America, Exit Left

We all know that over the past year, one of the President’s major objectives dating back to his campaign was an overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system. An all inclusive, government run system was preached as the answer to all of our problems for the insured and uninsured alike (which is unfortunately coming to fruition). According to Obama, our healthcare “crisis” will come to an end when Washington dictates how people should be given care (because government knows best, right?).


Against the wishes of a majority of the American people, a vote was finally brought to the Senate floor this morning, passing the Reid version of Obamacare down party lines.


Now, the big hurdle for healthcare “reform” is about to begin.


The leadership in both chambers will begin to merge two very different bills that a majority of people haven’t even read and a majority of Republicans have been left in the dark about.


Many Republicans, Libertarians, Tea Partiers, conservatives and independent thinkers have said all along that if you really want to reform the healthcare industry, work on making insurance companies more competitive. Capitalism is a good thing and competition breeds lower costs. It’s a Laissez-faire model that our country was made to emulate. Making a government umbrella to guarantee coverage for most Americans takes the U.S. one step closer to a socialist banana republic, granting citizens social services countries can’t afford. However, if we keep government away from private industry (healthcare, banking, car industry . . .), the markets will always take care and correct themselves. It’s the nature of Capitalism.


This government spends too much, period. Over the decades, it has slowly been going down a path of expansion and intrusion. It was and is the catalyst that inspired the grassroots movement of today’s Tea Party. Even though this new incarnation of the original movement isn’t based on the ideals of the first, it is of the same principle and spirit. In a representative’s eyes on Capitol Hill, it’s easy to spend money when it’s not theirs. And what happens when they spend too much? They make up for these deficiencies in spending by auctioning off bonds to communist countries so our treasury can continue to fund government expansion and entitlement programs with foreign-backed debt.


When we start to depend on our government for handouts, we lose the ability to take initiative for ourselves. Socializing medicine and allowing the federal government to take more control of our lives will do nothing but encourage dependency.


All what is happening now in Washington may be the easy way out of a problem that without question needs to be addressed, but in my experience, taking the easy road is never the right road.


Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is not a guarantee in any venture, healthcare included.


ER