Joseph C. Phillips
*There was much laughter following the presidents signing of the health care bill. Democrats were positively giddy over having successfully secured America’s decline. There were fist bumps and back slapping; the champagne flowed.
Democrats were not alone in their celebration. Republicans too shook hands with constituents and lapped up attention and praise for, let’s face it, having done very little. But, hey, why let that spoil a good time? My fear is that not only will Republicans not “repeal the bill” should they take control of congress after the mid-term elections, but that in the very near future Republican candidates will also be running on promises to nurture it. Such is my confidence in the current GOP.
Inasmuch as we are toasting the expansion of the administrative state (and thus the demise of our American Republic) we should perhaps also raise our glasses to Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain. All these nations are on the verge of economic collapse due to their fiscal promiscuity. They too love their entitlements and are demanding them even as the ship of state sinks. Portugal is currently running a deficit that is 9.3% of GDP with a debt that is 80% of their GDP. Greece has a deficit of 13% and a debt of 113% of GDP. Just for laughs consider that they are appealing to the United States for financial aid. The U.S. currently carries a deficit that is over 12% and debt that is 94% of GDP.
Closer to home we should also raise our flutes in celebration of, or perhaps in memory of, an American icon: the United States Postal Service.
At the same time President Obama was putting his signature on Obamacare, the Postal Service Board of Governors announced its decision to drop Saturday delivery, close some post offices and increase rates for service. Before instituting the changes, the Postal service must first get an official opinion from the postal regulatory commission followed by the approval of congress. Good luck.
This year the postal service projects a deficit of $7 billion. Without changes that shortfall is expected to increase to $238 billion by 2020.
Post Master General John E. Potter argues that if the agency were “provided the flexibilities used by businesses in the marketplace to streamline their operations and reduce costs, we would become a more efficient and effective organization.” Word has apparently not trickled down to Potter that the way to save money is to spend goo-gobs of it along with establishing several more layers of federal regulation. As they say in the white house, “You’ve got to spend a trillion to save a billion.” That’s the way they do it in Greece.
How odd. Rather than requesting that the postal service be subject to 100 new government boards and a 3000 pages of new official directives, and that he be named Postal Czar, Potter demands the freedom to respond to market signals – to run the postal service as a (hide the women and children) profit making enterprise as opposed to a quasi government enterprise.
This is exactly the opposite of what we have been told as it pertains to healthcare. The left argues that profit is the enemy of reform; that in fact the only way to bring quality healthcare to the most people along with fiscal discipline is through large administrative oversight – that and about 3 trillion dollars.
How is it that the same political considerations that have governed the postal service into billion dollar deficits will elude governance of healthcare? They will not.
I will no doubt be admonished by new liberals: “don’t disturb this groove.” However, clear thinking Americans, which apparently exempts the entire democratic caucus, understand that the choice was never between Obamacare and doing nothing as was often charged. As Potter articulated in his plea to congress, it was always a question of the inflexibility and stagnation of government bureaucracy on the one hand and the fluidity and dynamism of the market on the other.
The magic of the present moment may do much to cement Obama’s legacy, but it does little to change this nation’s fiscal reality to whit: the nation is running huge deficits, has grown the national debt, has unfunded promises it can’t keep and for the first time the majority of this nations debt is in foreign hands (alas, not in the hands of Greece, Portugal et al.) Rather than seek market alternatives that would cost nothing, this president and this congress chose to inflict upon the nation an expensive boondoggle that will, they have explained — in the odd dialect of congressional-ese and in contradiction of actual historical evidence — actually make us fiscally sound. It will not.
But far be it from me to break up the party.
Joseph C. Phillips is the author of “He Talk Like a White Boy” available where ever books are sold.
Spoken by someone who is not one of the millions without healthcare now who will be covered under this bill.
It is shameful that those who have had the benefit of healthcare (and I remember how back in the day, companies routinely paid 100%, there was no copay to visit the doctor, hospital days up to a week for new mothers were standard, etc) now look down at disgust at this new potential plan. The insurance companies have made billions. CEO’s have been able to retire based on the lie of saving money. Not one has performed any surgery or administered any miracle that I have seen. Yes there are people who bucked the system with fraud, gone to the ER for routine care or used someone else’s information to obtain medicine. Still, I am sick of reading about another child dying because of a greedy insurance executive denying a life saving procedure or elderly people choosing to buy food or medicine.
Post Office is a different story. Any business who mails out junk, as in marketing or even catalogs should pay different to mail that out. Clearly pensions should be cut which is terrible because many employees want to be at the post office because of that. But the Post Office refused many of today’s current technological advances. Federal Ex and UPS were laughed at by them. Even having a post office box with a real address and having longer hours have done them in.
Joseph C. Phillips is the author of “He Talk Like a White Boy” available where ever books are sold.
More like “He Talk Like a White Azzhole” available where ever books are stole.
The saddest part about this commentary from Mr. Phillips is that it evidences just how much distrust and mistrust there is of our government. Okay, if we cannot trust our government, why not just overthrow it? Oh yeah, that’s against the LAW!!! Right… And I guess we’ve been shown that we can trust corporations with leading the country better than the government? Yeah, that worked REAL well in the last decade, didn’t it? President Obama is trying to regain the public’s trust in government, and the GOP is doing everything they can to deter this action. So let me get this straight: You ARE part of the government, but you are telling me not to trust government? If that’s the case, why should I trust your word when you’re telling me not to trust you?
MY opinion is that instead of turning a deaf ear to the ideologies of those that diametrically oppose your own, the ends should try to meet somewhere near the center. “Compromise” is a word not found in the Conservative lexicon, and THAT is the problem.
Oh, and most of the DEBT that JCP is talking about was created by the PREVIOUS REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION, giving tax cuts to the upper 10% of this country, deregulating banks and Wall Street, giving big perks to prescription drug companies, and taking us into 2 wars to which they had no exit strategy.
When JCP speaks of the financial problems in Potugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain (PIGS), he leaves out mention that the financial crisis that threatened to overtake this country starting back in 2008 was global in its scope. PIGS did not admit fully to having critical problems with US and other financial institutions that were taking down those countries’ financial positions. Added to the lack of disclosure was continued coverup.
JCP can claim that fiscal promiscuity along with entitlements are the problems in PIGS but he would make a better case by acknowledging that financial fat boys got PIGS into the same financial position that impacted the US. He would rather claim that universal healthcare in PIGS is the problem.
“I will no doubt be admonished by new liberals: “don’t disturb this groove.” However, clear thinking Americans, which apparently exempts the entire democratic caucus…”
See, it is quotes like this that make logical-thinking Black people think Joseph C. Phillips is a self-loathing, pseudo Black man. Lumping every non-conservative into one pot because they disagree with your narow-minded thinking is ignorant, period.
I am so happy that Senator Phillips knows what is best for the country politically. Hey, you could be the next Black President of the United States! If people are ready to vote for an empty head like Sarah Palin, I am certain they’ll support an empty suit such as yourself…
Health insurance companies are already gaming the reformed landscape. Where possible, costs are being creatively increased to maximize the value of insurance as a commodity.
Insurance company actions are going to demonstrate the need for a public option/single payer option to assure reform savings and affordibility.