I have long been concerned about the incredible national debt and its threat, not only to our national security, but to the very survival of our place as the greatest nation on earth.  Our current political leaders are continuing to mortgage our children’s and our grandchildren’s future security and prosperity so they don’t have to make what they think are difficult, unpopular choices.   The time has come for a change. I believe that Americans are ready for some serious reductions in federal spending in order to preserve our nation.  The passage of ObamaCare was the final straw for me.  I believe that putting the government in charge of our health care system, let alone 17% of the GDP, is a huge mistake.  We need to get the federal government out of healthcare, out of the marketplace, out of the classroom and out of our wallets.

​The reasons 55 percent of people say they disapprove of Obamacare are many, but perhaps the primary reason is that people don’t want the government controlling our healthcare. The issue of Government controlled healthcare strikes at the very heart of our independence from government control.

We the people, need to get government out of healthcare.

Mr. Brian Cooper

Executive Editor

Telegraph Herald

Dear Mr. Cooper,

I read with amazement the story in Friday’s paper entitled “Health care law plays big part in campaign”  The writer briefly touches on where a few, but not all, local candidates for national office stand on the issue of Obamacare.  What the article fails to address is the larger issue of government intrusion into our lives.

The reasons 55 percent of people say they disapprove of Obamacare are many, but perhaps the primary reason is that people don’t want the government controlling our healthcare. The issue of Government controlled healthcare strikes at the very heart of our independence from government control.

We the people, need to get government out of healthcare.

I believe that there should be a free market for healthcare, not “free” healthcare.  When you receive anything for “free,” that means that someone else paid for it.  You should not be forced to pay for or subsidize someone else’s healthcare.  Government involvement only lowers the quality for everyone and drives up the costs.  Some economists believe that fully 22% of hospital expenses are to track and comply with government mandates, and to report to the government how they are doing with all that compliance. If you want to know what government-run healthcare looks like, you need to look no further than the Veterans Administration Hospitals.  When the Honorable Senator Tom Harkin says that he wouldn’t “shoot the dog, I just get rid of the fleas,” he is missing the point; The Obamacare law isn’t a dog with fleas, it is like the carcasses full of the plague, thrown over the walls by the invading barbarians.  The entire carcass should either be burned or thrown back, not just washed of the plague.

Government control cannot improve our medical system any more than it improved the economies of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.  Health care involves millions of providers and consumers engaging in billions of transactions daily.  It could function quite well in the free market, but has not been allowed to do so.  Doctors, hospitals, drug companies, and other medical professionals are not evil because they require payment for their services.  It is a mistake to call for bureaucrats to control the hospitals and dedicated practitioners who provide care and treatment.  Increasing government interference in medicine will only drive good people out of medicine and discourage talented young people from entering it. In a recent report, for the first time in our history, a majority of doctors are advising their children not to seek a carrier in the medical field.

Another facet of the movement of government into healthcare is the negative impact it will have on our debt, currently standing at about $17.5 Trillion, which is about $151,000 per taxpayer. When you add in other items like the unfunded Social Security debt, Medicare mandates and Prescription drug liabilities, the National Debt Clock.org calculates that the true national debt stands at about $1,115,150 per taxpayer!  I truly believe that the greatest threat to our national security is the debt, and I believe that Obamacare will only hasten the coming crisis.  It is time we Iowans elected Senators and Representatives that actually would represent our wishes and beliefs; We don’t want more debt. We don’t want more government intrusion into healthcare, and we certainly don’t want more debt to pay for more intrusion.

Just as there is no free lunch, there is no such thing as free medical care.  Doctors, nurses, hospitals and Medicare bureaucrats don’t work for free.  If those who receive medical care don’t pay for it themselves, then someone else must pay for it with tax dollars, higher insurance premiums or higher hospital and physician’s fees.

Obamacare raises many other very troubling issues, including the constitutionality of President Obama’s unilaterally making changes to the law. According to the Cato Institute, President Obama has made at least 27 changes to the law as it was passed by congress. Our form of government calls for the House of Representatives and Senate to write and pass our laws and for the executive branch to administer those laws.  The forms of government that allow for the Head of State to make changes to the law, or to write laws, are known as Dictatorships or Monarchies.

The Nobel prize-winning economist, Milton Freidman said “Most of the energy of political work is devoted to correcting the effects of mismanagement of government.”  In Mr. Friedman’s honor, the Cato institute hosts a biannual dinner to award the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty.  Gary Kasparov gave the Keynote address at this year’s dinner and in his address he said “I would rather have freedom than free healthcare.”  The people of Iowa are correct in opposing Obamacare and all it stands for; Government expansion, Government Debt, Bureaucratic Bungling and ultimately the erosion of our freedoms and our constitution by an over-zealous President and all-too willing Democratic Congress.

The Constitution of the United States was written with some extraordinarily thoughtful measures of checks and balances to make sure that the government would be strong enough to secure our rights against domestic and foreign oppression, yet not so powerful or extensive as to be oppressive itself. Our elected officials, including the President, have allowed the government to become so powerful and extensive that there can be no doubt it has become oppressive.  In the end, however no constitution can be self-enforcing. Government officials must respect their oaths to uphold the Constitution; and we the people must be vigilant in seeing that they do. The Founders drafted an extraordinarily thoughtful plan of government, but it is up to us, to each generation, to preserve and protect it for ourselves and for future generations. For the Constitution will live only if it is alive in the hearts and minds of the American people.

Sincerely,

Douglas John Butzier, MD, MBA

Libertarian Candidate for US Senate

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