Events Driving ObamaCare  and Election

Events, my dear boy, events.

Harold McMillen (1894-1986), British Prime Minister, when asked to question  what drives governments off course

Events are in the saddle and drive mankind.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

External events are driving the government off course in its ObamaCare and foreign affairs policies that affect the election.

In economics these external events are called “ externalities,” which are defined as a side effect of a policy or activity that affects other parties without this being reflected in the goods or services involved.    Or, more simply,  costs or benefits that a party that did not choose to incur that cost or benefit.  Or simpler yet,   complications or adverse consequences,  often beyond the immediate control of the party putting forth  or implementing the policy, act, or law, or activity.  Some events are beyond the reach or control of government.

With ObamaCare, these externalities include:

·         The unanticipated spike in premiums due in early November just before the November 8 election.

·         The departure of major insurers,  like United and Humana,  from exchange markets.

·         Negative Supreme Court rulings on legalities of subsidizing exchange patients without Congressional approval.

·         Physicians’ reluctance to accept Medicare, Medicaid, and ObamaCare patients because of low reimbursements,  penalties, and hassle factors.

·          Increasing  lack of affordability of premiums, deductions, co-pays, and out-of-pocket costs for unsubsidized  patients.

·         Lack of access because of mounting physician shortages.

Externalities affecting the election include:

·         FBI director James Comey’s catalogue of events showing the extreme” carelessness” of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her personal use of an email server.

·         The Wikileak email dump of the Democrat National Committee’s emails indicating  a systematic  bias against Senator Bernie Sanders.

·         The hacking attacks by foreign governments and others on U.S. government files and national security agencies.

·         The increasingly frequent ISIS atrocities killing thousands of innocent civilians in the U.S. and elsewhere culminating in the beheading of a Catholic priest in France.

·         The funding,  financing,  administrative costs, and charitable work of the Clinton Foundation,  which are focusing on the payment of millions of dollars to  President Bill Clinton for speeches of unknown content and which are currently under investigation by the FBI and Congress.  

Where all of these events will go or what other events may occur no one knows.   Republican critics are waiting for the other foot to drop.  Democrats are hoping they can prevent untoward events from surfacing at the height of the presidential campaign.   One cannot always control the forces of nature or humanity, or the forces and consequences  set in motion by one’s own acts.