Here's a list of compelling articles that are shaping my thoughts today. It doesn't mean that I agree with what they said, but I'm reading these things and thinking about them.
What Repulicans should do Pat Buchanan
"....the end goal of Obamacare is the same end goal as Hillarycare: nationalization, bureaucrats deciding what care each of us shall receive, when we may receive it, and whether we even ought to have it."
We already have bureaucrats telling us that, they are called HMOs. Ironically, they were supposed to be a way to keep health care costs down by running health care like a business.
Old Faithful of Nonsense Eugene Robinson
Cheney is doing two things: Keeping the issue of torture in the forefront of the news (not good for Republicans), Making the most unpopular figure in American politics the face of the Republican party (not good for Republicans). He needs to swallow his pride, take a dose or reality, and shut up or make his points through a proxy.
Pelosi to Obama: Health Care Bill by August USA Today
Time to get involved. Do what you can to make sure this bill is crafted and implemented properly.
Government Can't Solve Our Health Care Problems Mitt Romney
Despite the title, Romney lists some government actions that can help fix health care. My favorite: "Provide citizens with information about the cost and quality of providers and the effectiveness of alternative treatments. This transparency, when it's combined with a meaningful personal financial incentive, will help health care work more like a consumer market."
While I don't think that the health care industry will ever act like a true market (you can't treat life-saving medical treatment like buying a TV or sending a package), some of Romney's ideas are good and deserve consideration.
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Health care really should be free for everyone. The problem is that if the government gets a hold of it, it will be like one of the many AWESOME government organizations we have now.
ReplyDeleteIf health care can be implemented properly I think our country will be much better for it.
The problem with healthcare is that it has become a commodity. Treatment is tailored according to how much money you have or what type of coverage you hold. I think the government needs to regulate the system so that all can afford the highest quality healthcare we offer today. I know this is not an easy task but it is time to make some real change.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, health care should be thought of like a utility. Things like water or electricity, these are things that are essential to living our lives in the modern world. Utilities are heavily regulated, we saw what happened with Enron when energy regulations were relaxed. We know that these kinds of things are extremely price inelastic.
ReplyDeleteThe answer may not be nationalized health care, which, by the way is not what Obama is proposing, but we have to leave behind this concept that the market alone will solve this problem.
I agree. The market alone cannot solve this problem but I think it's something that we should not try and resolve overnight. I think it's a huge problem that needs many options and ideas before any decisions are made. I am excited about the xprize and what will come of that.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.xprize.org/future-x prizes/healthcare-x-prize
I agree, we need an organic and progressive movement toward solving this issue. Also, universal coverage is only one step in the process. The end goal is a health care system that covers everyone while providing an adequate level of health care at a price that doesn't bankrupt the country.
ReplyDeleteGood point about bankrupting the country. One issue is that Americans abd corporations don't actually want to pay(in the form of higher taxes) to have high quality national healthcare everyone wants it for free. It is the same problem with schools in California. Everyone cries about public schools sucking, but when people talk about getting rid of Prop 13 it is always a big no. The money has to come from somewhere.
ReplyDeleteOne reason why we have so much trouble with funding schools is our bloated prison system. If we could get our prisons back to 1980 levels, we could probably afford better schools and health care reform without new taxes. Regardless, I'm not convinced that we need to raise the tax rate in order to pay for a lot of these programs as is.
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