President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress have peddled for months the claim that ObamaCare socialized medicine would reduce medical spending. But based on common sense and analyses of ObamaCare's costs, the American people just haven't bought that claim.
On the common sense front, it is obvious that our country cannot add tens of millions of people to government health care without major cost increases. You don't need a degree in economics to understand that, and the public's skepticism about ObamaCare's costs was crystal clear in a recent Associated Press survey.
The poll found that four times as many Americans believe the proposals will force them to pay more for care as believe they will wind up paying less. With the overwhelming majority of Americans -- 77 percent -- saying medical care costs too much as it is, it is clear that the public does not think government taking control of medicine is the solution to high spending.
But that is not just a vague public opinion; it is backed by repeated cost analyses. The latest came from Richard Foster, a top financial official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. That's the agency that oversees Medicare.
Mr. Foster found that total medical spending over the next decade would rise nearly $300 billion more under the ObamaCare bill approved by the House of Representatives than it would rise without that legislation.
And putting millions of people on government care would lead to a demand for services that "could be difficult to meet initially ... and could lead to price-increases, cost-shifting and/or changes in providers' willingness to treat patients with low-reimbursement health coverage," the report stated.
That, too, is a commonsense observation. How can the medical system take in millions of new patients with no corresponding increase in the numbers of doctors and nurses? The answer is, it can't. That means rationing of care when the same number of medical workers must treat much bigger patient loads.
With the House having irresponsibly approved these "reforms," the Senate should stop the "ObamaCare Express" before it turns into a massive financial train wreck.
A country that accounts for 41% of the entire world's military expendatures can find a way to afford basic health care for its citizens. It's all about priorities.
I agree with nucanuck. Perhaps if we cut spending money to provide health care to 3rd world countries, we could pay for health care at home. If we cut providing homes and shelters and food to 3rd world countries we could feed and house those here a home.
America should start taking care of its own back yard, before offering help the neighbors
Exusiai - while I agree with you, I don't think that is where nucanuck was going with that. I think nucanuck's bent was more of an anti-war sentiment (and yet another crotch slap at Bush, who has been gone for quite some time now). Some sort of a neo-isolationist strategy, while it has it's merits, is another bag 'o worms altogether.
Our stealth aircraft/ships/ground technologies -- the only thing protecting us these days -- do not come cheaply. By providing good paying jobs for our citizens/legals, it is a form of providing food, shelter, and safety to our people.
In the main, most all of the money spent on our military stays right here at home; providing jobs by the tens of thousands for highly skilled workers -- legal ones. Which is probably the reason most of the left detests the military/industrial complex so...it pays only those who choose both to work and learn.
Military expenditure is about 25% of our budget, last time I looked [a few years back]; essentially all of that money is pumped into the productive sector of our country to those who produce things...those bypassed by "stimulus" funds.
Compare that to Health, Education, and Welfare...they get more money and produce essentially nothing of tangible, lasting value. Health? I give you MediCare, et al and soon-to-be Pelosi/ReidCare...failed systems. Education? We have a nation of illiterates incapable of doing anything but text each other and play video games. Welfare? Well, it is really doing a great job, isn't it? We have a self-perpetuating welfare-class, standing with their hands out and a bankrupt Social Security system.
And so it goes...
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