The legislators and doctors who have promoted this legislation seem to think they have the power to repeal the laws of economics, but they do not.  Requiring insurance policies to include these features is like requiring every new car that is sold to include a sun roof and a satellite radio.  They are nice features, but adding them would increase the cost of the car, which would price many people out of the market, and even those people who could afford those features might be far better off spending their money on something else.  Similarly, requiring the addition of these features to health insurance policies will increase the cost of health insurance, pricing more people out of the market, and even those who can afford the increased coverage will be prevented from spending their money on other things that might be more effective at increasing their lifespan or bringing them more happiness.  There is no free lunch.

For example, if a family breadwinner postpones buying a safer car or postpones making repairs to his existing car because he was forced to spend his money on additional health insurance features and then dies in a crash which he otherwise would have survived or avoided, it will be of little consolation to his family that his health insurance covered screenings for colon cancer and mental health.  In another case, a person suffering from a disease that is likely to kill him in a couple of years might be far better off spending his money taking a nice vacation but will be denied that happiness, thanks to this law.  In still another situation, an overweight person might be better off spending his money on nutrition counseling and exercise classes, but that money will be gone, thanks to the do-gooder legislators and doctors. 

Not only are these doctors and legislators extremely arrogant to think they know how people they have never met should spend their money to maximize their own happiness, but by using the force of law to impose their preferences on these people, they are doing great harm by preventing them from making the choices that would best serve their own needs.  Do they really believe that graduating from medical school or getting more votes than their opponent makes them all-knowing and able to craft a one-size-fits-all health insurance policy that will be better than the individualized choices that people would make for themselves?  If so, then they are not nearly as smart as they think they are!

This is yet another example of what happens when people want the good feelings that come from helping others without actually having to pay the price – seeking to feel good on the cheap.  Unfortunately, since the harm they are causing is largely invisible, they are able to continue their destructive behaviors and often are even cheered on in their pursuits by other “useful idiots” who do not recognize what really is happening.    

If the doctors and legislators really wanted to do good rather than just feel good, they would operate on a voluntary basis, which would increase people’s choices and opportunities, rather than on a force basis, which limits choices and opportunities.  For example, they could establish private charities that would help provide mental health services and colon cancer screenings at low cost.  They could donate their time and money and encourage donations from others.  That is how health care often has been provided in the past, from the March of Dimes, which was an entirely private charity established to fight polio, to many hospitals and clinics sponsored by churches and other charitable organizations.  Engaging in such real efforts is not as glamorous as passing a law that pretends to solve all the problems with a single stroke of the pen, but it has the benefit of actually doing real good instead of doing harm.

The people who like to impose their will on others by force like to think they have the moral high ground, but quite the opposite is true.  They are human parasites, getting their good feelings at other people’s expense, and they should not be allowed to continue to feel good while causing such harm.  It is time to pull the gauzy, good-feelings curtain aside and look at the reality.  If people really want to do good, then they need to stop trying to impose their will by force, start respecting the life, liberty and property of others, and roll up their sleeves and get to work.

1.       Health Insurance – In the Texas debate, Mrs. Clinton said that what gets her out of bed every morning is her desire to make a difference in our lives.  In particular, she does not want health insurance companies to continue to have the power to decide who will live and who will die.  Apparently, she would prefer to have the government do it.  Unfortunately, that’s not the kind of difference I would like her to make in my life!

No doubt her statements give people a sense of assurance that, when she becomes President, they will no longer have to worry about how to afford good health care, but these statements should instead cause them great concern.  While there certainly are many improvements that should be made in our health care system, we should not forget that, while health insurance companies may be run by terrible scoundrels, at least the scoundrels still have to compete against each other and we still have a small degree of choice; when the government has a monopoly on health care, it really will be the only game in town and will in many cases have the power to decide who lives and who dies.

If you want to see our future when government has a monopoly on health care, go to FreeMarketCures.com to see a video about a Canadian who would have had to wait many months for a test to find out that he had a malignant brain tumor and many more months to have it removed, by which time he probably would have died.  Instead, he paid out of his own pocket to be treated quickly in the U.S. while he still could survive.  This is a very common occurrence in Canada, with the U.S. serving as a back-up for Canadians who need expensive procedures for which the government provides a long delay, often delaying until after the person has died. 

In defending her health care plan, Mrs. Clinton praised Social Security and Medicare as other government programs that help people.  Both of these programs are going bankrupt and will not be available to help the baby boomers when they retire, so how can Mrs. Clinton make these statements with a straight face?  Even now, Medicare is cutting back on its payments, and many elderly people are having trouble finding doctors who will accept them as patients due to the low Medicare reimbursement rates.

Also on the subject of health insurance, Louisville’s own MaryLou Marzian wants to add another requirement to health insurance in Kentucky, making it even more expensive.  Ms. Marzian seems to think that adding requirements to health insurance has no cost.  Actually, it drives up the cost of health insurance, which ultimately is paid for by the employee who is insured.  It’s like saying that, if you want to go to the grocery store to buy eggs, you also have to buy steak.  And then you wonder why so many people can’t afford to buy eggs!

2.       Shootings – Unfortunately, it has happened again.  A former student at Northern Illinois University murdered several students before killing himself.  Since our daughter attends Virginia Tech, and we are continuing to live through that experience, we have particular sympathy for the victims of this latest massacre, including the students who survived and who will be attending funerals and memorial services and will now wake up every morning wondering whether today might be the day that a killer decides to murder them, too.  There have been and will continue to be numerous studies about what makes a person decide to commit these kinds of horrible murders, and that is fine.  However, no matter how many studies are conducted and no matter how many mental health programs are created, there still will be people who want to commit mass murder and who will be able to plan and carry out these types of attacks unless they are stopped by force.  All the studies and all the programs in the world will not change that fact. 

Whether the terror comes from a mentally ill college student or an Islamic terrorist or someone else, we need to stop disarming our children and allow them to defend themselves as has been done in Israel.  These murderers are cowards, and they are unlikely even to plan attacks where they think the victims might shoot back; furthermore, even a minimally trained person with a gun can stop an attacker in his tracks.  We should respect the power of guns and teach our children gun safety as we teach them how to defend themselves.  Only then will these murderers be stopped. 

Remember, if you or your loved ones are working or attending school in a “gun-free” zone, you are really in a “defense-free” zone, where anyone wanting to become a mass murderer knows he can get a good start before anyone will stop him.  Does that make you feel safer?

3.       Profit is not a four-letter word – I recently met with a new client who was interested in protecting his invention but insisted he did not want to make a profit on it.  I thought this was very peculiar.  If he was not interested in profit, why come to me?  He simply could dedicate his invention to the public and be done with it!  Apparently, he is one of many who has been brainwashed into believing that profit is a bad thing.

          But profit is a wonderful thing!  Without profits, we all would starve to death!  When an entrepreneur brings a new product or service to market or finds a better way to deliver existing products or services and successfully competes in the free market, he makes the pie bigger and everyone better off.  And if he earns large rewards for his troubles and becomes stinking rich, even better!  His becoming richer does not make someone else poorer. 

          Of course, there are other ways to obtain money that do make other people poorer, such as theft (legal or illegal), fraud, embezzlement, and extortion.  The proper job of government is to prevent or punish these types of behavior, but, in fact, the government is the largest actor in this field, forcibly taking about half of our income in taxes and putting us all into debt with its wild spending habits.  It steals the widow’s pension and savings by inflating the currency.  It takes away hope by punishing the people who create wealth and opportunity.  But the very folks who think profit is a four-letter word think government spending is a wonderful thing – manna from heaven with no price to be paid.  Do you suppose they obtained their educations in government schools?