Lest we forget

During the silly season, several criticisms of the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress surfaced as the electoral motivators for "taking back our country" from the of the brink of socialism.

Chief amongst these criticisms was the "Obamacare" health care reform legislation, that according to Republicans and particularly tea-partiers - "the American people" didn't want. Bringing up 2nd and 3rd places, not necessarily in this order, were the auto industry bailout and the stimulus plan. Unemployment got tossed in there but didn't fall into the socialism bucket.

Obamacare

What has come to light in the past six months is the enormous popularity of the individual benefits of health care reform. Among other things "the American people" like that:

1. health plans can no longer limit or deny coverage simply because the child has a pre-existing health condition. This provision does not mean that such coverage will be inexpensive, but at least coverage will be available.
2. health plans can no longer set a lifetime dollar limit on benefits, which can be particularly important for those with expensive medical conditions.
3. an insurance company cannot retroactively cancel a policy if you failed to accurately disclose required information on the insurance application. Under the new law, the insurance carrier must prove that the information was left off the application by reason of fraud before canceling the policy.
4. insurance companies cannot deny claims without appeal
5. new health plans are now required to offer access to preventive services such as screenings, vaccinations and counseling at no charge, including no copay, co-insurance or deductible.
6. under the new rules, coverage of dependent children is extended to age 25 if they don’t already have coverage through their job. The new rule applies even if the child does not live at home or is married.
7. with new health plans, you can now choose the pediatrician or primary care doctor or you want from your health plan’s provider network. You can also see an OB-GYN doctor without getting a referral from your primary care doctor.
8. patients may use the nearest emergency room without penalty

Auto Industry Loan

This week GM reported its best quarter since 1999, setting the stage for them to begin selling shares to the public again. GM earned nearly $2 billion in the quarter, compared to a loss a year earlier when it was still in the process of emerging from bankruptcy. It's the third straight quarter GM has reported a profit. The last time they reported a profit this large was the first quarter of 1999. Wednesday's earnings report puts GM in position to post its first annual profit since 2004. GM said it expects to be profitable again in the fourth quarter.

The earnings report came about a week before GM will start selling shares to the public for the first time since it emerged from bankruptcy in July 2009. The company expects to raise about $13 billion selling shares, putting it on course to be the third-largest initial public offering in U.S. history. That stock price target would value the company at about $52 billion.

Most of those stock sale proceeds will go to its existing shareholders, not the company, with the Treasury Department receiving a bit more than half of the shares. Treasury, which provided a $50 billion bailout to keep the company alive through its bankruptcy process, holds 61% of its common shares today, although that will fall to just over 40% once the initial sale takes place.

Treasury intends to space out the sale of its remaining GM shares over upcoming years so as not to flood the market with shares and drive down the price. Taxpayers may not make a profit on GM's "bailout" as it will take a near doubling in share price from the initial price target in order for taxpayers to break even.

A break even should be considered a win.

The Stimulus Plan

Take a look at the map at the recovery.gov website to see how the recovery monies have been spent. Make up your own mind about the usefulness and effectiveness of the funding.  It's pretty damned impressive.

Socialism

Do any of the above government interventions actually equate to, or even approach socialism? Short answer: No.

...and Unemployment?

After shedding over 750,000 jobs in January 2009, the trend has reversed in a not insignificant fashion. Last month saw a net increase of 160,000 private sector jobs. Job losses, that had been climbing month-to-month since the summer of 2008, and peaking at about the time Obama was sworn into office, are now hopefully in our past as we set about the hard work of recovery.

With a couple of months of lame duck power and influence, Congress can do even more good things before the lunatics begin running the asylum.