When Government Stacks The Deck

Suppose that the government decided that Mercedes makes a great and expensive car and that it is unfair to other car makers. Now that the government owns GM it might decide that it needs to compete in the car industry and since it is not supposed to run a business and since few in government have actually done just that, they would need some other plan to make the playing field level.

How about if the government decided to add a tax on all luxury cars sold and the money had to go to GM so it could compete. The luxury car companies would pass the increase on to their customers but it would not be long before the customers decided that the cost was not worth it and the luxury car companies would go out of business. Pretty soon, Government Motors would be the only game in town.

This would hardly be a fair way to do business and if any private company found ways to cause financial burden to competitors the government would soon be screaming monopoly and getting involved.

Most Americans would not think it right (or Constitutional) for the government to run a business much less impose unfair costs on competing interests.

And yet, this is exactly what government wants to do with insurance. The newest plan to come forward bumps out the government run care for co-opts (which will morph into government run) and then features a tax in insurance companies that sell high end policies. The government is looking to collect about $6 billion a year starting next year by gouging the insurance companies:

The bipartisan group also is considering a tax on insurance companies that provide expensive coverage plans. And one feature that might help satisfy the more liberal members of the committee is that insurance companies could face a separate new fee to help pay for the plan. It would be determined based on market share, and could raise $6 billion a year starting in 2010, the sources said. Ace of Spades HQ

So, like my auto example, the government will tax a competitor in order to fund its own venture. Nowhere else in the business world is one company forced to pay the capital for another company. This is a terrible idea and it will result in a few problems.

First of all, the insurance companies will have to increase premiums in order to cover the tax which will cost those with plans more money. They will eventually go somewhere else and the way the bill is currently constructed that someplace will be the government plan (or co-opt) because you may only keep what you have until you change and then you get the government option.

Once these insurance companies lose money they will go out of business and they will not be there as the cash cow to government. This means the government will have to find other ways to pay for its largess. This means other tax increases and there are not enough rich people to pay the bills so the tax increases will come to the middle class.

The government will stifle competition until it is the only game in town and then the politicians will have near total control over our lives. Once they control health care they will control us.

We need to defeat this horrible health care bill. They need to sit down with a blank slate and fix only the things that are in need of repair and leave the rest of it alone.

Wake up America.

Big Dog

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4 Responses to “When Government Stacks The Deck”

  1. Blake says:

    This is just another way to get to single payer coverage, and this plan should be brought down in flames also- these progressives are nothing if not stupid- you might think they would quit beating their head against the brick wall that is public opinion, but apparently they are too ignorant,
    The only people who want single payer are those who are ignorant of the true costs in terms of freedom of choice and affordability, or those who feel that they know better than the rest of the population just how to administer this “Healthcare”- and these are the little dictators you have to watch out for.

  2. Darrel says:

    We have public schools.

    We also have lots of private schools.

    Obviously private schools haven’t been put out of business… by public schools.

    Best to have Robert explain it in simple terms.

    • Big Dog says:

      The school analogy is not a very good one but since you brought it up let us take a look, shall we?

      People who send their children to private school pay taxes that pay for the public schools even though they do not have children attending them. They also pay tuition. Kind of like people who have private insurance who pay premiums but will also pay for the government run care so others can have insurance.

      When public schools have financial trouble they stay in business and government sends them more money. If they need money badly enough they put out a new scratch off lottery game or raise taxes or both. When a private school has financial problems it raises tuition. Some that are fortunate have rich donors to help them but most of the time the tuition is raised and enrollment drops off. Some of those private schools are closing their doors because enrollment is down and they cannot afford to pay the bills.

      Perhaps if the people who send their children to private school could get a tax rebate equal to what the state spends per year on each public school child in that locale then they could keep their kids in private school.

      The analogy is very poor because the things are not comparable. If government required private schools to pay a portion of the public school’s costs, if people were required to go to public school if they every changed from their private school, if government imposed mandates on the private schools in order to make things “fair” then they would soon fail. The comparison makes no sense because the Draconian methods of stifling competition that are in the health bill are not part of the school make up. If they were and the impositions were placed on private schools they would soon fail.

    • Big Dog says:

      Though you should Google “private schools closing” and look at the numbers. How many public schools are closing compared to this?