Is Obama’s health care plan about to go the way that Hillary’s health care plan did? Ah, the plans of mice and men. George Bush had such grand plans for his presidency and then along came the bombing of the twin towers. After the Democratic Convention in 2004, Obama began to formulate dreams about his future presidency, but first of all he had to get past Hillary which may prove to have been the easier task than getting through the financial meltdown. 

Is anyone getting the message here that we might not be in control of everything? 

The upfront tab could reach $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion over 10 years, while expected savings from wringing waste and inefficiency from the health care system may take longer to show. Details of the health legislation have not been written, but the broad outlines of the overhaul are known. Economists and other experts say the $634 billion that Obama’s budget sets aside for health care will pay perhaps half the cost.

And guess who would pay for the other half!

Obama is hoping the Senate comes up with a bipartisan compromise that would give him political cover for disagreeable decisions to raise more money, such as taxing some health insurance benefits. In the 2008 campaign, Obama went after his Republican presidential rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, for proposing a large-scale version of that idea. Concerns about costs could spill over in the coming week when the Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing on how to pay for coverage. Committee leaders hoping to have a bill before the full Senate this summer must first convince their own members that it won’t break the bank.

Obama criticized his chief Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for proposing that everyone in the U.S. be required to have medical insurance. Yet such a mandate probably will be in what Congress puts together because requiring individuals to pay would lower federal costs. For Obama, there are no easy ways to pay for health care. Options include raising other taxes, cutting deeply into Medicare payments to providers, or phasing in the expansion of coverage for the uninsured — beyond his four-year term.

Meanwhile a half million people a month are losing their jobs! Hello! 



By: Ernie Fitzpatrick

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