At the crux of the ongoing healthcare debate is the question of how much government intervention and supervision do we want in our lives. On one hand the fact that 1 in 6 of the poorest, therefore most at risk Americans have no health coverage whatsoever. Of those Americans who do have healthcare, ΒΌ of them have inadequate healthcare. This has led to an astronomical number of medically induced bankruptcies and countless injustices perpetrated on good people by an insurance system that far too often fails to insure. .
There is little disagreement that government should be in some way involved in creating a solution that gives Americans in need of medical assistance the right to life, liberty and the continued pursuit of happiness. The disagreements come in recognizing the failure of government to properly handle other socialized systems, the amount of government oversight that should be imposed, and the coverage that should be part of any comprehensive national healthcare solution.
Social security has proven itself to be the albatross of the ruling party since its inception in August of 1935. The simple reason is that government red tape has bloated the system and made it impossible to compete with private market investment strategies. This means that those Americans receiving Social Security benefits now receive far less compensation than they might have if they had instead invested the 13% of their income (6.5% from themselves and 6.5% from their employers) into a privatized investment program. Social Security has proven that the United States Government cannot necessarily be trusted to act in line with capitalist ideals given a socialized investment portfolio. It is the fear of many that healthcare, if left to the federal government, will prove no different, serving only to raise taxes already bloated by overspending and poor government oversight. .
The problem with government oversight is that in a nation that prides itself on freedom, excess oversight results in fears of autocracy that result in the replacement of government officials, and a lack of oversight results in bloated budgets and abuses both of power and stewardship so important to a successful socialized service.
