An open letter to Billary Clinton
September 4th, 2007
By Scott Sowby
Mrs. Billary Clinton,
Barring something spectacular, you will win the Democratic nomination for President. By now, most Americans who plan to vote have heard something or another about your much touted “BillaryCare”. From what you have said, BillaryCare will provide comprehensive healthcare to all Americans. Prima facie, it sounds pretty good. But doesn't that break the cardinal rule of a Democratic government? Do you remember? It's the one that says, "No level of government should do what the level of government below can do for itself." At a maximum you should be talking about doing something on a state level such as that effectuated by Governer Romney. At a minimum, you shouldn't be talking. Back to my point: If the stats are correct, you are about to make the day of the 46 million Americans that are currently uninsured; 36 million if you discount for children. Even the most pessimistic models predict that 20% of those people will vote for you specifically because you are about to give them something...for nothing. Suckers. Furthermore, it’s likely that you will find some currently insured low hanging fruit that is willing to pay significantly higher taxes and allow for increased governmental control over their lives.
Since you have revealed nothing more than a skeleton outline of your plan to get BillaryCare up and running, I will have to go with the expert’s numbers and use some basic economic and historical assumptions to fill in the blanks. At a minimum, your plan will cost $200+ billion a year to fund and probably another $300 billion in start-up costs. To control costs, BillaryCare will provide modest salaries to its physicians. This will further reduce already declining incentives for potential physicians to enter the field. According to most estimates, doctor’s average salaries will decrease by about 30 percent under your plan.
Having spent a significant amount of money on your own education, I am surprised that you have forgotten that doctors spend a large chunk of their earnings over the first 10 years of their careers repaying student loans. The math shows that being a physician in the BillaryCare network will provide salaries equal to that of a good car salesmen, except with twice the stress, more hours, and more debt. BillaryCare will ensure that our best medical minds seek greener pastures overseas. Once we have third tier medical personnel with little incentive to excel and innovate, our healthcare system will mimic that of Cuba, and your confidante and friend, Michael “SICKO” Moore, will finally be redeemed.
In 1993 and 2006 you said the same thing, that “this program is not government run...there will be no new bureaucracies”. Brilliant! You have figured out how to restructure the entire healthcare system, regulate doctor’s billings, drug costs, and insurance premiums. All of this without creating new bureaucracies. But wait….I remember you convening with some 500 experts to help formulate your first failed plan back in 1993. And I remember the findings. Shall I remind you? OK, fine. BillaryCare would require the creation of at least 50 new government bureaucracies, controlling nearly two trillion dollars. That's 16% of the GDP.
Okay Billary, let’s assume the worst and pretend you get elected President. How are you going to fund this thing? How do you plan to talk the American public into paying the health care bills of the social slackers? Even The Great Clinton Machine won't be able to go-go gadget $500 billion dollars.
The reality is that even the most exotic combinations of investments and circumstances will barely make a financial dent in what promises to be the most daunting and extensive business integration our country has ever seen. And no offense, but there is absolutely nothing on your resume to prove you have the skills to get it done anyway. Your trial by fire should be with something other than the health of.....us.
Back to funding your plan: A realistic solution would be tax increases. Don’t they fix everything? Repealing the Bush tax cuts will give you about $50-100 billion a year. The problem there is that the Bush tax cuts have led to month after month of record setting tax revenues to the government and an economy that has chummed along at record pace. After that, you could always raise taxes even more to get another $50 billion or so. You’ve probably thought of that one. Throw in other contributions/subsidies for another $25 billion. Then you could use some of your patented “under the table” incentives and earmarks and get your total funding close to $200 billion. George Soros will probably cough up a few billion of his own money just for fun. And because I'm a nice guy, let's throw in another $50 billion because it's out there somewhere. Add it all up and you are still well short of what BillaryCare will require. In the real world when companies can’t finance their operations, they go bankrupt. And in cases of a failed enterprise where there exists a monopoly such as that proposed by BillaryCare, chaos ensues.
Billary, there are astonishingly few instances in the history of the world where government bureaucracies outperform and / or outincentivise the free market. This is especially true in the U.S. where entrepreneurialism and capitalism are the norm, not the exception. It’s easy to look at Cuba or Canada or France and make the argument that their “socialized medicine” works. The problem is, we aren't Cubans or Canadians or French. We don’t want to be Cubans or Canadians, and we especially don't want to be French. Our expectations are different, our needs are different, our culture is infinitely different, and I have yet to meet anybody that has experienced both systems who prefers socialized medicine. I am confident I could say the same for you. To be fair, it’s possible that their opinions are more about excess governmental control in their lives rather than poor health care, but that is exactly the point. People gravitate away from government interference in their lives and towards free will and increased liberties.
A great healthcare system isn’t one that provides care to the maximum amount of people. It’s one that provides the best possible care, from the best possible doctors, for those who are willing to put in a little work. It’s well within any Americans reach to get health insurance if they really want. This isn’t Africa or Mexico or China where for some people it’s simply not possible to get even basic treatments. This is America, the land of capitalism and unlimited opportunities. But you know that, and I know you know that. We also know that your fanciful plan will get you a few million votes from under-uneducated, uninsured people. This could very well swing the election your way. Brilliant!
It’s easy to be a visionary while you are running for the President of the United States. You can talk about healthcare for all. You can court potential voters with ridiculous ideas like $5000 “baby bonds” to the 4 million babies born in the U.S each year (That’s $20 billion btw, or do you prefer Euros?). You could further cater to the Hispanic vote by offering drivers liscences to illegal aliens (me dijeron que ya hiciste eso. De veras?). You can propose a be-all end-all NATO enforced no fly zone over Darfur to end the genocide even though NATO doesn’t work. You can even flip flop on the Iraq war as many times as you deem necessary. But if you are elected and you have to make real choices, tough choices, I hope these aren’t the type you will make.
In October 2006 you said, “We need a uniquely American solution to healthcare”. While it's true that the monetary economics of our current system could use some free market tweaks, the health care itself is as good as it gets. To find your uniquely American solution, let me point you to former American government official, Bert Lance, who in 1977 while campaigning against increased government bureaucracy gave us the greatest wisdom of all…”If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Although unlikely...and scary...there is still a small part of me that thinks BillaryCare may one day be a reality. Since your plan mimics your other socialist policies of the redistribution of wealth and all things in common, can I ask you just one small favor? Can you make sure we have the same doctor?
Scott
By Scott Sowby
Mrs. Billary Clinton,
Barring something spectacular, you will win the Democratic nomination for President. By now, most Americans who plan to vote have heard something or another about your much touted “BillaryCare”. From what you have said, BillaryCare will provide comprehensive healthcare to all Americans. Prima facie, it sounds pretty good. But doesn't that break the cardinal rule of a Democratic government? Do you remember? It's the one that says, "No level of government should do what the level of government below can do for itself." At a maximum you should be talking about doing something on a state level such as that effectuated by Governer Romney. At a minimum, you shouldn't be talking. Back to my point: If the stats are correct, you are about to make the day of the 46 million Americans that are currently uninsured; 36 million if you discount for children. Even the most pessimistic models predict that 20% of those people will vote for you specifically because you are about to give them something...for nothing. Suckers. Furthermore, it’s likely that you will find some currently insured low hanging fruit that is willing to pay significantly higher taxes and allow for increased governmental control over their lives.
Since you have revealed nothing more than a skeleton outline of your plan to get BillaryCare up and running, I will have to go with the expert’s numbers and use some basic economic and historical assumptions to fill in the blanks. At a minimum, your plan will cost $200+ billion a year to fund and probably another $300 billion in start-up costs. To control costs, BillaryCare will provide modest salaries to its physicians. This will further reduce already declining incentives for potential physicians to enter the field. According to most estimates, doctor’s average salaries will decrease by about 30 percent under your plan.
Having spent a significant amount of money on your own education, I am surprised that you have forgotten that doctors spend a large chunk of their earnings over the first 10 years of their careers repaying student loans. The math shows that being a physician in the BillaryCare network will provide salaries equal to that of a good car salesmen, except with twice the stress, more hours, and more debt. BillaryCare will ensure that our best medical minds seek greener pastures overseas. Once we have third tier medical personnel with little incentive to excel and innovate, our healthcare system will mimic that of Cuba, and your confidante and friend, Michael “SICKO” Moore, will finally be redeemed.
In 1993 and 2006 you said the same thing, that “this program is not government run...there will be no new bureaucracies”. Brilliant! You have figured out how to restructure the entire healthcare system, regulate doctor’s billings, drug costs, and insurance premiums. All of this without creating new bureaucracies. But wait….I remember you convening with some 500 experts to help formulate your first failed plan back in 1993. And I remember the findings. Shall I remind you? OK, fine. BillaryCare would require the creation of at least 50 new government bureaucracies, controlling nearly two trillion dollars. That's 16% of the GDP.
Okay Billary, let’s assume the worst and pretend you get elected President. How are you going to fund this thing? How do you plan to talk the American public into paying the health care bills of the social slackers? Even The Great Clinton Machine won't be able to go-go gadget $500 billion dollars.
The reality is that even the most exotic combinations of investments and circumstances will barely make a financial dent in what promises to be the most daunting and extensive business integration our country has ever seen. And no offense, but there is absolutely nothing on your resume to prove you have the skills to get it done anyway. Your trial by fire should be with something other than the health of.....us.
Back to funding your plan: A realistic solution would be tax increases. Don’t they fix everything? Repealing the Bush tax cuts will give you about $50-100 billion a year. The problem there is that the Bush tax cuts have led to month after month of record setting tax revenues to the government and an economy that has chummed along at record pace. After that, you could always raise taxes even more to get another $50 billion or so. You’ve probably thought of that one. Throw in other contributions/subsidies for another $25 billion. Then you could use some of your patented “under the table” incentives and earmarks and get your total funding close to $200 billion. George Soros will probably cough up a few billion of his own money just for fun. And because I'm a nice guy, let's throw in another $50 billion because it's out there somewhere. Add it all up and you are still well short of what BillaryCare will require. In the real world when companies can’t finance their operations, they go bankrupt. And in cases of a failed enterprise where there exists a monopoly such as that proposed by BillaryCare, chaos ensues.
Billary, there are astonishingly few instances in the history of the world where government bureaucracies outperform and / or outincentivise the free market. This is especially true in the U.S. where entrepreneurialism and capitalism are the norm, not the exception. It’s easy to look at Cuba or Canada or France and make the argument that their “socialized medicine” works. The problem is, we aren't Cubans or Canadians or French. We don’t want to be Cubans or Canadians, and we especially don't want to be French. Our expectations are different, our needs are different, our culture is infinitely different, and I have yet to meet anybody that has experienced both systems who prefers socialized medicine. I am confident I could say the same for you. To be fair, it’s possible that their opinions are more about excess governmental control in their lives rather than poor health care, but that is exactly the point. People gravitate away from government interference in their lives and towards free will and increased liberties.
A great healthcare system isn’t one that provides care to the maximum amount of people. It’s one that provides the best possible care, from the best possible doctors, for those who are willing to put in a little work. It’s well within any Americans reach to get health insurance if they really want. This isn’t Africa or Mexico or China where for some people it’s simply not possible to get even basic treatments. This is America, the land of capitalism and unlimited opportunities. But you know that, and I know you know that. We also know that your fanciful plan will get you a few million votes from under-uneducated, uninsured people. This could very well swing the election your way. Brilliant!
It’s easy to be a visionary while you are running for the President of the United States. You can talk about healthcare for all. You can court potential voters with ridiculous ideas like $5000 “baby bonds” to the 4 million babies born in the U.S each year (That’s $20 billion btw, or do you prefer Euros?). You could further cater to the Hispanic vote by offering drivers liscences to illegal aliens (me dijeron que ya hiciste eso. De veras?). You can propose a be-all end-all NATO enforced no fly zone over Darfur to end the genocide even though NATO doesn’t work. You can even flip flop on the Iraq war as many times as you deem necessary. But if you are elected and you have to make real choices, tough choices, I hope these aren’t the type you will make.
In October 2006 you said, “We need a uniquely American solution to healthcare”. While it's true that the monetary economics of our current system could use some free market tweaks, the health care itself is as good as it gets. To find your uniquely American solution, let me point you to former American government official, Bert Lance, who in 1977 while campaigning against increased government bureaucracy gave us the greatest wisdom of all…”If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Although unlikely...and scary...there is still a small part of me that thinks BillaryCare may one day be a reality. Since your plan mimics your other socialist policies of the redistribution of wealth and all things in common, can I ask you just one small favor? Can you make sure we have the same doctor?
Scott
posted by Sowby23 at 9:43 PM
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