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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (24390)	7/31/2012 8:59:09 AM
From: Alastair McIntosh	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

I thought this was apropos to your discussion: Why is this so hard to understand? I’ve written this so many times, I fear someone will start accusing me of plagiarizing myself. Yet it seems that it’s still a mystery to some. There are many things that government is good at with respect to health care insurance. It’s great at making sure everyone is covered. It’s also great at keeping spending under control. There are some arguments to be made about what government is not good at. There are some who believe it doesn’t promote good quality (although I disagree). There are some who fear that it stifles innovation (often because it’s good at keeping spending down). There are some who dislike that it limits choice. But it’s good at keeping spending down. That’s why Governor Romney gets caught up in a “ gaffe” when he talks about Israel’s health care system. It keeps spending so low because it has a lot of government cost controls. But because we’ve gone through the looking glass here in the US, you get people arguing that government is bad at cost controls,and that we can save money by eliminating them. That’s just… bizarre. theincidentaleconomist.com

To: Road Walker who wrote (24390)	7/31/2012 10:18:05 AM
From: i-node	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

When you turn a faucet, does water come out? Every time? Do the street light come on every evening? Do criminals get caught and prosecuted and sent to jail? When we decide to go to war, does it happen? If you apply for a passport, do you get a passport? Does your drivers license get renewed? Streets cleaned? Mosquitoes sprayed for? Roads repaired? Is currency available so you can buy stuff? Is your car pretty safe? Do you feel like if you're cheated you can sue? Let's see... I think I could go on for a couple of days of this at least. I was referring to the federal government -- I will agree that the closer to home government is the better it functions. But consider this -- Do criminals get caught and prosecuted and sent to jail? Yes. And we have a federal penal system that is full of so-called drug criminals as a result of bad law that has been on the books for decades, an obviously failed program, that cannot be stopped because of the political bureaucracy. It costs us easily $100 Billion a year, destroys untold numbers of lives in the name of a "war on drugs" that is just stupid, and it will probably go on forever. When we decide to go to war, does it happen? Yes, but is the military a picture of efficiency? Is currency available so you can buy stuff? Yes, the government is excellent at printing money. Do you feel like if you're cheated you can sue? Have you dealt with the federal courts? Case closed. Yes, there are systems in place to deal with all these things, but practically every one of them is a model of horrible productivity.

To: Road Walker who wrote (24390)	7/31/2012 12:55:27 PM
From: Brumar89	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Gosh wouldn't it be great if government grew all our food, delivered and served it to us? Or built all our housing? After all, food and housing are just as basic needs as medical care ... since the government is better than private industry, we should depend on it for everything like they do in places like NK and Cuba. BTW where I live the government doesn't provide water and power.

To: Road Walker who wrote (24390)	7/31/2012 1:25:28 PM
From: TimF	2 Recommendations Respond to of 42652

But these people just couldn't get anything done. Everything moves in slow motion. Some of that is true... and the result of aversion to risk taking (making ANY mistakes). The delay in new laws, regulations, and projects, is largely for political and even more process reasons. In addition to that things like approvals by bureaucrats, seem to exhibit the kind of delay your talking about, aversion to making a decision that could result in some mistake that has negative political feedback. But for high level politics there doesn't seem to be a lot of risk aversion. Obamacare, the stimulus and bailouts, the invasion of Iraq, the earlier action to kick Iraq out of Kuwait, Medicare Part D (and before that all the other parts, and all the other entitlements)... Again and again governments will push complex, expensive, and risky policies for good or ill (often the later). And the need to get a broad base of support behind major actions or changes seems to be declining. Now its ram through whatever you can as quick and hard as you can if either side can get enough power, and there is something that vaguely fits their agenda. When you turn a faucet, does water come out? Every time? Do the street light come on every evening? Doesn't require government, and typically is not the result of government. Do criminals get caught and prosecuted and sent to jail? Do criminals not get caught, or get caught and not get indited or convicted when their are guilty. To innocent people get convicted? Do people guilty of violating the law, but not guilty of harming others get convicted? When we decide to go to war, does it happen? And do you always consider this to be a positive? I didn't claim government can't do anything, I said its actions often don't result in benefits. I was focusing more on other areas, but some of this fits as well (and in some ways essentially all wars and military conflicts fit). If you turn the faucet and water doesn't come out, it's "the fcking government",* No, its either "did I forget to pay the bill", or its the bleepin water company". Everyone wants to cut government, except where it intersects with their personal lives. I want to cut it where it intersects with my personal life. As do many people who want to buy or sell things.