No solution offered to nation’s health care problems
Published 3:46 pm Wednesday, October 20, 2010
I see that Jeff Jared has returned to railing against the health care bill and its creation of a “socialized” health insurance pool. (One has to wonder what Jared would call a truly government-run single-payer health care system – the model I and many others would prefer – “super-duper, ultra-mega socialized?”) This time around, Mr. Jared is concerned about protecting his privacy rights, and provides a laundry list of often head-scratching legal rulings to triumphantly make his case.
He begins his privacy argument with the Justice Cardozo quote: “Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his body.” Aside from having only a tenuous link to the notion of privacy, this quote suggests that prostitution, drug-taking and any number of other currently illicit activities should be immediately legalized. Given his libertarian views, perhaps Jared thinks that’s exactly what should happen. Still, it seems a stretch to use that quote to bolster an argument that the government can’t require you to purchase health insurance.
After wading through Jared’s list of legal rulings, all cited to prove that we lucky Americans have the “right to be let alone,” the intrepid lawyer somehow equates getting health insurance with being forced to “register your body with the state.” Gee, sounds scary! Can death panels be far behind? Funny thing, though, I thought my birth certificate and my social security number already had my body registered with the state.
In all of his anti-government, anti-Obama ramblings, Jared is quick to raise the specter of federal intrusions and at-risk personal freedoms. What he never does is acknowledge that our country faces many serious challenges, nor does he offer any solutions of his own. Some people might think that there’s a problem when America has 40-50 million people lacking health insurance, when 45,000 people die each year due to that lack of insurance, and where many millions more get sick, lose jobs and homes and suffer other financial and personal disasters due to our “health care for those who can afford it” model. So what is it, Mr. Jared? Is the status quo acceptable to you? Has our “shining democracy” devolved to the point where we’re each in it for ourselves, and the needy be damned? If not, perhaps you could give us your no-tax, no-shared-insurance-pool solutions to our nation’s health care problems. I can’t wait.
Dwight Davis, Kirkland
