Sunday, July 16, 2017

Education, healthcare: What else will we hand over to the Federal Government?

We well understand the Constitutional responsibilities that are given to the Federal government.  National defense, and entering into treaties with other nations come to mind.

Over the last century several other functions that had been under the purview of responsible families, the Church, local governments, and even the states have been assumed by the Federal government. 

Education, transportation, environment, energy, health are among the extra-Constitutional Federal responsibilities.   

Here is when several of these Federal departments were created:

  • Education:   1979
  • Transportation:  1966
  • Energy:  1977
  • Health and Human Services:  1953

I was going to write that the Federal government “usurped” these formerly local responsibilities.  But the reality is these transfers were voluntarily handed over by an increasingly passive, unengaged, and often indifferent local and state electorate. 

Over the past several decades we have seen an attitude shift among citizen activists from “personal and local responsibility” to “collective Federal responsibility.”  Now virtually everything seems to be the responsibility of the Federal government.  Banking, jobs, health care, education, the cars we drive, the air we breath, the food we eat.

The problem with this is the more responsibility we give up to more distant levels of government, the more regulations, higher taxes and fewer freedoms we will locally enjoy.

What’s next in this potpourri of responsibilities individuals and local governments hand up to our bloated bureaucratic Federal government?  And I don’t mean to use “bureaucratic” in a demeaning way.  That is just the nature of a government that must impersonally rule over millions of increasing diverse and in-united people with diverse heritage, nationalities, interests and values.

So now comes Federally legislated, regulated, controlled and mandated health insurance.  Obama, the national traitor, and his socialist minions so decreed it eight years ago.

Lets step back 38 years to the creation of the Department of Education.  What has that 38 years of multi-million, now multi-billion dollar budgets gotten us with regard to the quality of education?  $5.4 billion and over 4,40 employees in 2012, to be more exact.  And this doesn’t include the untold billions collected by local school districts for “free” public education.  It’s gotten our students a continually lower quality of education  since the formation of that Department – dismal to non-existent education in most large cities, with Common Core being the rotten cherry on top.

So now that we’ve experienced the results of the Federally controlled education fiasco, what do you think the Federally controlled health care fiasco would look like in 38 years?  We experienced what happened in the last 6 years of Obama-care.  More people are insured with premiums and copays they could not afford with care being even less accessible to more people.  No wonder it has been called the Unaffordable Care Act!

So I have asked myself this question:  Why is Trump, why are the great majority of Republicans even entertaining the concept of Obamacare 2.0?  Why are they even considering massive Federal involvement in health care?  Why can’t they leave it alone?   Why can’t they let the States, and doctors and hospitals, and insurance companies work it out? 

The answer, again, is this is what the electorate demands, in all its apathetic “let someone else be responsible” fervor.

Up till now we’ve earned the reputation of the nation with the greatest health care system in the world.  Why muck it up with Federal bureaucracy?  Why repeal and replace?  Just because it sounds catchy?  Why not just REPEAL?  You see what happened to education.  The same is virtually assured with our health system under a massive and assuredly unmanageable Federal program.

Sadly, I believe Federalization of our health care system is virtually assured.  I admit it.  I am a pessimist.

So now I look beyond Federal health insurance. 

Food:  We’ve had food stamps.  Now we have EBT cards.  It is also assured that in the not too distant future, food will become free for the masses, paid via federal taxes through a massive, inefficient and corrupt Federal program.

Income:  We’ve already heard some of the more “progressive” (read “Communist-inspired”) legislators suggest we are all mean-spirited if we don’t enable the Federal government to provide a guaranteed income to EVERYONE:  Employed, unemployed, motivated and slovenly, productive and unproductive alike.

This will all come on TOP of new laws following Europe's lead that prohibit us from writing or speaking the TRUTH if it offends ANYONE.  Anyone claiming he is offended from something someone says, such as saying “Muhammad was a pervert”, even if true, may file charges that will subject said offender to fines and or imprisonment.   So-called “hate speech” laws are proliferating in Europe out of all proportion to their original intent to curb anti-Semitism that peaked in the ‘40’s. 

From Jihad Watch:

In Britain last week, a hamburger vendor named Jim Gardiner refused to serve a customer, Piers Palmer, after Palmer disagreed with Gardiner’s Islamocritical views. That was a bit rude, but then Palmer reported Gardiner to the police for “hate speech.” Gardiner went to court, and was fined.

And the worst of it is that such laws will be applied unevenly depending on the favored group of the moment.  Right now, Christians get the short end of the stick, while urban rioters, Muslims, and gays receive special privileges.  They are the current “in” groups.

There is no end in sight as to the personal responsibilities we are freely giving over to the Federal government.

1 comment:

Brother Michael said...

Scary but so true...and that's what makes it scary.