Social Security broke, Medicare broke, Amtrack broke, VA mismanaged, Post Office in the red, H1N1 vaccinations unavailable, phoney stimulus jobs reported, unemployment heading over 10%, if you like the DMV you will love government healthcare!
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Can Government Handle Health Care Better Than Our Mail?
- November 19, 2009 15:37:09
- Read all 72 opinions
For more than 200 years we trusted the government to create a near-monopoly agency to mishandle our mail, and it’s losing billions of dollars. And now we think it can do a better job handling our health care?
The U.S. Postal Service reported a $3.8 billion net loss for its fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. It’s not only amazing that $3.8 billion got lost, but $6 billion in cost savings were not enough to help the near-monopoly agency.
So, what are the causes for this? Joseph Corbett, the chief financial officer of the Postal Service, said the reason for falling mail volumes was the recession. In addition to the recession, it was also e-mail, UPS, FedEx, and other delivery services that caused billions of pieces of mail to drop in volume.
One of the solutions to this mess is to shorten the delivery week to only five days a week. But without the five-day delivery service being proposed, the agency is expected to see a $7.8 billion net loss in 2010.
For a government entity infamous for losing the mail or not delivering it on time, and now it’s slowly bleeding to death, at least the U.S. Postal Service is not making it mandatory for us to use it. Yet.
This should worry many Americans because the 234-year-old U.S. Postal Service can’t even compete against two popular delivery companies and e-mail. So how is health care reform going to compare to the numerous health insurance companies out there?
Not very well if the U.S. Postal Service’s woes are any indication. And while the worst that can happen to us is that our mail isn’t delivered on time, it will be far worse when the government gets more involved with our health care.
Such as, Senate Majority Leader and Democrat Harry Reid unveiled yesterday how the proposed health care reform will pay for itself with taxes and new fees: “…insurers providing costly health coverage would face a 40 percent tax on policies worth more than $8,500 for individuals and $23,000 for families … (and a) 5 percent tax on the cost of elective cosmetic surgery, as well as new fees on insurers and pharmaceutical manufacturers,” according to CNN
Here's the text of the 2,074 page Patient Protection Affordable Care Act.
Eventually, that cost trickles down to us. Because the insurance industry would surely increase their rates to help pay for these new fees and taxes placed on them. And Heaven help us if that little plan doesn’t work out for long.
Now is the only time to get sick over this mess while we can still afford it.
The U.S. Postal Service reported a $3.8 billion net loss for its fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. It’s not only amazing that $3.8 billion got lost, but $6 billion in cost savings were not enough to help the near-monopoly agency.
So, what are the causes for this? Joseph Corbett, the chief financial officer of the Postal Service, said the reason for falling mail volumes was the recession. In addition to the recession, it was also e-mail, UPS, FedEx, and other delivery services that caused billions of pieces of mail to drop in volume.
One of the solutions to this mess is to shorten the delivery week to only five days a week. But without the five-day delivery service being proposed, the agency is expected to see a $7.8 billion net loss in 2010.
For a government entity infamous for losing the mail or not delivering it on time, and now it’s slowly bleeding to death, at least the U.S. Postal Service is not making it mandatory for us to use it. Yet.
This should worry many Americans because the 234-year-old U.S. Postal Service can’t even compete against two popular delivery companies and e-mail. So how is health care reform going to compare to the numerous health insurance companies out there?
Not very well if the U.S. Postal Service’s woes are any indication. And while the worst that can happen to us is that our mail isn’t delivered on time, it will be far worse when the government gets more involved with our health care.
Such as, Senate Majority Leader and Democrat Harry Reid unveiled yesterday how the proposed health care reform will pay for itself with taxes and new fees: “…insurers providing costly health coverage would face a 40 percent tax on policies worth more than $8,500 for individuals and $23,000 for families … (and a) 5 percent tax on the cost of elective cosmetic surgery, as well as new fees on insurers and pharmaceutical manufacturers,” according to CNN
Here's the text of the 2,074 page Patient Protection Affordable Care Act.
Eventually, that cost trickles down to us. Because the insurance industry would surely increase their rates to help pay for these new fees and taxes placed on them. And Heaven help us if that little plan doesn’t work out for long.
Now is the only time to get sick over this mess while we can still afford it.
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The original intent of the Constitution was to "limit" government power over the people. not to grow it to unprecedented levels. All the "stimulus", Tarp, auto bailout and health bills did and will do is increase government control over peoples lives under the guise of "for the good of the people". This is not about healthcare reform, this is an all out power grab and the ones who will profit the most are the ones who are advocating its passage. This is a belief in a utopian state run society that really is a form of crony socialism where the only people who benefit are the politically correct and connected. This is the antithesis to the principles that this country was founded on.
I am a reformed socialist from the seventies who at one time would have agreed with all these initiatives knowing that the goal was to restructure this society. Fortunately after traveling extensive...
The original intent of the Constitution was to "limit" government power over the people. not to grow it to unprecedented levels. All the "stimulus", Tarp, auto bailout and health bills did and will do is increase government control over peoples lives under the guise of "for the good of the people". This is not about healthcare reform, this is an all out power grab and the ones who will profit the most are the ones who are advocating its passage. This is a belief in a utopian state run society that really is a form of crony socialism where the only people who benefit are the politically correct and connected. This is the antithesis to the principles that this country was founded on.
I am a reformed socialist from the seventies who at one time would have agreed with all these initiatives knowing that the goal was to restructure this society. Fortunately after traveling extensively to two communist countries among many other experiences I began to see the trade off of liberty for socialism was a losing proposition. In my case it took time to open my eyes, time we do not have today to prevent the destruction of our beautiful country. Wake up America before it is too late vote the bums out in 2010!
On the other hand, UPS, FedEx, DHL, private couriers, I have gotten my documents and packages in DAYS, not weeks...
I also don't think it's fair to say that b/c the USPS is losing $$, this is proof the gov't can't be trusted w/ a healthcare option. The National Park Service is also a gov't run agency, and is actually a tremendous success. As for healthcare, Medicare is gov't run and I've yet to meet a Senior who's anxious to give up their Medicare. The VA is also gov't run and is another gov't run program we can be proud of.
That being said, I personally don't support the gov't option b/c I don't think it's necessary. I believe that requiring every citizen to carry insurance (no exceptions), portability, universal access (i.e. every citizen can choose any plan from across the country), regulating administrative costs, and requiring the healthcare industry to be a non-profit industry are the basic principles necessary to improve the system.
I don't mind health care reform however what's being suggested is going to cost the people a lot of money and that is probably not the best prescription since we're in a recession.
But, as I said, I don't support a gov't option or using fed $$ for abortions (except in cases where the mother's life is in jeopardy)...and I'm hoping these will be removed from the final bill.
But we really need something now. I just got my renewal packet from Blue Shield for 2010. They're raising my monthly premium from $948/month to over $1700/month. These outrageous rate increases have been happening for 10 years now and each year is worse than the next. Something has to be done to get this system under control.
Something does need to be done but there really needs to be more options than this one that's going to be debated on tomorrow.
But...insurance companies have been increasing their rates for everyone for the last ten years anyway. With no change to the current system, most Americans (including me) won't be able to pay for their own insurance w/in 3-5 years.
In my opinion, any healthcare legislation will be an improvement to the current system.
But I think those rates will really skyrocket if these new taxes and fees are put in place.
I think the president is pushing for this too fast. We need more options. I'm not saying that there will be one option that will work for everyone or that everyone will be happy about but right now, we don't have any real choices being offered.
BTW, does the "dependents" rate go down if I get rid of one my kids?
So desperate that I ignored that she didn't have a resume and took her word that she could do basic computer work, such as using MS Word.
After three or four months of her not showing up on time, sloppy work (or not doing any of it because she was on the phone to her friends and family) and repeatedly teaching her how to use the simplest things in Word, I had to let her go.
I was a young editor but I learned my lesson: It's always good to suffer and wait for something better than to suffer and get a leery solution that will make matters worse.
Anyway, you're rates might go down if you get rid of one of your children, but right now I think my rates might be better if I get rid of my wife instead. Sadly, she's thinking the same thing about me!