What's Good For the Goose Ain't Good Enough For the Gander

While everybody bemoans the lack of bi-partisanship in Washington nowadays, there is apparently one thing both sides can agree on: That members of Congress and their staffs should not be bound by the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.  Politico.com reported last week that members of both parties in both houses have joined the White House in "super secret" talks to exempt Congress from ObamaCare.

Many Americans would be surprised to find out that Congress is actually exempted from several laws already--some of which are the Freedom Of Information Act and the Social Security deduction.  It likely would have been exempted from the ACA from the outset as well--but Senator Jim Demint slipped in an amendment right before Congress passed it (so they could find out what was in it)--to make sure that those on the The Hill got to "enjoy" all the same benefits at their constituents.

Well now it turns out, our elected officials aren't too keen on the very law they foisted upon us just three short years ago.  It seems that ObamaCare is going to force all of those Congressional staffers (many of whom helped to write the monstrosity of a bill that only Russ Feingold read) to pay more for their health insurance!  And that is not sitting well with the wonks--whom it is feared will run to the private sector in droves (where the rates won't be much cheaper) and lawmakers will have to read their own bills and write their own speeches (the horror!!).  It's hard to believe that the "best and brightest minds" didn't know the Economics 101 principle that increased demand for a limited supply service will result in higher costs for everyone.

Kudos to Oshkosh West graduate Jim Vandehei and his staff at Politico.com for uncovering this nugget and proving yet again the blatant hypocrisy of those who claim the Affordable Care Act was meant to improve care for "all Americans".

Oh, and if your blood wasn't boiling enough this morning, I leave you with the comments of James Reschovsky--a senior fellow at the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington--who addressed a conference on the health care law in Madison last week: "the law seeks to improve quality of care but that doesn't necessarily mean costs will go down."  By that logic, the "Affordable" Care Act is going to go down as the greatest misnomer in American history.