Category Archives: Politics
Iran Sucker’s Deal
The U.S. negotiated a deal with Iran that would have eased sanctions without requiring them to stop moving toward an atomic bomb. Netanyahu freaked out and hit Kerry on the nose with a rolled up newspaper calling it a “very very bad deal“. The French went a step further calling it a sucker’s deal and killed it.
Young Voter Base
The president is punishing his base. Young voters delivered for him in both elections. Their reward is to be asked to subsidize older and sicker voters through ObamaCare. It’s a scheme to spread the wealth from the relatively poor to the relatively affluent.
Can’t say he didn’t give the “young healthies” an important job. If they don’t sign up, ObamaCare could go into a death spiral. Or not.
Carl Schramm in the WSJ cites this Manhattan Institute study:
A Manhattan Institute analysis of Health and Human Services numbers notes that a 27-year-old male will pay 99% higher premiums under ObamaCare than he would under previously prevailing market rates. One reason is that the law now limits insurers to charging the sickest seniors no more than three times the amount they charge their youngest customers. Given that 64-year-olds use on average six times as much health care as 19-year-olds, the Affordable Care Act forces young people to pay considerably more than the cost of their own care.
Young men and women who pay a fine instead of buying coverage are not making an irrational choice. They know how little care they need and use. They also may be beginning to understand that the high cost of their plans reflects the redistribution of their wealth to older people and a bunch of mandated services that don’t make sense for them.
Big Fat Bully Boys
Americans, as usual, are holding up our end of H.L. Mencken’s grand bargain that “we get the government we deserve, and we deserve to get it good and hard”.
But what have the polite people of Toronto done to deserve Mayor Rob Ford?
His poll numbers went up when he was caught smoking crack but his latest video rant may be a rage too far. Here’s a nice retrospective of his top then videos.
More Big Fat Bully Boys
As for the other big fat bully boy in the news, things may not be exactly as they seem either. Here’s a view from Lydon Murtha in SI. He’s a former Dolphin teammate of Richie Cognito and Jonathan Martin. Murtha says it was Martin who violated the NFL code of conduct and he sounds convincing.
If you doubted that 300 pound men who smash into other 300 pound men in a high speed collider – just the way we like it – can be bullied, you may be right.
We get the NFL we deserve – good and hard.
What’s in the Bill
We really shouldn’t be surprised to find out what’s in the bill.
Edie Littlefield Sundby wrote a WSJ op-ed about the ordeal of losing her health coverage. Her insurer wasn’t a “bad apple”. UnitedHealthcare spent 1.2 million for her cancer treatment. The op-ed went viral.
The journal has an editorial today suggesting that the purpose of ObamaCare is that everyone gets equal care, not 1.2 million in cancer treatment. Sounds like Edie should just take the painkiller.
Too Stupid to Know What’s Good for You
Being too stupid to know what’s good for you, you bought a “substandard”, “bad apple” health care policy at an affordable price. Lucky for you, that policy has been canceled.
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act you now have access to a more expensive plan with free birth control, except you’re a 60 something male with a vasectomy (which you paid for).
