[lit-ideas] Re: Paying taxes for months on end
- From: "Stan Spiegel" <writeforu2@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 22:15:59 -0400
Phil Enns wrote:
There is good reason to think that government
> is not suited for doing some of what it is doing in countries like
> Canada and the U.S.
Stan replies:
There's growing evidence, contrary to what you might expect, that the
Federal government is more efficient in handling things than the private
sector can. For example, Medicare -- designed for people over 65 -- came
into being BECAUSE the private sector made such a mess of health care for
the elderly. And while Medicare needs tweaking, it's STILL better than the
prvate sector can do.
Social Security is another great example. Prior to its start in 1934 or 1935
( I forget which), the elderly were much poorer. We see from the national
pension reform that Margaret Thatcher implemented in England in the early
1980's -- privatizing their version of Social SEcurity -- widespread penury
was the result. Now the English look at our Social SEcurity as a model of
efficiency. Certainly it's not perfect. It needs some tweaking. But the
tweaking is minor, in contrast with what our fearless leader would like to
do. He would like to drown it in the bathtub -- not improve it. (After all,
he has the same credibility with Social SEcurity as he has with WMD.)
There are many wonderful things brought into being by the Federal government
to provide a safety net and improve the quality of life of all its citizens.
While we are the most advanced in terms of health care technology, we're the
only Western nation that doesn't provide nationalized health care -- in
spite of the AMA's self-serving caution about a single-payer system,
countries with such systems have healthier citizenry and less waste. Oddly
enough, prior to our going to war with Iraq in 1991, Iraq had better infant
mortality rates than the U.S.A. All the indicators make us look like a
third-world nation.
Image that!
Now even giant companies like General Motors realize that its expensive
health and retirement plans make it very hard to compete against companies
like Toyota that don't have such enormous burdens.
We're on our way to a single-payer system like civilized countries like
England, Canada and Norway. Like Germany, Italy and France. Maybe health
care in America will come into the 21st Century. Don't tell me we're the
most advanced. We're only advanced in technology, not in providing
healthcare. That's a different story.
Stan Spiegel
a socialist in
Portland, Maine
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
