Maroon Weekly

How Do They Still Have Jobs?

By Autumn Dawson

In response to the healthcare reform bill that Obama just signed, I would like to ask one question: was a test case ever performed by the federal government to determine the validity of this bill?

Is anyone truly surprised to find that the answer is no?

As someone with two degrees, one in the sciences and one in business, our elected officials’ presumption is not only insulting but down right idiotic. Allow me to demonstrate this by using an example.  What chemist is going to hand a diabetic a new drug and say, “Here you go, take this drug now instead of your old one. No, I haven’t actually tested it on a human or even on an animal, but I believe it will work for you. I’ve put a whole year into developing it, and it just has to work!”

Chances are that chemist’s career would end at that point. And as impossible as it sounds, the example is painfully close to what our president and congress are currently doing by imposing this untested healthcare bill on the American people. It is a bill that will affect one sixth of our economy, and the truth is that these politicians have no idea if it will actually work!

The healthcare bill comes with zero accountability, zero checks and balances, and an infinite number of costs for generations to come. You would think that some of these lawmakers would put on a businessman face and look at this as real commerce, dealing with real lives. Instead, it’s been nothing but selfish and foolish behavior by Democrats who would rather cater to their personal agenda rather than focus on what’s best for this country.

The question now is how long will Americans have to wait to see this thing fall apart? Since most of the bill will not go into effect for years to come, it will likely be quite a while. Of course, there are currently over a dozen states filing lawsuits against the U.S. government, claiming that the bill is unconstitutional.  So I suppose there is hope that this monstrosity of a bill will never be shoved down our throats.

But in the meantime, while it is caught up in the courts, there are a few items supposedly going into effect.  In September, insurers must allow parents to keep children under the age of 26 on their plans. (Most health plans currently allow unmarried children who are full-time students to remain on their parent’s plan up to or through age 25.) Within the next 90 days, the new legislation will provide immediate access to high-risk insurance plans for people denied insurance due to pre-existing medical problems. (Texas already has this. It’s called the Texas High-Risk Pool.)

Lastly, and the one that will actually effect numerous Aggies: health care reform will impose a ten percent tax on customers of all indoor tanning salons. Go figure.