Have you ever seen something so stupid that it caused you to be speechless?
That's what happened to me yesterday. There was a rudimentary breakdown of the proposed State budget. In the dissertation, I saw something that caused me to go mute. And the first thing that came to mind was Forrest Gump's comment, "Stupid Is as Stupid Does."
Part of the Governor's budget proposal concerned health care, and the discussion about what is proposed is so stupid, one must wonder what this guy, as well as many others, is thinking.
Before I get to the stupid stuff, let me outline a couple of things.
It is known that anyone can get health care provided, even if one doesn't have health care benefits. Who pays when this occurs? The provider passes on this expense to those that do pay, whether in individual charges or in health care plan monthly payments.
Here is what I didn't know. Hospitals and health care plan providers pay taxes. On the surface, this might make sense. So what is the problem? This cost is also passed on to individuals and through health care policies.
My State, and probably all the other 49 states, provides health care for its employees. The State is constantly complaining about the rising cost of medical care, and it is always a serious point of contention when the union contract comes up for renewal. The current complaint is that the cost of health care for State employees may go up this year anywhere from 5 to 10 percent. In a moment you will see why this rates a, "Well, DUH!"
Every employee that works for the health care industry pays income taxes. Right? What happens when these same employees get a raise? They pay more taxes, and that additional income can be spent in the local communities. Right?
Are you seeing where I'm going with this?
Here's the optimal stupidity in the Governor's budget. He wants to raise taxes on the health care plan providers. I think you can now see how stupid this gets. Raise taxes on the providers, and watch the cost for health care rise, which is a problematic part of his budget. This is what I call Round Robin stupidity. In other words, he is causing what he's bitching about to happen, or what some would say, "What goes around comes around."
As Glenn Beck says, this causes blood to shoot out of my eyes.
