HEALTH CARE REFORM: TO BE OR NOT TO BE
The masthead of Every Man A Giant says "Think Liberal...Live Conservative." I gotta tell you this whole health care reform thing is really pushing the limits of that simple dichotomy.
On the one hand, the thinking liberal in me really believes that the current health care system is badly in need of reform. On the other hand, the fiscal conservative in me says maybe right now isn't the best time to be doing this.
The liberal side comes back and says "That's what they always say as an excuse to put off doing what everyone agrees needs to be done." My conservative side says "I know, I know, but this time we really do have an awful lot on our plates."
Back and forth it goes. And you know what? I don't have a good answer for either side. Probably because they are both right.
For a long time I came down on the side of reform. My thinking was that we the people were essentially in bankruptcy and that part of bankruptcy is restructuring the business by streamlining and modernizing operations and eliminating waste and inefficiency. Certainly, health care reform fits that bill pretty well.
Here's the catch. The focus was so much on the private sector that we failed to notice that a big chunk of the public sector — state governments — was on the verge of bankruptcy. Now GM is a big employer and generator of wealth, but it pales in comparison to the impact that state government employment and spending has on the overall economic wellness of the nation.
My fear is that while we were so intent on dealing first with Wall Street and then with the auto industry that we missed the third wave of insolvencies in the states. And many of the proposals for funding health care involve shoving the burden on to the states, not exactly helpful if you are a state government teetering on the edge of insolvency.
The looming peril posed by the budgetary crisis facing just about every state has made me listen harder to the little voice inside me that says now may not be the time to embark on costly new government programs, no matter how well intended.
I guess that makes me a traitor to the cause, but I would rather go back to the drawing board and come up with a much more fiscally prudent reform package than just push something through based on the idea that "It's now or never."
End Note: This doesn't mean I for one minute buy into the nonsense spouted by opponents to health care reform. I love the one where the announcer asks if you really want bureaucrats running your health care system now. Who the hell do you think is running it now? How many times has your doctor said well I can’t do this until I check with the insurance company or we want to do this but the insurance company won’t let us?
As for the socialism argument, ask the military what they think about having a socialistic health care system. Seems to work okay for them. So please, just because I worry about costs doesn't mean I buy the opposition's crap. Health care reform is the right thing to do, just maybe not this particular way. But sooner or later it will get done, and it should get done.
July 21, 2009
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Tags:
Health Care Reform
Conservatism
Liberalism
