3.05.2009

Don't Poke Your Head Above the $250K Line

In an excellent post, Shock and Awe: Obama’s First Forty Days, Stephen Bourque describes the unbelievable power-grab that the Obama administration has pulled off, and says that they have "pursued the decapitation of America," and likens it to a military "shock and awe" campaign. Does that sound over-the-top? A little too extreme? Bourque later explains his use of language:
In the first sentence of this post, I accused the Obama administration and Congress of pursuing the decapitation of America. I use the word “decapitation” not in the typical military parlance meaning to kill or dethrone the head of state. Rather, I mean that the federal government is directly attacking productive minds. [emphasis his]
This is right on the money, and evokes a powerful image that really gets the point across. (Note that he supplements it with a line drawing that really drives the point home.)

-------------

In a tangentially related post, Get Ready For the Unintended Consequences, Dr. Paul Hsieh alerts us to some comments from another doctor who plans to avoid being decapitated by Obama's proposed $250,000 "soak the rich" tax line.

He quotes the other physician describing how he and his wife are partners in a private practice, employing 7 people and grossing $400,000 per year. But because they have young children and employ a nanny as well, they are planning on shrinking the practice, laying off at least 3 employees and the nanny, and the wife will stay home with the kids. By then staying under the $250,000 ceiling, they will net only $10,000 less income per year.

So Obama's plan will ultimately result in putting these lower wage earners out of work and decrease the supply of physicians. And the unintended consequences go further if some sort of coercive government medical monopoly -- er, "single-payer" health care system -- is implemented, as Hsieh concludes:
In Massachusetts' universal system, some patients are waiting up to a year for a routine physical exam.

Is this a taste of the future for the rest of the United States?
ObamaTax discourages some physicians from working as many hours or working at all, just as ObamaCare causes wait times to increase dramatically. That future leaves a bad taste indeed.

No comments: