Intellectual leaders of the Democratic party fear that if President Obama is unable to salvage a health care bill that increasingly looks like it it's indefinitely stuck in legislative limbo, party members will be unwilling to touch it in the future:
In a recent VDare column, Steve Sailer linked to a handy report from the DHHS on the country's uninsured population.
The pertinent information I want to highlight follows. The index simply shows the ratio of a group's representation among the uninsured population to its representation among the population as a whole. For example, 48% of the country's uninsured are white (as of 2005, when the report was written) and whites comprise 67% of the population at large, so the white value is .72. A value over 1.00 indicates that a group is overrepresented among the uninsured population; a value under 1.00 shows that the group is underrepresnted.
The figures in the DHHS report are rounded to the nearest whole percentage point, so the range for the true value for Native Americans is enormous (2% of the uninsured, 1% of the total population--at 2.4% of the uninsured and .6% of the population, it'd be 4.00; at 1.5% and 1.4%, it'd be only 1.07) and should consquently be taken lightly. What is clear is that of the four major ethnic/racial groups in the US, Hispanics are the least likely to be insured under the current system.
Increasing tax rates on "Cadillac plans", forcing insurance providers to cover clients who are going to lose them money (those with pre-existing conditions), and expanding Medicaid benefits to everyone earning under 150% of the federally designated poverty line are real costs. And these costs are to disproportionately be borne by whites for the sake of non-whites, especially Hispanics. More specifically, with the specter of the amnesty apparition that was buried in 2006 hovering on the horizon and the total lack of credibility in all politicians' claims that non-citizens will be precluded from enjoying the health care bill's benefits, this means it is illegal Hispanic immigrants who stand to gain the most, primarily at the expense of white American citizens.
I'm too parochial to really invest myself in the debate. My employer provides me with 'free' full coverage that I never use and never plan on needing to use (like living forever, so far, so good!). Initially, I was intrigued by the idea of reducing Medicare benefits to cover the cost of the reforms, as just about anything that reduces Medicare payments--resources destined to have a negative ROI of close to 100%--is something I'm inclined to support. That's a moot point now, as the politically unacceptable idea died several months ago.
This, however, certainly encourages me to be more firmly critical of any plan to universally expand coverage. Like virtually all government programs not directed at those over the age of 65, it aims to take from whites and give to NAMs.
"If Bill Clinton couldn't get it done, and Barack Obama can't do it, no Democrat will ever try again," said economist Len Nichols, health policy director at the New America Foundation.
...
"History is written by the victors, not the vanquished," said Chris Jennings, congressional liaison for then-first lady Hillary Clinton during the 1990s debate. "Failure would serve as the ultimate judgment as to whether this effort was worth doing."
In a recent VDare column, Steve Sailer linked to a handy report from the DHHS on the country's uninsured population.
The pertinent information I want to highlight follows. The index simply shows the ratio of a group's representation among the uninsured population to its representation among the population as a whole. For example, 48% of the country's uninsured are white (as of 2005, when the report was written) and whites comprise 67% of the population at large, so the white value is .72. A value over 1.00 indicates that a group is overrepresented among the uninsured population; a value under 1.00 shows that the group is underrepresnted.
| Race | |
| Hispanic | 2.14 |
| Native American | 2.00 |
| Black | 1.25 |
| Asian | 1.00 |
| White | 0.72 |
| Residency | |
| Non-citizen | 3.00 |
| Citizen | 0.85 |
The figures in the DHHS report are rounded to the nearest whole percentage point, so the range for the true value for Native Americans is enormous (2% of the uninsured, 1% of the total population--at 2.4% of the uninsured and .6% of the population, it'd be 4.00; at 1.5% and 1.4%, it'd be only 1.07) and should consquently be taken lightly. What is clear is that of the four major ethnic/racial groups in the US, Hispanics are the least likely to be insured under the current system.
Increasing tax rates on "Cadillac plans", forcing insurance providers to cover clients who are going to lose them money (those with pre-existing conditions), and expanding Medicaid benefits to everyone earning under 150% of the federally designated poverty line are real costs. And these costs are to disproportionately be borne by whites for the sake of non-whites, especially Hispanics. More specifically, with the specter of the amnesty apparition that was buried in 2006 hovering on the horizon and the total lack of credibility in all politicians' claims that non-citizens will be precluded from enjoying the health care bill's benefits, this means it is illegal Hispanic immigrants who stand to gain the most, primarily at the expense of white American citizens.
I'm too parochial to really invest myself in the debate. My employer provides me with 'free' full coverage that I never use and never plan on needing to use (like living forever, so far, so good!). Initially, I was intrigued by the idea of reducing Medicare benefits to cover the cost of the reforms, as just about anything that reduces Medicare payments--resources destined to have a negative ROI of close to 100%--is something I'm inclined to support. That's a moot point now, as the politically unacceptable idea died several months ago.
This, however, certainly encourages me to be more firmly critical of any plan to universally expand coverage. Like virtually all government programs not directed at those over the age of 65, it aims to take from whites and give to NAMs.
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