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Of late, I’ve been thinking a lot about the healthcare reform bill currently being considered. Most of us can agree that Americans should have access to affordable healthcare. However, I don’t believe the government has a place in running the proposed “single payer” system.  My reasoning is clear. I simply have no faith in the federal government’s ability to do so.  It doesn’t have a proven track record for successfully managing systems at this level.  Perhaps a review of some key failures will prove enlightening…

Let’s start with our education system. As stated by Alex Johnson, MSNBC:

“At its core, the economic surge in India and China comes down to brains. The industries driving the region’s challenge to American leadership — communications, information technology, biotech and the like — can’t thrive without a steady supply of highly educated, intellectually flexible workers. This is where the United States is falling behind. “Most U.S. high school students don’t take advanced science; they opt out, with only one-quarter enrolling in physics, one-half in chemistry,” the National Science Foundation found. The National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century concluded that U.S. students were “devastatingly far” from leading the world in science and math….” (Source)

How long have politicians stated that they will work to fix the education system?  What have we got from it?  Here’s what I’ve observed. Federal bureaucracy has hindered our schools’ ability to meet our students’ educational needs. Funding is steadily being cut from critical programs that support education. Teachers are being laid off, and those who remain receive salaries that are pathetic next to comparable degree requiring occupations. Our classrooms are being forced to take on more children with ridicules student to teacher ratios, and our teachers are being asked to fund their own labs from the pittance they receive.

How well is our government managing Social Security?  According to Social Security Online (Source), “…without change it is expected that the program [Social Security] will no longer be able to pay scheduled benefits in full starting 2037. At that time it is expected that only 76 percent of currently scheduled benefits will be payable.” I’d like to hear how this is being fixed. We owe the Americans who have faithfully paid their taxes, built up this country, and supported this government with a substantial portion of their monthly earnings the opportunity to collect benefits when they are no longer able to provide the effort they once could. Their savings will likely be depleted, and this money will determine their standard of living when they can no longer do for themselves.

What about our mounting deficit? As of 28 July 2009, our U.S. National Debt is $11,619,246,061,245.10. That’s eleven trillion, six-hundred and nineteen billion, and two-hundred and forty-six million, sixty-one thousand, two hundred and forty-five dollars and ten cent. Also, according to the US National Debt Clock (Source), “The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $3.91 billion per day since September 28, 2007!” What will it be when congress takes on health care? An interesting fact I found in a CBSNews Blog, is that “It took the U.S. government 191 years – from 1791 until 1982 – to run up its first trillion dollars in debt. The second and third trillions got on the scoreboard much more quickly – each in just four years.” This same article “National Debt Hits 11 Trillion” goes on to say:

“The hundreds of billions of dollars being spent as part of the federal bailout of the financial markets is a leading factor in the rapid increase. Over $400-billion in debt has been accrued in the 57 days since President Obama took office. And the federal budget he unveiled last month projects even faster increases in the National Debt. It’ll hit $12.7-trillion by the end of the fiscal year on September 30th. The Administration’s four year estimate shows that by the end of September 2012, the Debt will have soared to $16.2-trillion – which amounts to nearly 100% of the projected Gross Domestic Product that year. The U.S. is running up so much debt so quickly, some investors are worried. Just recently, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who says his country has about a trillion dollars invested in U.S. Treasury notes, said he wanted a guarantee.” (Source)

Isn’t it amusing that China wants guarantees on their one trillion in loans?  How is it that they can see the problem, and we can’t?  We are violating the rules of economics in such egregious ways that I can’t see how anyone could propose we spend even more.  Any honest, non-partisan economist should be able to tell us that this is a formula for bankruptcy.  Truly, we can’t think that we can continue to spend like this and not ruin our country in the end.

Speaking of the bailout, wasn’t that a disaster? CEOs made millions in bonuses and some banks posted record high profits thanks to Uncle Sam’s patronage. Still, jobs continue to be lost, teachers are still wondering if they will be working next year, and roads remain in disrepair. One word I recently ran into renaming the bailout is “failout.” From what I’ve seen thus far, there has been zero accountability or responsibility tied to the money.  Of the billions spent, some reports claim only 10% has trickled down while 90% has simply disappeared. I’d like to know what’s really happened with this money, and I don’t want to hear spin from politicians. I want economists breaking this stuff down for us.

Why should we give our government one more thing to fail at, especially when it comes with such a high price tag and loss of freedom? Our government should first seek to prove it can handle the tasks it has already been given before taking on a new pet project. Too many times when government gets involved in anything, there are extra requirements levied upon us that ruin efficiency and eliminate choice. It literally takes a form to request a form that will allow us to request assistance. Doctors and health care facilities will have to hire additional personnel simply to deal with the paperwork and reporting requirements they will be saddled with. There is already enough bureaucracy in the medical system without the federal government taking it over. Once this happens, I know that there simply won’t be enough money to cover this plan. Patients will be denied treatment because they don’t meet the requirements of some checklist on the desk of someone who they will never meet. Wait times for critical tests like MRIs will take months to have done. Senior citizens will be denied services because it’s not economically viable to do a surgery on someone so near end-of-life. Finally, highly skilled doctors will seek their fortunes elsewhere as the government will seek to limit their entitlements. Nothing I have heard thus far leads me to believe otherwise.