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Journal antirelic's Journal: Why... why... communism has failed already... 6

Just got finished watching Glenn Beck episode with doctors on it. The show ended with a medical student explaining how a government option will provide low cost insurance that will create competition. Of course, its the government that is currently restricting competition between the 1300+ insurance companies in the United States. Create the problem and become the solution. Brilliant. One caveat as a proof read. I am not exactly sure WHY these companies cannot compete. Whether it be federal or state laws that are creating the barriers. Something to research on the spare time.

Anyone who has spent any amount of time dealing with the government, especially the federal government (state DMV is a paradise compared to dealing with any federal agency), knows that efficiency, low cost, and competition is not in the lexicon of government vernacular. Insurance companies have to be more efficient than government under one simple principle of nature: no business could operate like the government and survive. Businesses that operate on "deficit budgets" quickly lose value as their debt to income ratio become unsustainable.

And government debt CAN become unsustainable. Ask the USSR.... oh wait.

As a conservative, I accept a few simple facts in life. We are all individually responsible for ourselves. Our government is here to provide some basic services, but it is not here to "take care of us". Government that governs less is the best form of government. People will always go without, either by choice or by circumstance. No entity on this planet can give everything to everyone. Government cannot replace God. The harder we try to create an omnipotent entity to care for us, the closer we come to creating the golem that destroys us (see USSR and Mao for more details).

The debate is not about health care. The debate is collectivism versus individualism. Hopefully we will see the errors of the past... but by that last comment tonight... I fear for the worst.

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Why... why... communism has failed already...

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  • Of course, its the government that is currently restricting competition between the 1300+ insurance companies in the United States.

    How is it that you figure the government is restricting competition between all these companies? If competition were restricted, wouldn't we end up with fewer companies - or at least fewer companies capable of paying out multimillion dollar annual bonuses to their top executives?

    After all, if competition is good for business, then restrictions on competition should be terrible for those same businesses, right?

    I am not exactly sure WHY these companies cannot compete. Whether it be federal or state laws that are creating the barriers.

    I haven't even seen a good explanation for this claim of the companies being able to compete.

    • "How is it that you figure the government is restricting competition between all these companies?"

      Government isn't. Governments are. Insurance companies are restricted in competition (indeed, to the very basics of their operation) by 50 different state regulations. With few exceptions, you can't sell medical insurance across state lines. Congress has abused the Commerce Clause for years, applying it to things that it had no real bearing on. So it's a touch ironic that in this case, where they'd be well and

      • I couldnt have said it better. I did a little more research on the subject. I found this:

        "Any federal legislation to enact PASL (pay across state lines) in an individual insurance market would have to address two main legal considerations:

        1.The McCarran-Ferguson Act, which allows the states to retain their regulatory authority over insurance, and
        2. A constitutional prohibition against the commandeering of state officials by the federal government."

        I've been looking into those two points, but havent had the

    • The concept of government as god is the belief that, given enough resources, a national government can fix all ills, make all people equal, provide for the "needs" of all people. Only an omnipotent being would be capable of such a feat. This is the goal of socialism/marxism, to create such an environment. Of course, this attempt only leads to famines, gulags, reeducation camps, and dramatic decline in quality of life.

      I dont believe that Universal Health care alone is the cause. Besides, health care wasnt a

UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things. -- Doug Gwyn

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