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Why not socialized medicine and privatized police?
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Maybe the emptiest and is some ways dumbest objections to the idea of a universal single payer government run healthcare system offered by conservatives, is the idea that it will take us into socialized medicine. And the answer to that is, so what if it does?
We already have "socialized" police and firefighting and you don't hear Republicans complaining about that.
As I have pointed out more than once, any healthcare system that is run on principles that doesn't make a distinction between a doctor of orthopedic surgery and Dr. Pepper has problems and that is exactly the healthcare system we have now, a healthcare system that is market driven. Which is why you see so many commercials for prescription drug treatments on television right along with Dr. Pepper.
Obama keeps talking about making healthcare "affordable". But healthcare should not be about what is "affordable". "Affordable" healthcare is an absurd concept.
Healthcare is a necessity not a privilege and most other western countries seem to recognize that. This country hasn't. In a country as wealthy as ours, healthcare should be a right provided to every citizen in the same way that police and firefighting is provided by state and local governments through taxes.
But you don't hear conservatives whining about socialized police protection or socialized firefighting yet that is exactly what it is. So if money is the big issue, why not reverse the process? Let's privatize police and firefighters and let people buy insurance to pay for those services if and when they need them, then the taxes that have been spent for police and fire can pay for healthcare for everyone and people can buy private insurance to pay the police or firefighting bill they get if they need either.
The fact is more people need healthcare on a regular basis than they do police or firefighters. Most people go their entire lives without needing to call a cop or the fire department. But how many can say that about a doctor?
So it makes more sense to have free medical care and let people who want it buy insurance that pays for police and firefighting if they need it.
If you've been burglarized you call the police, they show up, and send you a bill for taking the police report. Maybe your insurance will pay for an investigation and you get your stuff back or maybe you don't. Maybe there is a co pay if you call the police to get your neighbor to turn his music down or for a domestic disturbance call. Of course if you make a lot of 911 calls your deductible skyrockets.And if the cops are showing up once a week at your house, your insurance skyrockets also. One thing for sure, if people had to pay for a cop they'd be a lot less frivolous 911 calls and think about how much money that would save.
Banks of course would pay a much higher premium for police insurance since the risk is obviously higher. And so would business when it came to firefighting.
But here is the bright side. Given the incidence of private citizens requiring police and firefighting, the insurance premiums for those services would be a lot less than they are for medical insurance which,in collusion with doctors and drug companies is the biggest racket this side of Bernie Madoff.
And given the risks firefighters and police are exposed to doing their jobs, privatizing them would result in their salaries skyrocketing and would then be in line with the risks they take on the job. Its a much more sensible system all the way around.
So let's privatize police and firefighters, offer insurance to pay for those services to anyone who wants it and use the tax money to pay for healthcare.
And to every conservative and Republican who thinks that suggestion is simply absurd, while it's never going to happen, its not nearly as absurd as the current healthcare system which treats whether or not you can afford cancer treatments the same as whether or not you can afford a new Bentley..
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