Comments on: Trade Health Care for More Stimulus?

By: DLS

DLS — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:48:13 +0000

Meanwhile:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125928189292865...

By: DLS

DLS — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:33:04 +0000

“maybe we could just not spend a bunch of money on new things”

That makes too much sense. It also gets in the way of health care “reform,” namely “sweetners” to “stimulate” reluctant votes. Mary Landrieu and her suitors have effectively set a “floor” on what a “reluctant” vote for “reform” will cost, at approximately 300 million. Half a billion on final legislation, per “reluctant” Dem vote, won't surprise me at all.

By: DLS

DLS — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:00:36 +0000

No. Shallow as well as unmerited.

By: Leonidas

Leonidas — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:55:13 +0000

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: “from bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”

– Alexander Frazier Tytler, 1776

By: ProfElwood

ProfElwood — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:00:05 +0000

"From the lowly front desk clerk to the PAs, nurses and MDs and every function inbetween [and folks, there are a lot of them], and supporting industries for medical products, there would be a rise in employment and business products."

There's a well-documented severe shortage of General practitioner MDs out there right now, which isn't going away anytime soon. Most family doctors are working 80 or more hours per week, and wanting to quit the treadmill. The AMA will fight hard to keep, just as they fought for the power to create shortages in the first place.

The health care packages that congress is considering all have the root problem: they are attacking the end costs but not the underlying causes. This isn't by accident, nor by oversight.

By: Leonidas

Leonidas — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:56:29 +0000

Here’s a radical idea for the President of Change: Take most of it off the table until after next year’s elections and put your full weight behind another stimulus that would speed up economic recovery, create jobs and shove it down the throats of Republicans who are using the incoherence of health care reform to confuse Americans who are terrified about the economy.

Here is a radical idea, let the taxpayer keep their own money and spend it as they see fit, stimulating the economy in the areas where consumers will support. Maybe with this stimulation more people will be back to work and can afford healthcare.

By: PWT

PWT — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:37:45 +0000

Spending the money that I pay to the government in taxes in order to pay the bill for another's health care is not stimulating the economy. It is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Also, because the amount of taxes that I will have to pay annually will increase if the new healthcare package passes, I will have less money to purchase things for myself and my family which will negatively stimulate the economy.

It is not that the Obama administration has been asleep on this angle, it is just that they may have at least a minimal understanding of economics.

By: DaGoat

DaGoat — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:18:59 +0000

Here's a novel idea, maybe we could just not spend a bunch of money on new things right now.

By: TheMagicalSkyFather

TheMagicalSkyFather — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:50:04 +0000

And we would be lucky enough to re-visit health care reform in another 16 years, no thank you.

By: Silhouette

Silhouette — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:45:56 +0000

Getting people to see the doctor more often for regular checkups, which is what the Public Option would do in its most profitable function, would stimulate the economy hugely. Imagine if all the 40 million + who have been avoiding getting checkups for lack of coverage, suddenly started flowing into clinics across the country?

From the lowly front desk clerk to the PAs, nurses and MDs and every function inbetween [and folks, there are a lot of them], and supporting industries for medical products, there would be a rise in employment and business products.

So the stimulus to the economy and the Public Option are the same package as it turns out.