Health Care And Work

As Gallup releases its latest poll on health care, I'm wondering if it's somehow a sin to talk about health care in relationship to work these days.

PRINCETON, NJ -- As President Obama begins a final push on healthcare reform, slightly more Americans say they would advise their member of Congress to vote against rather than for a healthcare reform bill similar to the one the president has proposed.

Nearly fifty-percent or better of citizens today pay no taxes. Like it, or not, one of the incentives for seeking and keeping gainful employment in America has been health care because of the relationship between the two. Supporters of national health care often invoke a moral imperative. I'm unconvinced such high mindedness always pays the dividends people want to believe.

Supporters of healthcare legislation commonly cite a moral imperative as a reason for their support. The most frequent specific response -- mentioned by 29% of supporters -- is that people need health insurance and there are too many without it. Another 12% specifically cite a moral obligation to provide it. An additional 4% say it would help senior citizens and 3% say it would help the poor.

Supplying tax payer funded health care to all takes away yet one more incentive for members of the lower classes to lift themselves up. It's not hard to imagine a growing under class in America that fails to see any reason to strive for anything better at all.

If a reduction in the welfare state back under Clinton did America good - and I believe it did, in some important ways, we may well be on the road to undermining those efforts even more significantly than we've ever turned things around.

With one more vast entitlement on top of the many that already exist, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the results be devastating to America in ways that have nothing to do with health care. It shouldn't be ruled out that one reason Obama hasn't seemed to care enough to do a thing about creating jobs, is because the lack of them creates the very type of insecurity that feeds into the help me mentality he needs to pass what amounts to a government power grab over 20% of the America economy.

If ObamaCare passes the fabric of society as regards the American workplace will never be the same again. And I don't mean that in a good way at all.

Comments

[bruce]

Is it acceptable these day to call Barry what he is? He is a far-left, almost, kinda, neo......SOCIALIST, there I said it.

He hates profit, free enterprise and he grows government and thinks government and academic elites (like himself), should make all the decisions for everyone's life.

This effeminate momma's boy needs to be replaced ASAP.

[buckjohnson]

Bruce nice post... all I can say. Ad homien attacks are always so intellectually impressive. Again, find someone who has actually lived in a socialist environment and ask him or her if Pres. Obama is a socialist. And Dan, the 50 percent of Americans do not pay taxes is just plain a lie and you should know better. Every time a person pays their phone bill, utility bill, purchase food or other durable goods, receives a payroll check, etc.. pays taxes. And it is just plain silly to think a person gets up in the morning and thinks..."hey, I won't work because I have free health care". That is about as dumb as the guy above who calls Pres. Obama a "mommas boy" (def. some projection and some homosexual repression going on).
First HC should not depend on employment status. Second there are a lot employed folks without insurance. And finally, I know you have not been to a poor neighborhood. (We know this by your DC subway exp.) Cause if you have, most people struggle the day buying the simple things like toilet paper, food, keeping their lights on. It is a constant challenge. So to say that folks will rather face these challenges so they can have free health care...the rebuttal writes itself. Your post is like a comedy act. It is so easy to mock.

[MarkJ]

buckjohnson,

I've lived in socialist environments....and they suck. Try experiencing the joys of the Italian medical system for 10 days like I did after suffering an eye injury when I lived in Brindisi, Italy.

Here, I'll sum up the Italian health care system for you: pasta three times a day, fruit maybe once a day, no "comfort" items unless family or friends brought them in for you, no TV, no music, doctor and rude nurse visits maybe once a day (if you're lucky), cigarette butts on the floors, and sharing a communal room with ten belching, farting, snoring, card-playing, mouth-running Eye-tal-yuns.

Oh, I forgot: I guess I should be grateful because it was "free," huh?

Put that in your pipe, buckaroo banzai, and smoke it.

[buckjohnson]

sorry Markj...your post is not a description of a socilist country, but american slackers. I know you were a little snarky, but please do some reading and come back.