This might surprise the heck out of Kelly's campaign staff....
...but the 'Grok ALWAYS (er, best of our ability, that is) stands by it's motto: "Thank'em when they're right and Spank'em when they're wrong." In this, Kelly Ayotte is doing the right thing. THere is NO way that the Hodes campaign can wiggle out of this one (I am translating Bergman's politicaleese):
The Hodes Campaign believes that you are too stupid to figure out the kinds of insurance you need; only the State has that kind of firepower. In return, you get to pay higher premiums - and love us for it!
Over at NHPoliticalReport, Bergman is calling out Kelly for "speaking truth to power" for saying that Politician Passed Insurance Mandates raise costs. Hmmm, that seems to be reasonable economic sense, eh? Tell an insurance company that they have to cover more stuff, then they have to CHARGE more for it - or go out of business. Does Hodes or Bergman know how to replace the Laws of Economics?
Oh wait - Pelosi does - that's why Hodes just voted for PelosiCare's $1 Trillion dollar taxing package that will put you in jail if you do not participate!
This is a CLASSIC case of the whole "reform insurance" scam that the Dems are running - and I'll offer a blog debate to Mr. Mark Berman anytime he wants - and I will tell you right now, he'll lose.
Let's take the points (fisking required! Emphasis mine):
Last weekend at a Cheshire County Republican meeting, Kelly Ayotte said that she would seek to eliminate mandates on insurance companies. In doing so, her plan would eliminate vital protections for New Hampshire families and would give the insurance companies the option of not covering:
Once again, here is a Democrat that does not know how the free market system works - only how to distort it. This would not eliminate any protection - this would, however, do two things:
it would allow companies to NOT charge for something that is not needed. The concept is simple, Mr. Bergman - without a mandate, ...
It would allow for those that believe certain coverages have a value added feature to purchase it if they want - let us proceed.
Health Care During Pregnancy. [List of NH Health Related Insurance Mandates, updated September 2008, Accessed 11/9/09]
Mammograms for Breast Cancer Screening. [List of NH Health Related Insurance Mandates, updated September 2008, Accessed 11/9/09]
Life is full of risks - in fact, that is what insurance is in its purest form - a hedge bet against an outcome. The problem is that via the use of mandates, Democrats (and some Republicans - Hi, Bob Clegg!) have turned it into a "pay system". I'm a guy - the risk to me for breast care is not zero but rather close to it. I don't want to pay for such - but the State forces me to do so whether I want to or not.
That is not called "freedom of choice". That obviates the need for me to be "self-responsible". My only say in this is whether I think that the added cost due to their meddling is within my reach or not.
Thus, Democrats will not allow me to purchase what I can afford - which means I may have to go without completely (or go to jail, under PelosiCare - thanks, Paul Hodes for giving me a new roomie named Bubba!)
Health Care for Newborn Children. [List of NH Health Related Insurance Mandates, updated September 2008, Accessed 11/9/09]
I'm in my 50's - so is my wife. Stranger things have happened, but I'm 99% sure that we aren't going to have any more children. So why does Hodes want me to pay for such??? All it does is raise my costs. The people who should have this coverage are those that want to have newborns - that should be so simple that even Democrats should understand that!
Allowing college students to remain on their parents' health insurance plan when they get sick, also know as Michelle's Law [List of NH Health Related Insurance Mandates, updated September 2008, Accessed 11/9/09]
Here's where I'm going to sound callous - but it is an important philosophical discussion: at what point do kids become adults? This situation could have been solved with a special high risk pool - or even privately funded as a charity. Instead, someone decided, yet again, that Government is the answer - and they are wrong. And that is a further problem - with the rise of Big Government, the mindset is that ONLY Government can solve problems - and generally they can't in an efficient and time critical fashion. Individuals, however, can do so in a voluntary basis. Further discussion in the future.
"Kelly Ayotte is the insurance company's best friend," said Mark Bergman Hodes for Senate Communications Director. "Ayotte's plan wouldn't require insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions and would give them the option of throwing families off their health plans when they need it the most.
And you're the Statist's best friend, bub. What Bergman WON'T say is that people could, if Government got out of the way and stopped distorting the marketplace, directly work with their insurance agent (generally, a small business that HAS to provide good quality service) to do a private contract for their needs - add what they need, subtract what they don't.
...Paul Hodes will be a Senator who stands with middle class families first.
If Pau Hodes really stood with the middle class, he would be first in line to allow them to make their own choices. He would allow MORE competition in state (vs what Shaheen, Lynch, and Wendelboe did in sealing off the marketplace to smaller providers and leaving us with just two biggies) and allow people to go cross-state.
MORE choice - not less. And that's what Paul Hodes want by eliminating choice. As well as considering you all stupid in not being able to "choose correctly".
Bergman and Hodes - two chuckleheads in a pod....
Look, much of my angst has been philosophical in nature - I detest the idea of the NRSC and NRCC putting their hands into local affairs - while their job is to get Republicans elected to Congress and the Senate, they SHOULD keep their hands off until the local voters make their decisions known. In this case, the NRSC all but crowned her ahead of all of the other possibilities. That said, and given the crushing fiasco in NH-23 and the slow rolling train wrecks that these DC based entities have created (Florida in one case and California for another), it is good to see that they are starting to learn their lessons to
BUTT OUT!
at least publicly. Of course, loyal readers, if you hear anything to the contrary, let us know!
Kelly, in this, ya done good! We thank you!
