Healthcare--It Comes Down to Trust

Here we are almost halfway through the month of March, and we are still living with the specter of Congress passing a sweeping government takeover of the health care system in this country.  We thought this horrible idea was dead and buried after Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts in January, but Congressional Democrats are still dragging around the dead carcass of "insurance reform" despite the clear message from the American people.  Liberal pundits are in denial about the rejection of this proposal by the electorate.  They keep saying things like, "Polls show that the American people are in favor of many of the elements in this bill".  And that's certainly true.  As Americans, we're a generous and caring people.  We'd all like to see 30 million people get health insurance who don't have it now.  We'd all like people with pre-existing conditions to have the opportunity to get affordable health care.  We'd all like to see health care costs go down and deficits shrink.  The problem is, most of us know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. The president and Congressional Democrats are trying to tell us there is.

I'd be perfectly happy to spend the next several paragraphs arguing about this or that detail of the health care plan.  I've spent plenty of time doing just that with friends and family.  But to be honest, that's just beating a dead horse.  By now, we've all made up our minds on the merits or lack thereof in this health care package.  I could propose lots of better alternatives.  Less comprehensive, perhaps, but more affordable, and a step in the right direction.  I believe the Republicans have done just that.  It's all old news by now.  So let's cut to the chase.  The main reason to defeat this monstrosity is simple.  We, the American people, do not believe that those in government will not screw this up.  GOVERNMENT--WE DON'T TRUST YOU!!

It all boils down to trust.  We don't believe members of Congress are smarter than us.  We don't believe they are better informed than us.  We doubt many in Congress have even half the integrity of the stereotypical used car salesman.  (No offense to used car salesmen).   We don't trust the motivations of our lawmakers.  The way Congress has handled the financial crisis with huge bailouts and politically driven crony capitalism has only served to highlight the mediocrity of America's leadership these days.  They are presiding over an economic meltdown right before our eyes, and yet the political class has the nerve to say, "Trust us.  We know what we're doing."   That would have been a bad wager a few years ago.  Today, it's more like a suckers bet.

We don't like the plan!  Even if we're wrong, and it's a great plan, we don't trust you to execute the plan without screwing it up.  And even if it's a great plan and you execute it to perfection, we don't believe you can do it without ballooning an already out of control budget  into the stratosphere.  There are just so many levels on which to object to Obamacare.  Substantive reasons.  Ideological reasons.  Practical reasons.  Economic reasons.  Procedural reasons.  Take your pick.  Democratic health care reform fails the smell test any way you look/sniff at it.

 In January, Democratic health care reform had one foot in the grave.  Scott Brown's election looked like it would seal the deal, but the ghost has come back to life.  Its time to drive a stake through the heart of Obamacare once and for all and start covering the grave.  This is one piece of legislation that should be declared shovel ready.

Jess