Healthcare is a Symptom of the Disease

In my myriad discussions on health care reform, one point that I have neglected to bring up is that one stopgap to the current mess would be if our economy hadn't taken the nose dive it had.  Then we could afford more overall, and in fact, it would make the call for government health care more feasible, if only by the fact we could afford it.

Then I got to thinking (shudder, all talking-point-spewing automatons). What if the problem we face is not limited to health care?  After all, the health care mess, if everything else were humming along fine, could be resolved my Obama plunking his magic twanger, reading the incantation from his teleprompter, and pulling the scrolls containing the blueprint for  government health care out of his ass.  Really, it could.  Because much of the crisis mentality propagated today is to move people toward an option that continues the trend we've been on since those guys we call the Founding Fathers threw down a Constitution designed to limit the government from doing what it's doing now.

The disease I speak of is the Dependence Mentality.  This is something I know of personally, because I have been, and still continue to be, plagued by a desire to coast as long as I can doing as little as I can.  I recognize this flaw, but I did so a little late in the game, so it will take time to overcome it.

Now consider that a massive amount of the population thinks this way.  The expectation, from the dolts standing in line for an application for "Obama money" up in Detroit, to the perpetual welfare family, to the company who's business is living on the government tit.

The problem is exacerbated because, while it's both generous and sometimes necessary to intervene in a crisis, there is a certain part of the population that will latch right on when the money is handed out.  And there is another group that may not always need it, but will use it if it's there (that's where I am).  And this cuts across all lines, all races, all income levels. After all, who doesn't look for "free government money?" Hell, half the commercials I hear are for things related to something the government is giving out.

So it comes to a single point.  Either we continue down the path to creating more dependent government subjects or we do something radical:  We deprogram America to the dependency mentality.  It won't be easy.  some people may be hurt/bankrupted/killed along the way.  But the choice is either take the lumps for the damage already done, or reap an orgy of pain and suffering later when the cancer is spread everywhere.

Ok, here's the list:

1. The 5-Year Freeze - The first thing to do is to stop the bleeding.  This means freezing ALL federal spending above current levels.  No exceptions but for a declared war by another military power strong enough to actually invade us (we're talking a WWII situation here).  After 5 years and a lot of cuts, then we can address what we need to fund again.  But if we keep spending like crack whores on crack cocks, we're never going to stop until we're bankrupt.

2. Fix (I Mean Scrap) the Tax Code - Nothing paralyzes us as a nation more than the fact that so much money goes into dealing with taxes.  From the insane embedded costs to the forced taking of money that you loan to the government at a loss (and with savings account yields as low as .1%, that's saying something) before they "generously give it back," it's choking off any motivation to do anything other than hide as much as possible from the roving brigands.  Fix this, and the economy booms, which helps fix everything else (health care, jobs, etc).  In lieu of another post, I'll just link to the FairTax, which would do exactly this.

3. Start Shutting Down the Bad Safety Nets, and Fix the Rest - The big ones include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the myriad other parts of the welfare state.  Having see how easy it is to waste money in these myself (I could use some good egg recipes for the WIC-bought eggs), major overhauls, or even the killing of said programs are key.  Most of these are meant to cover people when there is no other option.  Social Security and Medicare have essentially replaced personal (and family) responsibility for the elderly, and are money-sucking uber-leeches too boot.  And moving more control for these to state, and even local control are steps that could fix much of the waste.   I don't have all the specifics, but reducing the money spent, the numbers on the rolls, and the time people spend on the rolls, is the only solution.

And on a related note...

4. Find Value in People Other Than for Votes - I was watching many hours on FDR today, and one thing that struck me about his big government and our big government was that he bet his big government on the productivity of citizens, not on their needs.  If we're going to sustain any safety net programs, it must be by empowering individuals receiving them to be as valuable a member of society as possible.  If we're going to be handing out welfare, we need to make sure people are working for it rather than penalizing that success.  If we are going to cover people with disabilities, let's find what they can do.  If we're going to take care of the elderly, let's make sure the people who benefited the most (their children and their family) are shouldering the burden.  We've stopped expecting things from people other than the ability to fill out paperwork.

5. Return the Senate to State Representation -This requires the repeal of the 17th Amendment.  The reason for this is that this will allow the states to have an actual voice in Washington.  It will act as a check on representatives who have to get elected every two years. The whole purpose of our bicameral legislative branch was so that nothing could be rushed through solely on the drive of popular support, but would also have to pass muster with the states, who often have to carry the burden of the insanity that rolls out of Washington.  Right now, I have three (more or less) representatives in Washington while my state can only bluster (or with our current governor, suck Obama off), and hope that the Imperial government doesn't mandate shit that bankrupts the state.

6. Shrink the Size and Role of the Federal and State Governments - I know this is a catch-all and often a trite phrase.  But the principle behind it is more powerful, and absolutely critical.  One concept is something called the 10th Amendment Commission.  In essence, it looks at everything the federal government does, and seeks to remove things that the federal government was never meant to do (like Washington-screwed government schools, for example).  What this will do with all the above safety net stuff is move the primary responsibility for handling this to the states.  So on the state level, much of the nanny government must be pared.  But this must be done at the state level (most certainly starting with California), except where the state has stepped on either federal jurisdiction or individual rights.  And if something is important enough to enough people that the federal government HAS to do it, that's what the amendment process is for.  Put bluntly, if you want health care as a right, it needs to be an amendment.


7. After All Else, Enable our Government to Say NO -This goes along with the last two points.  When the government is functioning properly, the people know that they can't go to their representatives with a hand out and expect it to be filled.  And when there is no easy path, they people do what they have to do.  And while the laws and the governments must flex to make sure that all have equal opportunities, and that no one who is trying to do right by his country is left to die in the ditch, compassion is something that mandates that the government open the door, not form a line.  And this requires responsibility from us all, to do that which the government will not.


In the end, what I have outlined above will probably not come to pass in the short term, until a leader with both the vision and the will to carry out such a radical change comes forth.  Because both parties today quibble over the trivialities while growing the government for their own ends, while we simply stand in each new line that forms.  But combining what we know will work (because, in the past, it has) with what we've learned and perfected (in terms of equality and understanding) is the key to resolving everything we face today.