dogzilla

First, it's not just the health care reform. I don't think the government should be bailing out the economy in any way, shape or form. And I don't care what Bush and his predecessors did or didn't do. They aren't in office now. Obama is and he needs to assume responsibility for what he's done. And he's gone over the top and not even paused to look back.

Second, I don't think the government has any business running a for profit company or making profits by loaning them money, etc. It's just too easy for the government to pass laws and regulations benefiting the companies they run or do business with and harm competitors. I had the impression there were laws preventing that for exactly taht reason.

Third, I think the government trying to stimulate the economy is a tremendous waste of taxpayer money with a good chance of not being repaid. I think part of the crash is a readjustment of the size of the economy since borrowed money isn't so available to finance people's lifestyles and drive up demand/prices for products.

As far as the health care, I watched Obama's speech to Congress and have the following objections

Obama wants no restrictions on insurance because of prior conditions. That sounds nice, but what happens when insurance companies start losing money because they have to hold their premiums down but their costs go up because of more treatment? What about people with self-inflicted prior conditions? Why shouldn't they assume responsibility for the consequences of their actions?

Obama wants no cap on insurance coverage. That also sounds nice, but again, what happens to the insurance companies because their premiums can't rise but their costs go up because people now have unlimited money for medical treatment?

Why should insurance companies not be allowed to make a profit when other essential businesses like farmers are allowed to make profits? I'm pretty sure insurance companies are part of my 401K funds, and I'd like to make money off my investments.

Obama says he wants to at least in part fund health care by savings in Medicare. I saw one figure where the plan is to find $500B in savings in Medicare in 10 years. One website I found puts the Medicare budget somewhere around $400B/year. So somehow Obama has found 8% savings in Medicare. That seems like an awful lot of inefficiency/fraud to me. Why should I trust the government to fund another major program when they can't run Medicare efficiently, and have similar problems with controlling expenses for agencies like the Post Office and Conrail?

Obama wants to provide tax credits or reimbursement to people who can't afford to buy insurance. If someone is disabled, I don't have a problem with that. If someone is not disabled, I do have a problem. I work to support myself. I've never gotten a tax credit for anything. Why should someone else who is capable of working get a handout?

Another way Obama wants to pay for health care is to raise taxes, such as this idea, under the pretense of preventing obesity. Yeah, it's a small tax, somewhere around 8%, but it's still another tax.

Can A Soda Tax Really Curb Obesity? - Forbes.com

The momentum for federal taxes on soda is growing. President Barack Obama recently said he thought Congress "should be exploring" the idea of a tax on sugared drinks as a way of tackling the nation's ever-expanding waistline. Thomas Frieden, the president's nominee for director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, argued in an article for the New England Journal of Medicine last April that "a penny-per-ounce excise tax could reduce consumption of sugared sodas by more than 10%."

Lastly, I think his plan still comes down to rationing of medical care. This article backs me up on that. It's going to take a few years to come up withe the additional doctors and other medical staff to support the demand.

50 million new patients? Expect doc shortages - Health care- msnbc.com

Among the many hurdles facing President Barack Obama's plan to revamp the nation's health care system is a shortage of primary care physicians — those legions of overworked doctors who provide the front line of medical care for both the sick and those hoping to stay healthy.

As Massachusetts' experience shows, extending health care to 50 million uninsured Americans will only further stress the system and could force many of those newly insured back into costly emergency rooms for routine care if they can't find a primary care doctor, health care observers said.

Massachusetts, home of the nation's most ambitious health care law, has seen the need for primary care doctors shoot up with the addition of 428,000 people to the ranks of the insured under a 2006 law that mandates health care for nearly all residents.