Let's see if I have this straight. Corporate American will run most of the nation's health care industry by providing first rate medical insurance coverage for more than 90 percent of the nation's population while reducing costs. This is good because free markets are good. Now this is the same corporate America that said deregulation of the financial services industry would create perpetual prosperity when in fact it brought the nation's banks to its knees. Corporate America championed home ownership for every family and approved mortgages to people who couldn't afford them and created refinancing schemes that resulted in millions of home foreclosures and financial ruin for millions of families. This is corporate American that created financial weapons of mass destruction (such as collateral debt obligations) that practically know one understands that drained trillions of dollars from the economy and into the pockets of rich guys.. This is corporate America whose executives paid themselves billions of dollars in bonuses while the nation teetered on financial collapse. This is corporate America who claims every kid should go in debt up to his or her eyeballs to get trained for a job while sending millions of jobs overseas and cutting work hours and benefits back home. And this is corporate America that sells around 371 billion cigarettes a year for an estimated $82 billion dollars. This is corporate America that sells $100 billion dollars a year in booze. This is corporate America that spends hundreds of millions of dollars advertising drugs on television with side effects that can kill. And this is corporate America that racks in an estimated $2.7 trillion a year on people being sick. Well, the Obama Administration may strike up the band if congress passes a health care reform bill. And the mass media will applaud, claiming it "was the moral thing do" when in fact it was the immoral thing to do placing the nation's health care in the hands of corporate America. When there are profits to be made off of sick people, believe me, there will be more sick people than ever.
So corporate America is expected to keep most people healthy at a reasonable cost. As sportscaster Al Michaels once asked: "Do You Believe in Miracles?"
October 14, 2009 | In Health & Medicine
Discuss
Bryant Bultman on October 15, 2009, 6:38 PM
Concerning your statement
“Corporate America championed home ownership for every family and approved mortgages to people who couldn’t afford them and created refinancing schemes that resulted in millions of home foreclosures and financial ruin for millions of families”
I think you are leaving out an obvious player in this debacle, the government and the Community Reinvestment Act. Also do not forget the militant ACORN activists that protest at banks to force them to give loans to those who are bad credit risks. As a supposed journalist, I would think you would provide your readers with a full view of the situation not just the one that fits your personal agenda. Why do you not discuss the numerous times reform bills came to congress to provide tighter regulation of the GSE’s but were killed by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. Where is your digust of that? What if that regulation was passed? Maybe the whole banking mess could have been avoided or at least lessened. I guess we will never know since the corrupt politicians did not pass any of these tighter regulations.
I agree with you on the evils of cigarettes, but look how much the government is dependent upon the tax revenue generated by the sales of these things. Do you think the political machine of big government and big spending in Washington is going to just stop that stream of dollars from coming in? Do some research on all the congressman that these companies contribute campaign money to. This issues has two big players that are very dependent upon each other. Again, you are missing the whole picture. If you look at the “booze” industry you will find that same.
I also agree that the health care reform will be a disaster that we and our children and their children will pay the consequences. However, I am on the side that a government run system will be a complete catastrophe. Just think about it from a perspective of what other programs the government has run ’er misrun.
Medicaid unfunded liability in the trillions of dollars and countingSocial Security going bankruptMedicare unfunded liability in the trillions of dollars and countingNational Dept $10 Trillion and countingCongress diverting Billions from military service needs for troops to fund their out earmarks.Billions in the stimulus being sent to unions and social activists organizations not to helping the economyBillions in stimulus spending put off till the next elections instead of spending it NOW to jumpstart the economy. Meanwhile millions lose jobs so the politicians and look good in an election year. Billions wasted in foreign aide to corrupt governments that abuse their own people.
I can go on but I hope you get the idea. While corporate America is no saint, they are better at running things since profit is a big motivator to be efficient. The government needs to provide a much better framework for the insurance industry to operate within. Within this framework the deficiencies that currently exist could be addresses while also increase competition amoung the companies. This wouild allow people to move to what ever plan fits them best and if you feel you are getting ripped off you can move to another provider, without penalty unlike the cell phone industry(That termination fee is a bad joke) I would also think this framework should provide a base level of coverage that the companies should provide so we can get everyone covered for a reasonable cost. Someone who is 23 usually doesn’t need the same plan a 50 year old does. Basically more flexibility is needed. In closing, please provide the full picture of the issues. There are many Demons out there. Destroying just one leaves another that becomes more powerful and corrupt.
- Bryant
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