The “Public Option” and the People’s Government

I (Ryan, not Ben) haven’t had too much time to write up political thoughts recently, but here are a couple musings:

Nutshell argument against the “public option” being touted by President Obama in the area of health care reform:

As Hugh Hewitt and Congressman John Campbell were explaining as I drove home from work on Friday, if the “public option” is cheaper to corporate and government employers (though not to taxpayers), then employers will largely switch over to it.  At this point, the government will be paying for health care, money will run out, and care will be denied.  (But smile – you will still be insured, along with all the others who can’t get care!)

Our Congressmen and Senators must not enact this “public option.”  With political risks increasing on every side, will Colorado Dems listen to common sense, or walk off the cliff (financially and politically) with fellow party members?

Government Of, For and By the People:

I have been reading Scotland: The Story of a Nation, by Magnus Magnuson.  It is amazing how violent times have been under monarchical government.  Of the first three King James (they reigned in the 1400s), the first and last were killed maliciously and the second accidentally.  There were bloody, treacherous power struggles among the nobles for dominance, influence, and the physical captivity of the young kings as they grew up.

We are blessed to be living in a land of the people, by the people, and for the people — where the peaceful transfer of power is expected as a matter of course.

Cronyism (think pork barrel spending and government larger than its proper scope), unfair elections, loss of an objective moral compass (biblical), and the slow growth of government power over the people (as in health care) are some of the greatest current long-term risks to continued enjoyment of the blessings we now have.