This post is actually just four separate illustrations that I like to use to explain the problems with Obamacare. This is as much for my benefit as yours, as I want to pull these together in one handy link the next time I need a simple way to explain to lefties why their beloved law has not been the unicorns and rainbows that Dear Leader promised. Submitted for your easy reference:
The Flight of Icarus
Not just an excuse to embed a video from The Greatest Album Ever Made,
[youtube]http://youtu.be/J3I88wsFKao[/youtube]
If Icarus were making his flight today leftists would be yelling at us for not supporting his efforts or agreeing with their proposal to launch a moderate tax on wealthy Americans to subsidize new “green” wax technology companies that will improve the sustainability of flying toward the Sun on bird wings held together by wax. Stupid ideas don’t work better when the opposition shuts up and agrees to throw more money at it.
The Burning Bush
Leftists love to blast the GOP for not having a plan of their own, and this is one point I’ll concede. I find it hard to believe with all of the think tanks, lobbyist interests, and otherwise overeducated a-holes (and I’m one of them) running around this town there isn’t a single white paper on realistic health care reform that the GOP’s party machine can get behind? But sometimes not doing anything is better than doing something wrong.
Let’s say that I have a burning bush next to my house. While it’s a problem it isn’t a threat to burn down my house. Now you, a well meaning leftist, come along and throw a can of gasoline on the bush, with predictable results. You missed a few science classes and think that throwing any liquid on a fire will extinguish it as water might. Unfortunately our problem of a fire (rising health care costs) is caused by the flammable material (over-regulation) of the bush, and not only has adding more flammable material to the mix worsened the problem, but now the fire has grown enough that it is a threat to my house (the US economy). And now you’re telling me that not helping throw more gasoline on makes the fire my fault, worsened by the fact that when you were running up with the gas can I was screaming to stop while you just yelled back that I’m a racist teabagger and threw the gasoline on anyway.
Giving more power to the bureaucracy that pushed up prices in the first place is like inviting the arsonist who torched your bush to drive the fire truck.
McDonalds
What if the government decided that the fact that not every American can afford to eat at McDonalds whenever they want is a problem? Let’s say that we passed a law that forced every American adult to buy McDonald’s vouchers. There would be price supports for lower income Americans in McDonaldcaid, and this would be paid for by doubling the cost of every item on the menu for any customers with middle class earnings. Participation in this would require you to buy your burger through a new intricate touch screen which may or may not work, but will (unsecurely) warehouse your personal and private data which may be used for audit or law enforcement purposes, forever ending the notion of customer/cashier confidentiality.
But more importantly, let’s look at how the fry cooks are compensated. Let’s say that instead of an hourly wage they were paid per customer served. Now we tell the cook that to save money we’re going to have to reduce the amount he gets paid for this flood of new McDonaldcaid that have recently signed up for the program. How much incentive do you see for the chef to accept these new customers on top of his loyal regulars, or for new chefs to see these new customers?
I can see my lefty pals gnashing their teeth as they read this, pointing out that McDonalds is a simplistic, flawed analogy. And now that you mention it, it is. It’s ridiculous to try to compare something as complex as health care to making a bad cheese burger. But is it any less simplistic than arguing that forcing every American to buy health insurance will magically lead to every American to seeing a doctor in a timely manner, receiving excellent service while costing less than they paid before?
The Underpants Gnomes
But what I think is the best analogy comes from those wonderful kids from the long running cartoon, South Park. For anybody unfamiliar with South park, it’s an adult cartoon whose main characters are four roughly ten year old boys living in South Park, Colorado. Although known for its generally crude humor, SP often weighs in on politics. And although their pragmatism generally has them taking conservative leaning views, when a particular episode’s theme is based on a current political issue they do a surprisingly balanced job of skewering both sides while presenting both sides of the argument. Two issues that come to mind immediately were the Terry Sciavo case and the question of allowing gay scout masters in the Boy Scouts. Because the cartoons are very crudely drawn they’re able to turn around quickly if there’s a current event they want to tackle. For example, last week’s episode blasted the Healthcare.gov debacle. The episode being cited for this post is actually more of an ode to capitalism and free markets, and yet is quite timely to the Obamacare debate.
This particular episode features one of the minor character mentioning that Underpants Gnomes are coming into his room at night and stealing his underpants. As the story goes on the boys follow the gnomes back to their underground lair and learn the purpose of their thievery:
Phase 1: Collect Underpants
Phase 2: ?
Phase 3: Profit
In our continuous back and forth on Facebook my lefty pals have presented quite a few arguments. Most of them are chiefly angry rhetoric for us not supporting their bad ideas or reality-challenged assumptions. But I will credit them that the theory of how Obamacare is supposed to work does sound good.
The problem is that the devil is in the details. Obamacare is dependent on young people choosing to buy expensive insurance over a less expensive penalty, which they’ll pay for with the paycheck they don’t have because companies are terrified to hire, not knowing how Obamacare will punish them next, that is when they’re not cutting the workforce or reducing their full time employees to get below the 50 employee “Red Line” where Obamacare is imposed on them. That is, assuming they plan to expand with the loans that Dodd-Frank is protecting them from obtaining. So what’s not to love?
Where I have particular fun with my lefty pals is using that avowed enemy of all leftist thought: math. When Global Warm Mongers harass me I shoot down their anti-science religion by asking them for a few simple measures that will win me over to the cause, or when they throw out “balanced” approaches to our budget I point out that the amount of taxes needed to actually balance the budget would be nowhere near anything they are considering proposing, and the amounts of those “reasonable” increases that leftists like to throw out wouldn’t be more than a drop in the bucket given the size of our budget. And don’t get me started on paying off our federal debt…
Obamacare is no different. Unmeasurable platitudes like “will bend the cost curve down”, “has slowed the growth of rate increase”, “will provide coverage for millions” are given in response, and evidence to support their claim is usually the first link that could be found searching Salon or Slate’s web sites. What I always ask is what benchmarks they’re going to use to determine success, or more importantly, admit failure. I’ll even throw out that I’m not even looking for just the big finish point – what are the short term milestones and metrics that can determine if they’re on course or on a path to failure? We already know that they’re well short of the pace needed to hit the March enrollment goal.
But pesky things like facts and reality will never shake the left’s belief in Obamacare. The beauty of their position, like most leftist beliefs, is that results are completely irrelevant. The only yardstick is the outcome that the left wants to see happen, and how good it makes them feel to support it. And this is why we saw President Obama steal America’s underpants in Step 1 as we now wait for some unspecified, illogical miracle to happen at Step 2, and magically we’ll get to Step 3…
Profit!
Cross posted from Brother Bob’s Blog
What’s important to remember about Obamacare is that the Democrats who voted for this turd and now want to change the law are responsible!! NOTHINGS fundamentally changed in the law since it passed years ago!! For them now to say change it is heretical for certain!! For these wachos to say “I didn’t read it” is NO excuse, ignorance of the law is unacceptable!! Worse yet, if they read it and still signed it and now want to change it, they are even more ignorant!! It is also important to remember that NO Republican supported it, they told America it was flawed, and in fact historically won back the House in 2010 because of it!! Hold ALL Democrats starting with Obama responsible.
Such fanciful and excellent illustrations.
I noticed that Obama doesn’t ”run” his Administration so much as blow dog whistles toward it and expect miraculous results.
Obama got those results with the IRS targeting and stopping TEA Party groupd from being effective foils to him in his re-election.
Obama did NOT get his dog whistle response when he wanted the ObamaCare web site built.
His little dogs simply played and partied until time was up.
The site sucks as a result.
Now, as to ”well, where’s the Republicans’ Plan???”
Republicans OPPOSE Central Planning….on principal.
They have ”fixes” that would have been smaller bills and bi-partisan supported had Obama not dug his heels in over a huge take-over of a big chunk of the economy so as to redistribute wealth as opposed to supplying health care coverage.
Not being a South Park follower, I still LOVED that example.
YES!!!
Magic thinking!!!
We’ve seen this type of magic thinking ever since Obama took office.
His hiring/firing/re-hiring/re-firing US Census workers to turn up the curve of the unemployment rate.
When you look at the unemployment graph for this recession (in comparison to other post WWII recessions) you DO see improvement…..that is part-time plus people leaving the workforce.
His ‘‘cash for clunkers” ridiculous plan to jump-start the dead auto industry.
His 1st time buyers’ mortgage that was supposed to bring back the slumping housing market.
His apology tour in the Middle East was supposed to show Muslims why they should like him better than Bush.http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/2/15/1360932355046/gallup.png
http://www.pewglobal.org/files/2012/06/USIMAGE0047.png
Obama doesn’t ”administer” anything, in fact he claims ignorance of everything that his Administration does run!
Obama really does act as if he believes in magic.
Brother Bob
yes i like the VIDEO excellent music super ,
thank you for the gift,
Nan G
VERY GOOD LINKS THANK YOU,
he is a trouble maker, we see it in everything he does,
his intent is to hit the AMERICANS AT THE CORE OF WHAT THEY HAVE MOST DEAR,
UNDER PRETENSE HE IS HELPING THE GROUP HE CHOOSE TO NAME,
I WONDER WHAT WILL BE WRITTEN ABOUT HIM,
HE STILL HAVE TIME TO HIT THE GOOD PEOPLE BY USING ALL HIS MINION CREW,
THOSE HE HIRED TO WORK IN GOVERNMENT AND GETTING PAID FOR SCRATCHING HIS BACK,
IT WOULD NOT BE INSULTING AS MUCH IF HE WOULD HAVE THE HONOR
TO PAY WITH HIS OWN MONEY, HE COULD MOUNT HIMSELF TRILLIONS OF DEBTS ,
TO BE PAID BY HIS CHILDREN AND A FEW MORE GENRATIONS MORE,
WHO WOULD BE SO ANGRY AT HIM FOR GENERATIONS TO COME,
I do know from friends who were dropped that it was because it didn’t meet the basic requirements. This means they didn’t cover much, including hospitalization. Many also had very high deductibles. You want people to continue to have to sell their houses? Some didn’t even cover certain diseases!
We as taxpayers would continue to pick up the tab and premiums would continue to rise at out of control rates. Isn’t this what we’re trying to avoid?
Insurance companies are still working to try to rip us off. They’re telling some people with junk plans if they don’t respond they will automatically put them on a better plan which costs hundreds more.
But it they shopped the exchanges, they’d find it much cheaper. Thousands have.
Yes, Obama should have been clearer about this but – somehow, I knew about it! I’ve been advising friends and family members for months.
@Sock puppet known as This One: In other words, you don’t have any answers either?
@This one: Are you really that stupid?? First of all . what happened to 0-blama’s promise to be able to keep your health insurance and doctor if you like them period?? We are supposed to live in a country where we can make our own choices!! Who do you think will pay for 0bamacare?? The demographics of those signing up will not support this turd!! Also, so far o-bamacare has resulted in 900K more Americans without health insurance at all and climbing!! If it’s so good why are Democrats coming up for re election in the next cycle running as fast as they can away from it?? Is your memory so short that you don’t remember the historic take back of the House in 2010 and the primary issue. Hint, 0bamacare!! Finally y0ur friends have shopped your so called exchanges and realize how MUCH more it will cost them!! With you as a friend I’ll take my enemies and be better off!!
@This one:
Wow. New Media Consultant says, “… because it didn’t meet the basic requirements …”, I see where all those grant dollars went promoting ObamaFail.
Recognize.
Noted Democrat, Clintonite, and political pundit, Kristen Powers made a remarkable revelation about her health care plan.
@This one
One more thing. You said, “[do] you want people to continue to have to sell their houses?
Survey says: logic fallacy. And it appeals to what…
@Brother Bob:
Our resident obama-gnome (aka the troll “This One”) must be wearing all the soiled underwear he stole over his head. He is blind to facts and only keeps droning on with the same nonsensical chants his fellow clueless gnome comrades are posting.
What is standing out to me is the penalty hangning over the head of all the people who sign up,
there was a mention very faintly express about this,
it came from one of those who help the people sign up.
if someone for some reason cannot pay the hundreds of dollars for some times,
he get a penalty from the IRS, we know how compassionate they are with the CITIZENS,
If we remember their style of intimidation,
well it was told they cannot collect your money to pay the penalty, they will take your house,
is in it enough to freake a family from getting in that plan?
we don’t know the future priority on the budget which could lead a family to loose their house because they temporaly decide to put their money on something more important, which can happen
and if can happen, it will happen,
@bees said, “What is standing out to me is the penalty hanging over the head.”
Penalty or tax? Word games with the electorate? Or simply Bullshit?
I like to imagine – I know so radical – when my neighbor wants to buy an apple from me for a dollar – any gov’t mandate that increases our agreed upon price is a tax.
If the penalty is no different from tax – Judge Roberts – and causes my apple to cost $3 instead of the $2 – penalty or tax?
What’s the difference; not a question but an observation.
mossomo
hi,
was that word penalty heard or apply to something
which the people where buyng before OBAMA,?
I don’t think so, and to me it”s an awfull word to use to punish AMERICANS,
along with all the words he like to throw in his speech,
like revenge, “vote for revenge”, sequestration on the military, and punishment,
that on the most tolerant PEOPLE of the WORLD,
the proof is he is still there,
Will all of ”This One’s” talking points be thrown under the bus this morning?
Obama is going to speak in about an hour and supposedly he’s got another ”Administrative Fix,” for ObamaCare.
Will he throw us deeper in debt to lenders such as China by increasing the % above poverty for subsidies?
Will he illegally impose higher taxes on ”the rich,” to pay for ”the poor?”
As O’Care stands now you can be subsidized if you earn as much as 400% of the poverty level.
Will the new ”poor,” be 500%?
600%?
1,000%?
And will insurers be enslaved to Obama?
They were PROMISED (heh!) by Obama that they would be getting millions of high payer insurees starting in Jan 2014.
Must they limp along without them?
And as for This One’s ”the basic requirements,” will Obama DROP mandatory maternity from men? From older women? From children?
Will Obama drop mandatory prostate coverage from women? From Children?
Will Obama drop mandatory pediatric care from older couples? From single people?
He might do any of that.
Or Obama might just lie, lie lie for an hour.
THE PRESIDENT forget he is not paying with his own pocket money,
THIS LAW OF THE LAND THEY CALL IT, CAN BE CHANGE AND NULLIFIED ANY TIME BECAUSE IT’S A WRONG LAW,
but OBAMA doesn’t negociate or accept compromise, HE KNOW iT ALL,
DOES HE KNOW THE tax payers will pay for that? afording care law,
and for the one who cannot pay obamacare,
DID OBAMA FORGET that the taxpayers are paying for welfare all of it and the stamps also,
and their phones,
does OBAMA KNOW THE TAXPAYERS ARE PAYING FOR THE HALF BILLION HE SPENT FOR PUTING THE WEB SITE which failed, DOES OBAMA KNOW THE TAXPAYERS WILL PAY ANOTHER HALF BILLION TO FIX THE BAD WEB SITE,
does OBAMA know the many agencies he hired and their secretary each and the vacations and expanses
are paid by THE PEOPLE STRECH TO THE BONES,
does OBAMA KNOW THAT ANY SPENDING OBAMA DOES IS PAID BY THE PEOPLE ,
AIRFORCE ONE ALSO,
IS IN OBAMA TIRED OF LIVING AND SPENDING ON THE DOLE OF THE PEOPLE ?
WELL THE PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF SUPLYING YOUR FANTAISIES,
Exactly, this penalty for not buying insurance from the very companies who wrote the law is, as my fiance puts it, a bitchslap to our faces! He wrote a funny, but true song about it. Search “obamacare bitchslap” on youtube to watch. If we arent satisfied or do not want obamacare then we can at least leverage them to have to make some major changes to it (for the benfit of the people) by NOT BUYING IT and taking the bitchslap aka penalty instead. The IRS/insurancee companies and those who will profit most from ObamaCare NEED the majority of people to buy insurance in order for this to work for them. So i say, lets not and encourage others to make that choice by helping educate them too!Check out the obamacare penalty song here: http://goo.gl/6eKXCg
@Chelsea, #16:
There is no specific insurance plan that Obamacare requires a majority of the people to buy.
What it requires is that a majority of people who had no insurance get some, and that insurance companies sell only policies that meet a certain minimum standard. Some old plans failed to meet those new minimum standards, and are consequently being discontinued. Insurers are offering new plans in their places that do.
Yes, they do often cost more. A car lacking seat belts and airbags with crappy brakes and cheap tires would undoubtedly be less expensive than a car meeting certain basic safety standards. I generally like the freedom to choose. I prefer that such deathtraps be forced off the market, however, since the more people who opt for them, the higher my own health and liability insurance is likely to get to pick up the cost of other people’s poor choices.
Every person who failed to buy health insurance, or who was previously unable to buy health insurance, or who had inadequate insurance, was one more case of someone who would eventually add to healthcare provider costs, insurance costs, healthcare service fees, and the shared burden of public healthcare on the American taxpayer. Assuming, of course, that society didn’t simply let such people go without. The number of people falling into that category was previously rising very rapidly.
Maybe some people would be OK with that. I’ve noticed that some of the same people who oppose Obamacare will also go off on Medicaid, and sometimes even Medicare. It’s also very apparent how they feel about publicly funded health services for women.
GREG
YOUR SHOTS LIKE AN ARROGANT PEACOCK, ARE TIRESOME,
CAN YOU TALK CIVIL
Love the poster. I may work on a similar one. In 1865 democrats were forced to stop buying people, in 1961 LBJ showed them they not only could buy people again, but could do it with other people’s money.
No need to reply troll.
Chelsea
that is very good song< it fits right in,
will you stop bitchslap him, really that is too many bitchslap on one good man,
DON’T PICK ON HIM, PICK ON OBAMA,
BYE
JustAl
nice to have you here, don’t be so long,
bye
@Greg: Care to expand on your definition of ” publicly funded health services for women.”?
If you’re referring to forcing me to pay for infanticide and to pay a future one percenter to spread every sexually transmitted disease she has all over town then yes, I am opposed to that.
Brother Bob
I couldn’t said it better,
BYE
@Greg:
If we accept that as true, then who is supposed to pay for it? I assume that most people that don’t have insurance, do not have it because they can not afford to buy it. But since we will now require women to have routine prostate checkups and men have pap smears and mammograms, I’m gonna guess that instead of 50% of the people in the country getting prostate exams, we will now have 100% getting prostate exams, and we will now have 100% getting pap smears instead of only 50% of the people getting them, that the cost of prostate and pap smears is going to double. So now instead of a woman paying 0 for a prostate exam, she is gonna have to pay for one. But hey, every car has to have a seat belt in the back seat even if no one will ever ride in the back seat, right? The important point though is that the woman that didn’t need a prostate exam is going to be forced to pay the premium to cover that procedure, even if she never needs a prostate exam. And, if she doesn’t have a job, someone is going to pay that premium for her. That someone is probably a person with a job that already had a policy that covered all necessary procedures (no prostate exams for women or mammograms for men were included, so they kept the cost down a little) but now they are going to pay for these unnecessary procedures both for themselves and for all those that couldn’t afford to pay for it themselves.
Libs will get a stunning revelation when they get their first annual premium for Obamacare. (That is the ones that will actually pay for their own policies)
@Greg:
You are such a tool. I have no reservations calling you out.
You said, “There is no specific insurance plan that Obamacare requires a majority of the people to buy. ”
k – spin it baby.
Define how many millions does ‘majority’ not cover.
“No specific insurance plan” … ObamaFail requires: Post-menopausal women to purchase birth control and maternity coverage – an ACA mandate.
Plus – Childless male 23-year-olds are forced by threat of jail and fines to buy pediatric [toddler] dental insurance for babies they haven’t fathered.