Follow the Money

I was watching C-Span this morning at the fitness center. Low and behold, my very own congressman Phil Gingrey, representing the 11th district in Georgia was on speaking about health care. Phil is a doctor so he knows a lot about health care, but I think he's pretty ignorant about who actually pays for it.

In all the talk and controversy over health care and who should provide it and who should pay for it and who should get it, I never hear anyone talk about where does the money come from...ultimately.

It's like a magician's trick. We marvel at the trick, but the magician never reveals how he does it.

The ultimate universal "free" health care plan proposes employers pay for it and government administrates it. But it doesn't really matter the proposition. Ultimately, the trick is performed the same way every time. The trick is on the consumer. He pays for it.

Here's how the trick is performed. Let's say the employer/business/corporation/government/whatever is required to provide health care for his workers/citizens and their families regardless of whether they are full time, part time, laid off, retired or fired. This cost $X more than previously. The company makes widgets that cost the consumer $5. Now with the increase in health care cost to the business, widgets will cost $7. Now who's paying for the "free" health care?

I don't think anyone really gets this since I've never heard anyone else say it except maybe Neal Boortz. The only ones who get it are business owners and maybe they're too afraid to say it, so they put up a big stink about how it's hurting their business and they can't afford it and all the while the price of widgets keeps going up.

It's a Catch 22 though, because everyone is a consumer and everyone eventually needs a new widget, so everyone is paying for "free" heath care. Tanstaafl!

It's amazing to me people don't figure this out for themselves, but I guess it shouldn't surprise me. Government schools don't teach logic, critical thinking or reasoning. Neither does TV.