Choice Words for Choice Times

The federal government has banned Aetna, a health insurance company, from marketing and enrolling new Medicare patients.  This is interesting both because it shows how willing the government is to regulate anything it can get away with, and how unwilling it is to let companies with terrible business models fail.  Of course, Aetna's president has been hasty to promise that this is just a fluke.

If this isn't an example of the state's disgusting forceful intervention into the market, I don't know what is.  It's too bad Aetna doesn't have a president like John Mackey of Whole Foods to stand up to the government and say, "Leave us alone!"

Logic vs. Government

My latest column at the Daily Caller analyzes the logical fallacies contained in base progressive thought, using Jon Stewart's recent critique of libertarians as a perfect example of an illogical progressive argument, and then applies this analysis to the recent healthcare bill.

...An analysis of the history of government reveals that even government actions with good intent usually end up resulting in negative consequences. Just consider the governmental policies over the past 50 years intended to make home ownership affordable for all Americans. Such actions led directly to an economic collapse that specifically hit the housing market, and thus homeowners, like never before...

...With this view of logic in mind, one can now understand why libertarians are so upset with the recent health care reform. The government-minded leftist would argue that those against the reform do not think that everyone should have access to quality health care, or were content with the current system. Neither is true, and it is in fact often the libertarian’s desire to see affordable health care for as many as possible that drives the protests of Obamacare...

Read the rest here.

Economic Straight Talking

In the most recent addition to his weekly column Texas Straight Talk, Congressman Ron Paul snaps Obamacare enthusiasts back to economic reality.

Dr. Paul makes it known that the extensive price tag accompanying the healthcare reform bill will only hasten the disastrous ruin of the nation’s economy. True reform would come in the form of policymakers embracing a free market approach in not just healthcare, but in all economic affairs. As always, Dr. Paul delivers the straight talk:

With passage of last week’s bill, the American people are now the unhappy recipients of Washington’s disastrous prescription for healthcare "reform." Congressional leaders relied on highly dubious budget predictions, faulty market assumptions, and outright fantasy to convince a slim majority that this major expansion of government somehow will reduce federal spending. This legislation is just the next step towards universal, single payer healthcare, which many see as a human right. Of course, this "right" must be produced by the labor of other people, meaning theft and coercion by government is necessary to produce and distribute it.

Read the rest here.

So now you're mad at the government?

My column this week at the Daily Caller is a challenge to moderates and moderate conservatives to see that the recent government actions on healthcare are really just one more action in a pattern of government being far too involved in our economy and our lives.

...It seems to me that such (anti-healthcare) protests are fueled by anger at the government for getting involved where they do not belong and passing legislation that could have dire consequences for both our freedom and our economy.

Not to be smug, but I have to ask the obvious question—is this anything new? Firstly, government-led destruction of our health care system has been going on for decades. Obamacare is simply the latest in a pattern of government claiming to solve problems while merely creating new ones and exacerbating old ones. However, health care is far from the only arena where this takes place.