In Reform Republicans Privatize Health Care, Democrats Want Unions as Aggregators

The plans being bandied about to reform America’s healthcare system are led by a bumbling buffoon and his ten hearty followers, five Republicans and five Democrats. Why do I call President Bush a bumbler on healthcare? The number of uninsured grew over 6 million on his watch. It would have been greater had the Census Department not come through with a timely reformulation.

Most of the five Republicans believe the private sector can outperform government. While this has been seriously called into question in Iraq and the U.S. Gulf Coast, the party of Lincoln will stick to this mantra. It helps that insurance companies, for-profit hospitals and investment houses contribute greatly to Republican candidates.

Key Democrats also line up at the campaign money trough to dine on the largesse of those same firms. However a few of the five Democrats seem unpoisoned by these contributions. Two are independently wealthy, Herb Kohl and Maria Cantwell. Others have a long history of donations from labor unions.

Presidential hopeful John Edwards visited a labor union in Las Vegas to promote his health care plans. Will he catch the NBA All Star Game while there? Is that similar to getting a Sony Playstation III delivered while the average Joe schlepps in line at 3 am for his chance to buy?

So what is the connection between nonbusiness whore Democrats and the new health insurance ideas? Labor wants to be a huge group purchaser for those legions of new tax credit insureds now paying for their own policies. Anyone thinking employers will continue providing health insurance when the employee gets the tax credit, doesn’t know American CEO’s propensity to shed costs, thus driving up the value of their stock options. As they can no longer back date them, they need real financial results to do the trick.

This becomes win/win/win for politicians. Republicans continue to send huge sums of federal money to private insurers. Employers get to ditch their most frustrating benefit for the last 15 years by shifting it to the individual employee. Profitiability should soar. Labor steps in to fill in the gap and stem their longtime membership declines. They will transform themselves into huge group purchasing pools for health insurance.

Over time will labor branch out into other products like AARP has done? This is highly likely as President Bush and his minions unleash their second punch on the already reeling middle class citizen, funding your retirement.

Beware the one two punch coming courtesy of campaign funded bi-partisanship. And investment houses win on both punches!