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Political Commentary>
Healthcare and the Loss of American Influence
March 23, 2010
If my paid-for Pathfinder got a flat tire, I would fix the tire. I would not go out and buy a Cadillac Escalade that I cannot afford.
Why should our government be different when it comes to healthcare?
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Unable to pay for its entitlements, Germany is on the verge of bankruptcy. No longer able to raise taxes — a 19% value added tax on everything purchased in the country including houses and automobiles, $8 a gallon for gas, and 8% and higher permanent unemployment — Germany is rationing healthcare. No more free elective surgery. Limited visits to doctors and deferring prescriptions. It should be noted that Germany employs the same kind of regulated insurance companies that are in the healthcare plan just passed by Democrats.
The entire world benefits from U.S. medical research. When my wife had a heart attack in Naples, Italy, she was treated by an American-trained doctor with American-made equipment. With a healthcare system geared toward benefits rather than quality, people across the world will be adversely affected by Obamacare.
Germany has 82 million people in an area half the size of Texas. Even with this economy of scale, Germany cannot make its entitlement society function with its onerous tax system. With four times the population in an area 20 times the size of Germany, it is highly unlikely that America can make it work, either.
Europe in general mirrors German society.
Because of high taxes, entrepreneurs are non-existent in Europe. Charities play a minor role in society. Volunteerism died along with government assumption of social responsibility.
What are the implications for the United States?
A loss of entrepreneurs and charities. A value added tax. A federal gas tax that will require Americans to park their cars. Permanent, high unemployment that will debilitate many Americans for the rest of their lives. Taxes on everything that moves as states and counties and cities struggle to raise funds in the face of a ravenous federal government.
But perhaps even worse than all this will be the impact of healthcare on U.S. foreign policy.
The gross domestic product of the countries of the European Union (EU) is 10% higher than that of the U.S., but their combined defense spending is 60% less. The EU countries are unable to deploy more than 50,000 troops combined. The military equipment they produce is inferior to the technology and durability of the U.S. defense industry. Burdened with aging societies and excessive entitlements and treating the military as a social program, European defense spending is second fiddle to a comfortable life for the entitled.
As our taxes rise, our defense sector will contract and our technological advantage in defense will wither. We will be forced into a defensive crouch, confined to our shores. Our ability to influence the world for good — to prevent proliferation, to rally world opinion on behalf of a population subject to genocide, to stand up for what is right when everyone else remains silent, to stand up for our interests — will no longer be possible. Our leadership role in the United Nations and amongst our allies will be limited to talk and empty words because there will be nothing to back it up.
Healthcare was more than a vote for higher taxes and a recipe for radical change. It was also a vote to diminish American influence. While Barack Obama is comfortable with leaving the country a legacy of international impotence, most Americans are not on board.
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