Worse Than I Thought

It's almost like they don't believe in TANSTAAFL.

I predict a greater wave of outsourcing. The difficulties imposed by language barriers and time difference can be overcome given the necessary incentives, and Barry is handing out those in spades. If you really need native English speakers though there's a budding call center industry in the maritimes of Canada, and Ireland isn't that far off time-wise.

I've been thinking of starting my own business recently, and I'm pretty sure it will be structured to make maximum use of outsourced labor and independent contractors. Headcount: 1.

I wonder if anyone remembers F. A. Hayek's immortal warning, which is that economic control inevitably leads to social control?

I mean, anyone who's in an HMO has seen all the advertisement and pressure to be healthy -- stop smoking, lose weight, et cetera -- because the nature of an HMO means they're on the hook if you get sick.

What happens when the HMO is no longer limited to mere persuasion, because it's run by the state, or is a state agency? What happens when they can actually fine you for smoking or failing to lose weight, or not eating enough broccoli, or not taking the cholesterol medicine that makes you impotent, as an unfortunate for you (but not expensive for the state) side-effect?

Or, you know, if a different administration gets in power, how about when they can put you in jail if you're HIV positive (so you don't go spreading the virus)? Or maybe just if you're gay and sexually active (why take chances)?

Finally there is the matter of ballooning health care expenses. Massive dumping of money into health care policies (especially for low priority procedures) just encourages the consumption of healthcare and drives up its cost. So what costs 6% of salaries now may well cost a lot more later.

My wife works for a major insurance company dealing with worker's compensation coverage. She can tell hours of horror stories about claimants who "lawyer up" to drag out coverage for as long as possible (not realizing that the lawyer's fees comes not from the insurance company but from the claimant). The lawyers direct that all communications with the claimant go through them (gotta get them billable hours!) and they choose medical providers who're guaranteed to drag out things for as long as possible.

As a nurse, she saw first-hand doctors doing things that either bordered on or were outright fraud. We taxpayers get stuck with a lot of that expense.

You also have to love those commercials for things like mobility scooters and medical supplies that are aimed at senior citizens. They're told that "if approved, it won't cost you a penny." What they aren't told is how much it'll end up costing the taxpayers.

There's a lot of fraud and blame to go around. Medicare and Medicaid have unfunded liabilities that make the current economic bailouts and even Social Security's looming shortfalls look like nothing. However, the Democrats assure us that not only is there no problem, but if we turn over 1/6th of the US economy to them (healthcare), everything will be peaches and cream. I might have confidence in them if those existing programs were so well ran that everyone was eager to join.

"Employee Free Choice Act"? I notice several things about this title. First, it doesn't mention employers. Second, if by "free choice", you mean a euphenism for "freely accept the mediator directive because you have no choice", then sure, it's "free choice".

Further, this all is starting to sound like the early 1930's. We don't need a repeat of the Great Depression.