Jacob G. Hornberger |
When President Franklin Roosevelt revolutionized America’s economic system by enacting Social Security, he knew that it would be a permanent change. He knew that once he got people dependent on the system, he would have them. Sort of like how a heroin dealer feels about getting a new customer hooked on heroin.
Get it passed, get people dependent on it, and you have them. The program becomes permanent.
That’s what President Obama and his acolytes were undoubtedly thinking about when they enacted Obamacare. Get it passed, get people dependent on it, and you have them. The program becomes permanent.
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That’s what has now happened with Obamacare. With Republicans running scared for fear of adverse voter reaction if they follow through with their 8-year “Repeal Obamacare” mantra, the conservative movement to repeal Obamacare is now finished.
What now?
Trump is right. Under Obamacare, America’s healthcare system will continue to be a growing disaster. That’s because socialism is a disaster.
When officials try to fix socialist programs, the situation only gets worse, which then causes officials to call for more reforms. The end of this road is a 100 percent socialist healthcare system, like in Cuba and North Korea.
As the health care crisis grows, there will be increasing calls by the mainstream press for Republicans to join Democrats in a healthcare reform package designed to fix the crisis. But any health care reform package will only make the situation worse. When officials try to fix socialist programs, the situation only gets worse, which then causes officials to call for more reforms. The end of this road is a 100 percent socialist healthcare system, like in Cuba and North Korea.
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Meanwhile, conservative commentators and conservative think tanks will continue to come up with their particular variations of conservative health care reforms. Why not? This racket has worked to garner support and money for the conservative movement for 8 years. Might as well keep it going.
But anyone who keeps going down the “Repeal Obamacare” or “Reform Obamacare” road is just wasting his time, energy, and money. That’s because all conservative and liberal health care reform plans leave intact the root cause of America’s health care crisis: Medicare and Medicaid.
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If Medicare and Medicaid are left intact, America will continue to have a grave healthcare crisis. It can’t be avoided.
That’s the important point in all this: If Medicare and Medicaid are left intact, America will continue to have a grave healthcare crisis. It can’t be avoided. These two programs are as socialistic as Social Security and Obamacare. They are the root cause of America’s health care woes.
Thus, to achieve a healthy healthcare system, there is but one solution: Get government entirely out of health care. Separate healthcare and the state. Adopt a 100 percent free-market healthcare system. Begin by repealing, not reforming, Medicare and Medicaid, along with Obamacare.
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There is no other solution. The problem, of course, is that so many people have become dependent on Medicare and Medicaid. That’s the lesson that President Lyndon Johnson, who brought us these two socialist programs, learned from his mentor, FDR. Put people on the dole and you have them permanently. The result is a socialist system that will only continue to get worse and worse.
Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He was a trial attorney for twelve years in Texas. He also was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught law and economics. In 1987, Mr. Hornberger left the practice of law to become director of programs at the Foundation for Economic Education. This article was first published in The Future of Freedom Foundation and is republished here with permission. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.