The story is largely the same from state to state, though the increases are smaller in the few states that have already adopted the same mandates and regulations that Democrats want to impose on all states. For the average small employer in high-cost New York, for instance, premiums would only rise by 6%. But they’d shoot up by 94% for the same employer in Indianapolis, 91% in St. Louis and 53% in Milwaukee.

A family of four with average health in those same cities would all face cost increases of 122% buying insurance on the individual market. And it’s important to understand that these are merely the new costs created by ObamaCare—not including the natural increases in medical costs over time from new therapies and the like.

On Countdown tonight, the Sultan of Smug could hardly contain his giddiness in playing “gotcha” with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) about the “individual mandate” for health insurance. Here is the statement from Grassley that the Sultan played:

This is the first time in the 225-year history of our country that we have forced you as a constituent, any of our constituents, to buy a product. You know, you’ve been free to buy or not buy. But now for the first time you’re gonna have to buy health insurance… I’m not a lawyer, but let me tell you, I’ve listened to some lawyers speak on this, and you know it’s a relatively new issue, and I don’t think we’ve ever had this issue before of having to buy something. And a lot of constitutional lawyers are saying it is unconstitutional or at least a violation of the tenth amendment. Now maybe states could do this, but can the federal government do it? So I have my doubts.

Keith immediately zings Grassley with, “You heard of insurance on cars, Senator Grassley? Mandatory insurance on cars?”

I am going to guess that not only is Senator Grassley obviously aware of mandatory insurance on cars, but that he is aware that proponents of the mandate may cite such laws as precedent– I think it’s safe to assume that’s why he included the caveat, “maybe the states can do it.”

Guess what, Keith? The states can, and do, require auto insurance. The federal government does not, cannot and should not, for the reasons clearly stated by Senator Grassley.

Maybe if Keith Olbermann didn’t assume everybody he disagrees with is some combination of retarded, evil and dishonest, he’d avoid failling into traps himself.

Then again, I guess it doesn’t really matter– after all, not even Keith Olbermann watches Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

UPDATE: Here’s the video–

In a country where everything imaginable is bought and paid for on credit, why is it suddenly a national crisis if some people cannot pay cash up front for medical treatment?

Selected bullet points from the Organizing for America website:

The President’s plan:

Ends discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.

That sounds good.  People certainly shouldn’t be denied access to healthcare for being sick.  But…this does increase costs to the insurance industry.

Limits premium discrimination based on gender and age.

Discrimination…always bad, right?  Although adjusting premiums based on risk levels is how insurance companies operate at a profit, and this would take that away.  Oh well…profits are evil anyways.

Caps out-of-pocket expenses so people don’t go broke when they get sick.

No one should have to declare bankruptcy just because they got sick and had some medical bills.  But if we cap expenses to the people, we also cap revenues to the insurance companies.

Won’t add a dime to the deficit and is paid for upfront.

Whew!  I was really starting to get worried about the deficit.

Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice.

“The public option”:  sounds like a sturdy, earnest safety net for hardworking Americans.  There’s no way it could ever become a monolithic government money pit, right?  Medicare/Medicaid has ballooned up to about $700 billion a year with costs spiralling out of control – but I’m sure the “public option” would remain a fairly small, insignificant government expenditure…unless something happened like…the collapse of the health insurance industry?

Fortunately, there’s no way the health insurance industry could possibly collapse.  Unless, perhaps the government were to

1. Increase costs by mandating coverage
2. Remove the ability to adjust premiums based on risk levels
3. Cap revenues to the insurance companies

The arrogance of our politicians to think that they can micromanage the minutiae of a 15 trillion dollar economy, from healthcare expenses to car manufacturing, will only end in tragedy.  We have only to look so far as the grand communist experiment of the Soviet Union to understand this.  Learning from past experiences and applying that knowledge to future endeavors is a fairly fundamental human characteristic.  Why are we allowing our politicians to ignore logic and reason?