Q&A of the Day – The real reason Democrats are pushing Medicare for All
Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.
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Today’s entry...
91% of Americans have health insurance, why in the world would the DNC candidates be pushing Medicare for all? The majority says, “leave my choice alone!” I don’t want Medicare until I have to take it at age 65!
Bottom Line: Your question illustrates an important point. With significant political issues we’re often conditioned to think that the politicians proposing them can be taken at face value. In the case of Medicare for All, it would be that everyone should have healthcare as it’s “a human right” to quote Bernie Sanders. But here’s the thing. Everyone already does have healthcare in the United States. Under existing federal law no one may be denied needed medical care. That’s why even illegal immigrants are cared for within our hospitals. It’s long been part of the motivation for many illegal immigrants to make their way into our country. With that being the case, what really is behind the effort? Control.
Yes, most developed countries have government run healthcare as Bernie and other advocates suggest. Yes, most developed countries pale in comparison to the United States in personal prosperity, opportunity and freedom. That’s because government control over an economy limits freedom and opportunity through the taxes it requires to sustain it. The more freedom you have with the money you earn, the more freedom you have period. The more money you pay in taxes the more control government has over you. To that end here’s a breakdown of current economic freedom in the United States right now based on the total percentage of the US economy.
- 36% Government (total of local, state and federal governments)
- 64% Private sector/individuals
That should already make you pause and think about how much control we’ve allowed to be taken away from us. Much of it has been incrementalism with ever rising taxes and programs at the local level with ever expanding federal programs as well. Remember recently when I mentioned that even if the Trump administration were to change the requirements for SNAP, disqualifying 3.1 million current users of the program, we’d still have 10 million more Americans on food stamps today as compared to the peak of the Great Recession? That’s been the goal by big government politicians right along. Get them on government programs and keep them there. They become dependent on you and you control them. It’s literally anti-American values. That’s also why it’s so offensive when media outlets play up the woe is the person no longer on government program stories anytime we look for reform.
The goal should be to have as few people on government programs and thus self-reliant as possible and as few people working in government as possible. That’s the principal this country was founded on that led to us becoming the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world in such a short time. But notice how little has to shift from here before government has majority control over our economy and our lives. Healthcare is 17.9% of the US economy. Nearly half of that figure is government spending already but shifting the rest from the private sector to the government along with the rate of healthcare spending rapidly growing,would ensure that government, not individuals, would become the majority of the US economy within the next decade.
Remember nothing is free and nothing is less efficient than government. It’s paid for with your work, your taxes and thus your freedom.