Root: Universal Health Care Bait and Switch Con Job
Special Contributor to the Gambling911.com website and 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential candidate, Wayne Allyn Root, tells Why the Heroes- "Moderate" Senators- are Actually the Villians Who Have Betrayed Our Trust and Bankrupted our Nation. He calls it "The Greatest Taxpayer Rip-Off in U.S. History". Wayne Allyn Root's views do not necessarily reflect those of Gambling911.com. You can visit his website at RootforAmerica.com here
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My understanding of human nature, negotiating, and deal making skills have taken me from being an S.O.B. (son of a butcher) to a successful small businessman and Vice Presidential nominee of America's Third Party. For months I´ve predicted on TV and radio appearances exactly how universal healthcare would be proposed, debated, negotiated and passed- against the wishes of the American people.
As I´ve predicted, here is how Obama and his minions are pulling off the greatest bait and switch, taxpayer rip-off in American political history. They started by asking for something so big, so absurd, so unrealistic that it set the tone for the entire negotiation knowing it was nothing more than a "bait and switch". Then, after much arguing and debating that they would never do the deal without that absurd demand, they "compromise" and accept something smaller, but still totally absurd. Everyone smiles, shakes hands, pats each other on the back and feels they've walked away a winner. But only one party won big, and the other lost big. They just don't realize it, all because of the art of negotiation and the use of "bait and switch." The American taxpayer is the big loser in this deal.
Let's use the example of an agent representing a star athlete. Assume you´re the agent. You ask for $15 million per year for 10 years for your client- a $150,000,000 contract- knowing that other similar athletes get only $5 million per year for 5 years- a $25 million contract. By asking for a long-term contract worth six times more than other athletes are getting you create a distraction. Then, for good measure and additional distraction you throw in one more demand that irritates everyone -- a demand your client flies free on the ballclub's private jet up to 20 times a year for the next 10 years. At $40,000 per private jet flight, that's an $8,000,000 perk (over 10 years). And just for good measure you also ask for a $5 million condo to be thrown into the deal for free.
Now you negotiate for months, all the time refusing to come off either the $15 million per year salary demand, or the 10 year term. But it's the dual distractions of the private jet and the multi-million condo that stick in everyone's craw. You refuse to drop any of those terms- all the while screaming that you will never do the deal without those perks. You do all this knowing that your client couldn't care less about the private jet or the condo. Even your client thinks the demands are absurd. But you assure your client that the distraction will take everyone's mind off the $15 million and the 10 year term.
You are so convincing in your refusal to ever compromise that the ballclub hires an expensive team of lawyers to negotiate a compromise with you. These lawyers are "master negotiators." After the big guns sit at the table, suddenly there is a breakthrough. You give up the private jet, even though you claim that your client will never forgive you. Soon you give up the $5 million condo. Everyone quickly agrees on a 7-year deal for $10 million per year. The ballclub feels victorious and they are thrilled to pay $2 million to the lawyer-negotiators for negotiating such a "favorable deal."
What's the reality? Your client only deserved 5 years for $5 million per year, for a total of $25 million. You would have been THRILLED to win the negotiation by getting him 5 years for $10 million= $50 million. But you actually got him 7 years for $10 million per year= $70 million. You hit a grand slam home run! You gained $20 million more than your wildest imagination. All because you started with an absurd number you were never serious about getting in the first place, and added in two giant distractions that you never wanted in the first place.
That is exactly how Universal Healthcare is being negotiated. AND IT WAS THE PLAN FROM THE BEGINNING. Ask for over a trillion dollars of new spending and demand a "public option." Liberal Democratic Senators and Congressman have screamed, day and night, from coast to coast, about how they would never vote for any plan that doesn't include a "public option" for months now. They called it a "deal killer." But they never expected to pass a "public option." That was the distraction from day one. Once they convinced the public they would never give up the "public option" they controlled the negotiation. The words "public option" became the bogey-man. All the media talked about day and night for months was the dreaded "public option." But Democrats knew they'd never get a "public option." It was merely a distraction so moderate Democrat Senators like Joe Liebermann, Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln would look like heroes riding to the rescue of the public...and liberal Democrats would look like fair men and women looking to compromise on the best deal possible to "save" our healthcare system.
Lieberman, Nelson and Lincoln put on world-class Hollywood acting performances. They promised to never vote for a "public option." They stood tall. They were unmovable. They would protect us (Actually what we need protecting from is THEM). And, of course, they promised to fight tooth and nail to bring the costs below the magic figure of $1 trillion. What heroes!!! And once they won both those fights, they'd provide cover for moderate Republican turncoats like Senators Collins and Snowe of Maine. Then these "moderates" would all get to stand in front of the cameras, bathed in TV lights, looking like heroes, Hollywood stars, and friends of taxpayers, to announce a much less expensive and less onerous deal to save the American healthcare system. Lucky us!
One slight problem with all of this: It's all a sham! One big fraud. A "bait and switch" con job on the American public. A blatant, planned rip off of taxpayers. Everyone in the Beltway clique knew from day one what the actual plan was. They never ever for one minute expected to pass a trillion dollar bill containing a "public option." All they ever wanted was a $800 billion to $900 billion bill without a "public option." The words public option were the bogeyman, the distraction. What liberals really wanted all along was another big spending program- just like Medicare, Medicaid, or the war on poverty. The words "public option" are meaningless and immaterial. Whether it's one trillion dollars or less to start is also meaningless. The price doesn't matter- and they knew that all along. The Congress will now pass a trillion dollars in new spending (that in reality will become several trillion very quickly). That will allow them to raise taxes and buy more Democrat votes by redistributing even more income from taxpayers and small business owners to Democratic voters and contributors.
It's all a Liberal Democrat's wildest dream come true -- a new entitlement program bigger than anything they've imagined in decades. An opportunity for gigantic government expansion. An opportunity to hire hundreds of thousands of new government employees (union members who will vote reliably Democrat for decades to come). An opportunity to raise taxes and redistribute more income (to their voters) under the guise of "healthcare" and helping sick people. An opportunity to "addict" Americans to bigger government, and associate their health with a benevolent government ruler. An opportunity to pass more rules, regulations and mandates that put government in charge of your life - the very definition of Socialism, but with a kinder, gentler name and face.
But, most of all this is an opportunity to force the healthcare industry (17% of the U.S. economy) to pay large legal bribes (campaign contributions) to Obama and the Democratic Congress in order to get special treatment when it comes to how the rules and regulations are implemented by their bureaucratic flunkies. Once the door is opened, the cost overruns and goodies for special interests hike the bill to stratospheric heights never imagined by the American public. A trillion dollar program grows to $10 trillion within a decade, then to $50 trillion in 20 years, and finally to $100 trillion. It's a monster- and once let out of the cage, it can never be stopped.
Just remember - this was the plan all along. And it isn't just the liberals and Socialists we have to blame. It is also the "moderates" who played along with their game- knowing all along where this would lead. This is a disaster with or without a "public option." It's a trillion dollars of new spending and new taxes in the middle of a depression. It's one of the great lies of all time- convincing us that they are spending a trillion new dollars in order to "save" money. It's more incompetent government control over our lives. It's the creation of trillions in new debt for a bankrupt country that reminds me more and more of the Roman Empire in its final stages. And it's all thanks to the "moderate" heroes. They will now vote "YES" and claim they saved us. They are the turncoats who betrayed us- AGAIN. Next November we must pay them back by throwing out the entire United States Congress. Make everyone of them pay. THROW ALL THE BUMS OUT.
Wayne Allyn Root was the 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential candidate. His new book is entitled, "The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling & Tax Cuts." For more of Wayne's views, commentaries, or to watch his many national media appearances, please visit his web site at: RootforAmerica.com here
