Six months into socialized medicine...

The Obama administration this week is trumpeting the six-month mark of their foray into taking over nearly 20-percent of the Gross National Product.  

The anger I felt in March after the passage of the Health Care Reform Act has subsided a bit.   I now look on it with the inevitability usually reserved for ninth-inning collapses by the Tigers' bullpen, head-scratching losses for the Hokies, and Charlie and Hannah doing something that requires a painful loss of my time, money, and/or energy.

Still, it's worth noting which Health Care provisions are kicking in right now and what they represent for small businesses---not to mention the very idea of a free market economy.

As of today, it is now illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage to children based on pre-existing conditions.    Sounds great, right?   How DARE those companies deny coverage to little children with brain tumors!!!     Other provisions prevent lifetime caps on coverage, and allow slackers to sponge off of Mom and Dad's insurance until they are 26 years old!

There's a reason insurance companies have operated the way they have in the past.   They lose boatloads of money if they run things like the government is mandating.  If you're confused, google "ECON 101."

The insurance companies will, of course, abide by the law.   They'll open up coverage to untold numbers of minors with all kinds of ailments.   They'll let deadbeat 20-somethings leech off their parents a little longer.  They'll also lose lots of money.   Since the insurance companies are not in the non-profit sector, they will be forced to find a way to make up for this staggering loss.   Any guesses as to how they'll do that?

What will follow will make the premium increases we've seen the past couple of years look like chump change.   Health insurance costs will skyrocket.   What happens then?   Big-government advocates will demagogue the insurance companies, calling them "greedy, evil," etc. etc.    They'll then demand single-payer Health Care, which is Barack Obama's wet dream.

I'm not an ogre.   I have no desire to see five-year olds with heart conditions denied medical coverage.   But I also don't want an estimated 200,000,000 Americans being forced to submit to The State's whims about their basic health care.

And again, this underscores the liberal notion that all power derives from the government, then flows down to us.   Silly me.   I was taught that it was the other way around.

Purple Rain

I could feel it in my bones early on---and it was more than just the steady rain and wind pelting Lane Stadium Saturday afternoon.   

Virginia Tech's Hokies were struggling.   Five days after a heartbreaking loss on national television that dashed any hopes of bringing that coveted crystal football to Blacksburg, Beamer's boys tried to right themselves against an in-state 1-AA opponent with nothing to lose.

I felt the same thing in my bones on a sunny October day in 1998.   Tech's name was being bandied about as possible MNC fodder when they welcomed a woeful Temple team to town.   The Owls were playing with a freshman QB who had never started a game; going up against a defense that featured beasts like Corey Moore and John Engleberger.

Tech opened moving the ball well, but falling short on a few critical drives.   They still managed to build a 17-0 second-quarter lead against a team that was not their peer.   Then, the football Gods intervened.   Temple turned a short pass into a 70-plus touchdown late in the second to give them momentum at the break.   In the second half, Tech was stuck in neutral as Temple methodically cut into the lead, and took it midway through the fourth.   A last-ditch drive by the Hokies fell short, and they lost to a team that was a 38-point underdog.

The similarities on Saturday were eerie.   Tech came up short on a couple of long drives and struggled to a 13-0 lead.   Then, disaster hit.   JMU took a flare pass that should have resulted in a five-yard loss; took advantage of sloppy Tech tackling, and ran it in from 77 yards for a score.   Tech opened the second half with a long drive that resulted in only a field goal.   Then the defense gave way.   JMU's option befuddled Tech's young but vaunted defense.   The Dukes took a 21-16 lead, then forced a late Tech turnover to seal the deal.

It shouldn't have happened, but it did.   I saw it.   There's no denying it.

So what next?  Wholesale changes?   Not likely in mid-season.   Perhaps this will result in a little less pre-season braggadocio from the coaching staff---more realistic expectations from fans---maybe even a re-evaluation of who were are as a football team.

I can accept a hard-earned loss.   I can NOT accept a team that consistently performs well under its ability.  Congrats to the Dukes, who proved that mistake-free football can take you far.   For my Hokies, your high-school "Rivals" rankings mean exactly jack-shit now.  Play hard!