Free Lunch

I've been watching this health care thing, and have finally had my gutful.

First off, it looks to me like Congress believes that we're either serfs, fit only to be taxed for their giveaways, or perhaps retardates, too stupid to think for ourselves.

In either case, I resent their inferences.

The avowed intention of all too many in congress is to take away from me part of what I work for to give it to someone else. What does that do to my incentive to excel? I can tell you, nothing at all. I can also point to places like what used to be East Germany, what used to be the Soviet Union, among others where the government ran everything. It didn't work well. Maybe everyone (except, of course, the ruling class in the otherwise classless society) got the same gifts, benefits, or accommodations, but they weren't great, and if you wanted better, there was nowhere to go.

The latest incarnation of the Health Care bill has left in it all the crap that turned me off to it at first , to wit:

• The Death Panels (not so named, but it amounts to the same thing - rationing care, and determining by committee (of mostly young folks [which, to me, is anyone under 60])) when the extended care for an elderly person is no longer worth the cost - something which families tend to be able to determine right now
• Forcing insurance companies to take folks that would otherwise not be insurable - I know, this is a kinder, gentler thing - and it is also what is accomplished by open enrollment periods.
• Fining or penalizing anyone who might decide that being uninsured was an acceptable risk. This will impact only us serfs, as the rich guy can afford either to be insured or to pay his own bills.
• Exempting Congress form all the requirements of this 1,990 page document allowing Congress to keep its own superior system for which, of course, we are paying.
• No checks on citizenship before enrollment - which means that some of my money (and yours, too) will go to procure benefits for folks who are not here legally.
• The requirement that benefits be offered by businesses now too small to afford them - which means that some places will close, and some jobs will be lost.
• The absolute refusal to place any limits upon lawyers, even so trivial as to insist that, when they lose they pay the other side's costs, one place that England got something right. Of course, most congresscritters are lawyers, so I guess my surprise is misplaced. The end result will be fewer doctors, and lawyers better paid than the folks with which we would trust our lives.
  

The Current Occupant has the colossal gall to assure us that there will be no added cost to the consumers for all this added "Service" since they'll be killing off medicare waste and fraud - quite probably by redefining what constitutes acceptable quality of life for old folks like myself until we are all dead just before Medicare qualifications allow its use.

This used to be a free nation, where personal responsibility was prized, and a way of life. It is being turned into England, a gimme nation. If I wanted England I'd be there, not here.

When all choices are made for you, they are no longer choices - and you'll learn that thinking about choice is frowned upon, not proper, and antisocial. Is this what you want?

I don't want my money to pay for illegals, regardless how 'kind' it might appear to be. My ancestors played the game as it was defined, waited in line and came here legally. They were poor but they grabbed the opportunities and made better lives. The choice to do this is gradually being taken away from you in the guise of kinder, gentler, caring government.

BOHICA and TANSTAAFL come to mind - principles that are learned in a hard way and once learned generally are learned when it is far too late to fix the root cause.

The way things are going, in another ten years or so this expression of my opinion will likely get me locked up. Think about that, folks.

I'll have more to say later. Meanwhile, I would encourage folks to visit Townhall.com and read at least anything that Thomas Sowell has to say.

BTW - for those that may not recognize my acronyms,

• TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Things As A Free Lunch
• BOHICA - Bend Over Here It Comes Again
• BTW - By The Way

Have a pleasant balance of the diurnal episode.