ClydeR
07-19-2009, 02:45 PM
"Medicare is the single most popular government program ever," said (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,533593,00.html) highly respected political commentator Fred Barnes. Barnes was, as usual, right in his assessment, according to public opinion polls (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/pubs/Harris_Poll_2009_01_13.pdf).
And that's the real problem with the planned healthcare reform.
Currently, only those people who are productive members of society get a full range of healthcare services. They pay their dues by working and buying insurance, and they reap the reward of adequate healthcare. Not perfect healthcare, by any means, but adequate to prolong life, ease suffering and, to the extent reasonable, maintain well being.
Obama and the Democrats want to expand adequate healthcare to a whole class of people who are not productive members of society -- the people who expect to receive more from society than they contribute.
Poor people who experience adequate healthcare for themselves and their families will want to keep it. They will live longer, causing Social Security to be even more insolvent. Gradually, they will demand more and more from the government subsidized health insurance policies. They'll probably even start voting! Once we go down this road, there will be no turning back. All of this will drain government revenue that would more wisely be spent encouraging investment or funding the military. It's simply something we cannot afford, no matter how popular it is likely to be.
So says Clyde.
And that's the real problem with the planned healthcare reform.
Currently, only those people who are productive members of society get a full range of healthcare services. They pay their dues by working and buying insurance, and they reap the reward of adequate healthcare. Not perfect healthcare, by any means, but adequate to prolong life, ease suffering and, to the extent reasonable, maintain well being.
Obama and the Democrats want to expand adequate healthcare to a whole class of people who are not productive members of society -- the people who expect to receive more from society than they contribute.
Poor people who experience adequate healthcare for themselves and their families will want to keep it. They will live longer, causing Social Security to be even more insolvent. Gradually, they will demand more and more from the government subsidized health insurance policies. They'll probably even start voting! Once we go down this road, there will be no turning back. All of this will drain government revenue that would more wisely be spent encouraging investment or funding the military. It's simply something we cannot afford, no matter how popular it is likely to be.
So says Clyde.