Walter Reed A Metaphor For Government Health Care
By Doug Patton
March 12, 2007
"Government-run health care will combine the efficiency of the Post Office with the frugality of the Pentagon and the compassion of the IRS."-- 1994 rallying cry against Hillary-Care
I was writing fiery speeches for a long-shot Republican congressional candidate when Hillary Clinton attempted to engineer a takeover of America's health care system. In fact, it was Bill and Hillary's arrogant overreaching for power that helped that young conservative topple an entrenched Democrat in November of that year, one more victory in a landslide election night that would became known as the "Republican Revolution."
While the GOP revolution may have stalled, the liberal Democrat juggernaut for what used to be called "socialized medicine" rolls on. Those who want their government to provide cradle-to-the-grave safety nets continue to clamor for ever more radical candidates promising ever more radical solutions for our health care "crisis."
Hillary Clinton, of course, has never abandoned her dream of establishing a federal bureaucracy that would take control of one-seventh of the nation's economy; and the fact that she is now a serious contender for the White House makes her dream that much more dangerous. But running to her left, Barack Obama and John Edwards are trying to steal her thunder on the issue, and they will not be outdone in their attempts to buy the votes of those who believe America is all about having things handed to them.
As I read about the scandal surrounding the Walter Reed Army Hospital, I was reminded of Hillary's 1994 fiasco, and why so many of us were motivated to action against her blatant power grab. Can you imagine huge government hospitals, whose services all of us would be forced to utilize, with mold growing up the walls and vermin infesting the rooms like some third world medical facility? Liberals will never admit that this will be the result of their vision for our nation's health care system, but that is exactly what our wounded military heroes have been enduring at Walter Reed. Why should we believe that dictatorial Hillary-care would be any different?
Pick a federal agency. Do any of them fit your model of how health care should be run? How about the United States Postal Service? Calling itself a quasi-private government entity, the USPS is a relatively unaccountable monopoly that would crumble under real-world competition.
How about our government schools? Talk about unaccountable monopolies! Do I detect a pattern here?
Perhaps the Internal Revenue Service or Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) would qualify as your bureaucracy of choice. Ask those who have ever dealt with either agency if they would like to negotiate for cancer surgery with such people.
How about five trillion dollars in government spending for the forty-year "war on poverty"? Is that your model for efficiency?
While there was outsourcing going on at Walter Reed, with private companies providing at least some of the management, the truth is that whenever government is involved in any endeavor, efficiency, cost effectiveness and accountability inevitably head south. When government partners with a large corporation, the private sector does not improve the government; government corrupts the private sector.
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