Moving The Needle

It doesn't take a Harvard Ph.D to figure out why in the last 149 years, ever since Republican Abraham Lincoln was president, that America has trusted a Democrat to run the country only one third of that time; It's just too costly.  19 Republican presidents have sat in the White House for 91 of those 149 years.  Only 10 Democrats have occupied the oval office in the remaining 58 years, and the multi-term duo of FDR and Harry Truman, whose combined 20 years in office skews even those numbers.  Inch by inch, step by step, though the country moves ever closer to the progressives dream for the government to take care of everything, for everyone, cradle to grave.

Medicare and Social Security have become staples of American society.  Even though they're close to insolvency.  Job placement, and training, until the '60's, was handled mostly by the private sector.  Now it's become an administrative nightmare of federal regulations, delivered mostly by the states, with horrible results.  Same with k-12 education.  Although American higher ed may be the best in the world, the typical four-year degree now takes five, six, or even seven years to complete.  Why?  Mostly due to federal involvement.  When the feds started backing student loans, tuition began to skyrocket.  It will get even worse now.  With the passage of Obamacare, the federal government has taken over the student loan business entirely, pushing out the private sector, while removing most penalties and interest for non-payment.

Of course the latest government takeover is Obamacare.  Believe what you wish, but the end result of nationalized medicine will lead to higher costs and more regulation, along with diminished and less effective care.  For proof, look to the countries that have already passed it.  I heard on the radio the other day a story about a women who makes a living arranging medical trips to the U. S. for wealthy foreigners.  Business is booming.  Medical care as an export.  Wait until Obamacare is fully implemented.  In another decade, wealthy Americans will be following their expatriated doctors to offshore facilities where they will be able to bypass the the byzantine medical monopoly run by Uncle Sam.  Here at home, the less fortunate will face poor and rundown medical facilities with equally dismal results.  But they'll learn to live with that disappointment.  Just like they've learned to live with government run public schools, government run job training, government run automobile companies, government run banks, government run.........