Perhaps
it’s Stockholm Syndrome – The phenomenon where hostages begin to sympathize
with the positions held by their demented and maniacal captors. That could explain what would compel a
conservative leader like John Boehner to abandon his previously held commitment
to defunding ObamaCare. But explanation or not, it’s unacceptable.
Early in their tenures, a large number of freshman members of Congress
pledged to defund ObamaCare. They may
have hoped that the Supreme Court would ultimately relieve them of their
obligation to act by declaring the bill’s individual mandate unconstitutional.
Or perhaps they were counting on the GOP regaining the White House and
repealing the bill entirely. Regardless, 105 current House Republicans signed a
letter last August committing to defund ObamaCare.
House
Speaker Boehner, however, recently brought forth and passed a Continuing
Resolution (“CR”) that funded the federal government – including ObamaCare --
for the rest of the fiscal year.
How did that happen? Republicans control the U.S. House of Representatives and therefore the government’s
purse strings. They have the authority to write spending bills, yet apparently
lack the courage to stand up for the very principles that got them elected.
Make
no mistake: ObamaCare is the GOP’s Rubicon.
If we allow the motherload of new entitlements dictated by ObamaCare to
go into effect, there will be no retrenching.
Remember – Obama raided Medicare to the tune of $716 billion in order
to pay for ObamaCare.
Medicare is more than 50 years old.
The vast majority of Americans can’t remember a time when Medicare did
not exist. Immediate major cuts to the
program will be both painful and unpopular.
Medicare must be reformed, but it will take time, as people make
accommodations and rethink healthcare options for their elder years.
ObamaCare, on the other hand, represents a brand new set of
entitlements to which people are not yet wedded. There isn’t even one generation that has
become dependent upon it. There’s still time; we can still unwind this one.
We were repeatedly assured that the ACA wouldn’t “add one dime to the
deficit”. In a report requested by Senator Jeff Sessions, however, the
Government Accountability Office estimates that in the long term, ObamaCare
will actually add more than $6.2 trillion to the ever-widening crevasse (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/341589/gao-report-obamacare-adds-62-trillion-long-term-deficit-andrew-stiles). That’s a whole lot of
dimes added to our children’s tab. Given
the government’s historic under-estimations, the reality is likely to be much,
much worse.
The
country is mired in $16.6 trillion in national debt. Unemployment rates are
already far too high, and even Douglas Elmendorf, Director of the CBO, admits
that ObamaCare
will reduce employment by more than 800,000 jobs (http://cnsnews.com/news/article/cbo-obamacare-will-kill-800000-jobs-over-decade). The new healthcare law is already
driving up the cost of medical coverage for American families while at the same
time limiting their access to care. All in all, ObamaCare is like offering the
people on the Titanic an “upgraded cabin”.
House
Republicans should have taken notes on Rand Paul’s recent 13-hour filibuster on
the Senate floor in opposition to John Brennan’s nomination to head the CIA. Paul
didn’t worry about being labeled an obstructionist; instead, he fought for his
conservative principles. The same sort of impassioned pleas need to take place
regarding ObamaCare. Our elected
officials have an obligation to defund or repeal it.
Now governors are in the position of having to make decisions about
expanding Medicaid within their states.
Many are falling prey to the promise by the federal government to pay
100% of the cost of a targeted Medicaid expansion for the first two years. Federal funding will then drop over time.
Our federal government is committing to pay for the states’ Medicaid
expansion? The same federal government that can’t pay its bills? The government
that borrows more than a third of every dollar it spends from the Chinese?
This has all the makings of an unmitigated disaster. Like the rest of ObamaCare, it would be
exceedingly difficult to dial back a Medicaid expansion after several years
when the federal government no longer covers the costs. Once millions more
people are enrolled in an entitlement program, history reveals that it is
nearly impossible to contract.
Regardless of any hollow funding promises from the federal government,
Medicaid expansion is clearly not the best way to stabilize a state’s
healthcare system -- one that is already struggling to care for uninsured
patients.
The Heritage Foundation
predicts that states will incur huge increases in Medicaid costs as the federal
contribution drops. These costs are
anticipated to far exceed any savings gained by covering previously uncompensated
care.
According to a 2011 Congressional report, the ACA’s Medicaid expansion
would cost states at least $118 billion over the next ten years. (http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/press-releases/joint-congressional-committee-report-details-new-health-laws-fiscal-burden-)
To make matters worse, Medicaid serves as a huge disincentive for the
poor to find employment, because they disqualify for the program once they
begin earning better incomes.
If that weren’t compelling enough, Medicaid has the worst health
outcomes of any insurance program in the developed world.
Some form of subsidized private insurance would be a far better option
than a Medicaid expansion. Private insurance routinely results in clinically
superior outcomes. It would also serve
as an incentive for employment while stimulating the economy through privately
generated income.
Any of these more credible and affordable solutions, however, will
require the backbone of Republican leadership.
The GOP can make a come back -- But only if the politicians that we sent
to Washington on our behalves are willing to stand up for time-tested
conservative principles. They need to muster
up the courage, tenacity and profound commitment that brought this country into
being. Defunding and dismantling ObamaCare would be a formidable first step.
If, on the other hand, our current leaders are truly suffering from
Stockholm Syndrome, then the first step is for others to demonstrate that they
need not succumb to the ideological subterfuge of their captors. Witness Rand
Paul. One way or another, all syndromes eventually run their course.
