Obamacare probably won't save what it claims

I saw a good article on this a day or two ago and forgot to link it, let alone blog about it immediately.

Anyway, the article or column was not some red-state reflexively anti-Obama piece. But it pointed out a key issue at the heart of Obamacare, a key assumption/issue, is exactly why it likely won't save that much money.

And, that is the Medicare-like cost-containment measures for doctors.

The article noted that similar such measures in Medicare itself get waived, year after year, by Congress. (Medicare itself would surely be on sounder footing if Congress would actually get some cojones on this.)

So, what's to prevent something similar from happening with Obamacare?

Bupkis.

As I reflected on this, I realized the problem was, in part ...

American exceptionalism.

Americans expect healthcare dollars to magically materialize, just like they do new reserves of cheap oil, cheap food and other things.

In fact, to pick up on my last post about American exceptionalism, many Americans, even if not explicitly religious themselves, think they have a divine right to such cheap resources, I thin.

In a word? Wrong.

And, as the American Empire continues a slow decline, that belief will be part of what fuels the decline.