Using Ted Kennedy to Pass Healthcare Overhaul

Democrats, including Chris Dodd and John Kerry, have been calling for bipartisanship following the death of Ted Kennedy, according to CNN.

Why they expect Congressmen to drop all of their principles and support such a destructive and unread bill, not anyone would dare guess. When Karl Marx, one of the greatest historical advocates of communism, died, not anyone expected us to change our capitalist ways. The question remains: How is this any different?

It is fair to consider Marx intelligent and well-meaning, as we can consider Kennedy. Their both being lifelong advocates of sweeping reform of which most of the population opposes on ideological premises stands as another striking similarity between these cases. Both individuals worked on getting their reform passed, for decades even, and all in vain.

So, while we honor the dedication and contributions of Ted Kennedy, we shall continue to disagree with him posthumously, contrary to the wishes of the Democratic Party.

Why are medical costs in America so high?

There are several reasons for the high medical costs in our country. First and most important, physicians are joined in one of the most powerful trade unions, the American Medical Association. This union campaigns for quality healthcare and regulations in the health industry. Why is this bad? Of course, because of the nature of big, powerful, and influential unions, labour costs increase. This effect is magnified when one’s ability to practice medicine is strongly limited by a lengthy educational requirement. So, in America, medical labor costs are especially costly. These costs are passed onto the consumer. Hence, we have high medical costs. There is also a lengthy argument about the AMA’s power in Capitalism and Freedom, Chapter 9, if one has the interest in further exploring this topic.

Second, the insurance system encourages irresponsibility. The collective nature of insurance is comparable to Hawaii’s old Universal Healthcare system, in which people bought all they want medically because it was “free”. Of course, the result is an increase in insurance costs and a faction within the insurance company that rations medical expenditures. So, the collective insurance system is responsible for some of the aggregate healthcare costs in America.

Finally, America is one of the few remaining developed countries with no public healthcare system. The result is that almost all healthcare innovation must come through American companies. This investment in new cures, vaccines, and medicines comes out of the pocket of the consumer indirectly, and the result is more expensive medicine.

There are plenty of other reasons that don’t need explanation. Americans pay for top notch healthcare treatment not available in other countries. More people are vaccinated in America than anywhere else. Regulations exist that limit medical competition. All of these are also reasons why our costs are so high.

How can we battle this? What is the true answer to limiting healthcare costs? Disappointingly, conservative talk show hosts don’t even have real answers. Most propose subsidies. However, here is how we can cut these costs:

• Cut regulations that strengthen the American Medical Association
• End government mandates requiring the purchase of insurance
• Encourage other countries to privatize their healthcare systems
• End regulations that limit interstate competition between insurance companies
• Cut licensing requirements for doctors and nurses

Yes, we can cut healthcare costs without creating an oppressive universal healthcare system. All we have to do is get our voices heard.

Confidence in Washington Falling Considerably

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, thirteen states now have double digit unemployment rates. As a result of the lack of improvement, many Americans are now questioning Washington’s ability to combat this problem. In fact, a new Fox News Poll indicates that a majority of Americans doubt that the Obama Administration has any clear plan for fixing the economy. The poll results also indicate that 73% of Americans doubt that Congress has such a plan either.

As of Healthcare, the poll indicates that most Americans don’t believe that major health care reform can occur without increasing taxes and the budget deficit. In fact, 64% of Americans would rather have their ailments treated by private health insitutions than by the federal government. Further, only 3% of Americans consider thier current healthcare quality poor.

What was perhaps most interesting about this poll was the last question:  “Do you think members of Congress should be required to read and know the details of legislation before they can vote on it — even if the bill is thousands of pages long?” The bipartisan answer was a resounding 92% yes.

So what does this all mean? It means that America has lost confidence in Washington. America has even lost confidence in Obama. Change has failed. Hope has backfired. What do we have left?

The End of the World As We Know It

Universal Healthcare:

Though it has failed everywhere else (Hawaii, Canada, Australia, Britain…), for some reason, it is the solution to our healthcare problems.

But we will not be fooled. Creating a government monopoly that is ran by a bureaucracy and exponentially less responsible than free-market insurance will destroy our current system and, after it fails, leave us with more uninsured and another mess to clean up.

Certainly this isn’t change we can believe in. But congressional democrats are planning to pass such a bill, dubbed the ‘Ted Kennedy Memorial Bill’ or something to the likes of that. Why? Well, nobody is sure, and we need to make them realize that they will do more harm than good.

Our New President

It is important to consider…

He went to Harvard. He’s changed his views on many issues sinse getting into office. He’s not stubborn. He’s not stupid.

However…

He has many political views that are disagreeable. Examples would be his anti-federalist educational plans, his anti-capitalist and pro-inflation bailout policies and his liberal healthcare reforms.

But no matter what…

We’re stuck with him for at least four years. And it looks like he’ll be in for eight. Should his safety be compromised and he be assassinated by anyone, he’d only be replaced by Biden, and should Biden go down too, Pelosi would take control of the Whitehouse. This does not excite me.

All we can do is…

We aught to pray for Obama’s wisdom and his safety. The lack of either would be a catastrophe.