Health care reform = economic recovery??

It seems that every time a government official is asked about the economy, no matter what the question is, the answer is always something along the lines of 'the economy is in a deep recession now, and the way to fix it is through health care reform.' Every time, without fail. The only time someone applies such great effort to get their point across is when they themsleves know that it is not really true. So, in order to make sure that they will be able to convince others that it is indeed true, they keep on repeating it with the hope that if you hear it enough times you will begin to believe it.

We are not that foolish, however. We will not fall for their tricks. (Unless we are libs of course.) Let us take a little time to think about this statement. If the economy is in trouble, and the government is in debt, how could the first step to recovery be spending more money? How will businesses start to see profits once again if they find new expenses ( such as mandatory coverage for employees)?

It in fact makes no sense (just like everything else this administration is doing.) The government is saying that it might need to even raise taxes on the middle class. [They of course tried to deny it, but they made it pretty clear Sunday morning, that it is really an option. This might be a shock for some, but did you really believe Obama when he kept saying 'no one who makes less than $250,000 will see an increase in their taxes?] If they are in such finacnial trouble, (which we know they are,) this health care reform will for sure make it worse. The CBO has stated that they have not even seen any attempts, in the government's discussions on the health care reform, to save money. This being the case, I think it is very clear that healthcare reform is not the first step to recovering our economy. (In fact, I do not even think it is the last step.)

Medicare is bankrupt, as is Medicaid. Part of the healthcare reform seeks to expand their coverage. This will only make things worse. For a few reasons. First of all, with the government in debt, obviously more spending is certainly not a good idea. Second, one of the ways Obama is saying he would like to generate some revenue for his health plans is to raise taxes on the "wealthy." (Do not even get me started on how wrong this is on so many levels. Let's just stick to our discussion here.) A large amount of these "welathy people" are job providers. As I have said many times in the past, if you take their money one way, they will find a different way to save money somewhere else. An easy way, fire people. With unemployment nearing 10% and rising, how is any part of the recovery a measure that will lead to more people loosing their jobs?

As usual, the questions do not have answers. As we have been seeing so frequently with this young administration, their claims do not add up. Obama might be right that health care reform is the first step to economic recovery, if the reform is to reduce the number of people covered by the government, and to lower taxes on those that provide jobs.

PTP*: Part of the reform calls for a law mandating people to purchase healthcare or see a fine. How does the government have the power to do this? How can they force me to purchase healthcare for myself? Is that not a personal choice for me to make on my own?

*PTP= Point to Ponder