“The government is paying for the medical services so they have the right to dictate details of those services,” said Justice Kagan today. If you hear this and still think that universal healthcare is a great idea, then I refer you back to my post about calcified brains.
“But would you rather an insurance company did the dictating?”
Yes, you absolute child. Of course, I would. An insurance company wants to make a profit. Its motives are economic, not political or ideological. It’s a catcher of coins, not souls. It might very well stiff you. But it has no power or interest to unperson, jail or torture you for thought crimes.
I’ll take my chances with the insurance company any time.
Clarissa's Blog 
Not just that, but you can change insurance companies or choose to go without insurance.
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“you can change insurance companies or choose to go without insurance”
Sometimes the choice to go without was made for you…. I remember when individual insurance for a young presumably healthy person was about 100% or more of their earnings…. so we did without and never considered going to a doctor for… anything.
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Yes, universal healthcare is, and always has been, a way to punish low-risk people for opting out of the system.
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I disagree that companies don’t have ideological motives, I think I’ve seen plenty of examples to the contrary. We’ve also seen that even when there’s no monopoly, companies will act together as a kind of cartel. Nevertheless, you are correct that this is the better option.
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And of course the government pays with the money they took from you in the form of taxes.
My theory is that governments take as much as they can get away with, provide as few services as they can get away with, and pocket the difference.
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“The government is paying for the medical services so they have the right to dictate details of those services”
I agree to a point – but paying for the services doesn’t give any right to impose them on those who don’t want them, that’s the entire point….
Otherwise maybe we can pool together and pay for and book Kagan in for a few root canals…. she won’t be able to refuse…
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I don’t get why this is difficult for people to understand. Isn’t it obvious that whoever pays the piper calls the tune? But anytime I express doubts about whether our government has our best interests at heart, I get people jumping all over me, casting aspersions on my intelligence, my sanity, my moral character, and even the marital status of my parents, God rest their souls.
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They attack you personally, instead of your assertion, because deep in their fearful little hearts, they suspect you are right.
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This so-called Justice Kagan person is confused. Legitimate governments are rightly elected, which gives them a mandate, and hence responsibility, to decide policy on behalf of the people who voted for them. The government then acquires the necessary resources from the public so as to pay for whatever is then provided back to the public.
The essence of that relationship is that it is equalised – meaning that government are public have a balanced relationship – and transformative, meaning that the resources flowing from public to government or back again are not “given”, but transformed from one thing to another thing within a single framework.
Any person who thinks that governments are somehow more equal than the public that create and fund governments is very mixed up and probably shouldn’t be making any big decisions imo.
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