Trojan Horse

Hat tip: Patriot Post

According to the International Co-Operative Statement on Co-operative Identity, a "co-operative," or "co-op" is:

an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlledenterprise.^[1] It is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit.

Hmmm, let's parse that.

1. "Autonomous association of persons" - well what Congress (mainly Kent Conrad in the Senate) is proposing is a national association of uninsured persons who would join this "co-op" and would receive funding from Congress to make the pricing competitive. Kind of shoots the "autonomous" notion out of the saddle.

2. "united voluntarily" - if there is a mandate that says "you will have health insurance," there is nothing voluntary about it. Nor is the lack of health insurance necessarily an income related thing. Mark Perry, over at Carpe Diem, slays that argument with this simple chart:

That's right, almost 40% of the uninsured make MORE than $50K per year.

3. "jointly owned, and democratically controlled enterprise" - Puleeze!!! Do you really think that if Congress (the taxpayers) has to fund this "enterprise" to make it "competitive" that they are not going to be calling the shots? What size campaign contribution will I have to make in order to get "elected" to the Board?

4. "owned and operated by a group for their mutual benefit" - doubt it. Follow the money - if it's coming from Congress, it will be run by political appointees. They, in turn, will put their lackeys in place and voila, you got yourself a bureaucracy controlled and operated from Washington.

Where, oh where, is ANY of this in the Constitution? You know, that document that you raise your right hand for and say "protect and defend...against all enemies, foreign or DOMESTIC?"

Bottom line, the co-op idea is nothing but, dare I say it? Lipstick on the pig that is the "public option," which is lipstick on the pig that is "socialized medicine, which is lipstick on the pig that is this blatant power grab by Obama and his Democrat henchmen. This is the most left (statist) group of leaders at the helm in the history of this nation. Time for some real change.