Health Care Reform Becomes Insurance Mandate

After all the hullabaloo about public options, socialized medicine, death panels, and employer mandates, yada yada, it all comes down to this, judging by the bill the U.S. Senate is poised to pass:

You must buy health insurance or go to jail. Or pay a fine. Or get a government subsidy. Or thumb your nose and see what happens (probably nothing).

WINNERS: Insurance companies.

LOSERS: Just about everyone, as this will no doubt raise premiums sky high even as services are reduced to cover new, unserviceable demand.

PREDICTION: If Obama and the Democrats survive in power after 2012, look for the public option to come back in full force as they once again demonize the insurance companies, when in truth it's Medicare and Medicaid that are driving the system bankrupt and unaffordable.

Canada Supreme Court Sides With Wal-Mart

After its outlet in Jonquiere, Quebec, Canada, voted to unionize, Wal-Mart acted quickly and shut the damn place down. Predictably, the union sued and vowed to hold its breath and turn blue until justice prevailed.

Justice did prevail--on the side of Wal-Mart. In a 6-3 vote (I can't understand the stupidity, er, rather, I fully understand the stupidity of the three dissenters), the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that there is no law requiring companies to stay in business.

Justice Ian Binnie, citing previous case history, said no law can forbid a business from shutting down, even if it does so for "socially reprehensible" reasons.

Full story here.

Holder Lets ACORN Continue Receiving Funds

Remember when the big to-do about the videotapes of officials with ACORN advising people how to set up prostitution rings forced Congress's hand? Politicians of both stripes voted quickly to cut off ACORN from public funding.

ACORN immediately sued because it claimed Congress was passing an unconstitutional bill of attainder (laws can be written to single and punish out either individuals or individual groups).

That lawsuit is still in the legal mill, but it appears that it doesn't really matter. Attorney General Eric Holder has ruled that Congress's ACORN law is unclear (huh?), so the federal tap remains open.

Let James Simpson explain it all:

The actual ban reads as follows: "None of the funds made available from this joint resolution or any other prior Act may be provided to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries or allied organizations." (Emphasis added.)

The Justice Department has decided that the phrase "provided to" is unclear and "has no established meaning in appropriations law." They cite terms more frequently used, such as "obligate" and "expend," that have widely accepted meaning in spending legislation. They go on to arduously defend their point by exhaustively listing the many definitions of "provide" given in Websters, Oxford and American Heritage dictionaries and even Roget's Thesaurus. Like Bill Clinton, they probably could have found as many definitions for the word "is..."

In short, ACORN is still getting the funds--and probably still advising people on how to avoid taxes and set up prostitution rings.

Endless Tax Hikes to Pay for Health Care Reform

The Americans for Tax Reform site has a great collection of all the taxes coming our way if Obamacare is enacted.

The list is endless.

A Cool $10B for Unions in House Health Bill

One of the motivations behind the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and other Obamaic union-ripoff measures is to replete the unions' pension fund coffers, which have been horribly managed and looted for political purpose (e.g., electing Obama).

Now, the House health care bill is rushing to the aid of unions as well, earmarking $10 billion for a "reinsurance fund" to help pay retired union members' health care bills.

On top of that, if a public option passes in the final health care measure (if the package itself passes), it will require that any provider participating in the plan be unionized.

Thus health care reform=more union bailouts (think Chrysler, GM as precursors).

Do a Favor, Get Sued for Weight-Loss Surgery

This actually happened, and it's pretty chilling from an employer's perspective.

A pizza shop owner in Indiana hired a cook weighing 380 pounds because, for starters, the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against the morbidly obese.

All goes well for a while...until the chef gets knocked in the spine by a refrigerator door and requires surgery. The owner's workers' comp insurer agrees to cover the surgery, but the doctors advise weight-loss surgery before the spinal work. Worker's comp insurer refuses to pay, so worker sues employer and worker wins. Employer appeals and employer loses.

Bottom line: Employer is out $20,000 for doing the guy a favor, and now he may be losing his business as well.

Read it all here.

No Health Insurance=5 Years Jail and $250K Fine

If Pelosicare, which passed a midnight vote this past Saturday, becomes the law of the land, failure to carry an approved health care plan could land you in jail for five years and get you socked with a $250,000 fine.

There's also a misdemeanor violation good for one year behind bars and a $25K fine, but you get the picture. At the very least, when you submit your income tax return each year, if you don't include proof of insurance, you'll be taxed at least at 2.5 percent of income as a fine. Become a scofflaw, and the slammer awaits.

On top of that, a qualified plan is priced merely at $15,000 (and up) for a family of four under Pelosicare.

Good deal, huh?

READ MORE HERE