Stop clapping, shut up and sit down.
“America is the only wealthy democracy without an option for health care for all”
The President said this yesterday in his address to Congress and America. We also heard the use of very conservative terminology— a way for the president and other radicals in his office to try to calm those who oppose him. However, his rhetoric has not fooled anyone as to his somewhat Marxist agenda. In his speech, he talked about those who do not have health insurance, stating that those who choose to go without coverage are the primary cause of cost increases for the rest of us. Although what he is saying may very well be true, it is the fault of an overbearing government that continually tries to take more control.
We already have is universal health care.If you were to walk into the ER with a gunshot wound, no one would ask payment; you would be stabilized for free. What we are debating here is more health insurance. It seems that car and life insurers are doing a fine job without massive government intervention. Why is healthcare any different? This cycle has got us here:
1. The government makes laws to ‘help’ people -> 2. Through the law of unintended consequences, they end up hurting the lives of others whom they had no desire to affect -> 3. They make more laws to help those they hurt -> 4. Ruin more lives -> 5. Blame the free market system -> 6. Create more regulations -> 7. Take freedoms in order to ‘protect the weak’ -> 8. Control our lives, WELCOME TO CUBA.
We are currently at number five in the cycle. There is a law on the books which states that the government can regulate anything they spend money on. When we allowed those we elected into power to enter the health care industry, we allowed them to regulate it. And thus we find them ruining the system and blaming it on private industry.
Are liberal politicians this delusional? The American people have more sense—they have spoken, time and time again. CNN and MSNBC have worked to position and brand the opposition to the deathcare plan as crazy rednecks with guns, people whom no person with common sense should listen to. The reality is quite the opposite. It is the hard working American people standing up, looking to be heard by the government they employ to serve them. If the senators are not reading the bills and are not writing the bills, what the heck do we pay them for? Not to mention the cushy lifetime health benefits they get…
Yesterday, we heard the president espouse the coverage of illegal immigrants, no increases to the deficit, and forced entrance into the plan, all things he contends are not in the bill. It seems the relevant question to ask is has he read it? It all seems like the same hope and change campaign rhetoric that got everyone chanting “Yes, We Can”. He has yet to address the SERMO petition that 10,000 physicians have signed and delivered to Congress expanding on the reforms they believe will make access to care better.
What Will Change the System?
I agree that our system is flawed and needs major reform. I doubt there are many who disagree. What we most disagree on is what reform is. We keep hearing the left use terms like ‘choice’ and ‘competition’; however, we never see that in the plans they bring to the floor of Congress.
The system is not so far gone that it cannot be helped. For instance, you may have heard a lot about this tort reform in recent months. Large healthcare premiums come partly from the high cost of malpractice insurance. Some doctors spend half the year working to pay $250,000 of malpractice insurance and then the next three months paying taxes. Although malpractice insurance only accounts for about 1% of the cost of health care—a number you hear liberals use when saying that tort reform is not important—it is the reason for the battery of tests your physician may order to prevent being sued. There are too many small-minded Americans looking to hit the lotto because they have liberals beating them over the head, reminding them that they are just victims of the system. We need to realize that our doctors are good people who are there to heal us, but that they are not God. Certain things are not in their control. Costs will continue to rise if we go litigation-crazy on our well-meaning doctors. It’s time to vilify a lawyer and a congressman or two.
If we allow people to buy only the health insurance that they want, such as catastrophic coverage for healthy individuals and allow them to buy from any company in any state, we would find that more people would opt to buy care. Currently in the People’s Republic of Minnesota, any provider of health insurance must cover acupuncture, substance abuse, pregnancies—for men and women— and so on. The reason for this? Government mandates. It is no wonder that many people opt out of buying coverage. People should also be allowed to deduct health-related expenses on their taxes and be able to roll over their health savings accounts. What we cannot do is penalize, at the tune of $3,800/yr, people who do not want or need healthcare.Shortly after the president’s address, the Associated Press released an article that directly confronted what he said and what they see as the more realistic take on the issue. It compared and contrasted his exact words to CBO numbers, as well as what the bill actually says. Believe me, there was plenty to be said, especially by such a liberal organization.
We have many examples as to how single payer and single payer lite programs do not work and end up harming people. One such example is Sweden. One that is more alarming is the UK’s National Health Service. To paraphrase Rush Limbaugh, who explained that UK’s health service needs to shed (see kill) an extra 17,000 humans a year for the system to run in the decrepit state that it is already in . Of course that is in addition to the 750,000-1,000,000 people who die already. Gosh, that sounds fun doesn’t it? America has never seen progressives like the ones in our current administration. I hope this acts as a catalyst for liberty, prosperity, and freedom to take make a stand. Before we see that glorious day we will have to watch hope & change take root.
