This is a heartfelt note to any liberal readers. If you’re a right leaning reader of this blog, then you should send this essay to a liberal that you know. I’m not looking to annoy them, and I’m not trying to just win an argument. I’m not looking to persuade anyone that their broader view of the world or their political philosophy is wrong headed. In this particular case all I’m genuinely trying to do is help… just like they are.
That’s right liberals… I know that the vast majority of you are genuine in your desire for a better world and a better America. I disagree with many of the means you choose to get us there, but in my mind your goals were never in doubt. And because that’s so, I’m hoping you will take me at my word now when I say that I want the very same thing. My goals are the same as yours, to make America a place where everyone is treated fairly.
It’s important that you take me at my word on this, because I want to teach you something important that the experiences of my life have taught me and that your very different experiences have probably not yet taught you. It’s important you learn it now because we’re out of time, and there is a great deal at stake for all of us. I want to make it clear that unlike many people you’re hearing from on this issue, I have no reason to lie to you on this topic. And the point I’d like to make in a nutshell is: The House Democrat’s plan for changing our healthcare system will not only fail to make things better, it will make things much, much worse. And it’s the poor for whom it will make things the very worst.
Like I said, I’m not just trying to win an argument here. I have nothing to prove. But you need to know how these politicians and their hired guns are lying to you. You know the ‘savings’ that Nancy Pelosi keeps talking about? There isn’t going to be any savings. The House Democrats are hoping that they can simply deduct the profits made by the insurance and drug companies from the total medical cost, and call it ‘savings’. But it isn’t going to work that way. To be frank, I’m astounded that they have the nerve to even make such an utterly ridiculous claim.
Let me explain it this way. There are only so many doctors, nurses, MRI machines, blood labs, and hospital beds etc. in America. There is no plan to change that number in any meaningful way, and there are only so many hours in the day that they can be used. It’s a finite thing. There is no way for the government to divide this finite amount of medical care among a larger group of people and have it be cheaper for everyone. Each persons’ slice of pie will be smaller… that’s it. This is a simple mathematical fact… it isn’t a trick, and there is no law you can pass to change it.
In addition if you make a service ‘free’ then the people who get the service no longer care what it costs. Only the person paying the bill will care. You may say ‘well that will be the government, and they will pass a law setting low prices for medical care’. But that doesn’t’ work either. That’s called ‘price fixing’. And every time in human history that price fixing has ever been tried, it has resulted in shortages in the things that people want most, and surpluses of things that people don’t want at all. This is an absolute and incontrovertible historical fact. It’s not something that can be ‘a matter of opinion’; it’s mathematics, not philosophy or politics.
Some of you imagine that the key to make it all work out better for everyone is to eliminate the profit of the insurance companies, drug companies, and other big corporations but that doesn’t work either. Even if you could persuade the millions of people involved to contribute their part of our medical care for free, the math doesn’t come close to filling the gap. A government bureaucrat with a guaranteed pay and pension works a lot less hard than an insurance executive whose boss is always on him to improve the bottom line. We’ll be paying him the same amount to do his job, but will be trading hard working clerks who are trying to squeeze out a sliver of profit, for people who are as hard working and concerned with doing a good job as the surly counter staffers at the department of motor vehicles. Like I said, this isn’t a question of economic philosophy it’s just math. You don’t have to agree with my viewpoint about incentives and free markets; you only have to agree that 2+2=4.
You don’t even have to betray Obama to concede this point. You can still be among the faithful. Obama has only talked about the goal of improving healthcare and I think most of America will concede that point. We can all think it’s a laudable goal, but we cannot choose this direction to get there. You cannot let this plan of the House Democrats pass. It will make things much worse for everyone especially the poor. I can fly to Dubai to get my cancer treatment if I need to but when an MRI’s is being rationed by the government, or being reserved for those with good political connections, where’s the poor person going to go then?
I’ll even concede that Nancy Pelosi might know so little about economics that she truly believes this plan will make things better. But the economists who work for her are lying to you. They do not believe that it will help anyone but them. And it will only help them because they can take credit for doing their master’s bidding. They are happy to make America worse for everyone else if it makes things a little better for them personally. You are absolutely being lied to by people who absolutely know better. You have to stand up and let congress (both Democrat and Republican) know that you are too smart to be lied to in this way. For them it isn’t about making things better, it’s about changing things so they are in charge of more of our lives. It’s really nothing but a massive power grab.
You can still think life would be better if the government gave us more “free” stuff. You can still believe in taxing the rich 110% of their income. You can still think Obama will save us all and I won’t complain about it (well…. not in this essay I won’t). But you have to let congress know that you won’t support this. You can’t. It will mean disaster. You have to remember that Nancy Pelosi and the congressional Democrats are politicians first, and representatives of the people second. They are doing this to help themselves, but it will only hurt you.
And if you’re a conservative and you’re reading this, (here’s a special shout out to Izzy’s guys in Chicago) please send this to a liberal. In fact … send it to every liberal you know. I promise that I won’t be snarky and condescending to them (like I usually am). I’ll be civil and polite to the limits of my tolerance, because they need to understand what a big mistake this legislation is. And if answering their economic questions honestly will do that, I’d be happy to help.
I don’t make any money on this blog… I’ve never even tried to get advertising. I’m not after notoriety… if I were I’d have my full name everywhere and be more self promoting. I’m not interested in fame (actually I’m horrified by it), and I make all my money elsewhere. I only write this blog because I want the world to be a better, fairer and more just place. I have no personal axe to grind here except in trying to prevent a horrible mistake.
Next time it’s right back to snarkiness and condescension because it’s fun. But not this time… there is too much that we’re about to lose. So please send this to a liberal… send it to a bunch of liberals. And if they can be persuaded by facts then I’ll be happy to share them. We all want America to be a better place. And we all need to know this isn’t the way to make that happen.
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