$829 Billion

$829 Billion. That is the cost of the the new healthcare reform bill. It was passed today in congress by thirteen Democrats and one Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. It would require nearly everyone to obtain coverage, bar insurers from denying coverage because of preexisting conditions and make insurance plans easier to afford by providing lower-income consumers with financial help.

It would cost an estimated $829 billion over 10 years and be paid for by taxes, fees and reductions in Medicare costs. Yes I said it- MORE TAXES, MORE FEES AND A REDUCTION IN YOUR GRANDPARENTS MEDICARE BENEFITS. Thanks to Maine's Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican, she said she backed the measure ``with reservations.''

Oh, and government mandated and provided health care is NOT the only possible solution, and not the best because historically (and today is no exception):


1. Bureaucracy has always been known to be expensive and restrictive, and no one has ever known it to be otherwise. Mandatory health care will be expensive and restrictive as well.

2. There is a laundry list of scandals readily available from countries that provide government provided health already. (A good example is Canada.)

3. A quick reminder that “The grass is always greener”. The sun doesn’t automatically shine when the Government dirties its hands the way the media portrays it.

4. Think about the vast history of government spending scandals, and then incidences where the government has been applauded for its frugal spending, which is more numerous? Is the answer significant?

5. “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time”: the press has the ability to create a temporary ‘mob mentality’ with people who don’t take the time to think through the problems themselves when they run away with an idea. Just because it sounds ‘humanitarian’ doesn’t make it so, good, or even the ‘right thing’.

6. Our country came to be precisely in order to limit government control and so prevent abuses by government imposed on its citizens. That has historically been the source of our countries greatness, and this bill is in direct contradiction to that rule.

7. Each of these points can be easily supported against attack, and there are many more strong arguments that can made concerning this bill.

A quick note: We Americans like change. “Change is good”, or so the adage says, right? But isn’t it more true that Change is neither good nor bad? Change can happen for better or for worse, and it takes a discerning eye to tell the difference between the two – not a passing glance at some text and trust in other’s opinions. You have to look at the stuff yourself, or risk adding to the problem.

Side note: Albuquerque is FINALLY going to get its own Hard Rock Casino and Hotel!!!! We are moving up in the world!!!!!