On...Why Democrats Are Doomed if ObamaCare Passes

Just some insight from Dick Morris.

Why Democrats Are Doomed if ObamaCare Passes

On...Money and Health from Newsweek

Maybe Newsweek is getting better with their new format. These 2 articles are very well done.

British and Harvard guru Niall Ferguson takes on the impact of deficits, debt, and inflation (and Paul Krugman) on an empire like the USA An Empire at Risk

Then Newsweek looks at the groundbreaking medical work of the Cleveland Clinic. The Hospital that Could Cure Health Care
A key part of the article talks with Dr. Cosgrove who operated on my mom when he was a surgeon. He's now president of the Clinic.

On...The Constitutionality of Mandated Health Insurance

George Will brings to our attention the much neglected debate about the constitutionality of Federal Mandated Health Insurance. Will Obamacare (if passed, which looks more likely every day) succumb to the Supreme Court as being unconstitutional? Interesting. Are we in uncharted water? Certainly the Founding Father's never envisioned the expansion of the state into personal lives such as this. But unfortunately that hasn't stopped us before.

Could a possible scenario be that Obamacare passes and is activated, then the outrage against it makes 2010 look like 1994 all over again and in the midst of that flip in power the Supreme Court nullifies the law? Will an amendment be needed? Or could it merely pass and the nation assimilates over time to the new taxes and mediocre healthcaregrab? Man I love the possibilities of history.

GEORGE WILL HERE

On...Wading into a Bog

That Bog Would be Health Insurance Reform

I've avoided this topic for a while and I really don't want to get too far into it because I'm not a medical/insurance expert in any way shape or form and too many people with too little information are wading into this mess. Unfortunately I don't think those opposed to Obamacare or whatever you call it can't stop it. This debate should have been happening back in September and October of 08 not now. These Americans (and they are Americans, we all are Americans no matter how obnoxious) should have thought this over and actually listened to the debates and voted for McCain, but I digress. The votes are in. The Dems run the show with big numbers. They just need to tame the herd.

However, I do think we can force a watering down of the great leap to socialized medicine but that's about it--another step, maybe two, but not a sprint. Team Obama botched that reality all on their own. He does seem a little out of step with Congress--meaning he lets Pelosi and Reid run the show, which is a disaster always in the making. Thankfully. He should have been more direct and said "I want this and this and this, you can debate this and this only. Give me the bill the way I want it." But alas...

Supporters of Health Insurance Reform (which is almost everyone, but how the reform should go is the great difference) should read these two articles below just so they understand a little more about aspects of the debate they may have ignored: Preventive Care and Life Expectancy

Jonah Goldberg has a very solid point about cost and life expectancy in his New York Post article

Charles Krauthammer illuminates how preventive care actually increases costs in the long run.

On...The Only Question That Needs to be Answered (Especially by Obama Voters)

Robert Samuelson at Newsweek has been writing some of the most profound short-length essays about the economy the last nine months or so. I have posted many of them. I think what makes them strong is his total lack of agenda beyond a sound economy. He has acted like one of the few level two thinkers out there. He poses questions without getting partisan or angry. He's not a Paul Krugman who clearly has an agenda and blathers it out to everyone who will hear. And he's not a Republican hammering away at the President and Congress for purely politically reasons. Instead he gathers the data, looks towards the future, and asks the hard questions Americans of all stripes wish to avoid.

His latest essay poses the one question every American must answer and I hope everyone who voted for Obama will seriously ask themselves and then answer the tough follow up questions.

That question is How big a government do we want?

On the surface this is clearly a level one question, but it really is a reflective one when you take the time to break it down. This was really the question people should have been asking themselves going into the voter's booth last November. And then the second question is how do we pay for an expanded government flush with even more entitlements. USA Today had a series of polls regarding Health Care and low and behold it found the majority of Americans want better health care but don't want to pay for it.

Right there is a big problem that has been plaguing the Republic for some time. Too many people believe they are entitled to stuff on someone elses dime. As Samuelson states, "We face an unprecedented collision between Americans' desire for more government services and their almost-equal unwillingness to be taxed." Something has to give. Our president, the Democrats, and too many Republicans in Congress seem to want it all. This isn't practical or realistic. Though it is how many get elected. Unfortunately someone always has to pay and the Democrats' old song and dance about the rich paying only works for so long. The middle-class will have to pay as well down the road. And then free people will find ways around tyranny. They will even move with their feet if they have to.

So I ask merely for all the Obama voters out there to read Samuelson's article and reflect on the only question and then for them to formulate a real answer--not merely a level one response but also on the consequences of an expanding Federal Government today and in the future. Unfortunately I don't think anyone will step up to the plate.

Big decisions need to be made. I only hope they are the right ones.