PrintJanuary 21, 2011
Yes, Rep. Cohen - Obamacare is a takeover of our health care system
What is a "takeover"?
The democrats have fully embraced the calls for civil discourse by comparing Republicans to Nazis. During the debate over repealing Obamacare Democrats continue to insist that Obamacare isn't a government takeover of health care and that portraying it as such is a lie. The repeatedly visceral and over wrought exaggerations remind me of the debates over welfare reform. At that time (1996) the Democrats were saying that such the reforms would throw millions of children into poverty and could even lead to starvation and rioting. Needless to say, nothing of the sort happened.
Stripping away all of the rhetoric, let's look at the facts. The government already controlled nearly 50 percent of every health care dollar spent in the US before Obama care. The "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" costs trillions of dollars, extends coverage to millions, and puts limits on insurance company profits while dictating what type of insurance can be offered. The bill most certainly extends government control, but does it constitute a takeover?
No matter how you do the math, the culmination of Obamacare means that the federal government will control well over 50 percent of every dollar spent on healthcare in the United States of America. In the business world, controlling more than 50 percent of a company is a takeover, isn't controlling well over 50 percent of every healthcare dollar analogous? Of course it is.
If Obamacare existed by itself in a vacuum it could not be called "government takeover". The issue for Democrats is that the bill doesn't exist in a vacuum. It adds to the already far reaching control that the government exerts on our healthcare system now. The business analogy is easy to understand. If you had bought 2 percent of a company for years until you reached 48 percent ownership, you could not purchase another 15 percent of the company and claim that your actions don't constitute a takeover. Supporters of Obamacare cannot claim that their bill isn't a takeover of the healthcare system for the same reason. To claim that Obamacare isn't a take over of healthcare is simply dishonest, just like comparing your political opponents to Nazis.
