Healthcare vs. Greed (its all of us!)

Ok, my liberalism has escaped control again. My friends will never talk to me again after this post.

Any person who does not want some form of health care reform is self-centered, profit-driven, short-sighted, young and healthy, or rich. No NORMAL person can be happy with the present system. Some intelligent people believe one indicator of a society's humanity is the treatment it has for the less fortunate in their world. We are headed toward being a very inhumane society if we do not find a way to support our less fortunate. There are people in this country who make large effort and even sacrifice to help poor, hungry children in Africa or other locations. I applaud any efforts in this direction and I wish I was able to contribute more myself. How do these same people feel about a tax increase to help poor children and sick grandparents in this country?

Any health care reform will have to be driven by the government. There is no way any private organization can cancel the profit chase in favor of helping people. There is no way people who cannot afford health care can influence a private organization to give them free health care. Charity has always been one resource for some but it has always fallen short of being a dependable solution. Charity only arises when a person's own wants and needs have been fulfilled and something is left over.

The middle class in this country always has and always will carry the burden of taxation. The higher income levels of the middle class (I believe)carry much of the current burden of charity. This is not so much because of a desire to help as it is seeking the tax breaks. This limits the resources of the charities. The lower we go in the middle class income scale the less there is available for charity and the less incentive there is for tax-break charity.

Any health care plan that helps the unfortunate will be costly. We should institute a progressive tax to pay this cost based on an entity's ability to pay. I say "entity" because I expect this tax to fall onto companies as well as individuals. Tax breaks should be granted to companies providing reasonable care to workers' families and retirees. Retirement accounts in excess of a certain amount should be taxed for health care when retirees access the accounts.

The 401K plan was and is a very good idea. I do not know if the originators of the idea realized the side effects but 401K accounts have driven the stock market higher for many years. Now the money is not being fed into this mechanism as much as it once was as we boomers retire. Our funds are being pulled out and this might have contributed to the stock market instability of late. If I had a six-figure retirement account I would not mind paying a $40 tax from my monthly withdrawal to support health care for less fortunate. I can see no reason why a person with a seven-figure retirement account could not pay $150 month. He might have to park his RV for a couple days but that would reduce our energy an pollution hits.

DRP