December 21, 2009
Just a handful of business headlines of the day: “Dow hits 2009 high!” “Health Care Stocks ‘leading the way’!” “With no public option in health care bill, health care stocks at 52-week high!” “Health care stocks rise after Dems drop public option!” “Investors buy into health-care sector as Senate moves on bill!” “Fear subside as Wall Street considers watered-down measure [bold added]!” “Health Care Stocks Booming!” “Investors Warm to Health-Care Overhaul!” “US Stocks Rise; Key Senate Vote Lift Health Care!” “Health-Care Sector Rallies!” “Heath Care Stocks Among Best Performers!”
Inside some of the reports: “Health-care stocks got a boost after a Senate bill advanced without provisions seen as detrimental to health-care providers. Cigna and Aetna were each up about 4 percent”; “Following the vote, the Morgan Stanley Health Payor index climbed 3.8 percent”; “Health insurers Aetna rose 5.3% to $34.22 and United Health Group was up 4.4% to $33, while shares of pharmaceutical company Pfizer was up 2.1% to $18.68 and Merck rose 1.5% to $38”.
The first time I said it was in March of this year; the second time I said it was in September of this year: the health care industry would be the only winners in health care reform. I even said the insurers would be the top winners. No, I’m not that smart — I’ve just lived long enough to see our politicians — all our politicians — both sides of the political isle — for what they are — traitors to the people.
About the only people in the industry that will be hurt is doctors who treat Medicare patients. And they are not part of the problem. In fact, in the end, the Medicare recipient will be the one paying the price, as many doctors will stop seeing Medicare patients.
The lobbyist were also a big winner. Nearly $400 million was spent on lobbying in 2009 alone. See video at bottom.
No Democrat in the Senate should have to worry about having a heavily laden war chest for their next re-election campaign. The health care industry owes them big, and would be fools not to invest tens of millions of dollars in each member of that side of the house. The industry no longer need Republicans. Just what could they do for them that the Democrats are not doing?
The sad thing is that they will not be replaced in an election by another Democrat. Some may loose to a Republican, which will be the same as re-electing the incumbent Democrat, but voters won’t see the real problem in this issue. It’s a foregone conclusion that a Republican is going to write and vote bills that line the pockets of businesses, but if the voters would simply vote out the Democratic incumbent and replace him with a new Democrat face, then those on Capital Hill just might get the message. But, like the health care industry, they know they have little to fear. With tons of money heaped upon them, they will wage a campaign of lies and deceit, which will make any party opponent look like the idiot.
Healthcare Reform: Just Business as Usual « Cynical Synapse // Dec 22, 2009 at 8:56 PM
[...] see the likely passage of healthcare reform as a victory for everyone except the people. Why? There are two big issues from my perspective. First, the orignal bill is about 2,000 pages [...]