Analytics

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Miscellany: 8/05/14

Quote of the Day
The best argument against democracy is a five minute talk with the average voter.
Winston Churchill

Earlier One-Off Post: If I Were Pope: A Brief Take on the Tenure of Pope Francis

Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day



Tweet of the Day
Image of the Day



Via Dollar Vigilante
Via Being Classically Liberal
Political Potpourri

My big concern had been Congressman Amash's  renomination battle today in Michigan; the latest results I had seen showed Amash beating his well-financed established GOP opponent Ellis by 10 points: 55-45. A bit less than the 60-odd percentages I had seen in earlier polls, but a solid victory. This piece-of-work opponent had gone particularly nasty, suggesting Amash was Al Qaeda's favorite Congressman. I have battled a number of trolls attacking him on his infamous Facebook account (he posts an explanation for each vote cast).

The mainstream media have tried to cast this year as a crippling blow against Tea Party insurgents. The fact of  Cantor's shocking defeat and McDaniel's narrow loss to incumbent Cochran, whom engaged in a desperation race card appeal as polls showed him about 6 points down, really put that spin in question. One further race of note: Kansas Congressman Pompeo crushed a quixotic comeback campaign  by Tiahrt, a former conservative Republican Congressman, whom ran a campaign to the left of Pompeo (including other "progressive" issues, like campaign finance, which I regard as an assault on political speech). One example: Pompeo introduced a bill to devolve any mandatory GMO label decision to the states vs. the feds. I have been critical of the anti-GMO faction. I consider the GMO label issue anti-scientific fascism.

Facebook Corner

(IPI). ObamaCare was supposed to cut Illinois’ eligible, uninsured adult population by half by the end of March 2014. The state achieved only half of its goal.
Last year, about 1 in 8 Illinois adults lacked health insurance coverage. Today, that number is now closer to 1 in 6. Had the state reached its goal for 2014, only one in four would remain uninsured today.
Read more: http://illin.is/1ovE0tM [I think the last statement is a mistake; I think he means to say fewer than 1 in 6--the denominator should increase, not decrease; 1 in 4 implies a 75% insured rate; and I think before healthcare deformation it was something like 85% nationally.]
Obamacare certainly is a step in the right direction if we can't have a public option or single payor.
The troll is indeed economically illiterate. The reason why health insurance is so fucked up is because of government. We have had state and the federal government violate free market principles across the board. First, "health insurance" isn't insurance at all, when it's covering ordinary expenses, like routine doctor visits or birth control. Insurance refers to spreading low-percentage, high-cost risks, like cancer. When you buy auto insurance, it isn't covering gas, oil changes, and minor maintenance issues; it's covering things like if you hit someone with your car or you damage someone's property.

 Second, we have never had a true free market in the states or the country. For example, states may require corrupt political redistributive policies that ignore sound underwriting (group risks) such as guaranteed issue and community rating. They may tack on non-major medical benefits. They may impose occupational licensing restrictions. In addition, the federal government imposes price lists and horrendous paperwork which get to the point better doctors choose to opt out.

 Third, health is like any other transaction, but people who obtain it through work get a tax advantage, and unions and others have found it convenient to maximize their tax savings by adding non-essential products/services into insurance. Since consumers aren't vested in minimizing their own healthcare costs, it spikes demand for services, which aggravates sector inflation.

 Fourth, cross-country health cost comparisons are invalid for a number of chronic methodological issues. US healthcare is a higher-quality, more accessible system where there is a correlation between price and quality. In many Statist nationalized systems, it may be easy to get routine work done, but the problem occurs when you have a low-probability, high-cost condition/event; most aggregate costs are incurred in servicing these patients--and here's where you see notorious waiting lists.

 Now, really, who is mentally retarded enough to believe in a public option? You think that any business can compete against a government which can run up $17.5T debts? Look at how the corrupt GSE's gained dominant market share using cheap government financing--and went belly-up in 2008 at taxpayer expense? Are you seriously out of your mind? Medicare is less than 10 years from going broke, the VA has had a horrific scandal play out over the past several months, Medicaid is typically the biggest number on a state's financial statements. The fact is, every single government health program has blown past budget and often provides substandard care.

 As for single-payer: the reason why healthcare has become so expensive is because of a lack of competition and regulations that choke off innovation and creative destruction. Turning healthcare into a public monopoly brings the worst of all worlds. When a government doctor fucks up, are you counting on government courts to protect your interests? Where's your alternative when you're dying and you're on a waiting list to see a specialist?

More Proposals









Political Humor

Of course, we’re not the only ones celebrating. President Obama turned 53 years old today. Obama blew out his candles and made a wish. But when he opened his eyes, he was still president. - Jimmy Fallon
Obama just celebrated his 53rd birthday. Boehner said that the House had passed a bill but he would have to sign it to find out what's in it

Happy birthday to President Obama. He turned 53 today, according to his birth certificate. The truth is he's actually 55 years old but Congress blocked his last two birthdays. - Jimmy Kimmel
Obama celebrated his 53rd birthday. He accused the Republicans of obstructing passage of the cake, but Michelle issued her executive order.

Political Cartoon
Courtesy of Glenn McCoy via IPI
Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

Billy Joel, "Allentown"

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,