Oy. What else can be said about Mitt Romney's delusion?
BOSTON -- Only weeks after I was elected governor, Tom Stemberg, the founder and former CEO of Staples, stopped by my office. He told me that "if you really want to help people, find a way to get everyone health insurance." I replied that would mean raising taxes and a Clinton-style government takeover of health care. He insisted: "You can find a way."I believe that we have. Every uninsured citizen in Massachusetts will soon have affordable health insurance and the costs of health care will be reduced. And we will need no new taxes, no employer mandate and no government takeover to make this happen.
Will it work? I'm optimistic, but time will tell. A great deal will depend on the people who implement the program. Legislative adjustments will surely be needed along the way. One great thing about federalism is that states can innovate, demonstrate and incorporate ideas from one another. Other states will learn from our experience and improve on what we've done. That's the way we'll make health care work for everyone.
I guess we can't really blame the guy. I mean, it's nearly impossible to "govern" in Tax AAAAACHOOOsetts without hearing almost hourly how the government owes every man, woman and child free healthcare. Eventually the constant drumbeat of socialism numbs the mind of anyone attempting the job. In Mitt's case, apparently, it's been numbed to the point where he's completely forgotten how to do math. Add that to the fact that he's also (apparently) lost all sense of reality (i.e., entitlements once given may never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, etc... be taken away).
So now this poor numbskull will do whatever it takes to give the Borg of the State what it wants, even if it means more taxation without representation, less freedom, and that hard-working citizens will end up being forced to move out of state, close their businesses, or hire a lawyer to find a loophole or two, and hard-working lawyers will have a new way to get rich.
Think about it. You're an employer who'll have to pay a fee if you employ more than 11 employees and don't provide subsidized health coverage. What do you do? Fire someone, immediately. What if you desperately need that person, or need to hire more people to grow? Sub-divide your company into two fake "divisions" and create a new LLC so no one can quarrel with you legally. Insure no one, toss it back to the government that tried to take away yet another one of your freedoms.
OR simply relocate your business across the border in NH, RI, VT, anywhere this stupid law doesn't apply, and your tax-paying self right along with it. Watch from a distance and laugh as the death march of the Godforesaken (literally) state you left implodes.
Hey, it hasn't even happened (completely) yet, and I'm having a grand ol' time doing just that from my new home here in North Carolina. Trust me, it's a rolicking good time.
Posted by insomnomaniac at April 12, 2006 8:51 AM | TrackBack