| | |  Editorials | Opinions | August 2009 
What, Exactly, is the Government's Job?
 Alan Burkhart - PVNN
August 24, 2009
 |  | Today's federal government is a blind, one-legged hippopotamus hopping about in the china closet of the US economy. |  | | |
With each passing day the federal government takes on more and more responsibility. And with each new obligation it assumes, the quality of the services We The People receive declines.
Health care is no exception. I'll be honest: If government could offer a viable, affordable, effective, simple and expedient method of health care delivery, I'd be tempted to join up. But no government is capable of doing such a thing.
The impending insolvency of Medicare and Medicaid, along with the overall shoddy performance of the Veterans Administration should be ample proof of this fact. The United States Government is incapable, regardless of whatever benevolent intentions it may have, of implementing and managing a nationwide health care system. The so-called "public option" should not be an option at all.
The sheer size and scope of the plan put forth by the House of Representatives is a prime example of government incompetence. The massive bureaucracy defined within this bill would add thousands of new government employees, dozens of counter-productive new regulations and trillions of dollars in taxpayer expenditures.
This is the only way our government knows how to operate. Long gone are the days of a lean and effective government that understood its own limits. Today's federal government is a blind, one-legged hippopotamus hopping about in the china closet of the US economy. These people are incapable of managing their own expenses, and yet they wish to run and over-regulate a gigantic segment of the economy? Frightening to contemplate.
Certainly, there must be laws in place to ensure proper protections for the people where health care is concerned. But like all things, it is a matter of degree. There is a fine line between proper governance and intrusive government. Our government has crossed that line so many times that its footprints have almost completely obliterated it.
It is not the federal government's job to take on such huge responsibilities. It is not the place of Congress and the President to attempt to run the lives of every American, and assuming this level of control over our health care system would amount to exactly that: Government control over a large and growing portion of our private lives. President Obama can deny it all he wishes, but more and more people are reading the text of the House bill and finding that its passage would be a life-altering event for every American.
What then, is government's job?
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
That's not my opinion. It's the law, stated clearly in the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. No where in the Constitution does it state that government has the right to meddle in our health care system. No where in the Constitution does it state that government should be bailing out failing businesses or robbing Citizen A to pay Citizen B.
The federal government's job is to maintain a strong national defense, a national system of highways, and a framework of laws to protect the rights of the citizenry. It is not the place of the federal government to micromanage the lives of the populace.
Mr. President, I like my health insurance just fine. The absolute best thing you and your cronies on Capitol Hill can do for health care is Nothing At All. We don't need, or want, your "help."
Alan Burkhart is a cross-country trucker and occasional writer from Mississippi. You can find all of his work at: AlanBurkhart.blogspot.com. |
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