Health care has never been the issue.

Click here to listen to the broadcast of You Tell Me on Friday, March 19, 2010.

As the dirge that is the health care debate drags on I would remind everyone that it’s not about health care. When and where and for how much you get your cataracts removed or your hip replaced or your arterial stent put in is at best of only incidental concern to those who are pushing this toxic legislation.

Creation of a permanent left-of-center compact between government and you is the real concern and it is what drives the relentless push for legislation that is now overwhelmingly opposed by the American people.

Proponents of the health care bill understand that no matter how badly they tick you off, it will have been worth it. That’s because they understand that at some point the government becomes so big that it doesn’t matter who wins elections. When a program of this magnitude is enacted, it creates a further enlargement of what is already a staggeringly large bureaucracy. That bureaucracy will be staffed by people who are, by their very nature, left-of-center statists.

Oh, it’s true that from time to time the people will get fed up and elect a conservative government. But because elections are for specific terms and government jobs are permanent, the statist bureaucracy will successfully resist all attempts at limitation or reform.

This will reduce future conservative presidents to the role of chair warmer.

Put simply, a president-for-now can never overcome a bureaucracy-for-life. As just one example, despite promises of elimination made on more than one occasion during election cycles, The Departments of Education and Energy, both created by the monumentally failed Carter presidency, live on despite the fact that neither department serves a useful function.

If this bill passes, health care will be the number one issue in all future elections. As the laws of economics assert themselves and the demand for health care outstrips supply, the resulting unhappiness of the electorate will result in American elections becoming an unending and never settled debate on “fixing” health care.

If you’ve grown weary of this topic during the past year, just wait. Imagine being locked in a room for the rest of your life listening to a never-ending replay of “I Got You Babe” and you can begin to understand the Groundhog Day-like experience that future American elections will become. Ask anyone who lives in Great Britain. We will never not talk about health care again.

Britain’s National Health Service is the cautionary tale. The dependent mindset that began with the creation of the monstrosity that devours the majority of public spending in the U.K. has reduced the once mighty British Empire to little more than a museum – great for visiting but incapable of producing anything. There is today no industry — other than trading in money and stocks — in which Great Britain is a meaningful player. There have been conservative governments in Great Britain. But none, not even the mighty Maggie Thatcher, has ever been able to bend the British bureaucracy to his or her will. Newton’s first law of motion always steps in. There is simply no force large enough to overcome the inertia that is intrinsic to a department of government once it reaches a certain critical mass.

We all have health insurance war stories – tales of endless hours on hold, mindless idiots on the phone and incomprehensible letters telling us that our perfectly legitimate claim has been denied. Take those tales and scale them up by several orders of magnitude and you have the future under Obama Care.

But when the  “health care system” under Obama Care is judged a total failure, as it surely will be, don’t expect contrition from chastened liberals. It was never about health care. It’s about government.

And by that measure, proponents of the health care bill will have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

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Paul Gleiser

Paul L. Gleiser is president of ATW Media, LLC, licensee of radio stations KTBB 97.5 FM/AM600, 92.1 The TEAM FM in Tyler-Longview, Texas.

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15 Responses

  1. Joe A. Smithson says:

    Sadly, if Republicans had a spine and would have held Bush accountable for his poor spending decisions we might still have had enough seats in Congress to stop this madness. Republicans are as much to blame as Dems for what is to come, just for different reasons.

  2. Becky Tate says:

    I am soooo tired of hearing the blame game! It is just time for us to come together. Instead of many small groups we need to join together to fight against this group of socialist. We should learn from how these radicals act and how they accomplish their goals. They come together as a collective group, set out to accomplish a mission and nothing stands in their way! This machine that has been chipping away at our government over the past years is now fully in control. We must come together and stand and fight. We must unite and have some education on how to retake our country!!! Help! Thank you Becky

  3. Ken Smith says:

    Well so-called Health Care reform has passed. Many Small Businesses will be forced to close because they will not be able to afford the 8% payroll tax. I, sadly may become one of the newly unemployed. So much for saving or creating jobs. Now that I will be unemployed I will no longer be able to pay my mortgage so I will loose my house, I will no longer be able to by food, and I will no longer be able to provide toys for my children. I am wondering if my new government doctor will be able to prescribe food? After all, mal nutrition IS a medical condition that would be cured by food. Most likely I will wind up with hypothermia because of exposure, so I wonder if my new government doctor will be able to prescribe me a house in wich to live? I, of course will also be very depressed at the fact that I can no longer be able to buy my children toys and provide them with meaningfull experiences, so can my new government doctor prescribe me a vacation?

    Why should I continue to work 2 jobs totaling on average 85+ hours a week when now I can sit on my but and be taken care of?

    Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said: “Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security, will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”

  4. LARRY WALKER says:

    Mr. Gleiser:
    The health care crap is bad enough, since we can not afford it. The larger issue, and the thing that has me upset was Mr. Obama’s comments last week to Bret Bair with Fox news. Mr. Obama was asked about the process and he responded “I amd not worried about the process”. This should have brought the people into the streets. Surviving bankruptcy is one thing, but this attitude toward our rule of law by what should be our chief law abider cannot be tolerated. Just wondering why I seem to be the only one upset by this.
    Larry Walker
    Troup, Texas.

  5. Gus Wolf says:

    If it is really about health care and it is so important, why does it not take effect for four years? Why are the insurance companies still immune from antitrust suits? And why did the government not standardize the insurance regulations among the states so the 1,700 insurance companies could compete with one another across state lines?
    And what is in this for ME? I am self employed struggling to start a business. For two years I’ve supported my family off savings and a meager business income. I pay $900 per month for my own health care, post tax dollars, no tax break and for a policy that has a $5,000 deductible.
    And where is the rationale for making coverage mandatory? The average American worker makes about $35,000. At $900 per month for health insurance this amounts to 1/3 of the average persons gross not disposable income. Who can afford that?
    This is health care reform? You can’t convince me of that! It’s all about control. What ever happened to government OF, BY and FOR THE PEOPLE?

  6. P K Lewis says:

    Obama had a 1 year long harrangue on our dime, flying from city to city like a used car salesman…every day ,every day EVERY DAY!!!

    Now sucess will encourage Obama to continue this tactic with all bills.Watch for more pressure for ALL bills!! It worked!!

    Alinsky’s book “Rules for Radicals” which Obama taught from is his blueprint.”
    If denied, increase the pressure”p.56.
    It is Obama’s Chicago-style thugism based on this plan.Google it qv.

    The media did not vet Obama as a Socialist nor any background verification. The media, in order to “give -the -guy -a -chance” ignored lots of things that Bush would be eviscerated for.

    This bill is impossible for any small business to accomadate.We can not afford it as a country & it will hurt us a lot.Wait ’til the stimulus runs out, recession will hit with a vengance. Has to.

    Women are called names for accepting money for favors they do NOT want to give; what do we call Congressmen who change their veiw for money????

    How can Stupak vote for an abortion bill when he does not beleive in it??? What do we call him????

    All of these Congressmen need to be unemployed in Fall …they do not represent the US.

    We have written, called, joined, etc…what more to reach any Congress reprenetative?????

    Used to be that USA was the envy of all because of character.
    Martin Luther KingJr said” Let a person be judged on character not skin color”.
    I agree.

    P K Lewis

  7. L Miles says:

    Why stop with ObamaHealthCare?

    Come on! – you all powerful and knowing Democrats – let’s have some more entitlement programs (rights for the masses):

    ObamaHousing, ObamaClothing, ObamaGroceries, ObamaFurniture, ObamaAppliances, ObamaRealEstate, ObamaChildCare, ObamaCounseling, ObamaToys, ObamaUniversities, ObamaFuel, ObamaAirConditioningAndHeating, ObamaSanitation, ObamaWaterSupply, ObamaElectricPower, ObamaGreenEnergySupplyAndPower, ObamaAirlines, ObamaTrains, ObamaTruckingAndTransport, ObamaBusses, ObamaCarsandTrucks, ObamaDocksAndShipping, ObamaBicycles, ObamaLicensing, ObamaLifeInsurance, ObamaCemeteries, ObamaNetworks, ObamaTVs, ObamaRadios, ObamaNewspapers, ObamaMagazines, ObamaCable, ObamaInternet, ObamaTelephones, ObamaComputerExchange, ObamaOfficeSupply, ObamaVacations, ObamaCruises, ObamaPools, ObamaSkiing, ObamaSports, ObamaFarming, ObamaLivestock, ObamaForestry, ObamaBoating, ObamaFishing, ObamaParkSystem, ObamaCommunityServices, ObamaSpecialForces, ObamaLawEnforcement, ObamaAuditing, ObamaLegalAid, ObamaStockExchange, ObamaCommoditiesExchange, ObamaBanking, ObamaSavingsAndLoan, ObamaConstruction, ObamaManufacturing, ObamaRecyclingAndTrash, and ObamaImmigrationVotingAndRegistration.

    Aren’t we are a rich and compassionate nation that must give all needy people assess to these proposed government programs in order to reduce crime (caused by poverty) and lift their standard of living? Won’t our nation be proud, once again, in that everyone can share in our collective prosperity. Just remember, one monopoly (the government) can serve you better than a bunch of competing corporations that can’t print their own money and must make a (greedy) profit by pleasing their customers to stay in business.

    – Praise be to Obama and His Gift to Share Your Prosperity (hard work) with your unfortunate fellow comrades!

    Bureaucracies are US

  8. L Miles says:

    The Obama Health Care Law signed today, forces the Health Insurance Industry to issue policies for those with PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS with NO LIFETIME CAPS on services, and bans policy CANCELLATIONS under all circumstances. How can the private Health Care Insurance Industry stay in business with the specter of such astronomical financial risks staring them in the face? I’ll tell you how. They will raise premiums so high that most policy holders can no longer afford them. This means YOU!

    This is by design by our dictatorial Democrat dominated Congress. This is how they will force the Health Insurance Industry out of business and create a clamor for Universal Socialized Health Care run completely by the Federal Government. Then, you can expect the Federal Health Care system to be on the edge of bankruptcy all the time (see Medicare and Medicaid), which can only be saved by astronomical (progressive) TAXES paid by everyone but those in so-called poverty (the protected classes). Your tax dollars (for health care) will be used to benefit those less fortunate at the expense of your own health care needs – redistribution of health care, anyone?. Health care will become a nationally rationed welfare service that will control all aspects of our lives.

    I suggest that you plan on staying as healthy as you can and save up your money to go overseas (TBD?) to pay cash for your own health care if you get desperate.

    Bureaucracies are US

  9. Eric Siglier says:

    Becky Tate, you and people like you are part of the problem. So tired of the “blame game”? Unless you assign blame when it happens and hold people accountable things like this will continue. Enjoy your ObamaCare.

  10. Lisa says:

    I hope everyone will join me in contacting our Republican reps and beg them, when in the public spotlight during this fight-back, to drop the vague theoretical debate and use real life testimonials that represent what truly will happen under this bill. Obama has his parade of testimonials, and it is definitely effective.
    Let’s use one of his own tactics: Interview doctors, nurses, small bus. owners, insurance employees, people who have lived under socialized medicine…they all have foreboding and cautionary accounts of how this will not only impact them, but each citizen under this one-size fits all plan. People need visual and story-like proof…that is just the nature of our dumbed-down society.
    Please tell our reps to start speaking out in DETAIL as to the many, many horrors of this bill. Most don’t know what is in it, unless they do research, which most don’t. And just like doctors many times assume that patients understand their “doctorese”, our politicians assume that the public knows what is in it because THEY do! See my point?
    We must become vastly better communicators!

  11. Joe American says:

    A little walk down memory lane.

    Dear President Bush:

    You are the 13th President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

    You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you that’s true, only the snow jobs to hide the stories of your binge drinking and cocaine usage.

    You scare me because I do know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of understanding for common Americans.

    You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in mainstream America, and culturally you are a blue-blooded spoiled brat.

    You scare me because you have never run a company that was profitable.

    You scare me because you have never had true military experience, thus don’t understand it at its core. You opted for the National Guard and stayed stateside while 58,000 brave souls gave their lives overseas.

    You scare me because you lack humility and “class,” always blaming others. You speak of personal responsibility, yet would never admit that you’ve made many catastrophic mistakes.

    You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate the American middle class and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see the National Treasury drained on crony contracts, Illegal Immigrants and an Iraqi infrastructure that gets destroyed a month after completion. Our national infrastructure is crumbling, while you’ll spend $3 trillion to rebuild Iraq.

    You scare me because you were a cheerleader at Yale. (Really, you were a cheerleader?)

    You scare me because you want to change America to a Nazi style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

    You scare me because you allowed our health care cost to become the number one reason for personal bankruptcies in the history of our nation, while 31 million Americans have no coverage at all.

    You scare me because you sound like a “wind bag” when denying that you and your Neo-Con cronies allow Big Oil to capitalize on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

    You scare me because you want to cook our goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

    You scare me because you have begun to use “extortion” tactics against certain members of the opposing political party.

    You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

    You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people. You don’t even have a novice grasp of the English language.

    You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient, while you don’t truly understand the meaning of, or the correct pronunciation of either word.

    You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do, especially FOX NOISE and this local media outlet in East Texas.

    You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the true American Patriots who offer opposing points of view.

    You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

    I’m not as afraid because you cannot legally serve a third term as president.

    Joe “Middle Class” American

  12. Ellis Santure says:

    I wonder how many of the people here, who don’t want this bill that covers so many uninsured Americans, actually go to church on Sunday and pretend they love Jesus.

    whatsoever you do to the the least of my brethern that you do unto me.

  13. L Miles says:

    When are we going to learn that Biblical compassion is a voluntary INDIVIDUAL responsibility? It is NOT a COLLECTIVE (Socialist/Marxist) responsibility.

    It is not compassionate (or Biblical) to force (by threat of penalty of law) the taking of one person’s property and give it to another. When the Socialist model of (false) compassion is adopted, the recipient ultimately becomes a ward of the (so-called benevolent) State and will vote accordingly, always for more “State compassion”.

    Look at what welfare systems have done to promote creation of illegitimate children in single parent families that dominate some cultures today. This used to be rare 50 years ago. State enforced compassion is only a trick to ultimately enslave the population and replace God with the State.

    Bureaucracies are US

  14. James K Averon says:

    Well then w/ so many people unovered and getting no or substandard treatment then “individuals” are falling down on providing “compassion”. Looks like a lot of people are going to be going to Hell.

  15. L Miles says:

    Please don’t believe the (media and socialist) BIG LIE of all the millions that are destitute and need compassion. Most of the so-called needy (in the USA) have cell phones, TVs, microwave ovens, subsidized housing, subsidized groceries, etc., don’t pay any income taxes, and choose not to buy health insurance. If you are truly destitute (or lie that you are), you can get free health care in lots of hospital emergency rooms.

    In those Marxist/Socialist countries where “compassion” is provided by the State, they have little or no poor, right? They are the poorest countries on earth or have the highest tax rates on earth, or both!

    The philanthropic rate of the great people of the USA vastly exceeds any other nation on earth. Again, State enforced “compassion” is nothing but legalized theft and we have no money left. State “compassion” is useless when a nation goes bankrupt. Think of what happens to the poor, then.

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