No Runny Eggs

Tonight, President Obama will once again fill the living rooms of America.  Again he will be telling us that we have a crisis at hand and that “doing nothing is not an option.”  It’s being reported that he will make a clear and compelling argument that a government option is the “best way to introduce competition into they system.”  In essence, Obama’s argument this evening will ask us to trust the government to insert themself into a large, complex industry and that there will be no adverse affects to the overall system or end users.

This morning it is being reported that much, my guess nearly all, of the money lent to GM and Chrysler will be complete write offs for the American taxpayer.  Big surprise that!  Any high school accounting student could have told you that any money put into either of these companies had no expectation of being repaid.  Automotive is a large, complex industry that government has inserted itself into with unsuccessful results.  In fact, if you are one of the dealers who were closed even though you a major employer in a small community, had successful sales and high customer satisfaction, you’d say the results of government intervention were disastrous!

Yesterday, Senator Max Baucus released a framework for a health reform plan that has been worked on by a “Gang of Six” from the Senate.  Within the grand plan of Senator Baucus are still mandates for health care purchases, penalties on those who don’t and a government option, now called a coop. 

What is not in Senator Baucus’ plan is anything puts free market leverage on the health care system.  In fact, in one of the few attempts to put free market window dressing in his plan, where Baucus addresses removing the interstate sales restrictions on health insurance, there is no mandate for the removal.  Rather, Baucus’ plan allows states to from “compacts” amongst themselves that would allow insurance companies to sell across state lines of those within the compact.

The Baucus plan ends up being just the most recent attempt at “reform” who’s only real reform is using new words to describe an eventual government take over of the health care system.

Regardless of what is or isn’t included in the various attempts at health care to date, they all need to be scrapped.  Making anything of quality, be it a manufactured item, art or even food, usually requires following a specific process.  Even if you have the correct ingredients, it doesn’t work to just mix them or put them together in just any order you want.  While the current attempts may have some pieces that are worth discussing, none of them have been put together in the correct way.  Until we get a plan whose first ten precepts are based on increasing the leverage of the free market on health care, we should refuse to debate, opine or offer advice on them.  We should take the advice of Nancy Reagan and “Just say no!”