IT'S FOR YOUR HEALTH

"We have the right for health and safety to pass reasonable laws dealing with the protection and health of the people of the city of Chicago," Daley said. This is a quote the website of Channel 2 (CBS) in Chicago.

I pulled this out because I believe this is the type of statement we are going to hear once a national healthcare bill is passed. No matter what the situation that comes up, your Senators and Reps will make a similar quote.

Here is a list of things that will be controlled under the guise of "it's for your health":

sugar consumption
fast food of all kinds
gasoline usage
utilities usage
required home improvements
required appliance replacements
required conversion to solar power

Use your imagination to expand the list.

A FEW NUMBERS I THREW TOGETHER

On September 16, 2009, USA Today reported that the average cost per family for a health insurance policy was $13,375. It's probably a little higher now. For my convenience, let's say it is $14,000 currently.

President Obama wants to limit the amount some of us must pay for premiums. I found a chart with a 2006/2007 date from which I took some numbers representing families at various income levels. I applied those numbers to the income levels the prez wants to help. The prez picked a percentage rate which determines the maximum amount that family should pay. The remainder is paid for the by other Americans.

For the calculations below, the first number is the no. of families in that group. The $14,000 is the average cost of a policy. The next number is the mid-range of the income level.

1. 18.5 million X (14,000 - (25,500 X 2%)) = 249,565,000,000
2. 8.0 million X (14,000 - (31,000 X 3%)) = 104,560,000,000
3. 6.0 million X (14,000 - (38,500 X 4%)) = 74,760,000,000
4. 7.0 million X (14,000 - (49,500 X 6.3%)) = 76,170,500,000
5. 6.0 million X (14,000 - (60,500 X 9.0%)) = 51,330,000,000

I stopped at the upper income limit of $66,000. That totals $556,385,500,000. Yep, that's half a trillion!!

And that's just for the premiums. Then there are the out of pocket costs which must be limited. I can't calculate that.

Then there are the tax credits for small businesses. I can't calculate that either.

Where's the money coming from? Well, since insurance companies will have 30 million new customers, they will be hit with additional assessments. Drug companies will have higher revenues because of several clauses, so they will be assessed more. And then there's the medical device companies who will be assessed. (Notice I avoid the word "tax" here.)

High income earners will be "taxed" more (5.4%).

And if you have a high income with a lot of interest, dividends, rents and royalties, those will have a special tax (2.9%).

Fair/fairness appear 6 times in the President's 11 pages. Fair/unfair appear 35 times in the Pelosi bill.