Current Events vs. Founding Documents
Entry 133
Current Event
According to the Journal Sentinel, March 2, 2012
Health care fix critical to nation, Ryan says
Rep. Paul Ryan, the most prominent Republican on health policy, sums up the importance of remaking our health care system this way:
“If you get health care right, so many other problems that we have in this country, our economy and our fiscal situation improve themselves.”
The Janesville Republican spoke Friday at a panel discussion on health policy held by the Milwaukee Press Club. Much of the discussion focused on how to “get health care right.”
The question often centers on the most effective ways to slow the rise in health care spending and expand coverage to people who can’t afford health insurance: The increased regulation of the federal health care reform law or proposals that would rely on the marketplace.
A third approach might involve some mix of the two.
“I really believe there are seeds for a bipartisan approach,” Ryan said.
That might seem quixotic. On Friday, some of the topics discussed, such as the need for some insurance regulation, suggested the potential could exist for compromise in the contentious and complex health care debate.
“We can have a system in this country where everyone has health insurance, regardless of their income, regardless of their health status,” Ryan said. “That’s achievable. We spend more money on health care than any other country.”
“When you put all the power in Washington, it is politicized,” Ryan said. “It is interest-group driven. It is not quality driven. It is not done in the interests of patients.
“It is done in the interests of whoever has the power and whoever has the clout. And that’s not the way to run government, let alone the health care system.”
VS
The federal government vs. The Constitution
Founding Document
US Constitution, Amendment 9
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Us Constitution, Amendment 10
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
“When all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another, and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” (Thomas Jefferson)
We the People:
Do we want health care decisions to be driven by only the powerful factions at the national level? Note Representative Ryan’s last two sentences. That is why the Constitution limits the power of the federal government. All we have to do is to expect and demand that our elected officials follow it.
