Robert Reich Sounds Sci-Fi on Health Care

Opponents of Obama's health care proposal are often described as "alarmists," as they discuss rationed health care, the death of innovation, and the devastating effects it will have on the budget. However, what really angers proponents of government health care is when people discuss economic euthanasia. That is, allowing people to die or even encouraging people to die because prolonging their lives would only provide a drain on the economy. In Europe, people often hear, "I am sorry sir, but your wife is rather old and has been retired for years, it really does not make sense to spend the type of money necessary to prolong her life." My own family heard a similar tale when my grandfather passed away back in the 1970s in England. I remember hearing my family say that they had no recourse, since "we have no way to sue the government." That, too, is another problem with socialized health care.

Those who support Obama's plans say that such arguments in our health care debate are unfair. "The US would not create a sci-fi environment of people being eliminated on economic grounds," we are told. Only the most extreme personalities support such a position.

I wonder if they would consider Robert Reich such an extremist? Reich was the 22nd Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton and is an adviser on economic issues for President Obama. He holds a BA from Dartmouth and a JD from Yale University.

Recently Reich spoke at the University of California and painted a picture of what an "honest" politician would say when running for President, if "that candidate did not care about becoming president. In other words, this is what the truth is and a candidate will never say, but what a candidate should say if we were in the kind of democracy where citizens were honored in terms of their practice of citizenship and they were educated in terms of what the issues were and they could separate myth from reality in terms of what candidates would tell them." An "honest" politician, that does sound scary. This is all the more so when you get Reich's perception of such in giving a hypothetical speech.

Reich, acting as the "sound" leader stated, "Thank you so much for coming this afternoon. I'm so glad to see you and I would like to be president. Let me tell you a few things on health care. Look, we have the only health care system in the world that is designed to avoid sick people. And that's true and what I'm going to do is that I am going try to reorganize it to be more amenable to treating sick people but that means you, particularly you young people, particularly you young healthy people...you're going to have to pay more." This is definitely the case, especially if the government is going to be the one behind the "reorganization." This is also true if it is going to be a government run system, because the only hope for price containment is in competition and there will be none of that in a national health care program.

This model candidate goes on to say, "Thank you. And by the way, we're going to have to, if you're very old, we're not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs for the last couple of years of your life to keep you maybe going for another couple of months. It's too expensive...so we're going to let you die." By the way, the radical Berkeley crowd loved this remark and applauded.

Could the speech get much worse? The "candidate" goes on, "Also I'm going to use the bargaining leverage of the federal government in terms of Medicare, Medicaid---we already have a lot of bargaining leverage---to force drug companies and insurance companies and medical suppliers to reduce their costs. What that means, less innovation and that means less new products and less new drugs on the market which means you are probably not going to live much longer than your parents. Thank you."

It is interesting how opponents of Obamacare have made these claims about the future about such government programs for years and the media has dismissed them as being extreme in their descriptions. I have yet to read anything from anyone on the right any more frightening than the words of Obama's apologist, Robert Reich.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is also host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650). Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Why Time is not on the Side of Obama's Policy Agenda

All of a sudden it appears that the clock is ticking against Obama. Although the President has long promoted his legislative agenda at record (if not reckless) speed, there seems to be an alarm when he talks and a frequency that people are increasingly describing as "neediness." He may now be "over selling" his agenda and people are beginning to believe that his policies need more vetting before they become law. That is a sentiment that has been conveyed to Congress.

The most costly government "investment" in the form of bailouts that equaled budgets covering many years was passed with the promise that, if it didn't, unemployment would jump to 8.5% by this time. Upon its passage, unemployment is pushing 10% and the voting public is beginning to have buyers remorse when it comes to government solutions.

A central part of Obama's approach to policy was to attack many issues at the same time with the hope that some of them get passed. As a result, many pieces of legislation has flown through Congress without even being read by the member that voted for it. This has lead to Congress hitting the brakes.

As a result, time is not on the side of President Obama for many reasons:

• While the President doesn't have to face reelection until 2012, many in his own party are facing tough fights in 2010. For them, their political future is measured in months, not years.


• Particularly vulnerable in 2010 is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) who is facing the most difficult race he has had in years. He is single handily derailing Obama's health care reform efforts in order to make sure he has a seat in the next Senate. Furthermore, he was quick to dismiss the need of another stimulus package citing the imperative to prove the others have worked. While some Members of Congress are crying that it should not go on vacation until health care reformed is passed, Reid disagrees and plans on taking the scheduled break.


• We have the highest unemployment we have seen in decades and as every point goes up, the popularity of the President goes down. Projecting the effects of the current policies, many are assuming the unemployment rate will be close to 20 percent by the end of the year and then that should sound the end of any political capital necessary for Obama to achieve serious "reforms" in this Congress.
  

There is a saying that, "when your neighbor loses a job it is called a recession and when you lose a job it is a depression." For most Americans, jobs are where the "rubber meets the road." Unless Obama enjoys a miracle in the job creation department, his agenda is in serious jeopardy.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. His articles often appear in Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, USA Today, and other national media. Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

The Last Thing the GOP Needs is an "Alternative" Health Care Plan

Just when you think the Republican party is prepared to draw a line in the sand and put up a fight against the hostile take over of our health care system by the government, we are now hearing about a likely GOP alternative to the Democrat's rationed care system. This is, of course, business as usual. One party will propose a bill and the other party will offer alternatives in an effort to slow down the direction in which the country will be heading. Democrats might offer an alternative to a policy that is too "free market" for their tastes, while the GOP may offer a plan that might slow down the pace towards socialism. That is the problem, particularly when it comes to socialized medicine. To produce their "knee jerk" policy alternative to socialized medicine, which will be filled with government intervention of its own, will merely make the case for a lighter form of socialism, when a case for the free market needs to be made.

Instead, the GOP should take a different approach. Republicans should go on their own offensive and attack what the government has done to health care to date, what government will do to innovation in the future, and how rationed health care has devastated the lives of others around the world. Republicans need to read the growing sentiment of the American people who are looking for Constitutional government and not merely a slower vehicle towards totalitarianism. The following are some bullet points that might help those who want to resist this government expansion:

• Make it personal. Do you know people who have received poor treatment under socialized health care in other countries? How about those who received government care in this country? My mother's family was from England and had relatives die due to socialized medicine, so it is easy for me to make it personal. Spend a little time researching socialized health care horror stories. Conservatives for Patients Rights is an excellent source of information.


• Talk innovation. According to Forbes magazine, 80 percent of all innovations in health care are from the United States. For decades, the prevailing technology that has been used through out the world are from the USA. The reason for this is simple, this country is one of the last with a financial incentive to improve health care. When we remove the incentives in health care, we will naturally see technology slow to a trickle


• Talk about the law. Remind Members of Congress that the Constitution doesn't have a provision for socialized medicine. Furthermore, Article I, Section of the Constitution states what the federal government can do. Point out that this is an issue that is suppose to be left to the states, according to the Tenth Amendment. States such as California, Massachusetts, and Oregon each have comprehensive health care programs. Other states can develop their own, where such is allowed, each state can observe what others are doing and increase the likelihood of developing something that works. Republicans who are afraid of opposing socialized health care should say "I am open to such reforms as long as it is done by the states, where it is allowed."

Obama's health care agenda is immoral. Period. It is stealing from some to pay for others. The state of Hawaii had a universal program that lasted only seven months. Why? "People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free," said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. "I don't believe that was the intent of the program" he went on to say. Whatever amount the government claims it will cost is a mere fraction of what it will actually be. It will be ineffective, expensive, destroy innovation, and be a massive waste. This is a great opportunity for Republicans to take the offensive and fight for the rights of patients.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. His articles often appear in Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, USA Today, and other national media. Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.