There are certainly some Congresspeople who are pushing this for personal gain; they have a large company in their state that will benefit from a government plan, or they want to give out patronage positions in the new bureaucracy to their constituents, or maybe they have a vendetta against a private insurer in their state that wouldn’t “play ball” with a deal they were trying to work. I’m not so naive that I don’t know there is some of that going on, but for the most part, I think the biggest problem are the Senators and Representatives who are well intentioned. In other words, it’s that old, bugaboo, “empathy.”

Imagine you hear a neighbor has lost her job and she can no longer afford insurance for herself and her kids. You and Dr. Zoon may decide to put some money in an envelope and drop it in her mailbox, or get some friends together and have a bakesale, or car wash to help her out. Or, you may decide to do nothing.

Now, imagine you are a legislator and have the ability to enact laws and you get a letter from that same lady and you decide to do something. You have the power to do something. Unfortunately it’s not a zero sum game. When you act to help that woman you’re going to often hurt someone else; ie, Dr. Zoon and Tracy are going to pay some extra taxes.

Those are fascinating numbers. Really very interesting. Why are those numbers not know by anyone who actually could make a difference?

Your statement about the post office and Amtrak is spot on. I understand that a lot of people don’t like aspects of their current health coverage, or doctor, or the cost… What I cannot understand is how anyone believes adding in a new layer of government bureaucracy can make it better?!

Also, the numbers of uninsured are relatively small given the population of our country. Why don’t the folks who claim to want to help the uninsured start a private charity and use their influence to get donations and use the funds to insure the uninsured? Are you seriously telling me Warren Buffet and Michael Moore can’t put their heads together and figure out how to start a charity that will insure the uninsured?