I fancy myself as a fiscal conservative and a social liberal.
My general outlook is, conservatively, conservative; somewhat to the right of Genghis Khan. Meir Kahane and Shamai are preferred over Israel's first premier and Hillel.
When I first heard that Obama wanted to require everyone to have health insurance I was against the idea. The mere fact that we - Americans - are being told to pay for something or accept something we didn't volunteer to pay for or accept seemed downright un-American.
But now, after giving it some thought . . .
I believe we need some form of universal health care for all American citizens. I am specifically excluding illegal aliens and tourists. (When I go overseas, I have to pay for my health care, so why should a tourist get a free ride here? The exception being if the tourist is the victim of a crime on our soil.)
Given that, I've come around to accepting the principle that universal health care should be funded universally.
That does not mean that I am forced to buy a specific insurance plan, but it does mean that insurers - private and government - must offer affordable plans. It means that, as usual, government - that's you and me - must fund health care for indigents, people who are unable to work. People who are able but unwilling to work are another matter.
Today, 31 January 2011, the Florida court struck down Obama care's requirement to force everyone to have health care insurance as unconstitutional.
If making people pay for health insurance is unconstitutional then maybe Social Security - a forced tax - is unconstitutional. Likewise taxes to support health care facilities such as indigent care facilities in "county" hospitals.
Granted, I went to primary school many years ago, but I don't recall anything in the U.S. Constitution or any of its amendments that stated we have to pay into Social Security - originally established as a voluntary tax or Medi-something, or any social responsibility taxes, although remember I am a social liberal who believes we need to care for those who can't care for themselves.
I lived in Israel with its socialized medicine. I'm not the greatest fan of the system, but once you get past the primary care physician things are pretty good - and there always remains the private doctor waiting to take your cash. As a Medicare Advantage client, my HMO is pretty good (except when dealing with member services); call it "semi-socialized" health care.
We already pay for "semi-socialized" health care with every Medicare deduction from our pay checks.
The bottom line is I fail to see how the payment part of Obamacare is so onerous; why it is more objectionable than Medicare, Social Security, library and school taxes, and similar.
While I consider the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue unworthy of the office, the financial part of the health care plan tossed out by the Florida court seems to make sense.
Admittedly the way the bill was pushed down our throats is contemptible, but at least this one portion seems reasonable, at least to me.
הריני מקבל עלי מצוה עשה של ואהבת לרעך כמוך, והריני אוהב כל אחד מבני ישראל כנפשי ומאודי
