In Praise of Regulation

It’s said that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Though Lord Acton (John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton (1834–1902), the first Baron Acton) is often attributed with originating that phrase in an 1887 letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, the idea itself was not new to him, and was known to have been expressed in 1770 by in a speech to the UK House of Lords by William Pitt the Elder, Earl of Chatham, who was British Prime Minister 1766–1778.

Our nation’s Founders understood that principle quite well, as evidenced by the systems of oversight, and the establishment of three separate, co-equal branches of government which they established via the Constitution – which was ratified June 21, 1788.

Absolute power, in a market sense, is about money and corrupting influence that almost always accompanies unchecked concentrated power. In this era, we see it commonly as a desire to abolish rules, regulations, and laws designed to protect the people.

That’s but one underlying reason why the GOP wants to abolish “ObamaCare” – so that power (and money) may be concentrated in the hands of the already-powerful.

We the people have the final say-so, because we write the laws. And the law concerns itself with matters of equity and justice, which in our Constitution is ensconced in the 14th Amendment, in notable part as, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (emphasis added)

One much lesser-known part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act (aka, “ACA,” or colloquially as “ObamaCare”) is the “National Physician Payment Transparency Program (Section 6002), popularly known as “OPENPAYMENTS,” and requires manufacturers of medicines, medical supplies and other items covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to report payments or transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals, and requires Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) to disclose physician ownership, or investment interests, and to disclose what they pay to doctors for consulting or speaking fees on behalf of a manufacturer or specific medication.

https://CMS.gov/OpenPayments/

In 2003, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG), published the Compliance Program Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (68 FR 23731-01) which urged pharmaceutical companies to implement compliance programs or review existing programs. The purpose was to reduce or eliminate many gifts, free samples, seminars, entertainment and consultation arrangements that violated the Federal anti-kickback statute (42 USCA 1320a-7b(b)).

Eliminating the ACA under the pretext of “freedom of choice” is a smoke screen, because the ultimate objective is to concentrate power and money among the corporations, and their wealthy owners by limiting choice. Because in a TRULY free market, everyone can complete – including the government.

And because government services can often be implemented at less cost to the ultimate consumer than when delivered by Wall $treet-traded multi-national corporation$ (who must be concerned with profiteering and stockholder payout), when governments provide services, the cost savings is passed along to the citizen (in the form of lower costs), who is the ultimate “owner.”