Married to the Mobaka Medicare for All: "The welfare of the masses is always the alibi of tyrants."(MEDICINE & HEALTH)

• Author: Smith, G. Keith
• Position: MEDICINE & HEALTH

ONE PUNDIT, writing in 2008, made a compelling case that Prohibition was never repealed but, rather, that Al Capone and Uncle Sam merely traded places. Without a doubt, brutal consequences await anyone who attempts to skirt the taxes and tribute demanded by the Washington, D.C., syndicate, which currently controls half the sale and distribution of medical commerce in this country. It is clear that the Medicare-for-all initiative represents a shameless attempt to control completely the funds flowing through this industry, a move that would make even Mr. Capone blush.

Think this assessment is too harsh? That Prohibition made mobsters rich differs in what way from how ObamaCare made D.C.'s medical cronies rich? The sad truth is that each and every time a new law is passed and the regulators appear (almost always connected with the industry ostensibly regulated), another chunk of commerce passes through the inefficient and corrupt toll booth of the Washington "outfit." In addition, industry consolidation predictably materializes with each new law, so fewer and richer "captains" will remain to kiss Uncle Sam's ring.

In the same way that many mob-related terms disguise their true meaning, the titles chosen for many laws serve as decoys for their intended effect. Just as there was nothing "affordable" or related to "care" in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the deceit attached to the phrase Medicare for all belies the fact that, if enacted, the purchase or sale of medical services outside of this system necessarily would be unlawful, or this gangland attempt to co-opt the industry would get nowhere.

While the purchase of medical services outside of this new system would be prohibited for you and me, rest assured that our "representatives" in the nation's capital would exempt themselves from this restriction, just as they did with ObamaCare and just as they did during Prohibition. Pres. Woodrow Wilson was given a special exemption for his private wine cellar; Pres. Franklin Roosevelt was known to keep stocks of gin, rum, and scotch in a closet of his New York home, and, not to be outdone, Congress had its own bootlegger. Remaining true to this tradition and for our own good, the D.C. protection racket managed to remain immune from Social Security taxes until 1984 and continues to have special access to benefits apart from Medicare. You can bet that Medicare-for-all rationing would not apply to them.

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