Black Friday: For some, a day of convivial bargain hunting; for others, a full-contact blood sport in pursuit of the slogan “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Shoppers camp out for days in advance in order to be first in line when stores open. Inevitably some are trampled, robbed, or otherwise victimized — all to save a few bucks on a wide-screen television or the year’s most popular toys.
One reason for the rush to be first is that the biggest bargains usually are in short supply. Because they are being sold at below-market rates — “loss leaders,” they’re called — sellers are reluctant to part with too many of them, and buyers want to purchase more than they otherwise would. And woe to any retailer that offers something for free — and any shopper who tries to get it!
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The underlying assumption of ObamaCare is that healthcare is a right. With insurers forced to accept all comers and offer generous benefits, and with government subsidies for those who cannot afford health-insurance premiums on their own, Americans will soon come to believe that they are owed whatever healthcare they demand at no out-of-pocket cost to themselves. In other words, they will think of healthcare as free.
This is the theme of a trailer for the phony movie ObamaCare: Take Your Place in Line. Created by Campus Liberty Alliance, the youth affiliate of The John Birch Society, the video asks the question “How will Americans react now that we have free healthcare?”
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Scarier than A Nightmare on Elm Street — isn’t it? Yet it may very well foretell the future of the American healthcare system as people descend upon doctors and hospitals, demanding their “free” care. Shortages and, therefore, rationing — but rationing “with our eyes open,” as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick described his approach to healthcare — are inevitable.
If you think the mob scenes on Black Friday are horrific, just wait till ObamaCare kicks in. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
