And that's that: Introducing....

According to erstwhile House Speaker John "Boom Boom" Boehner:

"It's pretty clear that the president was reelected, Obamacare is the law of the land."

Fine.

So begins a new chapter here at IB, as The ObamaTax becomes the Not So Vaunted Health System©. The NSVHS© is characterized by guaranteed issue insurance, which guarantees only that rational people will wait to buy their policy until they're in the ambulance. It means that rational people will look at the fine penalty tax of a few hundred or so dollars and deduce, quite rationally, that paying thousands of dollars for a policy when one is well makes no economic sense.

Rational people will understand, of course, that actual health care will, of necessity, become rationed as a direct consequence of other folks being subsidized to buy new policies, creating ever more increasing demand, even as provider reimbursements falter (a consequence of the $700+ billion Medicare cut).

Rational employers will understand that the $2000 per employee fine penalty tax is also a bargain compared to the tens of thousands of dollars group plans will now cost as a result of things like the "Mercedes" er, "Cadillac" tax and other such goodies.

It means that health care quality will decline, as will new medical tech. It means that seniors will have fewer choices, perhaps not even the choice of whether to live.

Over the next few weeks and months, Mme Secretary Shecantbeserious will begin to roll out all the new rules and regs that will dictate how the government will direct our your health care.

Not with a bang, but a whimper...