Why Americans are so stirred up about Obama

Despite all the ruckus concerning town-halls lately, most
of which is the ruckus made by liberals upset that
conservatives are attending and expressing their opposition
to Obama's policies, we have been treated to some
important, if accidental, moments of honesty and clarity.

For example, while conducting a recent town-hall meeting,
Missouri Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill attempted to
calm constituents upset over the proposed "reform" by
asking "Don't you trust me?" The resounding "no's"
reverberated throughout the room, along with many boos,
which provides us with our moment of honesty.

So why don't voters trust the government or its
representatives to "fix" the problem? Partially because
they've taken a good look at the proposed "solution" over
the past few months, and the closer they look, the less
they like what they see. From federally funded abortions
(as "health care"), to reduced choices in the free-market,
to likely tax increases and health care rationing, there's
plenty to have a problem with.

According to the latest Rasmussen poll, fifty-four percent
of Americans would rather have no health care reform at
all, rather than the bills that are currently being
considered in Congress. The poll also shows that, while
eighty percent of Republicans oppose the bill, a surprising
forty percent of Democrats are opposed as well.

The other reason they're lacking in the "trust" department
is that they know the government's track record when it
comes to "fixing" things, or generally getting anything
productive done at all, much less done well.

They know government programs only get bigger, not smaller,
(unless you're talking about defense programs under liberal
Democrats). They know the stories about the five-hundred
dollar hammers and six-hundred dollar toilet seats, not to
mention the obscene overspending and fraud in Medicare and
Medicaid. They saw the great job done by local, state and
federal agencies during Katrina, and they weren't too
impressed.

Which brings us to our moment of clarity, courtesy of one
of Obama's recent town-hall meetings, in which he gave a
great reason why we shouldn't trust the government to fix
much of anything, much less manage one-sixth of the economy.

Obama offered the example of the Post Office in an analogy
of how the government run option wouldn't hurt or hinder
the free market in delivering health insurance. Yes, the
US Post Office - the government agency whose failure to
sufficiently master delivery of packages from point A to
point B prompted the rise of free market choices like FedEx
and UPS.

In other words he was saying, "Don't worry about a
government run program killing off private competition,
because it will be awful, just like the Post Office".
(How's that for a vote of confidence!)

Yes, FedEx and UPS are doing fine in their competition with
the government, just as the free market would do a better
job of delivering quality, affordable health care, if not
for government interference. But that's because the Post
Office doesn't get to set the rules under which its
competitors operate.

Health care is another matter. Currently, government tells
insurance companies what products they can sell and where
they can sell them, and what policies customers can buy and
where they can buy them, (and forces them to use the
government product - Medicare - when they turn sixty-five).

I think it's fair to say that the competitors to the Post
Office wouldn't do so well under similar rules, which would
leave consumers with less reliable and lower quality
service.

Rules and regulations under a government run health care
scheme are sure to be even worse - and so would the service.

Ronald Reagan used to tell the joke, "I'm from the
government, and I'm here to help", and it always got a
laugh. Why? Because the notion of the government being
helpful, as opposed to usually screwing things up, getting
in the way, or infringing on our liberties is laughable.

But if we allow this so-called "reform" to become law,
health care in America will "go postal". And the joke will
be on us.


About the Author:

Drew McKissick is a political strategist and former member
of the Republican National Committee with over 20 years of
experience in grassroots politics. He writes a regular
column providing analysis and commentary on the polical
scene. His website is available at
http://www.DrewMcKissick.com . You can follow him on
Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/DrewMcKissick