Pirate's Cove

It seems that, in Democrat World, the fact that the majority of American citizens are dead set against the individual mandate, and Obamacare, matters little, because Democrats know what is best for you stupid citizens, and you should be thanking them for forcing you to either purchase health insurance or pay a fine. Dem supporters have tried many different tactics in the wake of the Supreme Court hearing as we await their decision: comparing it to Bush v. Gore, calling a ruling that shoots the law down as “judicial activism”, saying it will destroy the court, going the scare route claiming it would be replaced with single payer, and even attacking the Court before the verdict is rendered. Now, here comes another from far left pundit Jennifer Granholm, who was a Democrat governor of Michigan, served on Obama’s transition team, and is now on Current TV

Granholm starts out with the typical story about someone not having insurance then being forced to pony up $3,000 for medical treatment, said treatment ending in the ER for pneumonia. Perhaps the person could have purchased insurance beforehand, which would have been the responsible thing to do and less than the $3k. Which will be mandatory with the Mandate. And the cost won’t be going down. Then we get

(Politico) A “health care mandate,” it seems, is in the eye of the beholder.

Carmelita has been mandated into the uninsured health care market, banished from “normal” care by a wholly unaffordable insurance system. She doesn’t have insurance, but believe me, she’s participating in commerce. She was forced, mandated to purchase emergency care or choose to risk her life. She doesn’t want that kind of health care coverage; like any rational person, she’d prefer to buy an affordable policy. But like tens of millions of others, she can’t afford it. The market for health care services is ubiquitous; the question is whether Congress mandates emergency-room market participation or a rational health insurance market system. The old system is no less a “mandate” than the Affordable Care Act.

Except, first, the “Affordable Care Act” won’t reduce costs. Second, Congress hasn’t passed a law mandating people get care. It’s a hell of a difference, but, you know, bat guano against the wall as a talking excuse and see if it sticks. The person in question could have gone to see a doctor at a health clinic for quite a bit less, too.

And let’s be honest about where the pre-“Obamacare” emergency-room mandate is coming from. That mandate comes from congressional acts, too — for example, the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which requires hospitals to treat anyone needing emergency care regardless of ability to pay. Indeed, Congress has enacted over the years a complex web of authorizing statutes and rules that regulate health care and allow insurance companies to price people out of the market.

So, it’s partly Congresses fault? And which Party was in charge when passing that 1986 law? That’s right, Democrats. It originated in the Democrat controlled House.

Carmelita is an unwilling conscript, a mandated gambler in the health care market. She doesn’t want to engage in the market in this fashion, but the system leaves her no choice. And to her, it’s amazing that justices with lifetime appointments who will never have to worry about health care personally, who themselves will never be forced economic bystanders to the health insurance market, are likely to decide this case based upon arcane legal theory — and not upon human reality.

Except, the point of the Court is to decide the constitutionality of the law, not to decide based on feelings. Perhaps if Democrats had decided to pass a law that focused on actually reducing the cost of health insurance, this wouldn’t be a problem. Instead, they decided that they were going to create a massive piece of legislation that creates even more costs and will increase costs, plus have monstrous unfunded liabilities. We are a nation of law, not a nation of people with squishy feelings that Someone Else should pay for. Though, we’re getting to the latter.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.