When Reality Bursts Your Bubble

Is there anything better than when reality doesn't fit the narrative put forth by liberals? 

Take for instance the constant claims that "a college education is becoming too expensive for students and families to afford".  That line is used every time somebody wants more taxpayer dollars to go to state college systems, grant programs and to allow past student loan borrowers to default on their obligations.  But how then do you explain UW-Madison getting a record number of freshman applications this year?  Shouldn't the exact opposite thing be happening?  Shouldn't students and families be so discouraged by the cost of college that they decide to forego it--or put it off until they can save up more cash?

And these record applications are to the most expensive school in the entire UW System.  I've detailed before the tens of thousands of dollars students and families could save by going to one of the two-year campuses--commuting from home--taking the same general ed requirements that you would need to take in Madison.  But these freshman want to start paying the most right from day one.

What the application record shows is that if someone values something enough--in this case, a degree from one of the best universities on the planet--they will find a way to pay for it themselves.  Which brings us to another topic where reality is not quite living up to the narrative of the Left: health insurance.

Remember the key component of the Affordable Care Act that A--made it constitutional and B--was going to help fund the thing--the penalty for failure to buy health insurance?  Well it turns out that the 30-million people who remain uninsured (which I swear is the same number of uninsured that existed before the ACA) won't actually have to pay that penalty.  The Wall Street Journal reports that 90% of those violating "the law of the land" will face no penalties this year, or next year or the year after that.  In an ironic twist, that is the direct result of President Obama acting unilaterally to change the law Congress approved.

The really bad news about the lack of punishment for non-compliance with the law is that it allows more of the "young healthy people" who were needed to balance out the increase in "old sick people" being covered by private insurers to stay out of the pool--thereby creating the "Death Spiral" that us Conservatives predicted from day one.  It also robs the Federal Government of an estimated 3-BILLION dollars that were supposed to be used to help offset the cost of the subsidies provided to the 4-million people that actually did gain new coverage.  And all of this is based, of course, on the IRS actually tracking down the 10% scofflaws and getting them to pay the penalty.  And we all know what kind of track record that agency has when it comes to people who are actually breaking the law--not just criticizing the Obama Administration.

Well, enough reality for today.  I'll let you get back to your little fantasy worlds again.