America As We Know It: Is It Over?

Well, that’s what they keep telling me. After the Supreme Court approved the Affordable Health Care Act. You see, politicians are experts at the “Here’s what’s going to happen” scenario. They use this tactic all the time. They come up with worst case scenarios, and say that they’re going to take place. Inevitably, that never happens. But it doesn’t matter, because by then they’ve moved onto another “It’s going to happen” scenario, and most people have forgotten the old one. Just a few examples…

1)  If we approve the auto bailout, we’ll have the government in charge of the car companies. Nancy Pelosi will be running GM, telling us exactly what kind of car we should have. Really, they all said it. All the politicians, radio hosts, everyone. Of course this didn’t happen. Instead, the car companies survived, are selling lots of cars, and have actually increased their hiring. Pretty much a best case, or at least a “pretty-good case” scenario.

2)  If Obama is elected, he’s coming for your guns. Right after the 2008 election, it was almost impossible to buy ammunition, due to the hoarding. Because Obama was going to take it all. Well, that never happened. So now they’re saying he’s waiting till his second term. Of course that’s not going to happen. Even if he wanted to, he’d never have the votes for it. But the NRA keeps saying this, and people keep believing it.

3)  If Obama is elected, he’s going to take your savings. Really. I know of one couple who actually cashed in their 401(k) when Obama was elected. Yes, they took a significant penalty on that. But they were so convinced he was somehow going to take their own money. Of course that didn’t happen. You would think they would be mad at the people who led them to believe that. Of course, they’re still mad at Obama.

4)  If Obamacare is passed, it will be the end of America as we know it. Really, I've heard that more than once in the last week. Back in October of 2010, one prominent senator said that “In the next year or so” we will have to dramatically cut the military because we can’t pay for it. Well, the next “year or so” has come and gone, and we still have a military. 

5)  Obamacare will ruin the doctor patient relationship. This one can’t be true, because that relationship is already ruined. Anyone who thinks doctors make the decisions has not spent any time arguing with the insurance company. A doctor may request a procedure, but the insurance company rep on the phone is the one who decides whether it will be covered or not. And they will also tell you which doctor you can or can’t see. So this one just doesn’t make any sense. 

6)  If we don’t drill drill drill, gas prices will soon be over $5 a gallon. Somehow nobody is talking about that right now. But just for the record, it didn’t happen. Yeah, I know. “But it’s going to!!!! “

You know, I have no problem with mistaken predictions. If a weatherman predicts rain based on his data, and the storm misses us, that’s a mistake. But if he says there’s going to be a tornado just to scare people, that’s completely different. 

So forget the “what’s going to happen.” Really. Because those are almost never right. Maybe they’re lying, maybe they’re just wrong. Either way, people saying these things do not deserve your trust.