Broken Not Crushed life as a statement, not an apology

So what did I learn this morning over my vanilla latte?

1. It is wrong for health insurance companies to raise premiums (or, as the AP describes it, “[under the President's plan] the government [can] deny or roll back egregious insurance premium increases that infuriated consumers.” Just the increases that infuriate customers, mind you. Not the increases that customers welcome with open arms. Those are still OK.)

Obama puts forward $1 trillion health care plan

2. It is wrong for credit card companies to charge fees, or increase them, for their services. Services that people willingly sign up for. Services that people want.

Mixed blessing: credit card reform may shock some.

Who knew? And Obama supporters wonder why the business community thinks he lies every time he opens his mouth? Consider what’s between the lines here:

If you operate a business, the government can tell you how much to charge, when to charge, whom you can exclude, whom you must include, and anything else the government, not the market, deems “good”.

If that doesn’t send a chill down your spine, you need to stop reading now, take a day off work (assuming you have a job…something the government can only provide by “creating” taxpayer-funded positions) and re-read the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Then read a biography of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, or John Adams, and be reminded of what that anachronism called “freedom” really looks like.

Then go buy and read anything by George Orwell, and watch “Schindler’s List”, to see how easily it can given up, and how business and private individuals, not government, can act to safeguard it.

Then proceed with this post to see what’s being said to private industries:

Insurance companies: Too bad if your cost of doing business goes up. Too bad if you are facing a massive increase in demand (people wanting “free” services) in the midst of a contraction in supply (doctors in general, and docs willing to accept your insurance, specifically).

Too bad if trial lawyers are jacking up your costs through outrageous lawsuits and manipulating the legal system. Too bad if doctors are ordering “unnecessary” tests to cover their own backsides lest they be accused of malpractice. Deal with it.

Your premium increases infuriate customers (voters) and that can’t stand. Operate at a loss. And be happy about it.

(If you’re going to try to go out of business, better do it quick, before it’s outlawed. Don’t try to get clever and take lessons from Hank Rearden.)

Credit card companies: You are the true bad guys. You have duped innocent Americans into buying much more than they can afford. You, not a government that has modeled deficit spending for decades, are responsible for the ethic of “spend more than you have”.

When your customers miss deadlines they’ve agreed to, you are not allowed to charge a penalty, or increase the interest rate, or give any other incentive for them to pay on time.

Moreover, you must do the math for them, and spell out clearly on every statement just how long it will take them to pay off their bill. You must hold their hands, because we all know (wasn’t this the lesson from the mortgage crisis?), that people are not capable of running their own lives, making their own decisions, or seeking their own best interest.

You provide no value, and exist only to extort money from helpless, foolish, serfs. Expecting people to read and understand financial agreements they sign on to is predatory.

Shame on you. You are almost as bad as mortgage lenders.

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I have personally watched my health insurance premiums rise from under $100/month to over $500/month in the last six or seven years. I don’t like it. But obviously I think it provides a value, or I’d let go of it. And I think there are steps to take to reduce those costs. But they sure don’t come from MORE government regulation.

Before jumping on the regulation bandwagon, ask yourself, “What could be the unintended consequences here?” If it’s harder for insurance companies to remain profitable, why will they continue to offer the services they do?

The immediate and unintended consequences of credit card legislation are easy to see. I personally had two of my accounts cancelled in the last six months, due to under-use. We have a sizable chunk of credit card debt, which I’m not proud of, but having that option sure came in handy when medical bills and car bills came up at the same time. Now others may be denied that option.

Is this REALLY what the Patriots fought and died for, what the pioneers risked their lives for, to be hand-held by a government that can’t imagine us to be capable or running our own lives and dealing with (and learning from) the consequences of failure?