I know I get a little rowdy sometimes with my conservative bents, but every once in awhile, I temper my writing and really try to deal with the issues so that someone on the opposite side of the political spectrum can understand that conservatives are not evil, we're as lovable as they come. We're environmentally conscious, we get mad that too many things are made in China, we believe that we have the right to carry firearms, and we're scared to death that our children will carry the burden of an exploding debt that nobody seems to understand because it's TOO BIG! Count to a Billion, I dare you. It will take you 250 or so days. It takes 900 years or more to count to a Trillion. So, I received a nicely worded letter from a dear liberal friend via facebook e-mail recently and thought I should respond in kind.
Dear Lisa,
I don't think this plan is going to bring us affordable health care; my party has NOT been taken over by the Pat Robertsons of the world, in fact, it's being taken over by people like my husband, Lance, who cannot fathom the thought that we are printing fiat money in order to make promises that we can never fulfill and passing social programs that may or may not work and will most certainly take the money that we so desperately need to survive. The Tea Party movement is full of us, those who believe in rugged individualism, personal responsibility, and, yes, taking care of those we must care for in our society. That doesn't mean that we think we must de-incentivize the majority of our small business people who will be required to give up 30-50% of their profits in order to pay for health care for all.
We have tried none of the things that might work, i.e., tort reform, true competition among insurance agencies (across state lines), which is actually a big deal. Those who have suggested it have been poo-poo'd by the left for suggesting it, but think about it. Why can you buy a life insurance policy that will pay out $200-$500,000 if you die for $30/month when health care, if you have a pre-existing condition, which I do, will cost $1,200 (or more) every month? Why? Because the insurance companies have only certain areas over which to spread their risk. I researched this when I was told my health insurance would cost $1,800/month because I have a degenerative disk. Apparently, the pool of risk is only Montana. Well, hell, if I were an insurance company who had only 850,000 person risk pool (full of alchoholics!), I'd charge a fortune for it too! We've never had a situation in the U.S. where health insurance has been offered free from regulation and limits on the insurance companies abilities to spread risk over a larger pool of applicants. And if there is one thing that I have learned in now twenty years in business and teaching, it is that we need to try things on a trial basis before implementation on a national basis. It's as risky as any entrepreneurial venture in that it can bankrupt our country, yet there is no fear of that
very real threat. In fact, I find that Massachusetts is a fabulous example of the attempt to offer its citizens health coverage. I've read a few articles in preparation for debate and they found that when they didn't address costs, they weren't able to make it work. They had to go back to the drawing board more than once, and it still isn't balancing. That could be why the citizens of MA will think twice about sending a yes vote to the Senate for this particular plan. As usual, I believe that freedom of competition in all things brings not only freedom, but the innovation that is so sorely missing from most bureaucracies.
And why would we want to emulate countries that have no entrepreneurial incentives in their economies and whose people have to come to the U.S. for medical care they can't find in their own countries? Why do liberals constantly refer to the "rest of the world" when comparing our system of health care in an effort to deride our system when social medical programs worldwide have been dismal failures and have depressed otherwise thriving economies? I've written a great deal on my blog on this topic, and I won't repeat it here for fear that I'll bore you to death (because bureaucracy is ALWAYS boring).
Your liberal laundry list is impressive, recycling, big banks giving huge bonuses, protectionism, etc., but in each and every case, there are good, solid reasons why freedom, not protectionism or socialism is the answer. I recycle everything in my house. I spend every other Sunday chunking plastic bottles into the recycling center bins and my beef with that is that with all the attention on global warming, why can I not recycle glass? Different types of plastic? Etc., Etc. I'll tell you why, because it's not related to global warming! It's the most important issue that we face in our environment, far more important than whether the U.S. participates in lowering our carbon emissions which are per capita far less than China who will be exempt under the "accord," but where are the grants? Where are the attempts to make sure that we don't clutter our world with crap? No where, that's what...because it's not sexy, and there's nothing world-shaking about it. We are finally going to get rid of paperboard boxes by using an innovative material to pack dry food stuff so we can stop stuffing our landfill with trees. So, my best liberal friend, there are many of us who have cared about our environment for years and years who don't want our industries ruined, but DO want our environments cleaned up. There, that's the recycling issue, now for banking. No really, I'm done. I think that private companies should be able to give their executives any compensation package they think is necessary to retain top talent. If the government owns it, that's different, but if it's private, you have the choice, don't use that bank. And while you're looking at the huge bonuses, be sure to look at how much that company contributes to charities and, for that matter, how much the executives contribute to charity.
Freedom, personal responsibility, incentives to build businesses and create jobs by getting out of the way (i.e., not taxing us to death), ya, that's all really terrible stuff. We created 45 million jobs in the U.S. from 1948 to 1982, that's astounding! And do you know who did it? Small business, that's who. Entrepreneurs, who brought us out of what is called the Kondratiev wave where an economy can be ruined by the passing of older technologies, created the jobs that were necessary to employ so many people who otherwise would have been desperate. Look at your economy: tax receipts are down, state and county budgets will have to be cut. I think when the first round of teacher and police lay-offs happen, people will finally wake up and realize that you can't have it all.
NFIB, the small business lobbyist in the U.S. does not believe that this health care plan, or any plan to raise taxes on small business in any way will help us, not out of this recession (which I predict will continue for several more years, and which we will be lucky to survive), not out of very high unemployment rates, and not out of the pure and simple fear that my small business colleagues have of high taxes (which are inevitable with huge social programs) and debilitating government regulation. What WILL work is to
get out of the way! We need to rock the small business world and make their day by stopping the insane amount of government spending using pre-printed money and let them roll. They can do it, I know, because I'm one of them!
We're not crazy, we don't hate poor people, we don't want those who are sick to lose their homes, and we don't hate black people. We're conservatives! We're proud to be the descendants of those nasty white boys who believed in freedom, guns, and the right to own property. And before you go off on Jefferson, he asked for the right for slaves to be freed from the very beginning, but the southern states wouldn't budge, so in order to save the union, he capitulated; but he did manage to make the north free from slavery during the process. I believe in the founding fathers, I believe in the right to be free from tyranny (of any kind), and I believe in the Constitution of the U.S. of A. That's not a bad thing, not bad at all.
