The costs of Obama’s healthcare bill

An Indian living in the West writes:

America’s worst enemies couldn’t have come up with a President that would damage America more, I’m sorry to say.

The thing to remember about government programs is that the people who promote it usually make wildly optimistic calculations on cost. As an example, when Medicare and Medicaid were introduced in the Johnson presidency, it was predicted that they would cost the taxpayer a few billion by 1990. Instead they have added trillions to the U.S. Government’s unfunded liabilities.

If the proponents of Obama’s healthcare bill say that it will add $1.5 trillion over the next decade, you can probably multiply this number by 5 as a conservative calculation. If you wanted to be realistic, you can follow a simple rule of thumb and multiply it by 10.

Considering that the U.S. government’s unfunded liabilities now total in excess of $100 trillion, another $15 trillion is the last thing America needs. The wanton profligacy and waste of the American government will eventually bankrupt the country. It is simply a matter of time. As it is, America’s economic engine in the last decade has been running on credit provided by the Far East (China alone owns more than $700 billion in U.S. treasuries—basically IOUs issued by the U.S. government).

Lyndon Johnson would probably go down as the most destructive American president ever. Obama may, however, outdo even Johnson by the time he’s finished.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at July 16, 2009 04:01 PM | Send