Thomas Sowell On ObamaCare’s “Facts And Fables”

It’s pretty cold inside the 2,400 pages of ObamaCare. That’s according to the great economist, columnist and author of dozens of books, Thomas Sowell. There may not be a greater mind for liberty than Dr. Sowell and his words never fail to enlighten on the cause.

Today, I found this column of his archived at the Washington Examiner. His thesis in a nutshell:

We have to go back to square one and the simplest common sense in order to get some rational idea of what government-run medical care means. In particular, we need to examine the claim that the government can “bring down the cost of medical care.”

It is cheaper to remain sick than to get medical treatment. What is cheapest of all is to die instead of getting life-saving medications and treatment, which can be very expensive.

Then, after dismissing the claims of Euro-socialist medicine superiority over the American healthcare system:

Americans get the latest pharmaceutical drugs, sometimes years before those drugs are available to people in Britain or in other countries where the government runs the medical system.

Why? Because the latest drugs cost more and it is cheaper to let people die. 

Ouch! That rhetorical stab might require some medical attention of its own for ObamaCare apologists. But it’s not rhetoric alone. Dr. Sowell presents the facts, as researched by Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute in her book, The Truth About Obamacare.

Among my favorite facts expounded upon by Ms. Pipes that the Mainstream Media conveniently obscures when comparing the British socialized medical system and ours: More than 4,000 expectant British mothers in one year were fortunate enough to give birth inside a hospital. Too bad they didn’t have access to maternity wards. Instead, they were forced to use hallways, bathrooms and even elevators. Which also begs the question: Why do ObamaCare supporters avoid recognizing that Britain’s new government is taking significant steps to unravel its government-run system? Okay, that’s my own rhetorical flash.

Don’t think American health care could ever deteriorate into a mess like the maternity situation in Britain. Another ObamaCare lie exposed: Despite claims there won’t be heavy regulations, the 2,400 page law contains 150 boards and commissions. Who thinks they’re going to sit idly and mind their own business? The power vested in the office of Secretary of Health and Human Services alone is enough to make Hugo Chavez jealous.

The Obama administration wants to have it both ways: It is not socializing our healthcare, it’s only regulating it to make it fair for everyone; it’s not meddling in decisions or rationing, it’s bringing down prices. Sure, it may not be government-owned, but the thousands of regulations sure make it government-run; and the only way to bring down costs is to deny treatment to people. Maybe that’s not a regulation. But it’s certainly a dictate.