by Jason Stotts
In an amazing turn of events, and on the eve of the possibility of the governmental takeover of healthcare, the majority of Americans are now saying that they don’t want socialized medicine. The news comes from the latest Gallup poll done on the issue of healthcare, which they release every November. Even as late as last year, 54% of people thought that healthcare was the government’s responsibility (that the government should be in control of healthcare) while only 41% of people thought that it should not (note: polls do not always equal 100%). This year, however, it is 50% against and only 47% in favor. This is a gigantic change and the graph reflects how dramatic it really is.
So what happened between last year and this year? I think that people have always felt generally entitled to healthcare and they abstractly thought it would be nice if the government were to provide them with it. However, now that this is becoming more of a legitimate possibility, people are seeing it for the threat it really is:
“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” ~ Gerald Ford.
With the rise of a national debt that is beyond the scope of the human mind to even grasp and with the scope of government increasing every day, people are legitimately starting to wonder is the government isn’t getting too big and too much a part of our lives. We all know how well the DMV is run and the thought of an equally efficient government healthcare program is enough to scare anyone away from their idealistic (and unconnected to reality) dreams of the government actually improving healthcare.
What will be interesting is to see whether our President and elected officials in Congress will listen to the voice of the people on this: after all, they have been using public opinion as the sole justification for their takeover of healthcare. What will they do now that their popular support is gone? Clearly, they have no constitutional support or even legal basis for their actions. Now that they have no support left, will they abandon their plans or will they reveal that it has all been based on their lust for power?
I, personally, hope they heed the words of Thomas Paine and remember that:
“That government is best which governs least.”