As the American republic was taking shape, the Founders conceived of the primary purpose of Government to be the protection of Liberty. This is why they placed strict limits on the central government, and were highly suspicions of centralized power. They wanted power close to the people, figuring that it would be easier to keep the government within its proper constraints. They also deemed "power" to be the enemy of liberty, and warned that people had to be constantly vigilant to ensure that "tyranny" never took root on American soil. For this reason, the federal government was consigned to duties that were "national" in scope---mostly defense and interstate commerce. Most important issues of public concern---including questions of public safety, welfare, and morality---were deemed the province of state or local government. And it was assumed that the fruits of one's labor belonged to the one who earned it.
Today, many of us seem to view the primary purpose of Government to be providing services to its citizens. The centralized Federal Government has largely taken over most issues of public importance, with the non-elected judiciary assuming an ever-greater voice in settling questions of public policy. And we are standing on the verge of a massive expansion of the Federal Government: having now largely taken over the auto and financial services industries, it is asserting a claim to take over and centralize the health care industry as well. Rather than looking to themselves to solve their problems, raise their families, and set their destiny, more and more people are looking to the Government to provide answers and solutions to whatever seems to be going wrong in society.
This trajectory of events bodes ill for the entire country. It tends to foster ever-greater dependence on the Government. And once the majority comes to view the power to tax as the power and means to redistribute wealth, it's a small step to Big Brother...where the Government controls every aspect of our lives.
Today, the current Health Care proposals seem to be shaping up as critical indicators: if our reforms move us more toward reestablishing the connection between the consumer (ie, the patient) and the provider (ie, the doctor)—moving to restore some semblance of a market, where decisions are made based on individual need and professional judgment—then we may be able to stave off disaster for another few generations...and let them carry the ball when they come of age. If, on the other hand, we move in the direction of centralized control, bureaucratic decision-making, and bean-counters in charge of medical decisions, then we may be seeing the beginning of the end for the American experiment in democracy.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a veteran public prosecutor in Detroit, Michigan, specializes in the appellate practice of criminal law and writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
Showing posts with label health care reform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health care reform. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Used Car Salesman in Chief
Perhaps it's just me, but I'm getting sick and tired of being pushed into hasty decisions.
Over the past several months it seems that there has been a race to pass legislation through Congress without much thought. Last year, the TARP bailout was raced through in weeks---ostensibly because waiting to give us a chance to think about what we were doing would mean than any action in ridding the country of the "toxic assets" that the TARP funds were to buy up would come too late to stave off the disasters that were looming in the shadows.
Of course, once the bill passed, the Bush Administration got a few better ideas...and we still haven't spent all the money appropriated. Well...not to buy any toxic assets, at least. We still haven't gotten around to that...though that $700 billion dollars sure came in handy for Congress and the new Obama Administration, since they now had a ready source of funds to hand out as they saw fit.
As the new adminstration was about to take office, there was another push---this time for another $787 billion or so---which was passed less than a month after President Obama took office, before anyone in Congress had the chance to read it. Recently, the "Cap and Trade" bill passed the House---with 350 pages or so of amendments added in the wee hours of the morning after Michael Jackson died. That, too, had to pass immediately, before anyone could read it---this time, one presumes, so that the members of the House could attend to more important matters. Like watching the wall-to-wall, 24/7 coverage of the death of Michael Jackson.
Now, amid talk of a few more trillion dollars or so in various bailouts---to prepare the way for the Health Care Reform package that the President insists is needed to save us from imminent bankruptcy---there is a push by Congressional leaders and the Administration to enact the plan...NOW, before it's too late. Today, in the wake of a Congressional Budget Office report confirming what most people instinctively thought---that current health care proposals will cost an awful lot of money---there seems to be a renewed push to get this done in a hurry. The President insists that waiting will result in a catastrophe for this country and future generations...and only quick, bold action can save us.
It strikes me that we've been down this path before. Quite a few times in recent months.
And it's starting to sound more and more like the typical pitch from the local used car salesman---that we need to decide now, because if we stop to think about what we're doing, we'll miss this golden, once-in-a-lifetime chance, and spend the rest of our lives regretting it.
Again...perhaps it's just me. But despite the glowing rhetoric, and the loft notions advanced by the current crop of politicians, it's starting to sound more and more like the high-pressure tactics of the used car lot.
These tactics didn't save the auto industry from disaster.
I doubt that they'll lead the rest of the country to anything but grief, either.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a veteran public prosecutor in Detroit, Michigan, specializes in the appellate practice of criminal law and writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
Over the past several months it seems that there has been a race to pass legislation through Congress without much thought. Last year, the TARP bailout was raced through in weeks---ostensibly because waiting to give us a chance to think about what we were doing would mean than any action in ridding the country of the "toxic assets" that the TARP funds were to buy up would come too late to stave off the disasters that were looming in the shadows.
Of course, once the bill passed, the Bush Administration got a few better ideas...and we still haven't spent all the money appropriated. Well...not to buy any toxic assets, at least. We still haven't gotten around to that...though that $700 billion dollars sure came in handy for Congress and the new Obama Administration, since they now had a ready source of funds to hand out as they saw fit.
As the new adminstration was about to take office, there was another push---this time for another $787 billion or so---which was passed less than a month after President Obama took office, before anyone in Congress had the chance to read it. Recently, the "Cap and Trade" bill passed the House---with 350 pages or so of amendments added in the wee hours of the morning after Michael Jackson died. That, too, had to pass immediately, before anyone could read it---this time, one presumes, so that the members of the House could attend to more important matters. Like watching the wall-to-wall, 24/7 coverage of the death of Michael Jackson.
Now, amid talk of a few more trillion dollars or so in various bailouts---to prepare the way for the Health Care Reform package that the President insists is needed to save us from imminent bankruptcy---there is a push by Congressional leaders and the Administration to enact the plan...NOW, before it's too late. Today, in the wake of a Congressional Budget Office report confirming what most people instinctively thought---that current health care proposals will cost an awful lot of money---there seems to be a renewed push to get this done in a hurry. The President insists that waiting will result in a catastrophe for this country and future generations...and only quick, bold action can save us.
It strikes me that we've been down this path before. Quite a few times in recent months.
And it's starting to sound more and more like the typical pitch from the local used car salesman---that we need to decide now, because if we stop to think about what we're doing, we'll miss this golden, once-in-a-lifetime chance, and spend the rest of our lives regretting it.
Again...perhaps it's just me. But despite the glowing rhetoric, and the loft notions advanced by the current crop of politicians, it's starting to sound more and more like the high-pressure tactics of the used car lot.
These tactics didn't save the auto industry from disaster.
I doubt that they'll lead the rest of the country to anything but grief, either.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a veteran public prosecutor in Detroit, Michigan, specializes in the appellate practice of criminal law and writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
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