Words Are Cheap, Mr. President

It is almost humorous how often the president uses rhetorical devices to completely spin reality.

“We cannot afford the next four years going backward,” the president said. “We need forward. Not backward.”

In a series of fundraisers last Tuesday the president set out to convince his audience that America is doing just fine—we’re moving “Forward." It’s those lousy Republicans that are destroying opportunity and prosperity in this country—shame on them.

According to the president, moving “Forward” out of unemployment and into the land of the debt-free means spending the taxpayers’ money and distributing the hard-earned money of the rich; our job creators, to the poor; the unemployed.

Sounds oxymoronic to me.

History has proven that capitalism is the only way for a society to move forward. The policies of the current administration have only steered this country in the opposite direction.

Take healthcare for example. Thanks to the free market, Americans enjoy one of the best medical systems in the world. Americans have the option to travel across the country to choose the doctor and medical care that best fits their need.

As a result, Americans’ health has significantly increased for the positive over time. For example, cancer mortality rates across the board have been on the decline for more than ten years. According to the National Cancer Institute, between the years 2000-2009 cancer rates declined by 1.5 percent.

In fact, overall life expectancy since 1960 has increased from 69 to 78+ years of age, according to the World Bank.

We can contribute the increased standard of living in America to free markets. Competition between producers ups the level of innovation and product improvement. The positive consequence is that the lives of consumers are improved through lower prices, more choices, and technological advancement.

Many people—the president's posse—claim that capitalism actually harms societal advancement. They argue that in fact, it is the government’s paternal role that improves the standard of living in any society.

These people are living in a socialist fantasy.

Socializing private enterprise places this creative, competitive power into the hands of a select few. Without a competitive force, resources aren’t allocated to their most efficient means and there is a decreased incentive to innovate. As a result, economic growth slows and the standard of living falls.

Socialized Medicine—ObamaCare—will have the same effects on America’s healthcare and economy.

Mandating that all American’s carry health insurance artificially increases demand for health insurance without increasing actual resources. In other words, there will be more patients—hundreds of thousands of more patients—using the same amount of medical resources.

A couple of problems arise from this. First, the cost of medical care will skyrocket. Medical resources will become far more costly when more people are chasing them. Second, medical resources will be rationed. Doctors will have to pick and choose who deserves medical treatment.

Examples of both have already manifested.

The expected cost of ObamaCare over the next decade is over $1.5 trillion. For certain age groups—especially young, healthy Americans—the program has already proven to be devastatingly pricey.

A recent study shows that ObamaCare increases the premiums of young Americans by as much as 1,112 percent. If the legislation passes, many colleges are prepared to drop healthcare coverage for students this fall due to these costs. And don’t forget rationing. We need only to look to our northern neighbor for a golden example of what rationing looks like under socialized Medicine.

In a 2009 Wall Street Journal column, former Canadian citizen David Gratzer explained his change of heart on socialized medicine when rationing hit close to home. A close relative was referred to an MRI after a doctor had examined him for chronic pain that hindered his walking capability.

Waiting time for the MRI? One year. If surgery had to be done, months would be added on top of that.

His relative fortunately was able to travel to the United States to have the surgery at the Mayo clinic. He paid for the surgery out-of-pocket. In fact, Canada relied on the United States quite often for medical treatment of their patients. Between 2006-2008 over 160 patients were transferred to United States hospitals for neurology treatment.

Physicians were so scarce that only half of patients in need of surgery in Canada were treated. “The physician shortage is so severe that some towns hold lotteries, with the winners gaining access to the local doc,” says Gratzer.

Socialized medicine is such a disaster that Canada and Great Britain have already made great leaps to escape it. Their solution? Privatization—Capitalism.

From rationing to dropped coverage to increased costs and another $1.5 trillion added to our national debt, sure sounds like we’re moving “Forward," right?

With capitalism and private healthcare there is choice, and guaranteed care. Under ObamaCare there is government control of the body and healthcare lotteries. The president’s rhetorical devices are proven null and void in the face of facts and reality. In the words of Mitt Romney last Tuesday, “words are cheap,”—and the cost is far too costly.

Celia Bigelow is the Deputy Director of Campus Action for American Majority Action. You can contact her at celia.bigelow@gmail.com