Comment: I think this is a well-thought out plan, but it is too liberal in many aspects. I do not believe that certain people should have to pay for other peoples’ mistakes (such as the single mother). The mother decided on her own free will to have a child, even if that meant she was going to have to work harder. People become dependent on the government too often and that is a shame because government assistance should not become a crutch to people who mess up. I do, however, like that income tax idea because I think income tax brackets are unfair. Wealthy people are being “punished” for being wealthy by being taxed more. There should be one flat rate (such as 30 % like you proposed) and everyone pays that percentage of their income, regardless of what that said income is. — Cory
Response: What an interesting response! I am curious why you say the ComingTogether Plan is “too liberal” when the example of your objection (that implies a single mother should not get additional benefits for having a child) is another way of saying that there is not enough government control in the Plan. Can you agree that attaching strings to assistance is asserting more government control? I think of the desire to exert government control of individual lives as being a liberal concept. I am also concerned that in this example, not paying additional benefits when the child is born has the effect of penalizing the child for something that is not the child’s fault. The downside of freedom is the freedom to be stupid, but that downside is not bad enough to discourage me from believing that on the balance, freedom is a good thing!
Let me point out that the current system has the effect of discouraging a behavior that most of us would consider responsible – that of the mother and father getting married. Do you agree that eliminating the disincentive to get married would be progress?
Yes, with human nature being what it is, there will be some who are happy to take benefits and not do anything to better themselves, but I have enough faith in capitalism and the creativity of people to believe that positive incentives will encourage the vast majority to become more productive. The problem we see over and over in counseling on financial issues is that opportunities to earn money are declined because people receiving benefit are worried about losing those benefits. Or even worse, people receiving benefits take their economic activity underground – not reporting their earnings to any government organization. They would be willing to pay a fair income tax on the earnings, but their real “tax rate” is too high when the loss of benefits is considered. I really dislike it when the design of “assistance” programs encourages criminal activity.
Virginia, you have more rights today than you will if this new plan goes thru. Dont you see that all of your rights are slowly being taken away. Do you want to be a slave to your government when it comes to your doctor. They already have taken away more freedom that you want to admit. Nothing is FREE. NOTHING. You will pay one way or the other. And there are ways to get Healthcare today with or without insurance. Go to a doctor and PAY for your own visit. Its really easy. Pay for your own visit. If you cant, then go to the emergency room at a county hospital, they will not turn you down. See, how easy that it. Not thru the government.
Ryann,
We see this plan the other way, as empowering individual decisions. Your example of health care demonstrates our point. For those that do not have the resources to pay for a medical procedure, you suggest they go to the county hospital. That is the government run health care provider (a single payer system) that I would like to avoid. We are recommending that every citizen have a level of insurance that covers most major costs — spreading those cost over the ones that need the help and the ones fortunate enough to stay healthy. That is the basic idea of insurance. And that each citizen can choose the insurance carrier to keep competition in the system, since they have that freedom to choose. Of course, there will be some who can add more money to the pot and get better coverage, but the wealthy can always to that. They have more resources.
I would also like to mention that most individuals that find themselves with no health insurance can be students, self-employed and people who are out of work. More than half of those uninsured are under the age of Thirty-five. They do not feel they are needing health insurance since they are young and healthy. Their income is generally spent on housing, food, in addition to entertainment. A lot of people that do go to work either complete or not professional are not presented insurance through their jobs so they move without as a result of rising valuation on health insurance in the country. Thanks for the thoughts you share through this web site.
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