Freedom Line Blog

The first surprising quote came from the opening line of his remarks.  “I’m not the first President to take up this cause but I am determined to be the last.”  Really?!?  Mr. President, do you really think that passing a 1017-page bill will end all of our health care problems?  Have you seen the Prime Minister’s Question Hour on C-SPAN?  Do you realize they still have debates over health care in other single-payer countries?  Only their debates focus on people dying in hospitals because the government won’t pay for procedures, and they die waiting.  Passing your bill will assuredly not make you the last President to take up the cause of health care, especially with trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities.

Also, the President claimed, “I will not sign a plan that adds one dollar to our deficits either now or in the future.”  We hope you live up to that promise because the current version of the House bill will add to our deficits.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, it will add at least $239 billion over the next ten years, and this is a conservative deficit projection according to some experts.

Of course, the deficit is only one piece of the health care puzzle.  Cutting costs and confronting over $50 trillion in unfunded liabilities should also be addressed, but the President only promised that he would not touch Medicare.  There is simply no way the President can promise health care for all without drastically raising taxes or adding trillions more to our national debt.

What was left unsaid last night was how the President plans to give consumers more control over their health care.  The bill that the President is likely to sign instead gives 53 new government agencies control over health care, not patients and doctors.

Because of a meeting this morning, morning links are now afternoon links, at least for today.

WSJ – Biden Touts Stimulus
Steny Hoyer – Today’s House Schedule
Reason – Naive First Amendment Question
Government Bytes – Five Ideas the President Should Have
Chris Cillizza – What Obama Should Say
Washington Post – Previewing VA and NJ
Political Wire – Van Jones is Back…

C-SPAN – Oral Argument Transcript from Citizens United v. FEC

Federal Debt: $11.806 trillion

From Ronald Bailey at Reason and the Cato Institute:

So how does health-status insurance work? As Cochrane [Cato Institute Scholar] explains, ‘Market-based lifetime health insurance has two components: medical insurance and health-status insurance. Medical insurance covers your medical expenses in the current year, minus deductibles and copayments. Health-status insurance covers the risk that your medical premiums will rise.’ Cochrane offers the example of a 25-year-old who will likely incur $2,000 in medical expenses in a year. His medical policy component would thus cost about $2,000 per year, plus administrative fees and profit. For purposes of illustration, Cochrane then assumes the 25-year-old has a 1 percent risk of developing a chronic medical condition that would increase his average medical expenses to $10,000 per year. In that case, he would be able to buy medical insurance for $10,000 per year—which is a big financial hit. That’s where health-status insurance comes in: It insures that you can be insured in the future.”

WSJ – ObamaCare to Cost Over $2 trillion
WSJ – Obama Vows Action on Health Care
WSJ – Key Week for Obama Starts on Feisty Note
Cafe Hayek – Downside of Minimum Wage Legislation

Political Wire – Franken’s Map
Club for Growth – Coburn v. Public Option
Reason – Coming Soon to Congress
Greg Mankiw – Unemployment Update

Federal Debt: $11.816 trillion

As Jeff noted yesterday, the filter between Van Jones’ brain and mouth is leaky at times.  However, as the Washington Times reports, Jones once (or possibly still) believed that 9/11 was an inside job.

In 2004, Jones signed a statement on 911truth.org demanding an investigation into the administration’s activities leading up to 9/11, “as a pretext for war.”

From Nobel Laureate Rober Fogel:

“[T]here is no need to suppress the demand for healthcare. Expenditures on healthcare are driven by demand, which is spurred by income and by advances in biotechnology that make health interventions increasingly effective. Just as electricity and manufacturing were the industries that stimulated the growth of the rest of the economy at the beginning of the 20th century, healthcare is the growth industry of the 21st century. It is a leading sector, which means that expenditures on healthcare will pull forward a wide array of other industries including manufacturing, education, financial services, communications, and construction.”

From the Washington Post Editorial Board:

Much is expected of elected officials. Much more is expected and demanded of those entrusted with chairmanships and the power that comes with them, especially when it involves the nation’s purse strings. From all that we’ve seen thus far, Mr. Rangel has violated that trust continually and seemingly without care.

Politico – Obama’s Speech: High Risk, High Reward
WSJ – How Obama’s Health Care Push Went Astray
Cafe Hayek – I’m Not Dead!
Politico – Congress Gets Low Marks
Reason – TARP Profit: The Lies Get Bigger and Bigger
Political Wire – Inhofe Rips Obama
WSJ – Biden Sticking with Stimulus

Federal Debt: $11.797 trillion

It appears that Representative Norm Dicks (D-WA) had his hands full with his latest town hall.  About 800 people attended the event, which focused mainly on health care and immigration.  Here is a brief snippet:

A Sequim woman seemed to speak for many opposed to government-run healthcare for everyone. ‘A government big enough to give everything you want is big enough to take everything you have,’ she said to loud applause.

Here is the full story.

WSJ – Why Your Coach Votes Republican
Politico – President Obama Shifts on Health Care
Washington Post – Getting a Gun in D.C.?
Congressional Budget Office – Business Cycle and the Federal Budget
Political Wire – Blue Dogs Still Want Health Care Reform
John Stossel – Obamacare II
Chris Cillizza – The Race for Kennedy’s Seat

Federal Debt: $11.744 trillion

“Being a libertarian means living with an almost unendurable level of frustration. It means being subject to unending scorn and derision despite being inevitably proven correct by events.

Imagine spending two decades warning that government policy is leading to a major economic collapse, and then, when the collapse comes, watching the world conclude that markets do not work.

Imagine continually explaining that markets function because they have a built in corrective mechanism; that periodic contractions are necessary to weed out unproductive ventures; that continually loosening credit to avoid such corrections just puts off the day of reckoning and inevitably leads to a larger recession; that this is precisely what the government did during the 1920’s that led to the great depression; and then, when the recession hits, seeing it offered as proof of the failure of laissez-faire capitalism.”

Professor John Hasnas on being a libertarian today.

Here’s the full story on this budding “bromance” from The New Republic.

How opposed is Senator Charles Grassley to the current version of health care reform being debated in Congress?  So much so that he’s raising money based on his opposition to Obamacare.

Senator Grassley, once a leader in bipartisan talks, is now raising money and protecting his right flank by informing his constituents that the current version of the Obamacare would “turn over control of your health care decisions to a federal bureaucrat.”

Although there is no doubt that our health care system needs reform, Grassley’s revelation comes as somewhat welcome news, because it has been reported that Democrats are seeking to bypass traditional Senate rules and force “reform” through budget reconciliation, a process that does not require 60 votes.

However, Senator Judd Gregg, one-time Obama administration advocate, is now leading the fight against these tactics.

Politico – Tough Decisions for Obama
Cato Institute – Hillary: The Movie
Cafe Hayek – The Influence of GMU Economics
Political Wire – Christie Expands Lead in NJ

WSJ – January 19th Election for Kennedy Seat
WSJ – Group Launches Ad on Federal Deficit
WSJ – Bank of America Seeks to Repay Bailout
Iowa Independent – Grassley Raises Money on Opposition to Obamacare

Federal Debt: $11.740 trillion

Reports that he has early-stage prostate cancer (WSJ).

“Who caught the fish that I will eat tonight?  Who trucked it from the sea to my hotel?  Who will cook that fish?  Who designed the dishwasher that cleaned the plate and utensils that I will use? I know almost none of the millions of people whose daily efforts make possible my life and that of countless other Americans.  These people don’t hatch grand plans for arrogantly re-working society.  They offer only to deal voluntarily with me and with others, never pretending – unlike Mr. Kennedy – to be endowed with a mysterious genius and a saintly inspiration justifying haughty intrusions into the affairs of others.”

Professor Donald Boudreaux writing for Cafe Hayek.

Cato Institute – The Government Can!
Cafe Hayek – Truly Productive People
Political Wire – Waiting for Joe Kennedy to Decide
Congressional Budget Office – Effect of HR 3200 on Medicare Part D
WSJ – Kennedy’s Widow Could Fill Seat
John Stossel – Government Knows Best?
Club for Growth – Dems Could Face Losses in 2010
Government Bytes – Tax Code Complexity

Federal Debt: $11.736 trillion