Who's Making the Decisions?

I've been following this issue for some time now, and am finding that some of my fears regarding the stimulus bill are being confirmed. I am particularly concerned about some of the health care language that can be found buried in the bill. Two things concern me:

1. Obama promised that before he signed any non-emergency bill, he would allow time for the public to review it and voice any concerns. Something about "transparency." On the bill presented to the Senate (the largest, most expensive, and most far-reaching in the history of our nation), we had from midnight until 8am to read over 1,000 pages. No one read it.

2. There is language in this bill that will start us on the path toward nationalized/socialized medicine. Read Cal's article, or the one from Bloomberg that I referenced last week. Whether you give a rip about politics or not, it's important.

Here are two simple reasons why the idea of a nationalized health care bureau is a bad one:

1. You can decide better on issues related to your health than politicians can. This is an easy one, and yet millions would rather suck stale milk from the government teat than exercise our freedom (and responsibility) earned by previous generations. Please forgive the colorful word-picture, I grew up around pigs.
2. Placing medical decision-making in the hands of government agencies, primarily made up of individuals who have no medical training, will lead to tremendous inefficiencies, fewer options, and further devaluation of human life, starting with the aged. It will. I'm not being an alarmist here. It has happened in every country in which these policies exist.

There's a reason that people come from all over the world to receive health care in the U.S. And it's not because our government has done such a stellar job at running the show.

Read Mr. Thomas's article here.