The Road Less Travelled

Health care reform is needed, however it should build on what we currently have. WE have THE BEST health care in the world considering our technological advances and the quality of our doctors and nurses. A Socialized medicine plan or a public option will only decrease the quality of our health care: waiting times will increase on a large scale, some procedures will be denied, doctors and nurses will have less incentive to work, etc. This is what happens in all countries that develop such a public plan.

The government is inefficient when it toils in the market. Our government, the one established by our Founding Fathers, was meant to do only 3 things: provide a standing army to defend us and our national interest, provide a police force to protect our persons and property, and to provide courts of law to solve public and private disputes between citizens and other entities. Providing socialized health care, or a public health plan, was never even remotely mentioned by any of our Founders and such had never been found to have been mentioned by any philosophers or political scientists of that time either.

I'll be the first to admit that our health care costs too much and that insurance companies seem to be parasitical in their practice, however, there are more and better ways to go about reforming health care than destroying what our Founders created. The first thing would be to open up our borders to increased pharmaceutical trade. This would allow foreign countries to sell us more prescription drugs as lower costs, thus driving American companies to lower their costs as well. Good competition equals better quality and lower prices. On that same note, Congress should also legislate that citizens would be allowed to purchase insurance from across state lines. Currently, one cannot purchase insurance from another state, and thus there is no competition outside of each individual state. By opening the states up, insurance companies will have to compete in order to stay in business, thus driving down premiums. Also, the government should make it easier for individuals who are not working, or choose not to be on their employers insurance, to be able to shop around for the insurance of their choice. A tax rebate would do just that. Each year the IRS would rebate tax payers choosing to find their own insurance with a set amount of money for individuals and families.

This plan has been championed by both John McCain and Jim DeMint. In fact, DeMint introduced a similar plan in the Senate earlier this year. Why Congress is not taking it up, that's anyone's guess.

The fact is that 4/5 of the supposed 50 million uninsured are illegal immigrants, persons already convered by Medicare and Medicaid, persons making 75k or more a year, and persons who are between 18-26 and choose not to buy healthcare insurance. So only 10million people are uninsured (or 3.2% of the population), and thus the problem is less than what so many people are stating.

Our Founding Fathers believed heavily in the right to private property, and that includes money. And while Mr. Obama plans on taxing those making more than 250k a year in order to pay for this plan, he is thus denying them of their property in order to aid 3% of the population. The government confiscation and reallocation of capital (money and property) is Socialsim any way you cut it. I, for one, admire our Founders for their brilliance and foresight. They founded a democratic republic and not a socialist republic for a reason. And I feel entirely certain that they would not agree with Mr. Obama and the Liberals on this case, but instead would side with the Republicans that have already outlined a better and more efficient plan without the costly side effects.