It Is All About Trust
Stanley
Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE
I
voted for President Obama in 2008 because he promised us hope and change. I
knew little of his past or present ideology. He was an attractive candidate and
promised hope. The New York Times never
went into depth about his past, past interests or past performances.
Americans
trusted him and voted for him. He looked like and acted like the candidate of
hope. I trusted him to lead America on the right path.
Yet
he even said in one of his stump speeches “you
know me and you know you can trust me.”
Immediately
after his inauguration America was confronted with an $800 billion dollar
stimulus package that promised to produce millions of shovel ready jobs.
There
weren’t many shovel ready jobs. He baled out some companies and not others. All
the bale outs were at taxpayer expense.
This
stimulus package provided lots of money to increase the size of government. In
fact, President Obama used a sizable about of this money to build a government
bureaucracy for a healthcare bill that was yet to be written.
A
few things developed that made me suspicious of President Obama’s ideology. President Obama is dedicated to big
government and big spending even though it is inefficient and not directed
toward its original goal.
I
have not been a fan of John Maynard Keynes since I read Fredrick Hayek ‘s “Road to
Serfdom.”
FDR
did not spend his way out of the depression. World War II got us out of the
depression.
Keynesian
economic has not worked. President Obama was clearly putting us on a “Road to
Serfdom” with his out of control spending and increased national debt by over
$4 trillion dollars.
President
Obama has made many annoying moves in the last four years to fake out the
American public.
Common
denominators have been a lack of transparency, a disregard for the legislative
branch of government and an overuse of executive orders.
Recent
lack of transparency is illustrated by Fast and Furious and the tragic Benghazi
tragedy.
The
mainstream media’s coverage has been disgraceful. http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/#/Bengasi%2C+Libya+consulate/
Other
annoying actions have been the transfer of power from the congress to the
executive branch and the intimidation of the Supreme Court.
It
seems that he either ignores the constitution or gets around its meaning in
some way. The notion that the constitution is an antiquated document is
offensive and appalling.
The
media as been manipulated by the way events and facts are presented. November 2nd unemployment results are an
outstanding example.
Americans
have been conditioned over the years to get their news from sound bites and not
detailed facts. Whichever sound bite is present the most times becomes the
fact.
The
economy is not doing well. It is growing at a very slow pace. Job growth is
slow. The presentation of the monthly data is confusing.
The November 2 unemployment
headline was; “Latest Jobs Report Shows Persistent Economic
Growth.”
The first sentence was there were 171,000 new
jobs in October. The economy needs 500,000 new jobs per month for a normal recovery.
Consumers
still cannot get jobs, credit or loans from banks.
The
last sentence in the press release stated that unemployment rate rose from 7.8%
to 7.9%. No one remembers the last sentence
Since
the media is the message and 171,000 new jobs sounds like a big number that is
better than expected. It gives the illusion that the economy is improving on
President Obama’s watch.
Americans are not
stupid. The New York Times is trying much too hard to get President Obama re-elected.
President
Obama has generated mistrust by Americans for the promises he made about Medicare
and Obamacare. The amount of money spent, so far, by the President Obama on
Obamacare is not available to the public.
The
analysis of the increase in middle class taxes already in place as a result of
Obamacare are not discussed by the main stream media nor by President Obama.
There
are 10 hidden taxes on citizens making less than $250,000 a year i.e. the
Medicare payroll tax. This tax is going up from 2.9 percent to 3.8 percent. There is an additional 3.8
percent Medicare tax added to investment income. Together, this will cost
taxpayers $318 billion from 2013 to 2022. These taxes were not obvious to the
great majority.
The
impact of future Obamacare taxes on the middle class is going to be
overwhelming. The new taxes were written into Obamacare but not presented to
the public. This serves to increase the mistrust for President Obama and his
promise for transparency.
The
one thing I learned from Hayek is that you cannot manipulate the economy by
edict or force without limiting freedom. In a “free” society “ the unintended
consequences and costs are certain to get out of control.
Costs
can be controlled in a level playing field competitive free market. The
consumer driven market is non-existent. Consumers must start to understand
their power in society.
Government
should make rules that level the paying field for all and then get out of the
way. No spinning the facts and no non-transparent activities. No favoritism to
lobbyists, associations or unions.
Rules
should be made for the benefit of the people in a competitive environment.
Medicare
premiums and deductible expenses for senior will raise not decrease as promised
by President Obama. Out of pocket expenses will rise.
Seniors’ standard Medicare
Part B monthly premiums will jump from $99.90 to $128.20 at the low end of the
means testing while their Part B deductibles will rise from $140 to $180. Seniors’ Medicare hospital deductible on admission will
increase from $1,156 to $1,336, while their daily hospital
coinsurance will climb from $289 to $334 in out of pocket expenses.
I
have pointed out that Obama care’s main feature, ACO’s, will be impossible to
execute and will subsequently fail. This will lead to greater distortions of
the healthcare system.
The
result will be a decrease in choice, a decrease in the freedom to choose your
physicians or recommended care, a decrease in access to care and rationing of
care once the government has total control.
This
does not included increases in costs to seniors and the middle class that has
been scheduled by Obamacare.
All
the stakeholders have taken advantage of the healthcare system in its present
form. The stakeholders are the healthcare insurance industry, the hospital
systems, the government, the patients and the physicians.
The
healthcare system needs a new business model in order to survive. President
Obama’s business model is not the one. The public does not trust it.
The
actions of the stakeholders are natural as these stakeholders try to survive.
It is government’s job to make the rules so
these dysfunctional survival methods cannot flourish.
President
Obama cannot be an effective leader in the future. The public does not trust
him any more.
The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone
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