These programs haven't bankrupted Canada or Europe yet. However, the birth rate in western countries continues to decline to the point where population growth (without immigration) is minimal. It is a known fact that the predicted unfunded liability of medicare is in the tens of trillions of dollars. It a matter of years, there will simply not be enough workers to pay for the everyone to have what has been promised to them...at least not without drastic tax increases (or inflation).
It is also a fallacy that organizations are working together to screw us. The only way they screw me is when they use the government to force me to do something I wouldn't normally choose on my own. In the free-market companies that screw people do not last very long.
This mess of insurance being tied to your employeer started in the 1940's during WWII and the great depression. FDR had implemented wage caps and employers had to figure out new ways to attract employees. Employers started offering "benefits" such as health insurance. This was the beginning of people being separated from the true cost of healthcare.
This debate is actually quite funny. People think they are debating free-market vs. some free-market/gov't hybrid vs. full universal health coverage. In reality, we haven't had a free market in health care for a very long time...probably over 100 years. The current system is largely a product of government meddling. As always, the proposed solution is more laws and more government. People forget that it took decades to get the current system as screwed up as it currently is. If we truly want to go back to a free-market, it will be a painfull process to erase this mess, but the end result will be far better than anything else being proposed.
I also want to state that doctors and insurers aren't innocent in this whole thing. They get government to pass many laws that jack up the price of health care. The bottom line, is that there are many contributing factors to the current high health care cost. However, government is the one constant in this whole mess. Anything government touches it tends to break.
That seems intelligent. Let's force all americans to contribute billions/trillions of dollars into a government controlled health system on the off chance that someone might get some contagious disease. Nevermind that the hospital might see fit to charitably treat the person due to the nature of the illness. Perhaps the community could dig into their pockets to help the person in need for the benefit of the community. It seems to me that the cure of universal health care might be worse than the current sickness.
Well it sure ain't freedom. Here we are on July 4th, the day we celebrate our independence from Britain. Our forefathers fought and died over taxes imposed on them. These taxes amounted to 1 or 2 percent of what they earned. Here I am, a single middle class individual paying up to 50% of my income in taxes (taking into account, federal, state, local, sales, real estate, gas, phone, etc). Now people are suggesting we need univeral health care. It is already a known fact that Medicare will bankrupt us as a nation and it only covers a small portion of our overall population. Now, we want to add more wood to that all consuming fire.
And if I choose not to contribute to this mess, I will be imprisoned or killed by my government sworn to protect me. I don't know if that's slavery or not, but it sure ain't freedom.
I don't understand why various lobbying groups in general seem hell bent on imposing their special priviledges on the rest of society. Rather that granting more "rights" to some special group, we should be repealing special priviledges already granted to other groups. Many people like to sight that laws exist protecting discrimination based on gender or race. I would argue that these laws are inherently flawed and infrige on each of our individiual liberties. Each of these laws is just a stepping stone to more laws protecting the "rights" of some new group.
When it comes to hiring for jobs, I'd be willing to bet it would be a tiny minority that would discriminate based on sexual preference, gender, or race. Each of us discriminates in one way or another every day...be it by the stores we shop at or the tv we watch. If some business was discriminating based on race, I'm sure it would become apparent relatively quickly. If it came to the public's attention,most people would probably exercise their right to discriminate by not patroning that business.
America has already headed too far down the road of granting special priviledges to specific groups. I don't see how we are helped just doing it once again. We are best served by preserving our individual liberties. In a free society we are most protected when all persons can discriminate as they please in all facets of their lives.
The one positive aspect to this story is that at least this is being pushed through the state legislature where a healthy debate can take place. Too often new interpretations of the law are discovered by judges not elected by the people.
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These programs haven't bankrupted Canada or Europe yet. However, the birth rate in western countries continues to decline to the point where population growth (without immigration) is minimal. It is a known fact that the predicted unfunded liability of medicare is in the tens of trillions of dollars. It a matter of years, there will simply not be enough workers to pay for the everyone to have what has been promised to them...at least not without drastic tax increases (or inflation). It is also a fallacy that organizations are working together to screw us. The only way they screw me is when they use the government to force me to do something I wouldn't normally choose on my own. In the free-market companies that screw people do not last very long.
This mess of insurance being tied to your employeer started in the 1940's during WWII and the great depression. FDR had implemented wage caps and employers had to figure out new ways to attract employees. Employers started offering "benefits" such as health insurance. This was the beginning of people being separated from the true cost of healthcare.
This debate is actually quite funny. People think they are debating free-market vs. some free-market/gov't hybrid vs. full universal health coverage. In reality, we haven't had a free market in health care for a very long time...probably over 100 years. The current system is largely a product of government meddling. As always, the proposed solution is more laws and more government. People forget that it took decades to get the current system as screwed up as it currently is. If we truly want to go back to a free-market, it will be a painfull process to erase this mess, but the end result will be far better than anything else being proposed.
I also want to state that doctors and insurers aren't innocent in this whole thing. They get government to pass many laws that jack up the price of health care. The bottom line, is that there are many contributing factors to the current high health care cost. However, government is the one constant in this whole mess. Anything government touches it tends to break.
That seems intelligent. Let's force all americans to contribute billions/trillions of dollars into a government controlled health system on the off chance that someone might get some contagious disease. Nevermind that the hospital might see fit to charitably treat the person due to the nature of the illness. Perhaps the community could dig into their pockets to help the person in need for the benefit of the community. It seems to me that the cure of universal health care might be worse than the current sickness.
Well it sure ain't freedom. Here we are on July 4th, the day we celebrate our independence from Britain. Our forefathers fought and died over taxes imposed on them. These taxes amounted to 1 or 2 percent of what they earned. Here I am, a single middle class individual paying up to 50% of my income in taxes (taking into account, federal, state, local, sales, real estate, gas, phone, etc). Now people are suggesting we need univeral health care. It is already a known fact that Medicare will bankrupt us as a nation and it only covers a small portion of our overall population. Now, we want to add more wood to that all consuming fire. And if I choose not to contribute to this mess, I will be imprisoned or killed by my government sworn to protect me. I don't know if that's slavery or not, but it sure ain't freedom.
I don't understand why various lobbying groups in general seem hell bent on imposing their special priviledges on the rest of society. Rather that granting more "rights" to some special group, we should be repealing special priviledges already granted to other groups. Many people like to sight that laws exist protecting discrimination based on gender or race. I would argue that these laws are inherently flawed and infrige on each of our individiual liberties. Each of these laws is just a stepping stone to more laws protecting the "rights" of some new group.
When it comes to hiring for jobs, I'd be willing to bet it would be a tiny minority that would discriminate based on sexual preference, gender, or race. Each of us discriminates in one way or another every day...be it by the stores we shop at or the tv we watch. If some business was discriminating based on race, I'm sure it would become apparent relatively quickly. If it came to the public's attention,most people would probably exercise their right to discriminate by not patroning that business.
America has already headed too far down the road of granting special priviledges to specific groups. I don't see how we are helped just doing it once again. We are best served by preserving our individual liberties. In a free society we are most protected when all persons can discriminate as they please in all facets of their lives.
The one positive aspect to this story is that at least this is being pushed through the state legislature where a healthy debate can take place. Too often new interpretations of the law are discovered by judges not elected by the people.