Healthy Thoughts

The passage of "Obama Care" has sparked a fire in many people. Apparently a local congressman from Cincinnati (Driehaus) has received death threats against him and his family; I'll just say that this is uncalled for and counter-productive. On the same token, it is important to look at why these threats are being made. I just hope that the threatened congressmen realize why and address the problem.

We the people of this country have elected leaders that will represent us, consider our opinions and take our votes to Washington. The elected have ignored us. People like Driehaus should realize that a majority of his constituents told him in every way possible, not to vote for the health care bill. He even vowed not too, until the last minute when he changed his mind. Hopefully these folks realize that they need to start listening to those they represent, not those who dole out favors with other people's money in Washington.

I heard another congressman say that these threats were uncalled for and that we should have a civilized debate. I couldn't agree more, it's just too bad that the democratic led congress refused to have real debates on the merits of health care. Election results will tell the real story when the time comes.

The details of our new health care system are hidden in 2000 pages of a bill somewhere and will probably be never fully understood, but the concepts behind the bill are clear...socialize our health care system. Health care is sold as a basic human right, but when in comes down to it, we are each responsible for our own health. This bill seeks only to distribute the means of paying for health care and does not really aim at lowering costs and making it truly affordable to everyone.

The great experiment of American socialism has truly begun. I have to say that I agree with Doug French at the Mises Institute when he says Socialism "will produce here what it has produced everywhere: stagnation, over utilization, rationing, and the sacrifice of individual well-being in the name of collective justice. This is the result not only of every experiment in socialized medicine but of every experiment in socialism generally."

On top of this, those responsible for the increase of socialism in this country will not answer the basic question: When has a big government program ever worked as intended, being less expensive and more efficient than the alternatives?

When the system becomes over-extended, as it has in Canada and the UK, our "right to health care" will really begin to trump our "right to life" as we all learn to depend on a system that cannot sustain us. If we learn to support ourselves and anticipate our needs in the future, we'll be ready to sustain life. As care is increasingly rationed through socialized programs, we will only become dependent, frustrated and helpless.

Many pundits on the right are crying that "the end justifies the means" for the democratic party. I will go one further. "The intent, justifies the means." The end that they claim will never happen, while their system is built on their supposed good intentions.

Time will tell the true story, but I am confident in the examples of every other socialized program in the world. If we continue down this path, failure is on the horizon. When we return to a focus on the individual, and equal opportunity for all, then we will being soaring higher than any other civilized people once again. We must learn to work for ourselves and not rely on the public treasury to support our every whim. Hopefully our transition back to conservative principles is a peacefull one.