Yeah, But....
From the AZ Republic, on the yet-again-revived public option:
Health-care legislation heading for the Senate floor will give millions of Americans the option of purchasing government-run insurance coverage, Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Monday, although he stopped short of claiming the 60 votes needed to pass a plan steeped in controversy. Reid, D-Nev., said individual states would have the choice of opting out of the program. Details of how it would work were still sketchy, but states would get a year after the 2013 phase-in of the new health-care plan to decide whether to participate.
And federal taxes for citizens of opt-out states will be reduced, right? No way. This opt-out is a joke. Its a bit like saying that every individual has the right to opt out of public education in favor of a private school. Sure they do -- they don't have to attend the public school, but they have to pay for it anyway in their taxes.
Update: Sorry, the AZ Republic has made it almost freaking impossible to excerpt from their online articles without bringing over a load of cr*p code.
Sol:
But Coyote, the public option plan will pay for itself, so no tax dollars will be needed!
(Not sure if that previous sentence conveys the proper bitter sarcasm...)
October 27, 2009, 9:20 amMethinks:
Intrade's market on any reform by December is 8 bid at 9.5
The March '10 and June '10 are also below 20%. After that, we'll get a little more competition in congress with the Dumbocrats losing the supermajority. Hopefully, that will create enough gridlock to stop politicians doing anything but grandstanding. They're so much better at blathering crap than anything else. They should stick to that.
October 27, 2009, 9:45 amspiro:
Methinks,
I love how you found a way to MAKE money off the silliness going on in D.C.
"trading in stupidity" = there's the title, now somebody write a book.
October 27, 2009, 10:39 amMichael:
When Carter set the speed limit at 55, state could opt out, they just wouldn't get any federal highway funds. You'll see the same deal here. states can opt out of public health care, but they'll lose something like federal Medicare funds.
October 27, 2009, 10:44 amBrad K.:
Actually, this has the potential to set up that KGB scenario, where California and New York set off the fragmentation of the Union by refusing to send in federal taxes.
If Montana and Tennessee opt out (just daydreaming here), does that mean they no longer get ATF services, too? Or DEA, or EPA? That might convince other states - the freedom from regulations might be cheap at twice the price.
Don't forget, now, Congress is also working on that Food Safety Enhancement Act 2009. You know how your city or county, and your state have health departments to keep restaurants safe? Well, the weenies in Congress are apalled that no one is keeping the food safe before it gets there. So the FSEA creates a bureaucracy under the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), to regulate everyone that produces food, or something that might be a component for food for people or animals, that transports or stores food, that isn't a restaurant. They specifically include anyone that operates, sells at, or hauls food to a roadside stand or farmers market. And those people selling raw milk, for "pets" (wink, wink)? This pulls them in like the big dairies have been longing to do for ages.
Maybe states could opt out of this regulated, registered, recorded, audited, and inspected nonsense, too.
October 27, 2009, 12:03 pmMethinks:
Thanks, Spiro, but I don't actually trade on intrade. I just watch the market there. I trade for a living and that's enough trading for me.
Brad,
I love how well you describe our fascist state.
October 27, 2009, 1:03 pmNoumenon:
School might not be the best example, as lots of people do opt out of public schools, both individually and en masse.
October 28, 2009, 6:02 amMethinks:
lots of people do opt out of public schools, both individually and en masse.
But nobody has ever been able to opt out of paying for public schools.
October 28, 2009, 7:23 amperlhaqr:
Methinks: Sure they do. They just have to live under bridges to accomplish it.
October 28, 2009, 3:06 pmNoumenon:
Nevertheless, the freedom to opt out of the public schools is not empty just because you still have to pay for them. For another example, it is better for the government to provide the BBC at your expense than to also make you watch it.
Not sure if this applies to health care, though.
October 29, 2009, 9:19 amThere aren't any entire states that opt out of public schools.