Congress and PP&ACA

For John, BLUF:  Congress too often says do this, it is good for you, while not doing it themselves.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Yesterday the Althouse Blog had this post:

"To adapt H.L. Mencken, nobody ever went broke underestimating the cynicism and self-dealing of the American political class."

"Witness their ad-libbed decision, at the 11th hour and on the basis of no legal authority, to create a special exemption for themselves from the ObamaCare health coverage that everybody else is mandated to buy."

... The lesson for Americans is that Democrats who passed ObamaCare didn't even understand what they were doing to themselves, much less to everyone else.

Professor Althouse was referencing an article in The Wall Street Journal, linked above.  This is about the cynicism of the US Congress in its development of and passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare in common parlance).  Here is the Journal lede and subsequent paragraph:

The Affordable Care Act requires Members of Congress and their staffs to participate in its insurance exchanges, in order to gain first-hand experience with what they're about to impose on their constituents.  Harry Truman enrolled as the first Medicare beneficiary in 1965, and why shouldn't the Members live under the same laws they pass for the rest of the country?

That was the idea when Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley proposed the original good-enough-for-thee, good-enough-for-me amendment in 2009, and the Finance Committee unanimously adopted his rule.  Declared Chairman Max Baucus, "I'm very gratified that you have so much confidence in our program that you're going to be able to purchase the new program yourself and I'm confident too that the system will work very well."

Kudos to Senator Grassley for slipping in the item saying it should apply to Congress if it applies to the Citizenry.  That idea is one of the good things that came out of the Speakership of Newt Gingrich.

The real question is, does the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act help the economy grow, by emulating Europe, by taking the cost of medical care away from corporations, or does it slow economic growth by causing confusion and conflict because it is so complicated and provides uncertainty.

For sure I believe that whatever it is, it should absolutely apply to Congress and the IRS.

Regards  —  Cliff