The Vistors Mall for Health Care Reform

The Washington visitors mall went from $265M to $621M. Why will Obamacare be different?

I know there are a lot of smart people in Washington, but most of them couldn't effectively manage a neon lighted lifeboat booth on the Titanic. If asked to run the booth, the Titanic would already be under water before the paper work for the first lifeboat was completed.

If you look at what Congress historically does, they pass laws that apply to everyone but them and anyone in government. Did you ever wonder why?

Following the collapse of Enron, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation creating new accounting standards for publicly traded companies. There are specific procedures and oversight that is supposed to prevent, among other things, accounting fraud. These same laws, if applied to the federal government, would lead to shutting down the federal government.

Same can be said for GAAP. If Congress were made to comply with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) there would be no deficits, at least not of the magnitude we have now.

Some members of Congress have suggested that, if a public health insurance option is created, Congress should be required to use that option.

That proposal was shot down in committee because it "wrongly infringed on the right of the House Administration Commission."

What kind of deal is that?

This new plan is good enough for the public but not good enough for the President, VP and Congress? What is wrong with this picture?

But what about the cost of health care reform? How does Congress come up with their figures?

I have no idea.

Of course neither does Congress, nor do they ever have to worry about how much something costs since they have access to an unlimited source of money.

That would be your money and mine, as well as that of our children and grandchildren. They are entitled to all of it (or so they believe).

Just look at the newly opened, and recently flooded, Washington visitors mall. Originally budgeted at $265M that ballooned to $621M. Congress is in the business of erecting monuments to themselves yet they missed the mark, big time.

If they can't get that figure right, what do you think will happen if they take over health insurance?

We have bridges, buildings and highways named after people who went to Washington to spend our money. An exception is the Walter Reed Medical Center, named for a former US Army surgeon, not a politician. If Dr. Reed could see the lack of care and conditions at his namesake hospital I suspect he would be disgusted at what the federal government has done to dishonor him.

In spite of what is done in Congress, the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) is supposed to run the numbers on anything Congress does. Of course, just like with health care reform, if Congress or the Obama House don't like the numbers they either ignore them or refuse to release them to the public.

If you have the time, and desire, you might want to peruse the CBO Director's blog. Who knows? You might just find some tidbits there.

If you look at his bio, Director Elmendorf has been on the job since 1/22/09 which pre-dates the Treasury Secretary and several other appointees. One might assume Director Elmendorf didn't have any tax skeletons . . .

He is an educated guy with a lot of letters after his name and an impressive resume' if you want a professor counting beans. But he doesn't have any REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE in anything, much less risk management as it relates to the cost of health care and health insurance.

He may have some real bright folks advising him, both on the inside and outside consultants, but there is no evidence of that.

To his credit, you can't blame him for the Visitors Mall. That pork project preceded him.

Smaller cars, bigger health insurance, Poppa Washington.