It occurs to me that the problem with the current crop of available health care proposals, both those put forth by the Blue Dogs and those put forth by Republicans, is that they, like all conservative plans, operate under the assumption that profits and the success of whatever business is being regulated is more important than the health and well-being of the People.
They rely on the idea that What's Good For Business Is Good For America, when it's actually been more true that What's Good For Business Is Good For Businessmen And Everyone Else Can Do For Themselves.
We need to rethink the idea that there is no more important function of government than that it promote the making of money. Better to promote things such as education and healthcare and trust that these will lead to the making of money. And really, in overall terms, does it matter whether the money comes from taxes, or "lost" profits? Republicans have made it their mission to cut taxes, but imagine how things might have been here in America had they concentrated less on keeping their money and more on making sure that it was well-spent.
Bonus thought: for those who argue that Americans have a "right" to health care, well, no they dont. Hell, we dont have a "right" to much of anything, but rather have decided as a collective to grant certain rights to all citizens. Right now we're debating health care for all. Maybe we'll add that one, maybe we wont.
On the other hand, one could easily describe there being a moral imperative for universal health care. Christians certainly ought to recognize such an approach, but dont for some reason (probably because they've gotten all caught up in the question of what people "deserve", rather than acknowledging the simple rightness of providing healthcare - I seriously doubt that Jesus would have had any problem advocating universal healthcare).
To be fair, though, while we have no "right" to health care, neither do doctors, insurance companies or stockholders have a right to profits.
So there.
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Fiscal conservatives have issues: on one hand they want Big Business to rake in all the dough (via free markets) and on the other hand they say that tax breaks help puts money in the hands of the people who need them (the People).
But you can't have it both ways: the free markets excel at taking money away from people with crazy fees and deductions for various goods and services. In essence, the corporations tax us for the supposed money Uncle Sam "gives back."
I think eventually we'll need a way to vote on which programs our tax dollars go to. Not everything, but some things.
They claim to want tax breaks for "The People", but in practice "The People" turn out to be "The Rich", which brings us back to 1st base, i.e., Buisiness, and generally that translates more specifically as Big Business.
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