OK, So Ashley got me talking to her about Obama-care and I decided to finally post something about it. First off keep in mind I am not against Universal Healthcare. I think it’s a good idea if implemented correctly. However also understand that you underestimate the depth of the game being played, at least in my opinion. I will do my best to explain in the following. Let us start with a little bit of data shall we: 1. President Obama’s term: January 20, 2009 to Present. 2. On July 24, 2009 Minimum wage was increased from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. This is an increase of 40.7767% 3. Total Unemployed People In the United States: a. 2009 – 14.71 million people (7.8% in Jan 09) b. 2012 – 11.316 million (7.3% as of Aug 13) 4. Total People at Poverty Level or Below in United States: a. 2009 – 39.54 million (13.5% pop) b. 2013 – 46.5 million (14.7%pop) (17.6% increase) 5. Total Population in the United States a. 2009 – 305.5 million b. 2013 – 315.1 million (3.14% increase) 6. The program has the potential to raise costs for employers to which they have to adjust by: a. Raising prices of products. b. Lowering hours worked by employees to below full time as to not offer benefits at all. c. Pay fees. 7. The people that get the most out of the program are those of low income. 8. Food Stamp Users by Population: a. 2009 – Over 35 million (11.46% pop) b. 2013 – Over 47 million (15.02% pop) (3.58% increase) 9. Many employers are cutting people from 40 hours a week down to 28 hours as to not provide insurance and pay fees (per point 6) This is a 30% decrease in hours worked and in income earned. 10. From 2009 to 2013 we have had a total of 9% inflation. So here is the theory to begin with. In 2009, knowing that they were going to push Obama care and need votes for it the bi-partisan system (I count republicans and democrats as really the same coin with two heads) needed to build a support base. The program was junk, but its infrastructure would be valuable in the long run (I will go into that momentarily) and necessary for other programs. The only way to get it to pass though was to make the people feel like they would get a benefit from it. Not all of the people mind you, just the loudest ones. Since the people that get the most out of this program are the poor and the rest of the populace gets higher costs, they had to increase the ranks of the poor to build a supporting group. However they had to do this with the illusion of progress. Enter Step One, Increase the Minimum Wage. I am for an increase in minimum wage for the record, but I have my doubts about the kindness in this one. July 2009 they were increased from 5.15 to 7.25, or just fewer than 41%. That’s a huge jump. At the time the poor rejoiced believing good days ahead. However the politicians knew that the Obama-care program would force employers to cut hours or raise costs to compensate for the benefits fee they would be assessed (for having Obama-care or providing an alternative). The raise in minimum wage was just a precautionary adjustment to prevent collapse when the next step occurred. Step Two, Present the broken plan. Not long into the term the president and his people presented the universal healthcare idea they had cooked up. Two thousand or more pages drafted in no time flat to encompass all of the United States. Needless to say it was quite flawed. In fact there are so many issues in it that I believe many are intentional. Employers are informed that once passed they will have higher overhead costs, be penalized for providing full time employees with their own insurance that is not part of the program. However they will also be fined for not offering insurance at all. This puts the employer in a bad position. During this time the economy is doing poorly and employers are either going under, closing their doors, or just laying off people. While our unemployment rate moved from7.8% in 2009 to 7.3% in the current 2013. Underemployment, the group of people who have too little hours or can’t find an applicable job, increased. This has led to our population of people at the poverty line or below to go from 39.54 million (13.5%) in 2009 to 46.5 million (14.7%) in 2013. This is a huge 17.6% increase in poverty even with less unemployment. There is a reason though. Step Three, The corporate reaction. When employers saw the potential damage and cost they jumped ship. Employers began letting people go, and we have all heard of the massive layoffs. But more damaging is that many reduced employee hours. People that were working 40 or more hours a week now work 28 or less, a 30% decrease. This helps the employer avoid having to pay anything for benefits at all since they have almost no full time employees. Because of this the poverty rate has increased. A person who worked 40 hours a week at 5.15 but had a benefits package was essentially making 7.50 an hour already. As the cost of the insurance would have been very expensive to of bought on their own. Let us assume we do not even count the obvious value of the old employer benefits and go solely off of earned income. The 2009 worker that puts in 40 hours at 5.15 an hour makes 206.00 before taxes. However the 2013 worker who puts in 28 hours at 7.25 makes only 203.00 before taxes, a 1.5% decrease. The companies out there now have a less dedicated, less covered, less employed workforce full of temporary and contract workers. The business cannot afford to spend too much money training them as there is no job security or loyalty anymore and the worker could leave at any moment taking that valuable training with them. They save money on the insurance but lose it again in the loss of their quality of service and products. Step Four, The Market reaction. As if the corporate reaction was not bad enough the cost of producing goods has increased. Fewer companies with fewer hired employees and even fewer labor hours are trying to keep up with an increasing population and a 9% increase in inflation since 2009. The cost of those hard to make and hard to get goods has gone up even though the total take home money for many of these workers has decreased. In addition to Insurance rates and tuition rates across the board have increased, making it harder to afford medical treatment to continue work and harder to afford an education to get a better job that moves the worker out of poverty. Due to this dependence on government food stamps has increased from 35 million people in 2009 (11.46% pop) to 47 million in 2013 (15.02% pop) which is just under a 3.6% increase in government needed aid. I mention all of these chaining events though you have to wonder if the bill is worth it. Is this Obama-care is truly worth all of the hassle. But then you are seeing it just as the face they are putting on it. Let’s go back to the broken project. Step Five, Fix the Broken Illusion as you please. When the program was passed everyone in the country complained about all of the holes and problems with it. Did you ever wonder if many of them are not intentional though? Imagine a used car salesman that also owns the only mechanic shop around. He sells you a used car with lots of problems and you drive away. Eventually something breaks and you bring it back to him to fix. Now while he is fixing it he says he has to fix a few more things to fix your issue. Not knowing better but knowing you want your car to run you say ok and he repairs the car. At least as well enough to break down again later and have you come back. This is the same thing I see with this program. So many holes, so much potential to pass bills in the future to fix it and tack on addendum to get whatever the politician wants. Does the program make veteran’s suffer? Why I will fix that, and riding on that fix will be more funding for his office or district or whatever program he wanted that would otherwise of been too controversial to of stood on its own. This is how I see it. Obama may just want to pass on something that is a Legacy with his name on it and little more. But the politicians see it as a Trojan horse and the golden goose all at once. Once they break everything, they can fix it however they choose. Sadly most of the country will be none the wiser. That’s my 2 cents.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 03:54:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015