Analysis for Critical Thinkers

It is interesting to me when I hear adult politicians make statements such as “Everybody knows there is a problem with health care in this country.” In 7th grade, I remember using a similar line in a research paper that I had written. My teacher rejected the statement with red ink and asked me who – specifically – I was talking about and exactly how I was able to come to that conclusion. “Give facts – use footnotes – cite your sources”. Broad unproven generalities did not work for me as a teenager but today we hear so many of them as the politicians of Big Government try to spend more of our money.

It seems that the only thing that people expect of politicians is to have them fight for more money to spend on whatever problem that they care about at the moment. It is common to see celebrities or special interest groups say or do things to “raise awareness” about a particular problem. The hope, of course, is to try to get laws passed to force someone else to pay for it all. It really doesn’t matter if the people are in fact “aware” as long as they will be paying for it.

All of this talk and rhetoric about “solving” the perceived problems with health care is really all about money and who should pay it.  For the people who have enough money, there is no problem since they can either buy medical insurance or pay for their own medical care. People who do not have enough money may find themselves taking advantage of Big Government bureaucracies and programs that already exist.  Still, there are apparently those who believe that “something” needs to be done – meaning that more money should be taken from…somewhere.

Even if it is agreed that “something” needs to be done, should it be the job of Big Government? They, of course, are the only ones who have become powerful enough to seize the assets of the citizens with the force of law so it is no wonder that people would use that route. But couldn’t we do “something” without Big Government?

If it is Big Government that you believe to be your saviour once again, let us look at how this would work. I would use specifics however no specifics actually exist regarding the Big Health Care Takeover. Whatever drafts and proposals exist in the various branches of Big Government, no one has actually read the whole thing – or understood it – or really explained it to the skeptics whose money would be seized to pay for it.

Apparently, a certain amount of money is being spent on health care each year in the United States. This money gives a certain level of quality to certain individuals. Some individuals get better quality than others. Some areas get better quality than others. Some people need more medical care than others. Different people are currently paying different amounts for this system, such as it is. Some people pay nothing into the system yet will still not be turned away at emergency rooms anywhere in the country. Some people pay a lot into the system but need nothing from it. Some people could pay into the system but they choose not to because they are young and healthy or perhaps they just don’t want to. Whatever flaws you may perceive in this system, that is what it is.

The proposal to “fix” the system, in broad terms, is to increase the amount of people that would get health care while at the same time, reduce the cost. But reduce the cost to whom? As it is, there are people who pay nothing yet they get medical care. How can this be done? Here are some possibilites and some actual proposals to give everybody health care but at the same time, make it cheaper:

– Require doctors to charge less. This is a nice way to discourage anyone from becoming a doctor in the future. It would be nice if we could simply portray these doctors as greedy and move on, but it of course just makes them be the ones to pay for your vision of Utopia. I’ll take a rich greedy doctor anytime that knows that he better be good to make me want to come back to him.

–Stop greedy insurance companies- It is so common nowadays for private companies to be called greedy when they make a profit. It is apparently forgotten that profit was the sole purpose of starting a company in the first place. Profit is good for companies! They can hire people and pay taxes and stuff. Competition is good too because now we can see which company can give us the best quality for the least cost. The Big Government “public option” is ridiculous because they plan on running at a loss. As a private company, how can you compete with Big Government who not only can run at a loss each year (just raise taxes and force people to keep it afloat!) but they are also the ones to make and to enforce endless regulations against any competition?

–Seize more money from rich people. This has become the standard operating procedure for Big Government for almost any perceived problem. Of course, the more you do this, the more people wind up falling into what you need to consider “rich.” Who cares, people say, until you yourself find yourself in the “rich” category. This also contradicts the premise that Big Goivernment will be making the health system better for cheaper.

–Cut down on waste and fraud. It has been claimed that this alone would pay for everything that ails us. If that is the case, we do not need another 1000 page Health Care bill. There must already be laws that would stop this fraud and waste. Enforce them. Unless perhaps Big Government needs to establish new guidelines for what is considered “waste” in health care.

–Print more money so that we can buy more stuff. This Monopoly-money strategy is what causes inflation and devaluation of the U.S. dollar. So does planting money trees. It is a fantasy that you can solve a lack of funds with the strok of a pen.

–Limit the medical care available. Although the actual words “rationing” and “death panels” may in fact not be in any proposed legislation, one can surely save money by denying people medical care that is deemed to be wasteful or too expensive by a Big Government bureaucrat.

You cannot get better health care that covers more people and have it cost less. You can only either ration the care or make certain people pay more. Seizing the assets of one group of people to give benefits to another group of people is unconstitutional tyranny. Big Government bureaucracy is not the answer, especially when no one really knows what exactly the question was in the first place.

On this anniversary of the September 11 attacks, let us reflect upon the current state of affairs in this country.

There is still talk in Washington about prosecuting the very people who were trying to protect us all from terrorists as well as calls for investigations into whether or not they may have been too mean to those that were caught.

After years of complaining that George Bush was too stupid to find Osama Bin Laden, (as if the President is the guy who goes and looks for people) those same finger-pointers must realize that it is 8 months into the Obama administration and we still have no progress with that. Maybe this guy is pretty tough to find!

After years of calling our troops “baby killers” and our former President “evil” regarding the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, what has changed – other than the name “War on Terror?” Thankfully, it appears that despite campaign promises otherwise, President Obama now seems to realize the importance of this ongoing war on terror despite a record number of U.S. soldiers being killed in Afghanistan last month. It is interesting to note however, that there were no calls for the  impeachment of President Obama over the record losses or claims that he is evil.

Now that gasoline is over $3.00 per gallon once again, there are those who may now realize – but won’t admit – that the President does not set gasoline prices after all. Unless maybe President Obama has cronies in the oil industry too!

After another one of the coolest summers on record, those that have tried so hard to start the religion of Global Warming are gnashing their teeth in frustration. After all, the belief that Big Government can control every problem- even alleged weather phenomena – is less convincing when it may appear that there is not a problem that needs solving.

After complaining that he “inherited a record budget deficit” from the former President, President Obama broke another deficit record with his mass spending frenzy. The strategy of Not My Fault has become cliche – and that just in less than 8 months in office. Seizing money from successful businesses and employed people to pay for failing businesses and unemployed people is disastrous and the long term effects have yet to be seen. Rushing to push the “stimulus” through before the perceived problem had a chance to solve itself was reckless.

The latest crisis of the day that apparently needs to be solved by Big Government is health care. Although it is claimed that “everybody knows” that there is a problem, there is actually no one that can specifically say just what the problem is – and why Big Government should be involved at all. Each day from each speech-giver, we hear different numbers of millions of people who are said to be lacking in some area of health care, but no one can say just what they mean by “health care” anyway. Words like “waste” and “fraud” are in fact, not specific but they are used as if they were. It is unrealistic to believe that a new Big Government run socialised bureaucracy will cut down on either waste or fraud. Most preposterous are the claims that we must act quickly because, it is cried, people are dying each day that we wait. Preposterous – because it is said that if passed today, this law would not take effect until 2013(!)(?)

Even more preposterous is the fact that no one really knows just what it is that is being proposed anyway. There is a Senate version, a House version, drafts from various committees, and the President’s own version – which seems to still be ever evolving as the political winds ebb and flow around Washington. It is amazing to see people supporting a bill that by some accounts is over 1000 pages long. Those that are for the bill and those that are against it do not even know what they are fighting for (or against).

So much for the “most transparent administration in history.” So much for the “new era of government” that we could expect from the Senate and the House. If people have questions about your proposal to spend their money, do not call them “stupid” – because you work for them. And they work to earn the money that you are going to seize from them to pay for your political goals. What we have heard is people being called Nazis, evil, greedy, nuts, extremists, terrorists, racists, homophobes, a##holes, mad, unruly, rude, loud and all various names and adjectives. We have heard this in speeches as well as at town hall meetings. If this is all you can come up with when someone asks a question, then either your proposal is worthless or else you need to do more homework in preparation for these questions. If you seek serious debate, realize that a debate is not won by calling people names. But never mind debate, at least be able to answer questions and explain why your proposal is a good idea. Acting offended and lashing out at people is not the patway to their hearts – and to their support.

And finally, if you are going to call people names, be prepared to be called names yourselves. At the moment when Congressman Joe Wilson described what the President was saying as a “lie”, the camera happened to be on the very people who have been describing their critics with the very same word all along. (I suppose it was one of those cases where even if everybody knows it, people are shocked because you’re just not supposed to say it out loud.) Acting indignant, offended and surprised was what was most surprising. Going into discussions later about breaches of etiquette and protocol was not surprising though – it cleverly avoided the actual issue that had been called a lie by Congressman Wilson and many other Americans in the first place. Let’s get back to that issue again shall we?

May God bless the United States of America.

C.R.