Curmudgeon's Corner

Four Reams of Paper

Posted by Al Campbell on Oct. 30, 2009

Economy, Healthcare, Political, Quality of Life, U.S.

Nancy Pelosi spoke glowingly of being humble and simultaneously proud of the complete House health care bill.  All four reams of it.  A ream, if you're unfamiliar, holds 500 sheets of paper.  The usual copier-quality paper reams measure two inches think per ream.  So, we have a new House bill that measures nearly eight inches thick.  Do you really think that our elected representatives will read that before they vote?

It has received a CBO "score" that puts its ten-year cost at something just south of $900 Billion.  That, of course is a bogus number.  That number does not take into account the $250 Billion that will be voted on as a separate bill that rewards doctors and hospitals for joining the 'circus' parade in support of this monstrosity.  That number doesn't include the $500 Billion of cuts to be made to Medicare funding.  That number does not reflect the certain increase in insurance premiums that will result from the added benefits to be included in the "plans".  That number does not include the money taken from us in new taxes all during the first two to three years while we do not gain any benefit since the plans don't really start until 2013 after the next presidential election.

You will recall that the president made it an "ironclad" requirement that the cost of any such bill must come in at no more than $1 Trillion over a decade.  He'll happily go along with the charade since he is, first and foremost, a politician.  Anyone who thought him different than that should now have all the information necessary to understand they voted for a politician and not for a 'savior'.

The last line of defense at the moment are the Republicans who must hold every member, and the handful of Democrats who know they'll lose their elected jobs if they vote in favor.  The magic number of no votes in the Senate is 41 which will keep a filibuster going, and 218 in the House which will prevent the simple majority needed to pass any bill.

Truth be told, which isn't usually a prerequisite in politics and isn't a prerequisite for this monstrosity, the true cost is more than $2 Trillion in the first decade alone.  That, by the way, doesn't include all the little hidden taxes that will nail each and everyone of us who pay taxes.  And those of us who pay the large majority of taxes are growing fewer and fewer while those we support are gaining in number everyday.

Congress has taken its "voters be damned" approach to a new extreme.  We are treated as if we are the proverbial mushroom being kept in a dark room and being fed manure.  They know what is good for us despite our protestations to the contrary.  We'll see how that "hope and change" thing translates in the coming four years as congressional and presidential elections take place.

Voice your concerns to those whom you sent to Washington, and do so regularly; even though that is sometimes not sufficient.  Then, we are left with the vote we possess as our last line of defense.  Vote and vote judiciously rather than on party lines.  The middle ground that holds the largest block of voters, the independents, is where its at; always has been in my memory and seemingly always will be.