Monday, February 04, 2008

Vee Have Vays...

...of making you get on zee train.

WASHINGTON - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday she might be willing to garnish the wages of workers who refuse to buy health insurance to achieve coverage for all Americans.


No big surprise there. Every idea that's come out of the wretched mind of this foul piece of garbage masquerading as a US Senator has centered around the notion of taking more money and power from the people and using it to secure more governmental control over our lives.

Now that I think about it, I might have to replace "masquerading as" with "acting like".

Meanwhile, in the land of HillaryCare Jr. (thanks, Mitt)...

The subsidized insurance program at the heart of the state's healthcare initiative is expected to roughly double in size and expense over the next three years - an unexpected level of growth that could cost state taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars or force the state to scale back its ambitions.


"No problem", says Governor Hope-a-Dope. "We'll just get the hard-working Americans in the other 49 states to pay for it."

The state has asked the federal government to shoulder roughly half of the program's cost from 2009 through 2011, but there is no guarantee of that funding. Commonwealth Care provides free or subsidized insurance for low- and moderate-income residents.


OK, this is becoming less funny, now that I have a dog in the race.

The administration of Governor Deval Patrick produced the new estimates to launch negotiations for federal funding, and has shared them with some state health leaders at closed-door meetings. Patrick is seeking about $1.5 billion over three years, half the cumulative cost for Commonwealth Care. The administration declined to discuss the numbers or the assumptions behind them, citing the ongoing negotiations.


Come on! What's a few billion dollars between friends? It's not like the Massachusetts government has a record of flushing federal tax dollars down the toilet by the truckload.

And, besides, it's not like anyone saw this coming.