The problem I see with the Nixon plan is that it is unrealistic. It states it is going to do some wonderful things, and with no impact on taxes at all. It is entirely unclear how this would be accomplished. Other than that, it does pretty much what the bill just passed does, but the bill passed is actually funded. It doesn’t add to the deficit, it reduces it by nearly $1.5 trillion dollars over the next 20 years.
@CaptainHarley The Federal Government built, through a Public Private initiative, the Transcontinental Railroad System. They built the National Parks. They built the Interstate Highway System. They built the Air Traffic Control System. If we just looked at the front-end cost of doing those things, all would be vast investments. But where would America be today had we done none of them because gubment’s evil?
Do you believe that poor people who pay no taxes should be barred from highway and rail travel, or use of the National Parks? Do you believe that private industry would have built a free Interstate Highway System if only evil gubment had kept to it’s place, whatever little niche that may be in your mind?
Making healthcare a human right is the compassionate thing to do. It is the right thing to do. It has already been done by every other developed nation on earth to great success. We are at the bottom of developed nations in healthcare outcomes, but number one already in what we spend. In the long run, like the examples I cited, making health care a public initiative will benefit our entire nation’s well-being, because like education, decent healthcare must be available to all; rich and poor; black, brown, yellow and white; if they are to live and contribute to our nation’s wealth.
We have piled up a mountain of debt because Republicans starting with Ronald Reagan slashed taxes for the wealthiest Americans by more than 50%. We were paying our national debt from WWII down year by year till Reagan took office. He tripled the national debt in 8 short years! Every subsequent Republican has doubled it again if given 8 years to do so. Only Clinton managed to reduce the national Debt in his 8 years in office. If you really care about the National Debt, bite the bullet and support tax reform to pay for the amount of Government we actually need for the 21st century. Going back to 18th century ideas in 2010 is not going to work.