Obama buys GM, healthcare next on list

'...now the government will waste the money for us.'

Today, as seemingly every news outlet wades through the ashes of what used to be General Motors, Reuters is running a story about Obama’s health plan, which apparently is now ‘taking shape.’ Oh good. I was worried that he’d wait a couple of week before laying waste to another industry.

Ok, that’s not fair. I’m not saying that Obama single-handedly wrecked the auto industry, nor am I saying that our healthcare industry was doing even remotely well before he arrived on the scene. Both industries have been in bed with the government far too long to even remember functioning like an efficient member of a market economy.

With regard to the auto industry, Karen DeCoster correctly noted in February that GM is “roadkill on life support.” General Motors was losing $1,200 for every car it sold all the way back into 2006, making it a literal engine of wealth destruction. How on earth can you expect to stay afloat when you are consciously losing money on every transaction – is Milo Minderbinder running the accounting department? Maybe GM intentionally made cars so terrible that no one would buy them because by some weird interpretation of economic logic, for every car they didn’t sell they saved $1,200? Check out this SNL skit to catch an eerily accurate version of the Big 3’s business plan.

Now the government owns General Motors, and they’ll make sure it runs like the lean, mean, profit machine exemplified by the government. Are you kidding me? Obama takes his wife to dinner and a show, and sticks taxpayers with a (not kidding) $74,000 bill for the evening. This is the government’s version of cost-cutting:

In one concession to the tough economic climate, the couple flew on a smaller Gulfstream rather than the Boeing 747 customarily used as the presidential Air Force One.

Oh, a Gulfstream, just like us ‘regular’ folks. Three Gulfstreams, in fact. Maybe he could also save us some money by wiping his nose with twenties instead of the customary $100 bills. This kind of maneuver makes wasteful automotive CEOs look like misers in comparison. Much like Nancy Pelosi treats the Defense Department like her own personal chauffer, when the people footing the costs for a service are not the same people receiving the service this kind of thing is bound to happen. ‘More caviar, sir?’ ‘Absolutely!’

Which brings me to our current health care situation. Here’s the good Dr. Ron Paul on the problems in our health care industry, making the point better than I could:

For decades, the U.S. healthcare system was the envy of the entire world. Not coincidentally, there was far less government involvement in medicine during this time. America had the finest doctors and hospitals, patients enjoyed high quality, affordable medical care, and thousands of private charities provided health services for the poor. Doctors focused on treating patients, without the red tape and threat of lawsuits that plague the profession today. Most Americans paid cash for basic services, and had insurance only for major illnesses and accidents. This meant both doctors and patients had an incentive to keep costs down, as the patient was directly responsible for payment, rather than an HMO or government program.

We should remember that HMOs did not arise because of free-market demand, but rather because of government mandates. The HMO Act of 1973 requires all but the smallest employers to offer their employees HMO coverage, and the tax code allows businesses – but not individuals – to deduct the cost of health insurance premiums. The result is the illogical coupling of employment and health insurance, which often leaves the unemployed without needed catastrophic coverage.

Once again, the government is rushing in to 'solve' a problem rooted in government involvement in the first place.  Count on more problems.