Election Day

Today is election day--what many are calling the Most Important Election Ever. Well, maybe. A woman is running for the Republican vice-presidential spot, and a man of mixed race is running for president as a Democrat.

Frankly, I don't care what sex or race any of these people are. What I do care about is their philosophical position about the role of government. A lot of mud has been slung, and a lot of pandering to the masses has taken place. Because there has been a financial crisis (which people are blaming on the current Republican president, but it has been brewing for 15 or more years), I think that the Democrat is going to win. Americans are fickle that way. They think the opposite party will bring Change. What change, exactly, nobody can quite explain, but they postulate that change is good.

My fear, however, is that the Change that everyone is championing is larger, more intrusive, tax-and-spend government. Many are calling for more government regulation of the free market--which is what got us into problems with the mortgage industry in the first place. I fear government health care--which will be an unmitigated disaster in a country as large as ours. Except for the very wealthy, who will be able to afford private doctors, the quality of care will diminish because of the increased burden of everyone flocking to the doctor--after all, it's "free." I'd like to point out that Kaiser Permanente, which used to offer all services to their patients for "free" (except for their fixed monthly premiums) now charges a copay for each visit--a way of covering costs, true, but also to keep people from making frivolous visits.

So, Mr. or Mrs. Candidate, what do you think of the free market? What do you think the Founders were rebelling against when they wrote the Declaration of Independence? Hmm? Do you know enough history not to repeat it?