Momentum for socialized medicine appears to be growing. As I read other blogs I constantly hear the complaint against greedy Insurance companies, greedy Doctors, and greedy Hospitals. As if socialized medicine is going to somehow be magically cheaper, better, and more humane then it is now. But no one seems to be concerned about greedy Politicians, greedy Bureacrats, or greedy Lobbyist. Why people think that the government is so fair and honest is beyond me. Especially when one scandal after another proves the opposite.

A very good example of bureacratic corruption was pointed out in an article by Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee. I encourage you to read the article here; but I will summarize it below:

1. California received a Federal grant of several million dollars for educational programs.

2. Politicians awarded the money to private contractors to use for educational programs.

3. Much of the money was funneled into salary and perks for the private executives.

4. Some public employers who were aware of the abuse became whistle blowers.

5. The whistle blowers were ostresized and eventually fired.

6. The whistle blowers sued the State which used money from the Education Department to defend against the lawsuit.

The end results is that millions of dollars of tax payer money that was supposed to be used for education was squandered. To believe that this was just one isolated incidence is to be very naive. This is how our government works. When you have a private health care system you can use government oversight to regulate and monitor it. But when the government is control of health care then you have to trust that the government will regulate itself and our government does not have a very good track record in this matter.

So before we become willing to put all of our trust in a benevolent government, we should remember the Iron Law of Oligarchy. Do not trust the government with too much power, and always strive to support a balance of power between the elected and the governed.

- Thomas Paine 2

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