The Daily Plunge

I’m a middle class guy. I was the first person in my family to graduate college. I paid my way through college by working. I’m still paying my student loans. What I’m trying to say is that I’m by no means rich. Well, compared to most people in the rest of the world I’m rich, but by American standards I’m not special. On September 9th, President Obama is going to give a speech before a joint session of Congress to talk about health care. I will not be able to see the President’s speech that night. My wife will be having brain surgery at Duke that same day. While the President laments about American health care my wife will have access to the same doctors that treated Senator Kennedy.
There are a lot of things that could be done to make health care better and more affordable, but the left is dedicated to the march toward universal health coverage. When someone like John Mackey proposes real reform the left attacks his business and his character, but not his ideas. This is a commitment to an ideology, not a rational attempt to make things better. Karl Rove has a great op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about this whole debate.

Mr. Obama is trying to overhaul health care without being able to tap into widespread public unhappiness. Nearly nine out of 10 Americans say they have coverage–and large majorities of them are happy with it. Of the 46 million uninsured, 9.7 million are not U.S. citizens; 17.6 million have annual incomes of more than $50,000; and 14 million already qualify for Medicaid or other programs. That leaves less than five million people truly uncovered out of a population of 307 million. Americans don’t believe this problem–serious but correctable–justifies the radical shift Mr. Obama offers.

The left has done a great job exaggerating the problem. The current system needs work, but let’s not forgot how great it can be. Americans are scared of change because the government has a long track record of making things worse. The rich will always be able to afford quality health coverage. It’s important to make sure “well intentioned” politicians don’t wreck the system for the rest of us.