Our American Nightmare

Like most people, I dream about a better future for me and my family. But most of what I see on offer from liberal politicians is far more likely to end in a nightmare.

1. Medicare-For-All: Those who support it, say health care should be a universal human right. So why does Medicare-For-All look more like a nightmare than a solution? Let’s look at the facts.

First, to say health care should be a right means removing the rights of those who provide it. Rather than doctors, nurses, and technicians deciding what their time, labor, and expertise is worth, government decides.

Second, rather than medical research companies recovering their costs and earning a profit when they create life-saving technologies and medicines, the government decides what they get. The sum total of these policies inevitably result in rationed health care, disincentives to innovation, fewer life-saving drugs and devices, less control by doctors and patients, and longer waits for care.

Third, does anyone really think putting the government in charge of health care will make it more efficient? Vets who rely on the Veterans Administration for their health care have complained about poor treatment, long waits, corrupt bureaucrats, and incompetent care for decades. All those complaints, even though the VA is run by probably the most competent department of government — the Defense Department. It got worse under Obama, and it’s started to get better in the last few years. In fact, in 9 commonly used measures of health care quality, the VA actually ranks better than outside hospitals as a whole in 4. Still, even the Department of Defense has shown the difficulty a government agency has in running even a relatively small health care system. There are ONLY nine million vets served with a total budget of $198.6 BILLION. That comes to about $222,000 per vet. Imagine the cost of extending the VA system of health care to 350 plus million Americans. By that calculation, the cost would be nearly $80 trillion per year — or about 20 times the total spent on health care now.

We don’t have to wonder about the results of government health care, just look at the outcome in other countries once the sparkle of grand promises have faded and the realities sink in — huge tax hikes, the exclusion of certain patients, reduced service, exorbitant co-pays, increasingly high costs for supplemental insurance, and inevitable flight to other countries to get treatment no longer available. Of course all of our socialist friends won’t tell you any of this.

2. Free college for all: We already have free education for students from Kindergarten through 12th grade. On top of that, those who wish to attend community college pay almost nothing. While I’m all for those who are qualified receiving a good education so they can earn a decent living, I don’t see why you and me should pay for it. Newly minted attorneys, engineers, economists, medical professionals, and investment bankers aren’t likely to send us a check once they graduate.

Instead, let’s really focus on targeted vocational education for the majority who are not, and should not, be Harvard-bound. Let’s make sure that we as a society have enough well-trained and successful plumbers, computer engineers, electricians, dental hygienists, clerks, librarians, etc.

For those who believe (and their educational history bares those beliefs) that they are bound for educational greatness, then pay your own way and since you are going to benefit from this education, pay for it yourself.

Oh, and especially for those here illegally, forget about taxpayer subsidized education — you should get zero, zilch, nada!

3. “The Green New deal:” Of all the left-wing proposals, this is undoubtedly the nuttiest. Not only does it include both of the dumb and incredibly expensive ideas already mentioned, it also says that within 10 years EVERYTHING will be green — zero emissions. No internal combustion. No jet engines. No fossils fuels. No turbines. No gas, no petroleum, no coal. It all means an end to air travel. Every car and truck on the road today will be banned, except those run strictly on battery power. And those won’t be rechargeable except by solar, wind, or hydroelectric energy. Diesel trains will be replaced (no one knows by what because technology doesn’t yet exist to power trains solely by renewables). Personal generators will be verboten. Leaf blowers, lawn mowers, barbecues, and fireplaces will all be banned. And it will all happen inside of 10 years.

It may come as no surprise that this is the brain-child (assuming the term brain actually applies) of AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who until a few months ago was a bartender. Now, as the newly elected Congresswoman from Queens, she thinks she has the knowledge to turn our economy upside down and fundamentally change America from the ground up.

These are just the highlights of nightmare policies coming from the left these days. Even more frightening, a large majority of Democrats in Congress have signed off on these proposals. It seems the Democrat leadership can’t get left enough fast enough to appeal to an increasingly left-wing, socialist, Democrat Party base.

It is no stretch to say that their dream for a radicalized America is going to end up as our nightmare.