Maggie's Farm

Regardless of how she frames it, Hillarycare 2.0 entails a federal take-over of a large sector of our economy - a piece of our economy which is particularly important to us. Why doesn't she focus on the auto industry, and provide us all with government Yugos?

The mythical 47 million uninsured is the excuse. The reason is power, vote-buying, and the relentless need of the Left to control and socialize private enterprise, effort, and achievement - one industry at a time.

The tactic is time-honored: Manufacture a "crisis," then propose an anti-market government solution which strips a citizen of one more piece of his autonomy. Or one more piece of his adulthood, as I often term it, because government-controlled medical treatment is truly the assumption of an "in loco parentis" role.

As I see it, Hillary was humiliated with Hillarycare 1.0. If she is elected, she wants to have a mandate in hand to take over medical treatment this time around.

Bruce Kesler, who is a blogospheric expert on the topic, in Snake Oil Reform - a few quotes:

She proposes that all this will not come at increased government regulation, but ignores that her proposals would gut the private insurance industry while placing the remainder under tight government controls, in effect establishing a semi-private sham for nationalized health care.

She, also, doesn’t mention the uniformity, sluggishness in keeping abreast of the latest developments and the squelching of the incentives to develop them, and ultimately treatment rationing that is inevitable when the overwhelming costs come due of the promises.

But, by then, the promises' hollowness although seen and suffered will be virtually irreversible as the private market no longer exists.

Precisely. Isn't that what always happens? Government programs always create new problems, which then require further government programs to try to fix. He notes:

She proposes expansion of existing government programs to guaranteed coverage for all, but doesn’t mention that the states that have instituted guaranteed coverage regardless of health condition, and community rating to provide the same premium regardless of age, location or condition, have seen sharp escalation in premiums for the younger and healthier, increased government costs, and have not reduced the number of uninsured. (See this multi-year study.)

The way I see it, vast federal programs like this never work, but once they exist, and fail, you can never get rid of them.

... she doesn’t mention that her and others’ figure of 47-million uninsured is inflated by at least double, as it includes a majority who are here illegally or who can afford coverage but choose not to be self-responsible.

Even nationalized health care apologist Ezra Klein notes that all her promises almost sound like she “washes your car.”

In response to my little post on societal codes and that version of the Code of the West, Gwynnie sent me the Cowboy Ettiket below. (A reader also sent me the Larimer County, Colorado, Code for Newcomers: it is tough, and certainly does not encourage anyone soft or risk-averse to move there.)

Don’t squat with your spurs on.

Don’t interfere with something that ain’t botherin’ you none.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

The easiest way to eat crow is while it’s still warm. The colder it gets, the harder it is to swaller.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.

If it don’t seem like it’s worth the effort, it probably ain’t.

 It don’t take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.

The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with watches you shave his face in the mirror every morning.

Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.

If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.

Don’t worry about bitin’ off more’n you can chew; your mouth is probably a whole lot bigger’n you think.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Generally, you ain’t learnin’ nothing when your mouth’s a-jawin’.

Tellin’ a man to git lost and makin’ him do it are two entirely different propositions.

If you’re ridin’ ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it’s still there with ya.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

When you give a personal lesson in meanness to a critter or to a person, don’t be surprised if they learn their lesson.

When you’re throwin’ your weight around, be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else.

Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back.

Always take a good look at what you’re about to eat. It’s not so important to know what it is, but it’s sure crucial to know what it was.

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back into your pocket.

Never miss a good chance to shut up.

OK, those are a bit jocular, but codes like the Larimer County one are dead serious. The more I think about social/societal codes, the more important I realize that they are. Sociologists probably think about this a lot. Codes of behavior - not skin color, not wealth, not national origin - are what distinguish "tribes", and tribes are communities of trust in which the behavior of others is predictable, comprehensible, and based on shared assumptions, morals, and sets of values.

Old postcard: Long's Peak from Bear Lake, Estes Park, Larimer Co, Colorado