As a native of Wisconsin, I’m always interested in reading about legislative goings-on up in the Dairy State. According to this article in today’s Wall Street Journal, there is a serious push on, led by Governor Doyle and the Democratic state senate, to institute a “universal” health care system. The anticipated costs (almost certainly they’ll actually be higher) would require heavy tax increases, causing people and businesses to flee. Maybe some cows would stick around.
Furthermore, the proposal indicates just how authoritarian the idea of universal health care provided by government must be. Health Savings Accounts would be prohibited and the number of medical services that policies are mandated to cover increases.
So far, Republicans in the House have blocked the plan, but I wouldn’t count on them to hold out like the 101st Airborne at Bastogne.
What I would really like to know is this: Do the proponents of health care socialism not understand that it has prodigious drawbacks in cost, efficiency, and innovation? Or is it the case that they don’t care so long as it’s a political winner in the next election?
