"Aye, free! Free as a tethered ass!" —W.S. Gilbert
"All the affairs of men should be managed by individuals or voluntary associations, and . . . the State should be abolished." —Benjamin Tucker
"You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." —James Madison
"Fat chance." —Sheldon Richman
Friday, December 04, 2009
Op-ed: Kill the Insurance Mandate
Everyone who believes he lives in a free country should be asking himself, By what authority do the Congress and the president force me to buy insurance?
Sheldon, you're misunderstanding. It's not a mandate. Weren't you aware that Harry Reid says paying the income tax is voluntary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mRSI8yWwg)? It stands to reason that if paying tax is voluntary, then getting and paying for health insurance will also be voluntary.
You're right: It's ominous that this essential question is largely ignored. It's THE essential question, as far as I'm concerned. Not only do few people discuss this basic premise, I suspect you'd have a hard time getting most modern Americans to understand it on even the most fundamental level.
It's stuff like this that (painfully) reminds me just how far America has slipped off its founding bearings.
Sheldon, you're misunderstanding. It's not a mandate. Weren't you aware that Harry Reid says paying the income tax is voluntary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mRSI8yWwg)? It stands to reason that if paying tax is voluntary, then getting and paying for health insurance will also be voluntary.
ReplyDeleteGreat column.
ReplyDeleteYou're right: It's ominous that this essential question is largely ignored. It's THE essential question, as far as I'm concerned. Not only do few people discuss this basic premise, I suspect you'd have a hard time getting most modern Americans to understand it on even the most fundamental level.
It's stuff like this that (painfully) reminds me just how far America has slipped off its founding bearings.