I am a proponent of the capitalist system in general. It has provided a nice living for me and my family. I’ve only been employed by two business in the 25+ years since I graduated (but 5 changes in ownership!). But the conservatives, in my opinion, make a mistake when they try to extend capitalism from businesses to social structures- rights based social programs.
Health Care- It’s hard to believe there is so much resistance to universal health care. I have yet to hear a good argument that our health care system is both good and cost-effective. Many other countries have cheaper systems with better outcomes. The health insurance industry has huge built-in overheads and profits and we pay them. Profits have no place in the insurance side of health care. We are talking about people’s lives and wellbeing here, not their cable bill or car payment. I would rather pay our government(thru taxes) what it really costs to insure me than pay the private sector for their bureaucracy, year-to-year greed and profit. Take all the money we currently pay to the health insurance industry for their profits and for all the effort they put out trying not to pay our bills and use that to cover everyone. What we sometimes forget is that all those people who get hospitalized and cannot pay their bills are costs we pay for already in the form of higher costs. Effectively, we are already paying for everyone’s health care- it is just not very good health care. Those who argue against Health Care Reform will try to distract us with death panels and other blatantly untrue arguments because they have no good arguments. The health insurance industry want to protect its profits and individuals are simple greedy- they would rather live in a society where they get to keep as much of their money as possible but thousands die unnecessarily. Some of them probably call themselves Christians, too. I’ll cover the greed of the monied minority on another post.
I think the “Medicare for Everyone” , single payer type approach is absolutely inevitable. It will happen. I’ll take the “public option” with the other protections that are currently in the bill for now. Force the private sector to compete with a government program and they will get creative in ways they have no incentive for now. We can build on that and drag the naysayers kicking and screaming into a better future.
