On Thursday the Washington Times reported that Congress took money slated for ObamaCare for the third time this year. Please understand, I don’t support ObamaCare, but there are a few things to look at here. One of the reasons ObamaCare could be passed off as a deficit-reducing program was that the money to pay for it would be collected for years before anyone was able to benefit from the program. That way, the first year or two or the program wouldn’t seem to cost much because the money would have already been collected. Later on, of course, when the initial money ran out and the program was supposed to support itself, it would become a typical Washington program and begin to lose money quickly. (I think Congress has its own idea of how numbers work.) Well, times are tough, even in Washington, so Congress is raiding Obamacare.

The article reports:

Congress last week axed a part of Democrats’ signature domestic achievement to find $11 billion to cover the cost of repealing a withholding tax that otherwise would have hit government contractors in 2013. Mr. Obama signed that bill into law on Monday.

The withholding bill follows two other efforts — one in December and another in April — that reworked the health care law to squeeze savings for other priorities. The December bill funded higher payments for doctors who treat Medicare patients, and the April legislation repealed a paperwork provision in the original health care law that businesses said would be onerous.

All told, Congress and the president have tapped some $50 billion earmarked to pay for benefits and programs in the health care overhaul in future years to fund more-immediate spending needs.

One of the problems with the healthcare bill as it is currently written is the philosophy behind it. As usual, it is a follow-the-money issue. The healthcare bill is partially paid for by a $500 billion cut to Medicare. That money is used to expand Medicaid programs which provide healthcare to the poor. I am not opposed to providing healthcare to the poor, but we need to remember that no person in America in need of medical care who shows up at a hospital can legally be denied treatment, regardless of their ability to pay for it. The bulk of medical expenses in a persons life occur in the last two years of their life. The transfer of money from Medicare to Medicaid is the beginning of rationing that care. We also need to remember that a large amount of the money in ObamaCare will go toward supporting a brand new federal bureaucracy, which will ad expense to medical care–not reduce it.

Anyway, my wish is that the Supreme Court will get rid of ObamaCare before Congress can raid it anymore and before it can do any further damage!