Four Troubled Horsemen of ObamaCare Apocalypse

Apocalyptic – Presaging imminent disaster and total universal destruction.

Random House Dictionary of English Language

Better never trouble Trouble

Until Trouble troubles you,
For you  only make your trouble
Double-Trouble when you do.

David Keppel (19^th Century Methodist-Episcopal Clergyman),   Trouble

I  do not  believe ObamaCare  will destroy the  U..S. health system.  Nor am I one who writes breathlessly about its irreversible disastrous consequences.

I believe ObamaCare  will either self-destruct short of the Apocalypse, or undergo fundamental change, or be repealed in 2016 should  Republicans win Congress and the Presidency.

I regard the latter as a long shot.

Troubles

ObamaCare is in trouble at the moment because of its structure, substance, and unworkability.

It is in trouble because of its cumbersome rollout and its millions of  cancelled health  plans.

It is in trouble because of its broken promises.

It is in trouble because it knew early on these problems were going to be broken. 

It is trouble because of its extravagant expense, three times the original estimates. 

It is in trouble because it threatens to destroy the very fabric of the American health insurance system –  self-insurance and employer-based insurance for the middle class. 

It is in trouble because of its incompetence  in spending $634 million over the course of 3 ½ years to build a website that doesn’t work and  of which it was warned wouldn’t work.   

It is in trouble because the bulk of Americans do not see any pot of gold or even any  hope at  the end of the ObamaCare rainbow.

Americans can forgive a lot of things, but broken promises,  repeated  mendacities, and sheer incompetence are not among them.

Four Horseman

And lastly it is in  trouble because of  the four horsemen of Obama – Arrogance,  Ignorance, Governance , and Extravagance.  

 These are not the four horsemen of apocalypse described in the New Testament, who represented Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. Those horsemen  rode four different colored horses – red, white, black, and pale , which were different horses with different powers.

The ObamaCare  horsemen are riding different steeds.   Thedr steeds represent  different attitudes  because of the ridetd’ political altitudes.

The first horseman has an arrogance problem.    He thinks he is empowered to transform the American political system regardless of what the opposition party or the American people think.   And he thinks he and his political followers can perform this  feat  unilaterally amd singlehandedly  without compromise or consensus.

The second horseman has an ignorance problem. He does not understand the American culture and its desires and drives for political freedoms.  These freedoms include:  freedom  to be sn entrepreneur,  freedom to pursue one’s dreams without being burdened with supporting the rest of the population, and freedom to take risks and to fail and rise again. We are a risk-taking nation.  We do not believe in absolute government assured security if that security infringes upon individial freedoms.

The third horseman has a governance problem.   He does not seem to grasp that he is responsible for what goes on under his leadership. He should know   what his subordinates are doing  and not wait for the news to tell him. He should  question and know the broad details of massive government projects. He should anticipate what might go wrong before it goes wrong.  He should  be aware of the consequences of his actions.  He should discipline or even sack those who do not deliver on results and promises.  Governance depends on delivering  promises and meeting  public  expectations.   It is about  results not  rhetoric.

The fourth horseman has an extravagance problem.   He spends over $800 billion on a stimulus package that has provided few good  jobs.  He promises  to spend only $900 billion plus $500 million in change, for a health reform package that is on track towards spending $2.7 trillion in ten years.  He parcels out a mere $634 million for a website that doesn’t work.   He raises taxes by $500 billion in penalties, fines, and taxes on businesses to pay for health.   He increases the national debt by more than $5.5  trillion to $17 trillion,  more than all of his predecessors combined.  He makes no moves to trim entitlement programs,  the main drivers of the debt.

Tweet:   Four horseman of ObamaCare apocalypse are Arrogance, Ignorance, Governance, and Extravagance. They are in the saddle and ride humankind.