I miss William F. Buckley's syndicated columns. He still writes occasionally for the National Review, at least. Here, he neatly explains John Edwards' plans to give us all "free" health:
Mr. Edwards speaks grandly about health coverage for 47 million people who do not now have it. But unless there is a diminution in the cost of health services, they will be paid for by somebody. If it is so that the 47 million without insurance are the identical 47 million who are the nation's poorest, then it might be said that all we are really engaging in is more redistribution. There is a case to be made for this, and indeed, redistribution has been accepted for years. The wealthiest 5 percent of Americans pay 54 percent of all taxes, which means they are paying taxes that would otherwise be paid by the 95 percent of Americans whose tax rates are lower.
Therefore, Mr. Edwards is doing nothing more than to call for increased taxes on the wealthy. They used to call that socialized medicine, when it was instituted by Great Britain after the war. It crossed the Atlantic into Canada, which is a tidy country in which to get sick, provided you can afford to travel across the border to an American doctor.
I think we might have reached a critcal mass on universal health care. Too many people say they want it, too many politicians are promising it. Let's see if Republican presidential candidates talk against the idea or offer a "light" version (which would soon become the heavy-duty kind, once implemented).
