1,968 New Regulatory Powers for HHS Secretary

The Center for Health Transformation has created a wall chart of the 1,968 new regulatory powers which the PPACA bestows upon the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Rule by regulation is rule by men. The more discretion given to regulatory agents, the further we move away from Rule by Law. This is one of the fatal flaws of central planning. Laws are too rigid and too slow to accomplish the tasks required for efficient use of resources--so attempts are made to provide flexibility by delegating decision-making power to regulatory agencies. But this very flexibility means arbitrary power in the hands of government bureaucrats--the exact opposite of Rule by Law. (Witness the more than 900 waivers already granted by Sec. Sebelius allowing a privileged few to escape some of the destructive consequences of the PPACA)

These facts alone are reason enough to repeal the law.

The Rich are Getting Richer

but the poor are getting richer too, and faster.



HT Ideas Matter.

Just what are we buying with our liberty?

Check out this pie chart from the research by the Rand Corporation.

They conclude that only 10% of premature deaths are caused by lack of medical are.

So, remind me. Why are we massively increasing government control over health insurance and private financial decisions, while simultaneously risking government bankruptcy, to provide more "free" health care?

Rather than significantly improved health, our country will be getting more expensive, more arbitrary government rule over private matters of life and death.

(HT John Goodman.)

How WalMart Benefits Communities

Inappropriately maligned, Walmart actually provides value in more ways than affordable commodities.



(HT Care Diem)

Really, Mr. President?

From yesterday's interview of President Obama by Bill O'Reilly:

CLAIM: “I lowered taxes over the last two years.”

FACT: The health care law includes a whopping $569,200,000,000 in tax increases scheduled to take effect over the coming years – taxes that will harm an economy struggling to grow. Most of these taxes will be paid by, or passed through to, the middle-class – including a new 40 percent tax on insurance policies the government is forcing individuals to buy, a tax so unpopular Democrats refused to impose it before 2018, well after President Obama will leave office.

CLAIM: “We want cost controls in health care.”

FACT: According to the Medicare actuary, the health care law will INCREASE costs by $310,800,000,000. In June 2009, President Obama claimed that any health care legislation must control costs: “If any bill arrives from Congress that is not controlling costs, that’s not a bill I can support. It’s going to have to control costs.” But just last month, the Medicare actuary once again confirmed that the President’s promise is “false, more so than true.”

CLAIM: “What we said was, if you have health care that you like, you keep it.”

FACT: According to the Administration’s own estimates, half of all employers – and as many as 80% of small businesses – will be forced to give up their current coverage within the next two years, thus subjecting them to costly new mandates that will increase premiums. Last month, the Medicare actuary agreed with the Administration’s own estimates that the President’s promise is “not true in all cases.”

CLAIM: [Responding to O’Reilly’s claim that the bill was “a huge government intrusion” that will “take over, basically, decision making for Americans”] “But, Bill….you have a responsibility to make sure that you have got coverage.”

FACT: The law goes much further than its constitutionally dubious requirement to obtain coverage – it forces individuals to buy, and large employers to offer, government-defined insurance coverage or pay financial penalties, meaning federal bureaucrats will be defining the parameters under which all Americans will obtain health care. Moreover, the law itself creates 159 new bureaucracies and programs, stretching the federal government’s involvement into virtually every nook and cranny of the health care sector.

(Above taken from an email by Chris Jacobs, Health Policy Analyst, Republican Policy Committee)

And there's more:

O'REILLY: Do you deny that you are a man who wants to redistribute wealth.

OBAMA: Absolutely.

O'REILLY: You deny that?

OBAMA: Absolutely.