by Peter Tharaldson
Independence Minnesota Blog:
The hoopla over national healthcare reform has been silly. I am of the opinion that those who favor national healthcare reform and those who believe we should preserve the market system are mistaken. Here are my points.
The healthcare system, in point of fact, is not market-based. The fact that healthcare inflation has been multiples of overall inflation is the first sign of that. Secondly, there is no pricing mechanism where the consumer controls spending. Why are there no prices on ankle surgery…even if only estimates before one decides where to purchase their care? Finally, many people in the medical system do not share the culture of capitalism. This is not a small point. There seems to be a remarkably odd sense when one gets medical care that the patient is lower than the physician in the relationship. This is perhaps the only private business I know of where this is the case (with the possible exception of banking).
So do I favor a national healthcare system beyond Medicare and Medicaid? Absolutely not!
I believe that the federal government should stay out of it. The primary reason is the 10th amendment…but the reason for the 10th amendment is that there are things the states can do better than the federal government.
| “ | The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. |
Many libertarians would say we should have no healthcare reform and we should stick with the free market. I like that idea…except that as I said, we have no free market. Minnesota and other states, the proper place for reform, should consider modifying healthcare into the marketplace. If, however, this archaic culture cannot be dragged into the marketplace, it should be turned over the states. Why will the states do better?
1) States can’t print money and will have to establish systems that can be paid for…not borrowed against.
2) States are more capable of seeing the minutia of local healthcare problems. Interestingly, one of the reforms currently being used in the Canadian healthcare system (a country of 37 million) is to decentralize as much of the national system to the provinces as possible.
3)Should we do what Europe does? Maybe…but the European Union has refused to institute a union-wide healthcare system despite centralizing many other things. Individual countries, some the size of Minnesota, are considered better arbitors of healthcare than the union.
So there you have it. Many won’t be happy with my opinion. I guess the Ross Perot roots show sometime. A few facts in my book: First, the federal government should butt out. Second, the healthcare industry better learn what the free market is, and finally, if no real free market can be created, the states should intervene…not the federal government.
Peter Tharaldson
Waa,Waa,Waa, I’m sick of the Same ole reteric from the big parties. I read the comment/editorials on this site and see the same ole talk. (and that’s putting it nicely). Look around at your meetings and gatherings. All the people even look the same, say the same thing in different words and do nothing to present a viable plan.
You say that the IP stands for the centralist philosophy, responsible government and less big government control but you haven’t got the biggest population behind you. Ah Da-The baby boomers are being devastated by that same government that they supported and voted for since the 1960’s. The X-generation is in control now and they don’t give a hoot(being nice) about anybody but themselves.
Take the lead by enlisting all those Baby Boomer folks and take back America.
I say go to senior residences thru-out America(Starting with Minnesota) and tell them what you’re all about. Go to the senior federations, AARP, the retired military(VFW’s & Am Legion’s)
Minnesota became a pioneer of innovation after WWII. Why was that? Ask those folks, they will tell you they were bonded together by one common cause. We had to rebuild America. They did it by going to school, colleges and votechs. The fear of GOD had been in their eyes from their war experiences and they never wanted to see that happen again.
Today IS the day for All good folks to come together for one good cause. Rebuilding America.
Sickness and Death for Profit
The health care system we now have began to be designed in the Nixon era is not broken; it does exactly what it was meant to do; privatize and corporatize sickness and death to make the greatest possible profits for executives and stockholders. The current insurance aspect of health care is socialized because they cover a large amount of people and the healthy premium payers pay the hospital bills of those who get sick or injured plus the salaries of the health industry executives. The greatest profit margins possible within the business of sickness and death come through the denial of services to people who paid their health insurance premiums then are denied care due to small print technicalities when they become sick. The health care system we now have reminds me of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party because it uses popular propagandist words like free market, free choice etc. to justify transfer of money from the sick and dying to wealthy people of infinite greed; people who never lift a finger to help a single sick person.
The Red State Republicrats and Blue Dog Demolicans are spinning everything they can to keep the for profit health system in place. They say Obama’s plan, which caters too much to the money grabbers already, will kill your grandma and give healthcare only to illegal aliens. Well as greedy, narrow minded and fearful these people who make vast fortunes from controlling and owning the health care system are brainwashing you to be; there are things they won’t tell you. Over prescribing drugs for profit is already killing your grandma. Every crack dealer, rapist and illegal alien already has free healthcare of last resort known as the emergency room. As a whole our nation is more compassionate then they let on.
I propose a public national health care system built upon the current Medicade and Medicare programs where small increases in these taxes would eliminate the need for private “for profit” health insurance all together to guarantee health care to every citizen. Any person who has the least bit of compassion for his fellow citizens, and themselves for that matter, would also gladly pay a one cent on a dollar national sales tax if they knew the money would actually go to helping sick people. If you add up all the money that goes to profit rather than goods and services to help sick and injured people that number approaches half of the total amount we now pay for our ‘Sicko’ health care system. The people who get this money for nothing are murderers. By depriving our citizens of real health care they have become very wealthy and powerful. If the Senators and Congressmen in Washington DC continue to cater to the profiteers of sickness and death instead of enacting legislation similar to what I suggested above they are certainly not representing the majority of their constituents and must be voted out in 2010.
Most of what I know about the Independence Party is Jesse Ventura. So, I am glad to see someone in that party wanting to follow at least part of the Constitution. Not that nothing Jesse says would be constitutional but he does not ever frame the argument that way.