The Public Option: Do They Think We’re Stoopid?

Do they think we’re Stoopid?  We’re not so Stoopid.  We know to read books that are written especially for us; like Dummy books; like Economics for Dummies.  We know that those books are geared towards us.  And then again, we can figure out how to Google.  You put in a few words; words like Competition; then you narrow it down to Economic Competition.  You don’t need a PhD to learn how to press the Enter button.

And then you get the material you want.

Economic Competition.  A little studying, a little learning.  With anything Economics they always like to bring up Adam Smith and his book, The Wealth of Nations, written in 1776 – “allocating productive resources to their most highly-valued uses.”  Efficient uses of resources, encouraging efficiency, getting the most value for your resources.  By becoming more efficient you’re producing better products.  The consumer wants the best and at the least cost.  Now if there is Monopoly, there is no competition.  A few competitors is an oligopoly.  Fancy words.  In a free economy the Consumer, the public, the masses make the economic decision; they decide what they want.  But that’s in a free economy.

Deadweight Loss

Now Economics for Dummies talks about a “deadweight loss“.  Okay, they describe it; but then they say “Taxes on goods and services also cause deadweight losses.”  They talk about the supply curve shifting.  No gains, just losses and we’re not maximizing our limited resources.

But here comes happiness: Perfect Competition.  Economics for Dummies explains it very well: “…markets save society a lot of money because they produce efficiently without requiring any human intervention.  We don’t have to pay big salaries to experts to make sure that markets run efficiently; markets do the job for free.”

A free market sounds good.  But once you put in regulations, taxes, as well as new laws and rules, everything gets skewered.  The prices are wrong, the consumer is confused as to what to buy; who is allowed to be the consumer becomes another question. Who are the providers, and who pays?

It is not competition to have the government in the health care market.  The government, the elected officials got in there to preserve, protect and defend.  The government does not provide health care.  If the government provides health care, then what do doctors do?  We have 800,000 doctors; about 5 years ago we had 800,000 doctors.  We would need to make the job more appealing in some fashion in order to attract more people into the profession of medicine.  They have to give up their youth,  time, and money to get education, training, studying, and then put in even more time to become a doctor.  Maybe people don’t want to give up their youth.  Maybe they could spend their time doing something else, more enjoyable than studying and learning, and studying more and learning more, and putting in more hours and more hours without sleep and rest to cover their shift.

Give the doctors 47,000,000 new patients.  But if you don’t have more doctors won’t the old doctors have to give less time to their current patients?  Doesn’t sound too good.

If the government says they have an option to compete with insurance providers, then the insurance providers are not able to compete on an even playing field with the government.  The government does not have to show a profit.  Private companies do.  Companies are in business to make money.  They have to sell “something” that people of their own free will are going to buy.  The companies have expenses; labor is one of them; costs of doing business; maybe they even advertise; maybe they look to have salespeople – salespeople don’t manufacture the product, they just sell it – maybe they pay rent, maybe they have telephone expenses; on and on it goes.  After all of that they have to make a profit; otherwise why do all that work.

But if the government is in there, the playing field changes.  Governments are not profit centers.  They can operate at a deficit.  But companies can’t; companies go bankrupt.

Hospitals, doctors, nurses offer a service.  They help the sick.  They also have to get paid for their service.  But the government could step in and change reimbursement schedules, pay levels for services provided – cuts, cuts and more cuts.  The doctors and nurses are the front-line providers in the market.  With government in the arena,  it is no longer a free market.  Choice is eliminated.  Hospitals look to have the newest technologies and equipment to operate more efficiently;  to bring down their costs and raise their profit levels – be efficient, more competitive.  Once the government steps in, they cannot afford to be competitive; they cannot afford to purchase a new piece of equipment.  Who wants to go to a dilapidated hospital?  People want to be cured.  People don’t want to continue to be sick; they don’t want last year’s diagnosis; they don’t want last year’s pill – they want today’s breakthrough technology.

Once you have government interference you no longer have a free market place.  There is no longer competition.  There is one controlling entity giving all others the rules under which they can operate.

Let the market be free.  Let there be competition.  We’re not stoopid.

More from TRP

• Dem Congressman: “I Don’t Worry About The Constitution”
• US Debt “Unsustainable”: Obama
• Chavez Bans Singing In The Shower

TRP Recommends

• Faultline USA: Barack Obama: The vindictive President  (faultlineusa)
• Faultline USA: The "New" Amnesty Bill  (faultlineusa)
• Dyncorp should pay the employees they have before hiring more  (Ms Sparky)

Ask therightperspective To Recommend Your Posts

Related posts:

1. Is Public Option Really Dead?
2. Obama Drops Public Option, Libs Whine
3. Subsidized Orgies