Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The Law Of Unintended Consequences


The Law of Unintended Consequences

By Doug Patton

March 29, 2010
Obama-Reid-Pelosi-Care is now the law of the land. Most people hate it. Clearly Americans are frightened and angry about this socialist nightmare Congress and the president have forced upon the nation in the name of "health care reform." All Congressional Republicans voted against it. Unlike any other entitlement ever passed by the United States Congress, it is entirely partisan. Barack Obama and the Democrats own it.
You say you're not yet frightened or angry? Then perhaps you don't understand that the bill will provide health care for illegal aliens, or that yours will be rationed. Those of you who believe that the federal government will now be paying for your health care should know that, in fact, health insurance will necessarily be more expensive, and that you will face fines if you don't buy it.
Maybe you are unaware that the federal government will have direct access to your bank accounts for elective funds transfer, and access to your medical records for whatever purpose they see fit.
It might surprise you to learn that under this legislation no company can sue the government for price fixing, and that there will be no judicial review against a government monopoly. It may not bother you that government will now be able to dictate the salary of physicians. Did you know that the feds will set the value of a doctor's time, or that all physicians, regardless of specialty, will be paid the same?
Did you realize that government will restrict the treatment of "special needs people"? Or that some bureaucrat will now mandate a program for orders on "end-of-life"? Or that an "advanced care consultation" may include an order for end-of-life plans? Or that government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order? Can you say "death panels"?
These are just a few of the outrageous provisions in the "historic" legislation of which Democrats are so proud. But if you needed further proof that the inmates are now running the asylum, the U.S. Senate provided it in spades last week. It seems that in the rush to pass something -- anything -- that Obama could label "health care reform," no one thought to consider the unintended consequences of government funded prescription drugs for the "poor." Thus, the bill forces taxpayers to pay for Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs for -- are you sitting down? -- sex offenders!
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, a conservative physician from Oklahoma, offered an amendment to the reconciliation bill to remove this provision. Coburn's full amendment reads as follows: "This amendment would enact recommendations from the Government Accountability Office to stop fraudulent payments for prescription drugs prescribed by dead providers or, to dead patients. This amendment also prohibits coverage of Viagra and other ED medications to convicted child molesters, rapists, and sex offenders, and prohibits coverage of abortion drugs."
Montana Democrat Sen. Max Baucus, one of the original architects of this monstrosity, called Coburn's amendment "a crass political stunt." By a vote of 57-42, Democrats rejected the amendment.
Thomas Jefferson once said, "To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." Other than taxpayer funded abortion (which is also in the bill), there could be no clearer example of Jefferson's lament than this one. You will go to work tomorrow and earn your pay. Your employer will withhold an obscene amount of federal taxes from your check, leaving you to struggle to support your family and try to make ends meet on what is left. The feds will then take a portion of your hard-earned tax money and spend it to help criminal sexual deviants perform better while they are raping little boys and girls! How do these people sleep at night?
The Congress stands for election in seven months. Do not forget this one.
(Many thanks to our man Brian in Connecticut for sending this in!)

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