Saturday, March 17, 2012

We had to pass it to find out how much we hate it

Politico has an update on Obamacare: "Four hard truths of health care reform"

1.) Some people won't get to keep the coverage they like
2.) Costs aren't going to go down
3.) It's just a guess that the law can pay for itself
4.) "The more they know, the more they'll like it" isn't happening

Golly, weren't all these things accurately predicted by opponents of taking over one-sixth of the economy?  The history of American entitlements is one of low initial cost estimates followed by out-of-control costs.  Forcing price controls and mandates inevitably lead to shortages.  What a mess.

13 comments:

Can't believe "death panels" aren't polling better said...

[i]"The more they know, the more they'll like it" isn't happening[/i]

Too bad it can't be a beloved sensation, like that snazzy Paul Ryan Roadmap For America's Future. His videos have captured so few hearts, he may as well dump all cardiology coverage, too. But the more the voters learn about killing Medicare, hiking middle class taxes while cutting taxes for the rich, and increasing the deficit, the more they're sure to embrace the plan.

Here's the liberal media on the health care law:
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/11/30/poll-voters-like-much-of-health-care-law-but-not-the-individual-mandate/

Maybe there's a matching "the individual details are popular" article about Rep. Ryan's plan, but we just can't see it. So ophthalmologists can get the axe, too.

Eric said...

I hear Eddie Murphy's movie stinks too!

In other news, ABC/WashPost is reporting that two-thirds of Americans want the individual mandate or Obamacare as a whole repealed. But then I guess two years of retrospection is not enough. Let's pre-judge Ryan's plan instead.

Anonymous said...

Retrospection on an individual mandate that begins in 2014, but too early to pre-judge the math equation in the "Roadmap"? Better adjust your flux capacitor, McFly.

Eric said...

Time travel won't change the fact that Americans don't want to be forced to buy something. It's a fact two years ago, now, two hundred years hence.

Nice try, Biff.

Calvin Klein said...

Marty: Hey, hey, I've seen this one. This is a classic. This is the part where you give the rich people free money, and then it's supposed to trickle down and jumpstart the economy. But the big joke is... it doesn't!

Milton: What do you mean, you've seen this? The Roadmap is brand new.

Marty: Yeah, well, I can see it's a.... rerun.

Milton: What's a rerun?

Marty: You'll find out.

Eric said...

I don't know why Ryan's wasting his time with a policy that's unpopular, irrational, and fiscally unsound.

In unrelated news, Obama visited a solar panel factory today.

Rand Paul McNally said...

In totally related news, China's investments in green technology is now outpacing their GDP. They're already the nation with the largest amount of government subsidies for renewable energy projects, because they've taken a longterm interest in their future energy security. Feel free to ignore this the next time you complain about borrowing from the Chinese.

The #2 nation is Germany, whose economy is being relied upon to keep the EU solvent. Feel free to ignore that the next time you want to compare America's problems to a European country.

Both countries also outpace the U.S. in attracting private financing for renewable energy, in large part because they don't treat it as a partisan issue. But don't let that interfere with the usual "job killer" talking points.

Eric said...

"Both countries also outpace the U.S. in attracting private financing for renewable energy, in large part because they don't treat it as a partisan issue."

Really? Business people are eschewing renewable energy just out of politics? They're missing out on a big opportunity like Solyndra, Ener1, Fisker Karma, or Evergreen Solar? The fools!

As for China, it's well-known that China's double-digit growth is leading to an explosion in ALL forms of energy, from nuclear to renewables. What does that mean "green investments outpacing GDP"? That doesn't make sense.

Rand Paul McNally said...

Yes, it does. The average increase in renewable energy investment, year to year to year, has been *higher* than the annual increases in China's GDP over the same period. New energy has lifted China's GDP more than the GDP has lifted new energy.

Renewable energy investment alone now accounts for about 2% of China's GDP. They're going "all in" on the technology even as half of our politicians make Al Gore jokes and focus on Keystone.

And yes, businessmen have been eschewing U.S. investment in renewable energy out of politics: but not theirs, our government's.

Whose projects are more attractive: the ones where the officials in charge are dithering and bickering, or the one where the governments are unified and committed to continued support? That's not theory, it's where the money's going right now. You won't have the slightest bit of trouble Googling quotes from the experts and investors in the field about this very circumstance.

Eric said...

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, about how everybody hates Obamacare.

But back to our diversion: I checked Wikipedia and almost all the "renewable" energy accounting for China's green-GDP is from hydroelectric sources. Solar power is an asterisk. It's pretty much the same in America, except subsidy-free biofuels are falling out of favor.

As for why these companies can't attract private funding, your "clap for Tinkerbell if you believe" explanation is priceless.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, that isn't my explanation. It's theirs. But what investors say out loud and especially what they do with their actual money is probably just some kind of trick. Stay vigilant!

Your Wikipedia research ignores wind and nuclear; China already has the highest installed wind power capacity in the world and has plans to vastly increase it. The city of Jiuquan alone already has the same wind capacity as England, with 1/50th the population. And that city's future investment in wind and solar is 40 times its upcoming investment in oil and coal.

China now produces more than half of the world's solar power, most of which is exported. Their installed solar capacity tripled last year, is scheduled to sextuple within three years, and will be more than 25 times as large in under a decade. Outside investment is expected to top $600 billion by 2020, larger than any other G20 country.

China's energy consumption per unit of GDP has gone down 15% since 2007. They plan to reduce the current amount by more than 40% over the next eight years.

Wait until they find out the whole thing's hopeless! Boy, will we Americans share a laugh on that day! Fill 'er up!

Eric said...

Uh-huh. I'm sure investors would flock to solar if only the government would stop bickering.

The Wikipedia page I refer to notes that China's wind power production trails the U.S., Germany and Spain and that it accounts for 12 GW of energy, which is about 5% of the hydroelectric total energy. Those aspirational numbers are impressive, though. I similarly plan to lose 20 pounds and double my salary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China

In fact, nothing can stop the Chinese green juggernaut! Except reality: "Despite this, Wen Jiabao stated in a March 5th, 2012 report that China will end the "blind expansion" into wind and solar energy, insteading developing nuclear power, hydropower, and shale gas."

Anonymous said...

The Wikipedia page I refer to notes that China's wind power production trails the U.S., Germany and Spain

Yup... in 2008. That's where the whole "growth" thing comes in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China

"In 2010, China became the largest wind energy provider worldwide, with the installed wind power capacity reaching 41.8 GW at the end of 2010."

It might be time to edit the other Wikipedia page.

China's not slamming the brakes on its solar and wind plans. They've reached the point where they need to focus on improvements to their grid, which is bottlenecked and can’t easily absorb the amount of renewable energy being produced. They also need to revise their 2005 energy law, which has quickly become outdated and literally impedes some of the new energy from being integrated into the system. Growth has outpaced coordination. The goal is to get their ducks lined up. An international conference on renewable grid integration begins this coming week in Beijing... perhaps they're cutting back on snacks.

http://www.opplandcorp.com/grid-integration/

Wen’s is the same statement that’s been made at the People's Congress three years in a row, even as the country increased its solar investment three years in a row. Here’s the exact same “blind development” language from 2009:

http://www.chinafrica.asia/tag/wind/

The “reality” is that either China’s wrong, or you are. Good luck!