Gov’t Healthcare: the Price Tag
While there are any number of reasons I’m against the idea of the Federal Government becoming further involved in healthcare (whether a public “option” or a direct take over single-payer system, it doesn’t matter), I’m going to take some time today to talk about another facet of this that is getting lost in the general hoopla surrounding the debate. It’s mentioned at times, generally peripherally at best. The issue on the docket for today is the price tag.
One thing I’m not going to do is pull out numbers or the like. If you want the hard projected numbers, I would suggest hitting the Congressional Budget Office website. I’m going to talk in generalities here, because it’s enough to get the point across.
Right now, the US is leveraged to the hilt when it comes to debt. Eight years of a two front war, TARP bailouts, and Stimulus Packages have left our country deeply in debt (much of that debt owned by China). Every report I’ve seen where the Democrats are asked where they’re going to the money to pay for the “clean up” of healthcare has been responded to with hand waving that amounts to “we’ll find the money somewhere.”
One of the big somewheres in this has been increasing taxes on the “rich.” After all, they should pay their “fair share.” Nevermind the top 1% of Income Earners ($410,000+ a year) are currently paying approximately 40% of the taxes in the country (as of reports from 2007), which is more of the tax burden than the bottom 95% of Income Earners. And these are the people on whom we want to dump even more of the load?
Kennedy, Reagan, and G.W. Bush all lowered taxes. In response, they saw a rise in tax revenues. When taxes are lowered, people are more willing to take entrepreneurial risks, incur Capital Gains taxes, and other things from which they move away when taxes are higher. In return, more money ends up flowing into the Federal Government. Clinton got lucky and hit a perfect storm when he raised taxes. The Dot Com Boom saved the economy during the Clinton years, as well as the full flowering of Reagan’s economic policies.
Obama, however, is not going to be so lucky. Between raising taxes, drowning the Federal Government (and hence the tax payers) in debt, and the sunset provisions on the Bush tax cuts, he and the Democrats are making all the right steps to push us back to Carter era economic woes.
Regardless of whether you think the current flavor of healthcare reform is a good thing or a bad thing, the simple fact is the United States cannot afford the price tag. When you and I run into situations where we can’t afford things, we do without. It’s been obvious for a while now the Federal Government, no matter who is in charge, doesn’t hold themselves to the same viewpoint.