Article about John Edwards said, “…reducing the size of federal bureaucracy outside the military and homeland security..”

Yeah, right. A little ‘Gray’ economics….more programs but he’s going to cut the back the bureaucracy…..and all at the expense of the ‘those damn rich people’ and the corporations (that ones that haven’t flocked to foreign countries)…we can always count on that ‘rich buddy’ to bail us out.

Posted by: Jeff B at July 29, 2003 09:32 AM

the only way your ever going to get universal health is to cut out the middle man.(insurance companies)
This way you will SAVE money. No need to raise taxes, when the solution is a tax saving one.

jeffb, whats the average cost for med insurance in your state for a decent plan?
here, the cost is about 2300 per person for medical. it’s included in the federal taxes you pay.

The problem with american health is those insurance companies, the cost keeps rising, shareholders have to make money, etc.

All that needs doing is to take it out of those hands, and the feds to put that money into their own kitty.
this knocks out the middle man, thus lowering medical costs, and allows it to be extended to everyone, working or not.
the government in the USA already spends more than it needs to through medicaid, simply because of insurance companies.

this is for basic health, not boob jobs etc.
you still pay for that yourself.

Posted by: Bubba at July 30, 2003 10:51 AM

Bubba - Sacré bleu! You got yourself a boob job? And paid for it? My,my,my. Wait until I tell YOUR spouse about this. :o)

Posted by: Cap'n SPIN at July 30, 2003 01:51 PM

Bubba, We know what happens when “the feds to put that money into their own kitty”. It disappears. Then not only are the Feds the middle man, they’ll piss away what money you have on their remarkably inefficient bureaucracies.

The only way to eliminate the “middle man” is to go back to health care the way it was in the early ’50s: I go to the doctor’s, I pay him; I buy a prescription, I pay it. Insurance goes back to it’s original purpose: to cover catastrophic incidents (major surgery, injury, chronic illness). In 1952, 7% of the population had healthcare coverage. And they didn’t drop like flies. The “single-payer” was the patient himself.

How we got in our present mess is a long story, but let me illustrate an example of the market at work (a rare experience within the American system): in the early ’70s, Medicaid cut ER visits by 90% simply by charging Medicaid recipients $3/visit. THREE DOLLARS. Suddenly ERs were no longer crammed with runny noses and cut fingers. The “barrier” to emergency care was $3.

When there is no “cost” to something, people have no disincentive to stop consuming it. Health care is no different. It responds to market forces and federal intervention, regulation and interference in the market has done nothing but cause costs to spiral.

It will suprise many people to learn that many people in their ’20s currently forego paying for medical coverage because they’re perfectly healthy and want to use the money more productively. Why would someone in great health want to be squeezed into a national health care plan where they’ll then be forced to pay for everyone else’s illness? Someone tell me. It’s not like they can’t get coverage in their 30’s (they can), but many socialists in our government have confused “coverage” with “health”. They’re not the same thing. Not having coverage is not the same thing as being sick. Simple concept, but they fail to grasp it.

Therefore, universal health care is not only unnecessary, it’s undesirable and unconstitutional. Being free to choose the level of care you desire is more important than getting your Viagra for $15/bottle. Squeezing people into a “one-size fits all” medical system makes as much sense as making car insurance mandatory for all, non-drivers included.

Just ask Hillary.

Posted by: torpedo_eight at July 31, 2003 10:30 PM

Wow. Mandating insurance coverage. What do you think that’s going to do to the price of health insurance? If you create an artificial demand that will be simply huge the prices will skyrocket. Consumers can’t just decide to forego buying insurance, the government will force them to do so. I suppose people who don’t keep the insurance in force will be put in jail, or, what?

And then of course, this “failure of the free market” will result in the government setting price caps on the insurance costs, as well as mandating the minimum services/protection that the policies must provide. The result here? Private companies will cease issuing such policies because they lose money if they issue them. Ah, but here we have the option of “government insurance” come into play, but you can bet that the government insurance won’t really be insurance at all. I suspect the “premiums” will be “progressive,” the rate you pay will depend upon your income, and not the degree of risk (use) that can be reasonably expected, which is what real “insurance” is.

I think this is where such a plan will take us, and I for one do not wish to go there.

Posted by: Ratbane at August 5, 2003 12:03 PM

Torpedo_eight, you’re exactly right. It won’t happen in our lifetimes, though. We need a few more generations for enough people to realize that money doesn’t grow on trees after all.

Posted by: Just Me at August 5, 2003 03:08 PM

My God, T-8 - And you are running on which ballot in which state? We gotta power company running roughshod on us ill-paid consumers in my ‘hood. DE-regulated. Solve it for us, please. We got the resources, the Co. has the switches and lines. Please. Your ‘Health’ solution is SPOT-ON.

Posted by: Cap'n SPIN at August 7, 2003 09:10 AM

Cap’n - This goes back to your argument about our language being hijacked. Most “deregulated” power companies are anything but.

Just remember this, when HillaryCare failed miserably back in the first Clinton term, Hillary didn’t think there was anything wrong with the concept, just the approach. They decided the way to go about it in the future was to do it in “chunks”, which is exactly what they’re doing now. An unholy alliance of AARP types, politicians and pharmaceutical companies have successfully negotiated the first “chunk”, prescription drugs. Republicans are willing dupes in all of this as well, so don’t wait for John Wayne to come riding in at the end of Fort Apache. He’s up there with Cochese, aiming at your wallet as we speak.

Our President has stood idly by while Congress trampled our First Amendment rights in the name of “campaign finance reform”. He has stood idly by while spending has gone through the roof. In three years - ZERO vetoes. Apparently there’s nothing out there he doesn’t agree with.

Stealing the democrats thunder by doing exactly what they would do if they were in your shoes pretty much negates the need to vote republican, don’t you think?

Someone needs to mention that the federal government has no right to decide/determine medical benefits for the entire nation. It is unconstitutional, illegal, morally bankrupt and will practically bankrupt the Treasury. But that someone, apparently, is not George Bush.

Posted by: torpedo_eight at August 7, 2003 10:26 PM

Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are `It might have been.

Posted by: Alegant Marci at December 11, 2003 04:21 AM

Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.

Posted by: Transue Tom at January 19, 2004 04:07 PM