The Health Care Debate continues

The editorials in the Investor's Business Daily and the article in the most recent edition of the American Spectator help clarify some of the issues in the ongoing health care debate. There is also a great article in TAS entitled "The Matter with Myths". This article also provides great information on the myths and realities as they relate to health care and I will post it as soon as it becomes available on the web.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=331943783298135

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=331944894331657

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/06/08/downgrading-american-medical-c

Saving Freedom - commentary from US Senator Jim DeMint

Freedom is not a gift from government, but a right given to us by God. We believe that every human being is endowed with “certain unalienable Rights,” including “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” In 1787, our Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia to forge a new system of government, designed to “form a more perfect union” and guarantee Americans, in the words of Ronald Reagan, “the maximum of personal liberty consistent with order.”

Paramount among the reasons this system succeeded in America was our political and religious culture that accepted the inextricable connection between personal freedom and personal responsibility. It was understood that, for every question in life not answered by government, individuals, families, and neighborhoods must work out answers for themselves. The Founders knew that the natural order of things was for government to expand at the expense of personal liberty, so their Constitution was based on an implicit bargain – the less government does for you, the less government can do to you.

Today, our once-limited federal government has betrayed those founding principles. It tries to be all things to all people, yet despite its good intentions, government action usually does more harm than good. Look around: every system Washington touches – health care, education, energy, infrastructure, mortgage lending – quickly begins to break down. In some recent cases, including the automobile bankruptcies and the Wall Street bailouts, even the rule of law itself has been subordinated to the good intentions of politicians and bureaucrats. And yet government’s solution to the problems it causes is always … more government. To solve problems created by government’s role in our schools or health care, Congress now proposes a complete federal takeover of these systems!

What Washington refuses to understand is that government systems will always fail because they are not free. Private schools perform better than public schools. Private health insurance provides better care than government programs, and controls its own costs. Without the competitive pressures and transparency of a free market, government agencies have no motivation to improve their services. After 10 years in Washington, I have concluded that both parties are slow to recognize this one simple fact: freedom works, and government doesn’t.

Washington simply will not change on its own. To change our politics, we first have to change our culture. We need to remember that freedom demands responsibility. We need to reject politicians who promise us something for nothing, and instead take back both our freedoms and the responsibilities that go with them. We must not only end our growing dependence on government; we must become independent in our own right.

Given the space and choices to make our own decisions, whether in education, health care, civil society, or in business – the American people will thrive, as they always have. But the political class in Washington will not easily return the power it has taken from us – we must take it back, in two ways.

First, we must remake America’s culture of responsibility: in our family life, in our communities, and in our businesses. We must prepare our nation for its rebirth of freedom, so that when government finally does begin to change, our culture and economy can hit the ground running.

And second, this cultural renewal must assert itself in the political arena. Elected politicians are only as unresponsive as their constituents allow. They know that every letter and email and phone call represents hundreds more just like them. They know that Big Government’s worst enemy is an informed citizenry, ready at the next election to punish anyone who infringes on our God-given and constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms. Get involved, and I promise – we will see results.

Freedom can be saved, but it can’t free itself. Like the patriots of Bunker Hill and Philadelphia, of Gettysburg and Normandy, our generation must now take up that banner for ourselves. Saving Freedom is never easy, but it’s always worth it

Independence Day - July 4th, 1776

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Remembering What the Declaration of Independence was Not!

In celebration of July 4th, here's some food for thought to enjoy either before or after your festivities.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/07/remembering_what_the_declarati_1.html

The Socialization of America

This article provides some great historical perspective and discusses Karl Marx, the Fabian Socialist Society and John Maynard Keynes. I found it to be very interesting and a worthwhile read.

http://www.augustreview.com/news_commentary/general/the_socialization_of_america_20090701124/

Thomas Jefferson sure was prescient!

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe .

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered..'

Energy: Common Sense for Concerned Americans

Congratulations to Robert Smith, Ph.D., P.E and son Hopper for writing and publishing this concise and informative paper about energy: "how much there is, what types there are, how much is being used, who controls it, and what options are available to Americans". This paper contains an incredible amount of useful information to help you develop an informed opinion about such issues as; "Cap and Trade", Renewables, "Global Warming", etc. The paper will be posted permanently under "Articles of Interest". This read is time very well spent.

Green Fairy Tales

This is an article that evaluates the Obama administration's energy policy and the author's critical analysis of the plan. This is a lengthy article. If you don't have time to read the entire article, read the section entitled "More Renewable Energy". This is the best explanation of the impracticality of solar energy that I have read to date. The link is:

http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/markets-mainmenu-45/1221-obamas-energy-plan

Truth Mongering and Health care

According to the president, "the public option is not your enemy; it is your friend." And the notion that "a public option is somehow a Trojan horse for a single-payer system" is an "illegitimate concern," he claims. But to borrow from the president's charges against the "fear mongers," he is "either trying to mislead you or doesn't have his facts straight."

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=330042148785973

In his remarks to the American Medical Association, he told the nation's doctors, "The public option is not your enemy; it is your friend."

Sort of like, I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you. Thoreau had it right when he wrote, "If I knew for a certainty that a man were coming to my door with the conscious purpose of doing me good, I would run for my life."

http://townhall.com/content/ee28b049-116d-4891-a738-af08dd1ea4f3

There Are Free Market Health Care Solutions

The American Thinker is becoming my favorite blog. Every day they provide very insightful and informative articles. This particular article, written by a physician from Oregon, provides many alternative proposals to government-run/supervised health care.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/06/a_real_free_market_health_care_1.html