Starting with Page One

I might need a doctor after this, but I started reading a version of the Health Care Bill.

I couldn't get past the title without stating a serious object to the whole process. The title page says the goal of the legislation is:

"To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes."

The absolute "all" jumped out at me. This notion that there must be a federal health care plan that applies to the sum total of the nation is absolutism. It is the abosolutism that progressives routinely project onto their political foes.

Absolutism is totalitarianism ... well ... at least when it comes from the mouths of independents or conservatives.

I also object to the stated goal of "reducing health care spending."

I agree that there is a great deal of waste in health care spending. Yet we really don't know the right amount to spend on health care. The problem is that, when prices are dictated by a subcommittee in the halls of power, they fail to reflect real world needs.

If our desire was the optimal pricing of health care, then we would want a self-financing program (like the Medical Savings and Loan). That way each individual would be directly involved in negotiating the care that fits their life.

The amount spent on care is secondary to the question of whether or not it is optimized for the needs of the individual.

Of course, I suspect that the objective printed as a goal of the program is simply a diversion. It is common for people to write a goal which is opposed to the method of their actions. The long history of government mandates and government healthcare spending shows these actions lead to artificical price increases.

The progressive ideology holds that when government power moves from dominant to absolute, the nature of humans will change and the system will evolve from being wasteful to a modern utopia.

I can see why progressives love the intro. To me, the introduction says that this bill is nothing but the tired old vision of a group seeking absolute control (ALL) under the guise that their innate moral altruism will shine through when they have that absolute control.