tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2221405275974541103.post7558899918925362029..comments2023-10-15T11:24:38.417-04:00Comments on The U.S. Parliament: Liberty and Collectivism - The Obama EquationJacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14563739841535780915noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2221405275974541103.post-66005424286965901502008-10-20T14:13:00.000-04:002008-10-20T14:13:00.000-04:00rJacob:In response to Krugman's "Real Plumbers" ar...rJacob:<BR/><BR/>In response to Krugman's "Real Plumbers" article, you had wondered why the low wage earners supported what is not in their interest?<BR/><BR/>Here is my answer:<BR/>Part of the economic appeal of the Republicans to "Joe the plumber" was that the tax cuts would make his employer stronger; and then Joe can keep his job. Even though that claim was always dubious, it is totally invalid today. Back in early days of Reagan, this country had a largely self contained and national economy. Today, there is no guarantee that the employer keeps his windfall of low taxes to hire Americans. As a matter of fact it is quite unlikely that he would do that. There is no longer an incentive for Joe to support the Republicans. That is why McCain and Palin are resorting to all the foolish jingoisms to keep him in their camp.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2221405275974541103.post-68889967647204253932008-10-19T23:28:00.000-04:002008-10-19T23:28:00.000-04:00Lisa, sick people are not profitable, and that's t...Lisa, <BR/><BR/>sick people are not profitable, and that's the only explanation you need to understand why private companies should never be involved in the provision of healthcare. I believe that Obama sees his plan as a first step that is actually possible to realize in this political climate, but that maybe Congress can take it further in the future. <BR/><BR/>The question of which country's healthcare system is the best is tricky, but I believe the Scandinavian system makes the most sense. The British system is inadequate, as is the Canadian. The German and French systems are too expensive and are now going towards insolvency. The Scandinavian system is pay-as-you-go for the most part. Medical school is always completely free for everyone. All resources are allocated in the system according to severity and amount of impact on public health, which means that cardio-vascular diseases and cancer get the most resources, whereas you may have to wait for a while to have procedures of a more cosmetic nature done. In any case, healthcare and drugs are almost completely free for everyone, all the time. Yes, you pay higher taxes, but not if you're a low-wage earner. This is a complicated subject, and I had a professor once who dedicated his entire career to "comparative international healthcare studies".Jacobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14563739841535780915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2221405275974541103.post-52076476336949068852008-10-19T19:14:00.000-04:002008-10-19T19:14:00.000-04:00Really enjoy your articles Jacob. I'm not any sort...Really enjoy your articles Jacob. I'm not any sort of expert on the economy but it seems to me we are due for a complete restructuring of our system in order to address the factors that contributed to our banking system failures, our skyrocketing health care costs, and just the decline of the middle class in general.<BR/><BR/>As to Obama's health care proposals, it always seemed he was forced to adopt (for political purposes) a similar plan to Hillary Clinton's, even though she had had a shot at implementing such a plan back in the 90s and failed completely (people strangely seemed able to forget all about that). I know that you're pretty good with numbers -- doesn't it make much more sense for Health Care to be completely socialized? Why should profit-taking insurance companies even be involved?<BR/><BR/>Obama's health care plan sounds over-complicated and sort of like a disastrous joining of free market capitalism and government beurocracy. What do you think? I have heard that Health care is completely socialized in Canada and most parts of Europe and it works fairly well. What country do you think might provide the best health care model for us?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2221405275974541103.post-42710020651091493632008-10-19T14:28:00.000-04:002008-10-19T14:28:00.000-04:00What the heck. Read this.http://writingfrontier.c...What the heck. Read this.<BR/><BR/>http://writingfrontier.com/2008/07/27/the-europeanization-of-america/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com