Who's Counting?

1. Read Thomas Sowell's latest column, here.

2. Contact your ERs (Elected Representatives).

3. Tell your ERs to get government out of health care provisioning.

4. If your ER listens to you and responds positively, vote them back into office.

5. If your ER ignores you and responds in a way that give government more power, fire them.

Raise Taxes to Pay for Health Care Reform???

Good Grief!

Read the article in this morning's Washington Post, then come back here to read my response.

Did you read the whole thing? Or did you get frustrated and give up in the first few paragraphs?

Fundamentally, the premise of this argument is flawed. It presumes I have a responsibility, an obligation to help my fellow patient, and it intends to legislate my contribution. I reject that foundation. While I do have a personal responsibility, one to which I personally adhere, to extend charity, neither the state nor Federal government has any mandate to force me to do so.

You can tell me all day long, till we're both blue in the face, that I'm selfish. Very well. I'm selfish. I earned my money. No one else has a right to it, least of all by legislative mandate.

You want to improve the infrastructure I use to drive? Fine: collect taxes or tolls when I drive. Want to protect me from enemies, foreign and domestic? Great: use my taxes to pay for an army.

Want to take money away from me, my family, our household and our life to give it to someone who habitually neglects their own family and life? No way.

Does that paint me as greedy? Am I without compassion for those "less fortunate" than I? Am I ignoring the plight of the "victims"?

I think those who take money from someone else are greedy, and those whose money is taken are victims.

All that said, how can those who teach economics write an article that ignores economic history? When tax rates are lowered, it historically spurs the economy and tax revenues actually increase. When tax rates are increased, revenues historically fall. And when citizens have more disposable income, they give more to charity, which does a MUCH better job of filtering out the scammers and leeches so they can focus on extending a welcomed helping hand to those who actually need some help.

Want to pay for an ill-begotten government program doomed for failure? Lower tax rates. Want to dramatically improve health care in this country? Get the government out of the way and let charities and health care facilities partner in the effort. Get the government involved when there's a violation of civil liberty, but not until then.