Health Care is the new Entitlement

How we should do it

Like it or not Health Care is the new entitlement like education. It’s probably a good thing that everyone get’s health care in the US at least for Citizens and legal aliens. But before we create this new entitlement, I hope we learn from the current problems in the education system which is badly broken. Vouchers are needed so that consumers can choose the health care plan that makes sense for them. In addition to vouchers we should be able to pay additional money out of pocket to purchase better health care if we want to. We cannot in the process create another “teacher union” that runs health care. That union is what is killing our public education system in the first place. We also should not penalize the wealthy like we do in the case of private schools. Vouchers are for everyone. If the wealthy want more and better they should pay for it but they should pay the difference not the whole thing.

The other thing we need to do is fully fund nursing educational programs. If anyone in this country makes less than a nurse we should help that person become a nurse if they can’t afford to do it on their own. Flooding the market with nurses will drive cost down, increase specialization (improving care), and increase the number of doctors in the long run because there is an educational path from nurse to MD (LPN, RN, Nurse Practitioner, MD.) BTW I would rather be seen by a nurse prac then an MD any day of the week.

The first things Vouchers should pay for are those things that have proven economic impact. I.e. vaccinations reduce disease and are cheaper then treating the disease therefore we should encourage vaccination by paying for it nationally. Over time we can add other services as they make economic sense to do so. Yes this is cold hearted but there are too many things that we legitimately need to spend money on at the national level to pay for them all. So we need to think with our brains and not with our hearts. We need to spend money where we will get a return on our investment.

I WAS WRONG

Huckabee takes Iowa

In my article “Why Christians should vote for a Mormon” I made a mistake. Yes I was wrong. How you say? Well Huck-a-who? Mike Huckabee, winner of the Republican Iowa caucus didn’t even rate an honorable mention. I blabbered on about the other Republican candidates and their chances at beating Hillary Clinton in the national election. (Hillary came in third in Iowa. So much for her inevitability.) I suggested that really only Giuliani and Mitt Romney had a chance. My premise was and still stands that I would rather have a real Mormon than a fake Christian. To my credit I said the jury was still out on Thompson. Now the jury is basically in and he doesn’t want it bad enough. I figure my career as a political blabber mouth is still secure considering O’Reilly got it wrong too.

Now much to my surprise and delight, we have the slim hope of asking which would we rather have a real Mormon, a fake Christian… (queue drum roll) or a real Christian? At least on the front cover, Mike Huckabee seems to be the real thing. Yes the rest of the world will laugh at us for electing a red neck cowboy whose name has something to do with foliage but wait they do that anyway.

The truth is he really only has one shot and that is to win New Hampshire. It would be like hitting a hole in one twice in one day. With only 5 days left and a completely different base (NH lacks the strong evangelical presence that Iowa has) it will be an uphill battle and a long shot with veritable giants to beat. Perhaps it’s even a fools bet. I wonder if anyone bet on Daniel vs. Goliath.

So if you have any interest at all in who becomes our next president (or perhaps VP) may I please ask you to check out Huckabee’s website? I donated a little money to the chap. I know he’ll need it if he’s gonna have a shot in NH in 5 days. Though he didn’t need it in Iowa.

-John

“Outspent 15 to 1 voters prove they cannot be bought.” www.mikehuckaabee.com