The
Rational Argumentator
Healthcare Reform is Economic Malpractice
As Washington continues debating healthcare reform, the rest of the
country is primarily concerned about jobs and the economy. It is still
uncertain what policies will be implemented, but I am certain about one
thing: It will only further devastate our economy and our dollar.
The leadership has come up with a proposal they are confident
will be what they consider fiscally responsible, only to have it scored
as nearly twice as expensive by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget
Office. Estimates of past healthcare spending programs have been off
by as much as 100 percent, so there is no telling what the actual cost
will be.
The past century should have taught us one thing: that
government intervention is expensive. Government programs lend
themselves so easily to waste, fraud, and abuse. Combine that with
overall inefficiency, and it all adds up to a hefty price tag for the
taxpayer, with not much left over for actual services. An outright
takeover of an entire sector of the economy, especially one as
important as healthcare, is something that we just cannot afford for
the government to do right now. This is not to mention the fact that it is
completely unconstitutional. But Washington insists on torturing the
numbers and tinkering around the edges rather than facing this truth.
If healthcare reform does indeed pass, we should not be under the illusion that it will be free. The money to pay for it will have to come from somewhere. They say they will get the money from cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, but all of that is seemingly intrinsic to federal government programs. Since they want to expand the government’s reach, we have to assume we will be trading waste, fraud, and abuse for waste, fraud, and abuse with a bigger budget. The powers that be have insisted the money won’t come from higher taxes, it won’t come from rationing of care, and it won’t come from higher premiums. This can only then put more pressure on the Fed to print the money out of thin air. We already have a weakening dollar. They are accelerating everything that weakened it in the past. Adding this new, monumental pressure could very well be the straw that will break the dollar’s back.
Foreign creditors are already nervous about continuing to invest in the US because of our skyrocketing debt. The explosion of debt that is certain to accompany the enactment of this national health care bill can only add to that nervousness.
Ironically, enactment of the health care bill could help the cause of liberty by hastening the day when Congress is forced by economic circumstances to stop increasing the welfare-warfare state and return to the Constitution.
There are many problems with our current healthcare system, to be sure. There are many tragic stories to be told. However, we need to look at the root of our problems in order to address them properly. More government intervention and bureaucracy injected into healthcare will take a flawed system and make it immeasurably worse.___________
Congressman Ron
Paul of
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