Health care....

So the SCOTUS decided that Obamacare is a tax, that Congress has the Constitutional Authority to levy taxes, and that while unprecedented a tax that goes to a private corporation in the form of "medical insurance" still meets the definition of a tax.  Personally I think that is a stretch too far for the definition of the word "tax" but I guess if the force of government is bearing down upon someone to hand over money it doesn't matter so much who receives the geld.  If you pay the Danegeld you'll never be rid of the Dane.

Is this the end of America?  No, the end of America happened decades ago, we are just now feeling the effects of tumors.  The first cancer was slavery, and the first symptom was the Civil War.  The second cancer was the Depression and FDR.  The third cancer was the "War on (some) Drugs" as Tam likes to say, although I think it is more appropriate that it is the "War on certain chemicals" as even in quantities too small to have a measurable drug effect on your system it is still illegal in most cases (remember kids, the dose is what makes the difference between medicine and poison).  There have been other smaller tumors along the way, all done with the very best of intentions.  The war on poverty, the Patriot Act, the various pork projects that did nothing but empty the public coffers faster than the productive could fill them. 

Today for the first time in my career I listened to a course instructor, teaching Captains through Lieutenant Colonel say, "The US is no longer a superpower."  And none of us disagreed with him. A room of over twenty commissioned officers, from combat arms to engineers to military intelligence, and we all nodded our heads in agreement.  Combat patches on right shoulders, awards on chest, and we agreed with the instructor who himself served in war and peace for over twenty years.  Sometimes the most dangerous thing you can have is a delusion of grandeur, or even a delusion of adequacy.  We are beyond the comfort of delusional thinking in the Officer corps. 

NCO's complain that Officers make simple shit hard, and there is some truth to that, but the truth is grounded in the fact that Congress controls the purse strings, and Congress writes the rules.  Yes even an all male unit must undergo mandatory sexual harassment training.  The problem with ignoring policy like that to "make life simple" is that you will be relieved of command, and replaced by someone who will implement policy. 

I look to the world around us and see that universal health care comes with a dear price.  And the very best the world can come up with for universal healthcare has been Canada, where we get the phrase, "Access to a wait list is not access to health care" and doctors routinely recommend the "American Option" to patients with the means to obtain healthcare south of the border.  The phrase, "Medical Tourism" has driven patients from countries with universal healthcare to countries without.  Look for that tax revenue stream to dry up.

When I was a child I thought as a child, spoke as a child, and acted as a child.  But when I became a man I had to put away childish things.  The idea that there can be any sort of government on this planet that can alleviate human suffering and bring about a utopia is a childish thought.  Like flying unicorns or luck dragons it is an amusing diversion at best, at worst it is a lifelong obsession.  This obsession the Left has with making the world a better place brings nothing but ruin.

I am thankful that I will not be part of implementing this boondoggle on the American people.  I work very hard to implement the policy pushed down to strategy pushed down to missions pushed down to operations that I don't agree with.  Officers don't make strategy, at best there are a few 4 stars at echelons above reality who can influence the strategy makers.  The hands on the helm are not affected by those of us rowing below decks.  Half the time the policy changes take us by surprise the same as the rest of the nation.

So there we go, the fundamental change of America continues.  The mid level careerists in a different government agency will work to implement this dog turd on the American public.  I wonder if a Legionnaire turned to a Centurion and said, "You know this 'Bread and Circuses' policy can't last forever."