Opinion

Oregon’s Obamacare Is A Crony Socialist Nightmare, Just Like Washington’s

Seton Motley President, Less Government
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Obamacare is an unmitigated, omni-directional disaster.

It’s a disaster as a health care plan. How’s it doing with premiums?

Obamacare Premiums Will Increase Faster Than Private Plans

How about deductibles?  Co-pays?  Medical choices?

Consumers Face Higher Deductibles Under Obamacare Plans 

Obamacare Shock: $12,600 Deductible, 40 Percent Co-Pay, Zero Competition

What Obamacare did succeed in doing was giving governments at all levels unfathomable new powers.

Which allows governments at all levels to give deals and favors galore to its friends — and pummel its enemies and the enemies of its friends. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeting scandal, anyone? Net neutrality?

This is crony socialism — because it has nothing to do with capitalism.

Obamacare empowered further still federal and state governments — when governments since time immemorial have proven to be utterly incompetent. Veterans Administration deaths and delays, anyone?

Obamacare website, anyone? And not just the federal site. Behold the roiling nightmare mess that is Oregon’s foray into government medicine — Cover Oregon.

Remember this?

John Kitzhaber Resigns: Oregon Governor Quits Over Conflict-of-Interest Scandal

Crony Socialism brought him down. What, specifically?

Kitzhaber Turned Cover Oregon Decision-Making Over to Campaign Consultant

“There is a very bright line between political activity, which is trying to get the governor re-elected, and doing the state’s business in which the governor is supposed to act in the best interest of taxpayers.”…

“These emails show that a lot of the state’s business was being conducted in secret on private email accounts and far from the scrutiny of the Legislature, or the press, or the public.

Hillary Clinton, anyone?

What exactly happened with Cover Oregon?

Cover Oregon Health Exchange Website to Shut Down

Oregon’s exchange is seen as the worst of the more than a dozen states that developed their own online health insurance marketplaces….

Oregon…received a total of $305 million in federal grants to fund its operations….

That’s a lot of our coin. How did Cover Oregon use it?

Oregon Ranks Last in Health Insurance Sign-Ups 

Outstanding. That explains Kitzhaber’s earnest interest in transparency. Turns out his political consultant wasn’t the optimal choice for the gig.

How has the ex-governor been behaving since becoming ex-governor?

Former Gov. John Kitzhaber’s and Cylvia Hayes’ Trip to Dump Brings Police Sweeping In

The former governor and Hayes showed up at the Knott Landfill southeast of Bend in a pickup and an SUV about 2 p.m. last Friday and spent a few minutes dumping trash, according to Timm Schimke, the director of the Deschutes County Solid Waste Department.

Even more transparency.

AG: ‘Oregonians Deserve … the Facts

Check the landfill. Bring a mask and some air freshener.

The thing is, this isn’t just an Oregon scandal and a Cover Oregon failure. The Obama administration is absolutely also on the hook.

They kept pouring federal money into Oregon — way, way after it was obvious Oregon’s Obamacare was a train wreck.

But as we’ve seen time and again, program oversight and care for taxpayer coin is decidedly lacking from all things government — and this administration in particular.

Obama, First Lady Fly to Los Angeles on Same Day But Take Separate Flights 

Obama’s Dog Flies to Vacation on Separate Jet

Is anyone in Washington paying any attention?

Congress to Kitzhaber: Send Us Cover Oregon Records

Excellent. But they should expand their investigation all the way up the Obamacare food chain.

When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton famously responded “Because that’s where the money is.”

The federal Obamacare superstructure is where the real coin is wasted. Our intrepid investigating Congressmen should adhere to Sutton’s maxim — and go there.

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