, there will be more of it. Currently, out of 305 million Americans about 260 million get subsidies in one form or another. 90 Million get care through Medicaid/Medicare which pays out at below value thus leaving doctors scrambling while the remainder of Americans get insurance subsidies through the employer by way of tax benefits. In aggregate we have a vast majority of people who have no idea what the true cost of care is, consume it recklessly and then fall victim to sad stories about people without heath insurance. Yet the answer to our problems is not more insurance, but less insurance, much less. By eliminating the giant insurance companies whose sole purpose is to underpay (that is their actual pricing model) we can then attempt to establish relationships with our doctors - the way it should be! By ending Federal subsidies to employers and disconnecting employment from health benefits we can at least expose the true costs to people and lower consumption. By doing away with Medicare/Medicaid we can place back millions of people into a market place where competitive bidding and negotiations can begin at earnest. Doctors will be more than willing to negotiate with people and with no more middle man prices for treatment and prices for Medical schools will plummet.
A boy can dream.
This is very significant for several reasons.
First, Republicans must understand that starting with Scott Brown's election the majority of Americans to this day would like to see ObamaCare repealed. The entirety of the 2010 GOP wave (sans Massachusetts) rested primarily on ObamaCare and spending. Although the weak and ineffective GOP Pledge does commit to repeal the rhetoric has been transformed to repeal-and-replace (troubling), but the idea is at least headed in the right direction. While the voting and election process seems to be ineffective to shrink government in today's America given the number of dependents on Federal programs (Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Welfare, Unemployment, Corporate subsidies) at least November demonstrated that politicians can lose their job. Therefore some in Congress at least believe that 2012 might be the end of their legislative career if they turn their back on repeal. The corollary here is that Democrats have watched their 'Blue Dog' coalition get obliterated in November and all Democrats who either won narrowly or still preside in Republican leaning districts/states might think of their own job. Interestingly enough this whole argument flies in the face of term limits, but I digress.
Secondly, Democrats voted for ObamaCare reluctantly. Although I am not one to comment, evidence and rumors suggest that Pelosi ran one of the tightest Congresses in modern history. Dissent was stamped out and opposition snuffed. At the time of Pelosi's reign and with Obama's election it possible that many Congressmen viewed the new agenda as an accurate representation of the people and thus voted on the biggest Federal grab in Medicine since LBJ's "great society". Combined with fear of going against Pelosi and the misread of America's shift to the left many Congressmen made the incorrect vote. Thus it is possible that they will relish the opportunity to right a wrong.
Thirdly and by far the most crucial aspect of this story is the idea. The idea that an expansive, gigantic, expensive entitlement program can be repealed will be unprecedented. With few exceptions Government grows one way, it almost never shrinks. Although Government size is a difficult unit to gauge, we can all agree that today there is virtually no sector or industry where the Federal government is not involved in - including the recent intrusion into the Internet by the FCC. Combined with record levels of spending as a percentage of GDP and record number of people on food stamps and ninety nine weeks of "unemployment benefits" we have a situation where any reversal in Government size is to be marveled. Repeal of this law would be a watershed moment and signify that elections matter, voting matters, activism matters and writing blog entries matters. It would embolden and rally many liberty loving Americans to promote real solutions to our most vexing problems instead of the top-down one size fits all approaches of Congress.
I am cautiously optimistic that Upton may be speaking the truth, but it would be absolutely humiliating and embarrassing for Obama to have this repealed. If Congress somehow crafts a repeal law and gets through the Senate without any of the replacement nonsense then Obama will be in a very very bad situation. He can veto and go against the majority of the people or he can sign it thus admitting that 25% of his Presidential career was a gigantic waste. Ouch.
Ultimately I would love to see the health care debate actually circulate around the real issues. Real issues primarily include spiraling prices and as any lover of the free market spiraling prices indicate that something has gone wrong.
It does not take a genius to understand that whenever a Government provides subsidies, there will be more of it. Currently, out of 305 million Americans about 260 million get subsidies in one form or another. 90 Million get care through Medicaid/Medicare which pays out at below value thus leaving doctors scrambling while the remainder of Americans get insurance subsidies through the employer by way of tax benefits. In aggregate we have a vast majority of people who have no idea what the true cost of care is, consume it recklessly and then fall victim to sad stories about people without heath insurance. Yet the answer to our problems is not more insurance, but less insurance, much less. By eliminating the giant insurance companies whose sole purpose is to underpay (that is their actual pricing model) we can then attempt to establish relationships with our doctors - the way it should be! By ending Federal subsidies to employers and disconnecting employment from health benefits we can at least expose the true costs to people and lower consumption. By doing away with Medicare/Medicaid we can place back millions of people into a market place where competitive bidding and negotiations can begin at earnest. Doctors will be more than willing to negotiate with people and with no more middle man prices for treatment and prices for Medical schools will plummet.
A boy can dream.
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