Never a Dull Moment

NICE GOING, GUYS — Republicans did a lot of damage to themselves during the G.W. Bush years with excessive spending, corruption, and hypocrisy.  (Tom Delay, Jack Abramoff, Duke Cunningham, and ol’ “Happy Feet,” Idaho Senator Larry Craig, to name a few.) Those reasons, as much as the Iraq War going badly in the 2005-2007 time frame, are why the GOP got trounced in 2006 and 2008.

But now, five months into the Obama administration, Republicans had just started looking pretty good when stacked up against the statist opposition party, including Barack Obama’s hypocrisy, lack of transparency, cronyism, obscene spending, and heavy-handed efforts to take over the economy.

Republicans were just beginning to gain traction and credibility when along came a couple of extramarital affairs to tarnish the GOP image once again. 

First, Arizona Senator John Ensign admitted to an affair with a campaign staffer (some suspect she and/or her husband were attempting to extort the senator, prompting him to come forward); and now South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford admits to an affair with a woman in Argentina.

He even left his wife and four children alone on Father’s Day and was out of touch with everyone for several days while he saw the woman apparently for the last time in Argentina.  Both Ensign and Sanford were considered serious contenders for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.  Not any more.

Look, we all know there’s been a boatload of Democrat politicians with illicit affairs (Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Gary Condit/Chandra Levy, et al), dalliances with prostitutes (Elliot Spitzer), and sordid gay affairs (James McGreevey).  Not to mention Barney Frank’s lover’s male prostitution ring, and Ted Kennedy, whose drunken womanizing was immortalized in the Paul Shanklin parody, “I’m a Philanderer.”

But most of the mainstream media is enamored of Democrats, and perhaps the libertine lifestyle is just considered part and parcel of the hip 21st century Democrat.  Republicans, because they are more closely associated with religious conservatives, must tread carefully.  They must be beyond reproach.  Obviously, many of them are not up to the task. (John McCain also admitted to cheating on his first wife; ditto for Newt Gingrich.)

The point is, the liberals own academia, the mainstream media, much of the public school system, and many of the courts.  They are ensconced in government at all levels.  Trying to run for president as a conservative is a major uphill struggle.  Members of the GOP who honestly think they have what it takes to be a legitimate presidential contender need to keep their noses clean.  The kind of recklessness we’ve observed of late just won’t cut it.

There must be something about the massive ego it takes to run for high office and serve in the public eye, that goes hand-in-hand with the love of getting sex on the sly and thinking you’re going to get away with it.  Somehow I don’t think Michael Steele knows the answer.

GET USED TO IT — One thing I’ve notice about Barack Obama is he’s so accustomed to media types sucking up to him, and to being the charismatic charmer who sweet talks his listeners, that he really bristles when someone challenges him.

Yesterday’s White House press conference was a case in point.  Fox News’ Major Garrett and NBC’s Chuck Todd peppered the celebrity-in-chief with questions about his reaction to developments in Iran and attempted to get him to be specific on what he plans to do.  He sounded and looked annoyed as he answered their questions, and finally blew them off with an “I’ve answered the question/let’s move on” type response.

MEMO TO BARRY: You’re less than one fourth through your term.  You’d better develop a thicker skin or you’ll go nuts.

DISINGENUOUS — Regarding the health care debate, the President seemed miffed at having to address private insurance companies’ concern that a government-sponsored health insurance program would drive many of them out of business.

He said something to the effect of, “The same people who charge the government cannot run anything now say the government will run the private insurance companies out of business.  There’s no logic there.”

This is what’s called sophistry: It sounds like a logical, legitimate, and dispassionate argument — to the untrained mind.  But to anyone who opposes a government takeover of the health care market, and has solid reasons for doing so, it is badly flawed.

First of all, the government is a not-for-profit entity.  That gives it an automatic advantage vs. private companies when it comes to setting rates and fees.  We don’t know to what extent Uncle Sam will stick its tentacles into health care, i.e., will it become a provider as well as a payer? Will it directly employ physicians, nurses, physical therapists, etc., as with the Veterans Administration? Or will it pay private sector providers?

If the former, that automatically gives the government an unfair advantage over private sector insurance companies.  And even if it is the latter, when an entity commands a HUGE segment of the market, e.g. the government and Medicare, it carries a lot of clout when it comes to setting reimbursement rates.

This segues into the second part of the case against government health care: Cost shifting and possible long waiting lines.

Here’s how it works: Medicare reimburses for certain procedures at a lower rate than a patient would pay out of pocket, or a private insurer would pay.  So doctors, hospitals and clinics must make up for being deprived those revenues by passing it along in the form of higher fees for their customers with private insurance or who pay out of pocket.

This is cost-shifting, and is one of the reasons private health insurance is so expensive. (Liability lawsuits, smothering insurance regulations that inhibit competition across state lines, and a lack of uniformity in the paperwork and forms are among other reasons.)

Furthermore, some doctors elect to avoid taking new Medicare patients, or opt out of the program entirely because of the low reimbursement rates.  Ditto for Medicaid.  The result: Longer waiting times and health care rationing, both of which will jeopardize the health of some patients.

Obama and his fellow left wing dreamers have an ivory tower, pie-in-the-sky, pipe dream vision of how health care should work.  It’s obvious they do not have a clear understanding of how markets function.

Comments

[ruralcounsel]

Re the "disingenuous" health care debate:

Obama's comment is sophistry to anyone, not merely those who oppose nationalized governmental health care.

Is "O" really so stupid as to believe that the anti-competitive nature of governmental interference in the insurance markets, and the subsequent power to destroy the private insurance business, is an indication of a better or more efficient operation perpetrated by government? As any monopolist or oligopolist knows, one can bankrupt the competition if one has deep enough pockets. And the government has the penultimate definition of deep, or bottomless pockets because of its power to confiscate, er, pardon, ... tax. Being better at running one's business is NOT a requirement.

And, once the competition is ruined and gone, prices can rise, service can fall and/or be rationed, and no one in their right mind would ever reinvest in or re-enter competing against the government once they've seen how the market can be manipulated.

Few are willing to suggest that there is nothing that the federal government can't do well. Most of us are savvy enough to realize that there are many things which it can't do well. But screwing up other business enterprises is something at which it excels. Clearly Obama fails to understand or appreciate free markets, capitalism, and true competition. He will officiate over the continuing financial ruin of our nation, responsible for its final headlong death-plunge. Not the kind of 'hope and change' most Americans were expecting.