Great Obama quote

[Elwar]

"I think I put out the principle that penalties are appropriate for people who try to free ride the system and force others to pay for their health insurance." (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/transcript-abc-news-exclusive-interview-president-barack-obama/Story?id=9034309&page=2) -Barack Obama during an ABC interview.



I couldn't agree more...anyone who makes me pay for their health insurance should be penalized.

[erowe1]

"I think I put out the principle that penalties are appropriate for people who try to free ride the system and force others to pay for their health insurance." (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/transcript-abc-news-exclusive-interview-president-barack-obama/Story?id=9034309&page=2) -Barack Obama during an ABC interview.



I couldn't agree more...anyone who makes me pay for their health insurance should be penalized.

Yeah, that is pretty ironic.

[erowe1]

..

[Kotin]

first I laughed.. but really its just depressing.

[bigronaldo]

Hahaha. I'm using that for my Facebook status. :D

[squarepusher]

irony now has a new definition

[mczerone]

Even if he said what he meant (that some people could game the system by receiving the new govt care while avoiding the taxation), the solution to the "free rider" problem isn't to use force to overrule the will of individuals (who may not even be free riding, but protesting) - its to fix your own damned system so that costs don't bleed to free riders when you can't afford to let them stay as externalities!

If you showed a movie in your back yard, and your neighbors watched, would you go to his door with a gun and handcuffs demanding that he compensate you for his "free riding"? If free-riding is such an issue that you can't even afford to show movies in your backyard if people don't pay, THEN DON'T SHOW MOVIES. Something is wrong with your business model if you think you need the combined force of 200 million people to punish a few theoretical bogeymen that don't add to your costs.


*ETA: PS, this thinking is pervasive among govt: whenever an economic analysis can even remotely be characterized as a "free rider problem" or a "prisoner's dilemma" Statist immediate use these obstacles to suggest that the state must be the solution. It's sad how illogical people are: "Person A might be able to get a better personal return if he games the system, forcing B to be worse off than he could have been had A "cooperated". Therefore the state must force A to cooperate." Or: "Under current conditions, Factory owner A could produce a great profit by producing some product, but the people around the factory would benefit from some side effect of production. Therefore the state most force the population to pay taxes to A for this secondary benefit."

These fallacies are the ENTIRE basis for IP law(s).

[Dieseler]

"I think I put out the principle that penalties are appropriate for people who try to free ride the system and force others to pay for their health insurance." (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/transcript-abc-news-exclusive-interview-president-barack-obama/Story?id=9034309&page=2) -Barack Obama during an ABC interview.



I couldn't agree more...anyone who makes me pay for their health insurance should be penalized.

I feel the same way about people who free ride the system and make a lifetime out of forcing others to pay for their food and shelter, sometimes utility bills and even cell phones.

Here is where the wheel is going to run off the wagon when someone gets incarcerated for not buying a health care policy.
Watch and see.
This is not a dig at you Elwar, I understand what you are saying.

I don't see anyone threatening people who receive food stamps and welfare or housing with a fine or imprisonment if they don't get off of the G Tit.
Isn't that basically the same thing?

[Zippyjuan]

Taxpayers already pay the healthcare costs for the uninsured. They go to the emergency room for treatment since they do not have a regular doctor (a more expensive option than going to a doctor and preventing illnesses and diseases from becoming as serious and difficult/ costly to treat) and if they cannot pay, the goverment (taxpayers) get the bill.

[Krugerrand]

"I think I put out the principle that penalties are appropriate for people who try to free ride the system and force others to pay for their health insurance." (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/transcript-abc-news-exclusive-interview-president-barack-obama/Story?id=9034309&page=2) -Barack Obama during an ABC interview.



I couldn't agree more...anyone who makes me pay for their health insurance should be penalized.

the quote is at 2:13. It sure does undermine the concept public health care. It's a good clip for adverts against the program.
YouTube - jail question on insurance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVZNBtfn6Dg&feature=player_embedded)

[kahless]

Imagine if this was happening during the Bush years. The MSM, Daily Kos and Huffington post would be hysterical calling Bush a fascist. The hatred of it would plastered all over digg, youtube and we would not hear the end of it for years. Instead those hypocrits are amazingly silent or defending it.

[mczerone]

The govt is a free-rider, siphoning off all off our work product without prior contribution. All the good deeds of govt are merely pittance, because they know they are robbing us blind. Its as though an actual free rider on a bus started handing out suckers, said that he was there to help everyone, and refused to leave even if you didn't want his candy.

The problem is coercion, not the fact that some actions lead to uncontainable benefits.

[Krugerrand]

Taxpayers already pay the healthcare costs for the uninsured. They go to the emergency room for treatment since they do not have a regular doctor (a more expensive option than going to a doctor and preventing illnesses and diseases from becoming as serious and difficult/ costly to treat) and if they cannot pay, the goverment (taxpayers) get the bill.

or - we could get the government out of health care ... put in some good tort reform ... and let the free market bring down the cost of health care ...and then people wouldn't go to an emergency room - they could afford typical medical channels.

The uninsured going to an emergency room is nothing in the grand scheme of things. That's not why health care is so expensive today.

[Andrew Ryan]

=(

[Dieseler]

"I think we should put out the principle that penalties are appropriate for Government Officials who try to free ride the system and force others to pay for their health insurance."
Or
"I think we should put out the principle that penalties are appropriate for Governments who try to free ride the people and force others to pay for their Cronyism."

[jmdrake]

Taxpayers already pay the healthcare costs for the uninsured. They go to the emergency room for treatment since they do not have a regular doctor (a more expensive option than going to a doctor and preventing illnesses and diseases from becoming as serious and difficult/ costly to treat) and if they cannot pay, the goverment (taxpayers) get the bill.

That's not necessarily true. Some people who don't have insurance go to the doctor and pay cash. And doctors are willing to cut them a deal to avoid the hassle of dealing with insurance companies. Personal finance guru Dave Ramsey talks about this all of the time. Ron and Rand Paul have also both talked about the fact that care that is unregulated and often not covered by insurance is usually much cheaper. Look at plastic surgery. Or prescription glasses. Sure you can get insurance for those things but most people pay for them out of pocket and it is much cheaper that way.

Of course there are those who have neither the insurance nor the cash. But there is no justifiable reason to force those who don't want health insurance to buy it.

[Elwar]

the quote is at 2:13. It sure does undermine the concept public health care. It's a good clip for adverts against the program.
YouTube - jail question on insurance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVZNBtfn6Dg&feature=player_embedded)

Perhaps an e-mail that says:
Barack Obama says:

"I think I put out the principle that penalties are appropriate for people who try to free ride the system and force others to pay for their...

A. Cars
B. Housing
C. Food
D. Health Care
E. Cell Phones

With a link to the full quote in YouTube.

[jmdrake]

the quote is at 2:13. It sure does undermine the concept public health care. It's a good clip for adverts against the program.
YouTube - jail question on insurance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVZNBtfn6Dg&feature=player_embedded)

I'm so sick of the "car insurance analogy". The federal government does not force you to buy car insurance! That's a state by state law!

[Chieftain1776]

Imagine if this was happening during the Bush years. The MSM, Daily Kos and Huffington post would be hysterical calling Bush a fascist. The hatred of it would plastered all over digg, youtube and we would not hear the end of it for years. Instead those hypocrits are amazingly silent or defending it.

Exactly! In fact maybe we should start a campaign that proclaims:

Obama Wants to Ban Those Who Are Uninsured Access to Emergency Room!

Says "I think I put out the principle that penalties are appropriate for people who try to free ride the system and force others to pay for their health insurance."