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Opinion
Reece Terry, publisher
Mark Boehler, editor
4A • Sunday, December 8, 2013
Corinth, Miss.
It’s good enough for government The phrase “good enough for government work” used to be a boast. Then it became an insult. With Obamacare, it is an ethic. On Cyber Monday, the federal government was the only entity on the planet touting a commercial website with the promise that it would work most of the time, provided people visiting during peak hours were willing to take a number and come back later. Although HealthCare.gov Rich was still plagued by what used Lowry to be known as “glitches,” it was working better. In fact, it National appears to be well on the way Review to being fixed — except for the part where people pay for and actually get insurance. That is called the “backend,” or the payment system without which any other business would go bust. To be charitable, it is still a work in progress. The line in the administration’s progress report about the technical team working “with private sector velocity and effectiveness” said it all. No one would ever brag about working “with public sector velocity and effectiveness.” Yet it is the government that is vastly increasing its reach via Obamacare. Explaining away the troubles of his signature initiative, President Barack Obama pledged the other day, “We’re going to keep on working to fix whatever problems come up in any startup, any launch of a project this big that has an impact on one-sixth of our economy.” Startups don’t ordinarily affect one-sixth of the economy. Usually, no one hears about them unless they prove to be successes, and by then they are reliably functional. The president is surely correct that any vast experiment affecting one-sixth of the economy will inevitably have pitfalls -- which is why it is foolhardy to undertake one. Obama is confident his law will work because, as he repeatedly says, “The product is good.” The leader of the free world is now a glorified insurance salesman. At times he sounds like a poor man’s Billy Mays — you may be eligible, he enthuses, for tax credits “that can save you hundreds of dollars in premium costs every month.” He says everything but “Order Now!” As a pitchman, the president has advantages no others can match. He can engage in shamelessly false advertising without having to worry about the Better Business Bureau breathing down his neck. He passed a law called the “Affordable Care Act,” even though its mandates and regulations inevitably make health insurance more expensive. Obama also doesn’t have to worry too much about whether the product is truly good or not. He can fall back on government power. Individuals are having their insurance policies canceled by force of law, whether they are satisfied with them or not. Then they have to buy Obamacare-compliant policies or face a fine. This isn’t competition in the marketplace. It’s coercion. That is the ultimate backstop for goodenough-for-government work. Government doesn’t gain or lose market share on its merits. It doesn’t go out of business. They rolled out a disastrously flawed website on Oct. 1 because, hey, at least it’s a website. They touted their Nov. 30 fixes as a success because, hey, at least there were some fixes. They will tout whatever sign-up numbers they get — no matter how far short of their goals, or even if the law has rendered more people newly uninsured than it has enrolled — because, hey, at least they are sign-ups. The president portrays himself as the picture of flexibility in considering improvements to the law, but he opposes changes passed by Congress on principle and is willing only to improvise by executive fiat. The latest on-the-fly change is a scheme to pay insurers estimated subsidies because the website can’t yet calculate them accurately. “Short-term fix eyed for another problem with U.S. healthcare website” is how the Reuters headline put it. Good enough for government work. Rich Lowry can be reached via e-mail: comments.lowry@nationalreview.com.
Prayer for today Lord God, help me to take in the glory of life, that my spirit may never be lonely, even though I may have to be much alone. I pray that thou wilt spare me the loneliness and the solitude that may be brought on by selfishness. Make me considerate of others. May I soar above the disappointments and losses that may come to me, and stay where I may have thy companionship. Amen.
A verse to share “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” — James 4:14
Obama causes income inequality BY DICK MORRIS AND EILEEN MCGANN Columnists
To distract attention from the Obamacare disaster, the president is seeking to focus on income inequality. But here, for him, the ground is even shakier. The fact is that while income inequality has been getting worse, it is the policies of the Obama administration that are causing the trend. During the Clinton years, 45 percent of all personal income gains went to the top 1 percent of the population. Under George W. Bush it was 65 percent. Under Barack Obama it is upwards of 85 percent. While the top 1 percent has seen an average 12 percent gain in personal income, the rest of the nation has gone up by only 1 to 2 percent, after inflation. Instead of solving the problem, Obama is causing it. How? Quantitative easing is the major culprit. Buying $85 billion of bonds and mort-
gage backed securities each month, the Federal Reserve pumps vast amounts of money into the coffers to the top banks in the nation. Supposed to lend it out to create jobs, most institutions don’t. Either they can’t find borrowers or they are afraid that federal regulators will take a dim view of risky loans. Or they would just rather give the $85 billion back to the Fed and earn the 3 percent interest they are offered for keeping their money in Ben Bernanke’s vault. After all, if you don’t have to pay anything for the cash, a 3 percent federally guaranteed return is a good deal. (And, why lend out the money at 6 percent when you can get 3 percent for just letting it sit there with a lot less risk?) Spurred by this massive inflow of cash, banks are playing the derivative market, investing in stocks, augmenting their salary through stock buybacks which they then add to their own pay envelopes or just passing out bonuses (ex-
pected to top $100 billion this year). All these policies catalyze income growth at the top of the spectrum and add to the inequality of which Obama -- whose policies cause it -complains. Zero interest rates really sock it to the elderly who had hoped to live off their hard-earned savings during their retirement. After saving $50,000, $100,000 or even more, the retirees had counted on a 6 to 10 percent return on their savings to provide needed old age income. But now they get close to zero. Many are driven to plunge into risky investments in stocks and mutual funds, in many cases tempting fate with their investments. Sick or well, the odds are good that they will outlive the bull market. Obamacare is drying up full-time jobs and forcing millions into part-time employment. Gallup says that 9.1 percent of Americans now work part-time but would like full-time jobs. Since the first of the year, there are 152,000 fewer
full-time, and 400,000 more part-time, jobs in our economy. Why? Since this trend was not evident in 2010, 2011 or 2012, the likely cause is Obamacare’s requirement that companies with 50 or more full-time workers offer health insurance or face a fine of $2,000 per worker per year. Firms all over America are cutting back on full-time workers and replacing them with part-timers to get in under the 50-worker ceiling. The AFL-CIO has decried this trend as the “death” of the 40-hour workweek. Obama is not the solution. He is the cause of the problem of income inequality. His proposals to raise corporate taxation and increase the minimum wage are likely to worsen the problem, spurring automation and cutting down on investment, which is the only way to raise productivity and wage levels. Obama’s newfound focus on income inequality is the height of hypocrisy.
Americans are fleeing TV Marketing surveys now show that when Americans come home from work, more folks turn on their computers than their television sets. That is a first. The reason is twofold: First, you can create your own world on your PC, and second, TV is awful. Flatout awful. For years, television has been losing viewers because the product, generally speaking, has collapsed. Reality TV has destroyed the tube. Cheap, mindless shows featuring people who should be deported rule the airwaves. Don’t believe me? Well, TV Guide recently listed reality TV’s most startling moments. The choices are indeed startling. Among them is Marie Osmond fainting on “Dancing with the Stars.” That was unforgettable, was it not? All 10 of her siblings attempted to resuscitate her. Laurie has a breast-baring meltdown on a program
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called “She’s Got the Look.” I don’t know who Laurie is, but I believe she may be overBill exposed. Or O’Reilly something. Rebecca The O’Reilly gets dentures Factor on “Breaking Amish.” I am not fabricating this. I didn’t even know that the Amish broke anything. Hopefully, Rebecca can clean the dentures without electricity. At least she’s in better shape than Laurie. An Elvis impersonator is overwhelmed by memorabilia on the show “Hoarders.” I missed that. I’m sorry. Tom DeLay dances to “Wild Thing” on “Dancing with the Stars.” That was why Marie Osmond fainted. “The Osbournes” examining the aftermath of Ozzy’s ATV accident. Does it get
any better than that? Does it? Kim Kardashian weds Kris Humphries on “Kim’s Fairytale Wedding.” This was the nadir. An untalented but ambitious woman marrying a young basketball player and then divorcing him about 20 minutes later. And the guy got hurt. So why are people watching that? Disturbing question. Monica Lewinsky hosts “Mr. Personality.” This was an actual TV show. Insert your joke here. On a show called “The Surreal Life,” the guy who played Mini Me in an Austin Powers movie rides a scooter naked. Why didn’t Kim Kardashian think of that? The “Queer Eye” guys go nude. Did they have scooters, as well? I honestly don’t know. Michelle Obama appears on “The Biggest Loser.” This is a weight loss pro-
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gram, not the Republican Convention. And finally, chef Gordon Ramsay “fat-shames” a “Hell’s Kitchen” contestant. All I can say is that Jackie Gleason would have taken Ramsay out. So it is beyond dispute that television is in deep trouble. These reality shows make “Gilligan’s Island” look like “Macbeth.” They are like unspeakable zombies destroying the entire structure of the television industry. Thank God PBS is still on the air. But even here there is some worry. Elmo has been seen hanging with the Kardashians. It’s just a matter of time until someone gets engaged. Veteran TV news anchor Bill O’Reilly is host of the Fox News show “The O’Reilly Factor” and author of many books, including the newly released “Killing Jesus.”
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