Price controls by any other name

NY Post ^ | February 23, 2010 | MICHAEL TANNER

[Scanian]

In 301 AD, the Roman emperor Diocletian imposed price controls on most commodities and professions in the empire. The penalty for raising prices was death. Yet the controls failed utterly, leading to shortages, more inflation and the near collapse of the imperial economy.

Now, nearly two millennia later, President Obama seems determined to demonstrate how little we've learned.

Yesterday, the president proposed giving the federal government the power to regulate insurance premiums. Undoubtedly, this will be politically popular -- at least, in the short term. Insurance companies aren't exactly America's most loveable industry. Recent premium hikes will result in real hardship for many Americans.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

The economic problems in 301 AD were Bush’s fault.

[Leisler]

"controls failed utterly, leading to shortages, more inflation and the near collapse of the imperial economy.

The key word is 'control'. Under any name, Roman, Communism, fascism, socialism, Washington Planning Agency, Democrats, RINOs, Well meaning lawyers gone into politics.

Prices are the result of the sum of the actors. Controlling total/end price results in necessary actors leaving the activity. The only thing that consistently brings lower prices, higher quality is people being totally free. People are not free in this country and that is why prices are going up, quality down and innovation slowing.

The key is liberty. We are not free in this country to do anything of importance. We have in fact willingly traded our liberties for economic security under various names.

[Rashputin]

Barry well knows the negative effects of price controls and it is those negative effects that he wants price controls to achieve in order to buttress his argument that government should run all health care. Until the lefties can find a way to make a larger number of people dissatisfied with their health care they can't get anywhere. So, put price controls in place and get the inevitable result which is people losing their health coverage.

Regards

[GailA]

Didn't work for the peanut farmer.

OBAMANOMICS--TRICKLE DOWN DESTRUCTION of the economy

SET THEIR LOCAL AND DC LINES ON FIRE!

Sen. Scot Brown's number is 202-224-5443

Capitol Hill switchboard is 202-224-3121

Lots of local demwit phone numbers on this thread.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2408217/posts

Rename, repackage, rewrite it a tad smaller, and sell another pig in a poke.

Tennessee has joined several other states in trying to pass a Health Care Freedom Act. NO COLAs for granny, retired Military or retired fed employees. BIG NEW fees for Tricare for Life retired over 65 Military's secondary health ins. (DOD bill already passed, delayed but goes into effect 2011)

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/10/military_tricarefees_blocked_100709w/

New Dem mantra: Woof, woof eat dog food granny....ala let them eat cake.

OBAMA’s WAR ON SENIORS

Friday, February 19, 2010

Obama says slight fix will extend Social Security

http://townhall.com/news/us/2010/02/19/obama_says_slight_fix_will_extend_social_security

Health Care Rationing for Seniors Another Problem in New Obama Plan

http://www.lifenews.com/bio3058.html

Socialized Med Thread

TRI CARE FOR LIFE This from a google search:

http://economicspolitics.blogspot.com/2009/05/tricare-for-life-is-obama-trying-to.html

This option would help reduce the costs of TFL, as well as costs for Medicare, by introducing minimum out-of pocket requirements for beneficiaries. Under this option, TFL would not cover any of the first $525 of an enrollee’s cost-sharing liabilities for calendar year 2011 and would limit coverage to 50 percent of the next $4,725 in Medicare cost sharing that the beneficiary incurred. (Because all further cost sharing would be covered by TFL, enrollees could not pay more than $2,888 in cost sharing in that year.)

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9925/12-18-HealthOptions.pdf

http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/hcva09/hcva110609-1.htm

Bill Would Restrict Veterans’ Health Care Options 11/06/09

Buyer and McKeon Offer Amendments to Protect Veterans and TRICARE Beneficiaries

Congress plans to block Tricare fee increases
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/military_tricarefees_blocked_100709w

By Rick Maze - Staff writer, Oct 7, 2009

Tricare fee increases imposed last week by the Defense Department will be repealed by a provision of the compromise 2010 defense authorization bill unveiled Wednesday by House and Senate negotiators.

Snip

The fee increases were announced on Sept. 30 and took effect on Oct. 1, but the defense bill, HR 2647, includes a provision barring any fee increases until the start of fiscal 2011.

Snip

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Bill Matz, president of the National Association for Uniformed Services, said the announcement of fee increases was shocking considering that the Obama administration promised earlier this year to hold off on any new fee Tricare fee increases until fiscal 2011.

“President Obama and DoD assured NAUS and the entire military family earlier this year that there would rightly be no increases in any Tricare fees” in fiscal 2010, Matz said. “We took them at their word, and I can’t believe that a co-pay increase like this was allowed to go forward,” he added.

Bambi doesn't keep his promises...so buyer beware.