Feb 09, 2010

A never-before-tried program, Cash for Clunkers, is being heralded as a stellar success at a cost of $3 billion and hundreds of dealers waiting to be paid that $3 billion. In essence, it's an "unfunded mandate" – a promise to pay with no money to pay. Thus the deficit increases by $3 billion. Never mind the fact that Cash for Clunkers, a program that was expected to cost $1 billion, ended up costing $3 plus administrative costs.

Now the issue is health care, which is expected to cost some $1 trillion. Yet, in this instance, we have a track record. This has been tried in the past.

In 1965, Medicare was a "pay as you go" program funded by Medicare tax revenue. Today, Medicare parts A, B and D have $86.2 trillion in unfunded liabilities. More than $86 trillion worth of future services have been promised with no money to pay them. This is above and beyond "funded" services, so we must come up with $86.2 trillion in revenues or we will not be able to deliver the $86.2 trillion in health care already promised.

Talk about rationing! Someone is going to get hosed.

And yet with that track record we now want to trust Congress, who gave us Medicare, to give us a "public option"? How does Congress intend to pay for it? If its track record is anything to consider and factoring inflation, expect to add another $100 trillion to the already $86.2 trillion in unfunded mandates.

Today, every man, woman and infant in America would have to cough up $330,000 to pay for what we have already promised, not counting Social Security (another $13 billion). Soon it will be $1 million. Have you always wanted to be a millionaire? There you go, if you can look at a liability as an asset. That is what the government does. Why not you and I?

Feel better now?

If we continue to look to government for the answers to the challenges we face, we can expect the same results. Insanity is an ugly disease. I wonder if Obamacare will have a cure for it.

The government needs to return to the role of protecting and defending the Constitution and the people. It needs to abandon its attempts to "fix" the problems. Its fixes are killing our great nation by mortgaging to death future generations.

Government programs are doing nothing to make things better and everything to make things worse over the long term. Many of the problems we face are financial in nature. As the cost of living increases year after year, the cost to do business increases.

As long as Congress continues to mount huge deficits, the U.S. dollar will drop in value. In turn, the cost for everything goes up. If Congress really wants to help, it must stop spending money we do not have.

Is there any difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to spending money we don't have? According to the legendary Sam Cohen, "There is only one difference: Democrats enjoy it more."

So with a Democrat-controlled Congress and White House, hold onto your wallets.