I read a bit about Single Payer healthcare

And I read information only from supporters.

I haven’t gotten into the subject enough to read what the critics have to say.

But, at first blush, I can say that it all sounds too good to be true (all the reductions in costs along with improvements in service brought about by the elimination of administrative overhead), and you know what they say about those kinds of things.

Firstly, the economic figures predicted by the supporters of the Single Payer plan can’t be verified any more than Ralph Reiland’s can.

Secondly, any program that is controlled by centralized government makes me very nervous and suspicious.

Proponents say things like this: “And government isn’t all bad. Government has provided us with public libraries, the GI Bill, Social Security, police and fire protection, the Do-Not-Call list, emergency services, national parks... there's bad, sure, but that doesn't mean you can just ignore the good.”

Let’s review these allegedly good things one at a time:

1) Public Libraries – Well maybe in some places but not around here as far as I know. And if government did provide public libraries I'm betting it was local government that did it – not the federal government.

2) The GI Bill - This program has certainly helped many veterans. But the federal government had to be shamed into providing it in the first place. And it was needed primarily because of the paltry amounts our service people are paid and secondarily because technology changed employment opportunities.

3) Social Security – Now there’s a joke of a program. No man or woman ever gets, for themselves or their families, anywhere near what they contributed. It’s nothing more than redistribution of wealth.

4) Police and fire protection and emergency services – Well that’s what government is supposed to provide. I don’t take extra credit for doing what I’m supposed to do.

5) The Do Not Call List – Another major joke. That program doesn’t work and you have to re-register for something that doesn’t work every year.

6) National Parks - Oooo! Are they referring to those national parks that are being ceded to the United Nations as World Heritage sites? World Heritage my ass. Those lands belong to the people of the United States. Not also to some tea-sipping European socialist bureaucrat.

So, in summary, the less government in my life the very much better. Government should do what it was designed to do: Provide security, wage war if necessary and regulate just enough that the playing field remains level for all.

Then there’s the subject of funding: "The program would be federally financed and administered by a single public insurer at the state or regional level. Premiums, copayments, and deductibles would be eliminated. Employers would pay a 7.0 percent payroll tax and employees would pay 2.0 percent, essentially converting premium payments to a health care payroll tax. 90 to 95 percent of people would pay less overall for health care. Financing includes a $2 per pack cigarette tax."

What’s going to happen after they tax cigarettes out of existence? Or are they counting on some number of people to ignore warnings and continue to smoke and thereby continue to fund a system that can’t reverse the effects of their smoking?

Come on!!! This is freaking ludicrous.

Some time soon I’ll comment on information provided by the critics of Single Payer who are more educated in the concept than I am.

But so far: "SHEEEESH!!! What a mouse!!!"


So much ado about nothing

If you think back to the first Gulf War you might remember stories about Saddam having several Saddam look-alikes who were paraded around to confuse his enemies both at home and abroad. He was compelled to take a physical when he was hauled out of the hole in the ground in the aftermath of the second Gulf War in order to verify that he was the real Saddam.

Now the media is going nuts over whether the guy on today's Osama Bin Laden tape is really Osama or not. I say the guy on the tape a stunt double.