WARNING! Busy Little Bees... with their backdoor amendments

What the heck is going on? I am livid right now. The passage of this Bail-Out Bill and subsequent market downturn is enough to get us all angry. But how many realize the newest Bill that was passed had over 100 billion dollars added to it along with some amendments UN-RELATED TO THE BAIL-OUT? I know this practice is ages old, but it is wrong; just as is bundling good loans with bad. I know they do it to garner votes. However, a good idea, a good law, should stand on its own.

There are so many additions in this 451 page monstrosity, I lost count. One provides tax credits for biodeisel and another extends depreciation rules for restaurant improvements. But the sneak attack I am focused on is the Mental Illness Insurance Coverage Amendment which, sounds like a good idea on it's face, but should have remained a separate Bill altogether. I find it reprehensible that supporters of this Bill would take advantage of a crucial time-sensitive decision like this Bail-Out Package, and use it to railroad the American people with a health care tax increase on top of it all.

Even Democrat Senator Russell Feingold said, "I strongly support some of the unrelated measures being added to the bailout package. ... But that legislation could have proceeded on its own, without being attached to the emergency bailout bill. "  And Feingold is even a rank-and-file Democrat!

The part that really worries me is the probability that people will exploit this package because it will be easier for people to obtain treatment for a wide range of conditions, including obscure conditions like depression, eating disorders and alcohol and drug abuse. I haven’t read who or what oversight committee will determine a conditions legitimacy. If it up to a simple pen scribble of your doctor, prepare for higher health insurance premiums for everyone. And if we are talking about covering any and all afflictions listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association, you can expect claims for caffeine intoxication, sleep disorders resulting from jet lag, and obesity (overeating disorder). And according to Andrew Sperling, a lobbyist at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an advocacy group, said, “[the new law] encourages insurers to integrate coverage for mental health care with medical and surgical benefits.” Which could be interpreted by some wily attorney to mean ‘free liposuction for 1/3 of the population’. I realize these are real problems. But most are self-correcting and a modifiable behavior most cases. It’s a slippery slope, one we have seen many times in the past. I sincerely pray this one doesn’t lead off a cliff.