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Back in 1936, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was hit
by its second devastating flood in less than fifty years.
Water rose to 14 feet in some areas, over a dozen people were killed,
and total property damage was estimated at over $40 million dollars.
To help the town get back on its feet, the government stepped in and
levied a temporary 10 percent tax on alcohol sales in the state -- with
all proceeds going to help Johnstown.
Now, 71 years later, that 10 percent "temporary" tax has turned into an
18 percent permanent one that now brings in about $200 million dollars
a year to Pennsylvania...not one red cent of which has gone to help
Johnstown flood victims for decades.
The reason I tell you this is because it represents the Real Story when
it comes to government intervention. Even when they have the
best of intentions, like helping flood victims, or yes, making sure
that everyone has access to healthcare, they always screw it up in the
end. I don't know if you've noticed, but once you start
giving the government money, you never get to stop; in fact, like the
Johnstown Tax, you usually get to give more.
Hillary's new mandatory healthcare plan (ironically titled "American
Health Choices") may seem like a bargain at only more than double the
cost of the entire U.S. Department of Homeland Security, but trust me,
it's just a teaser rate and we all know how those work out in the end.
The way to solve our healthcare problems is not to give the government
more power, it's to give the people more. Capitalism
can find the answer -- but only if we stop pretending that the
government is the answer.
Take the airline industry for example. After the government
stopped dictating ticket prices and routes, fares dropped over forty
percent and now the market is able to come up with alternatives to the
old, legacy carriers. One of those alternatives, JetBlue, has
revolutionized the way some people think about air travel and now the
brother of JetBlue founder David Neeleman, believes that he can do the
same thing for Health Care. You can read about Dr. Stephen
Neeleman's company, Health Equity, by clicking the link to the right.
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