GrowUp.org

Reader of the "Free" World defusing health care "time bomb"

As we watch our Reader in Chief address the many problems facing our society (though not so much the Iranian one), the latest "crisis" that needs his immediate attention is our health care system.

And why not?  We all pay too much for health care.  Some 15% don't have health insurance.  And in the words of his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel "you never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."

So (surprise!) the solution is for government to vastly expand insurance coverage.  The government will somehow get more people covered for the same cost and with the same level of care.  But aside from being mathematically impossible, it's just the start.  The eventual track of government's further intrusion into the health market will be the destruction of private health care, replaced completely by government.  Government will always win since it makes/enforces the laws and can always run a deficit.  And you think private monopolies are bad?

The bottom line is that the Democrats' proposals lead directly to a health care system that would entrust all personal health information with the federal government, who would then determine what care you receive (or don't) and actually stands to gain (by controlling the terms/level of estate taxes) when you die.

Are you kidding me?  This is not a trivial conflict of interest!  This doesn't scare you?

First, you would think the privacy advocates would be decrying the centralization of medical information with the federal government.  As I recall, they were all over the previous administrations' effort to look into library and phone records to prevent terrorism - somewhat less important/personal information.  And aren't there currently some issues with identity theft?

Then, you would imagine the “futurists” and deep thinkers would ponder the effect of government being completely responsible for our very life and death - from cradle (if you get that far) to coffin (which you certainly will).  The premise that a bigger single payer (i.e. government, who by the way already spends some half of all healthcare dollars) will make the system more efficient is asinine to most of us.  But regardless it will lead to cost cutting (public money must be used wisely), rationing (prices are no longer able to help allocate), and overall health/lifestyle intrusions (poor choices burden others).

Shovel This...  We're all in this together!
What are we in?  Are we together?  And what’s with the shovels?

Apparently we are in the midst of the biggest economic collapse since the Great Depression.  Of course, that’s where we supposedly were before the last presidential election in 2004.  Remember?

When in a Hole, Stop Digging
If only there was a cool rule about what you should do when you realize you’re in a hole!  Oh wait...

‘Hope and change’ elected Barack Obama

The irony should not be lost on his adversaries as we now “hope for (minimal) change.” Of course, his supporters have no idea who he really is or what he’ll really do - so actually we’re all united now!

But it behooves the adult party to avoid the trap that befell our more juvenile brethren and has so hurt our country - the outright and irrational hatred of GWB. The preemptive and petty attacks on his every move has done more harm than any of his missteps. We must give the benefit of the doubt to President-elect Obama by allowing him every chance to fulfill his promise to hear and respect his opponents and govern from the center.

That said, the question still remains - How long can those not fully vested in America (whether legally, financially, culturally) determine its fate without breaking it? Those who ride on the American camel without appreciation for its beauty, or fragility.

At what point does the camel’s back break? No one knows, but I fear that we’re about to find out.

Renewing America's Promise?  No, changing it... 

In statements, placards, and his latest book summarizing his policies and favorite speeches, Senator Obama says he wants to "renew America's promise."  But does he know what it is?  Do we know? 

The American promise is most fundamentally the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as described in our Declaration of Independence.  Our government is to be primarily concerned with the rule of law, property rights, and equality of opportunity - as opposed to trying to ensure equality of outcomes by creating different rules for different people.
  
America was the first society to minimize class distinctions and actually encourage the opportunity of the poor to become rich.  Work hard and anyone could achieve the American dream (i.e. fulfill the American promise).  The founders argued forcefully against the idea of nobility and titles and class - there were to be no rulers over the people. 

Yet today we hear more and more from the left about the crucial importance of class distinctions.   About the need for government to take greater control of everything in order to save us from ourselves, our circumstances, or even from nature.  We see an incredible expansion of victims (real or perceived) looking for retribution.  A far cry from JFK's inaugural exhortation to "ask not what your country can do for you." 

In his Democratic nomination acceptance speech, Senator Obama defined the American promise as "the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper."  That communitarian theme unified his domestic and foreign policy positions.  "That's the promise we need to keep," Obama continued.  "That's the change we need right now." 

The founders and early Americans that fought for the freedom inherent in America's promise would certainly shudder at a government interested in the temperature of your home, the type of transportation you use, or the food you eat.  At a government that wants world opinion to dictate right and wrong to America.  Senator Obama says that is appropriate.  

We are certainly well beyond the purpose of government as originally intended, and it is hard for me not to fear the potential tyranny of such intrusions and beliefs.  Don't you?  
 
So why did this split occur and is there any way to unite the sides? As conservative economist Thomas Sowell notes, both political sides "would undoubtedly be happier living in the kind of world envisioned by the left."  That's why so many young people (in age or maturity) are on the left.  But the crux of the issue and source of the split, as Sowell concludes (and I think evidence abounds), is that "the real world in which we live is very different from the world that the left perceives today or envisions for tomorrow." 
 
Because of this different vision of the world and its future (ideal versus real), it has become increasingly clear that the sides do not merely disagree about the means to the same end, but also the end in itself.  As conservative columnist Dennis Prager comments, "the right and the left do not want the same America," and "calls for a unity among Americans that transcends left and right are either naïve or disingenuous.  America will be united only when one of them prevails over the other.  The left knows this.  Most on the right do not."  
 
So if we no longer share the same, original understanding of America's promise, it is critically important that we look honestly and realistically at how it would be changed by an empowered left.  How this election will impact our future. 
 
The underlying theme and crucial difference is that the left thinks you need government to do more for you (and therefore, by definition, you to do less for yourself).  See sidebar "The New New Deal?" for a great example.  Note that in Senator Obama's "brother keeping" America, it is government taking from one brother to give to another.  And you fear "Big Brother" now?  

But I really appreciate Sachs' and Obama's honesty - and you should be honest with yourself.  Is that what you want?  How often do they have to tell you what they are going to do before you believe them?  How much change like this does our country really need, or can it survive?
 
By voting for Senator Obama, please understand that you are conceding your inability to succeed without government patronage (which of course can only be provided by taking rights and money from someone else).  That you cannot handle life in the freest country on earth, and you think that government, however benign, is going to make things better for you by taking more control from you. 

But has increased government involvement and spending decreased poverty, or improved education, or reduced the cost of healthcare?  Will more government involvement and spending really change the earth's climate or reduce natural disasters?  Does our spending less on national defense end war or terrorism? 

Please also understand that the party against the (productive, sometimes greedy) rich will get fewer of them.  And the party for the (helpless, usually bitter) victim will get more of them.  Not exactly the way out of economic (or even social) difficulties.  Or honoring the real American promise.  As if envy is less of a sin than greed.
 
As an ordinary American (along with another 299 million or so of you), I am petrified by where this is going.  More governmental control in all areas of our lives.  More class warfare.  Dissent isn't just unpatriotic, it's racist.  Forget the rampant privacy violations of the Patriot Act (actually, still waiting for one), just don't disagree with President Obama or the left will give you the Palin family or Joe the Plumber treatment. 

Why has Senator Obama raised unprecedented funds for his campaign?  The reason so much money is invested in politics in general and this election in particular is that politicians, bureaucrats, and judges have unprecedented control of our lives and are looking for more.  The only way to decrease the money in politics is to decrease the size and scope of government. 

That's not the change the left and Senator Obama believe in.  Their goal is nothing short of a new American promise where a strong government and a weak people try to create heaven on earth.  As Obama stated, "I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth."  We need to all remember where the path of good intentions leads - and it's not to heaven.

It is the freedom to succeed (and fail) that has made our country the last best hope of earth.  Not universal health insurance or carbon offset credits.  Will we stand and fight for what's left of that freedom, or sit and accept our helpless place waiting for our government superiors to save us?  All hail the One?  Is our country that bad?  Are you that helpless? 

May God still bless America.

"The government is best that governs least."

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."

"We are a nation that has a government, not the other way around."

"Long ago when the populace did not expect much from government, government's ineptitude caused fewer problems.  Now, as more people expect government to do more, government's 'doing' constantly causes newer, bidgger problems to replace the older, smaller ones it set out to solve."

"Since problems are the only excuse for government, solving them is out of the question."

It's the Economy, Stupid

Remember the classic, and election winning, Clinton campaign strategy?  It played off a recession that had actually ended in March 1991, a full year and a half before his first election!
 
Or Kerry in 2004 claiming that the economy was the worst since Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression?  In truth, the economy was still growing and there has yet to be a recession to this day!

Well, welcome to another presidential election and the predictable doomsayers who again are telling us we're in a recession this year.

Defining a recession is only possible after the fact, but it does seem that there is a propensity to presume we're in one in advance of an incumbent republican presidential election.

But more importantly of course, it would be handy to have a real debate over which policies actually contribute most to any slowing of the economy!  That's what GrowUp.org will do, with your help.

The fact is that we may well be in the early phases of a recession, but it would certainly be prudent to consider the past - it's called putting things in perspective.  Something grown ups do, while the children just want to move on.