Over the past week, I've been emailing a conservative morning radio show host, Jimmy from 97.3 (The Eagle) here in Hampton Roads, every morning with a fact check on what he said in the news segment. I thought some of you might find his responses informative, as he illustrates the types of factual errors these people make and also that it demonstrates how the kneejerk right-wing ideological, anti-government mindset leads them astray, time and again. The original email was my response to his "news" that Obama's plan was single payer, and "socialized medicine."I write:
The health care bill isn't a single payer health care plan. Also, single payer is not "socialized medicine". Please check your facts before reporting them as news as it is insulting to my intelligence to be told wrong information every morning.
Jimmy writes:
Single payer is on at least one of the proposed plans in committee.It is also what candidate Obama said he was hoping to see if elected president.I am not opposed to healthcare reform of some kind,just not gov't run(socialized).Thanks for writing Kyle,Jimmy
I write:
Again, the two are separate. Single payer is not socialized medicine. Socialized medicine means the government owns the hospital and hires all the staff. Single payer means the government is only the insurance provider, while the hospitals and staff are privately owned.
Ironically, the free market cannot provide universal without much more spending than single payer or a national health service. Free markets demand high profits. You can either have profits or universal health care, there's no option for both unless the government spends significantly more to pay private companies for insurancing the poor. I don't know your level of economic understanding, but this is as simple as I can say it.
For a change, it would just be nice to hear the other side of the coin or just impartial news once in a while.
Jimmy writes:
Thanks for your opinion Kyle.Hears a novel idea for healthcare in America.Let the free market handle it. Open up competition in the insurance industry from state to state and limit frivilous lawsuits.That will bring the cost of healthcare down. Bigger gov't is not the answer.It has never worked and never will. Jimmy
I write:
(A) It works in every other industrialized country. We are far behind the world in health care. Other countries citizens protest any change in their health care that's seen as an "American" style health care system.
(B) This is purely your opinion. There is large disagreement over that opinion, and it is far from a fact. Stating your opinion as news portrays your opinion as fact, even if you truly believe what you are saying is true. The lack of a counter opinion to your own can be misleading to those who do not follow the news closely and may only hear about issues through word of mouth. When you say "this is" and
state an opinion, that is portraying opinion as fact. If you were to say "I think" or "I believe", then you are clearly stating your opinion as an opinion and not fact.
I do not believe that the Democrats are always right. I do not believe that Republicans are always wrong. I do believe these issues should be debated in the public, as this is why our first amendment is so important. I do believe, however, that we should maintain a degree of decorum and respect for each other in this debate. Simply saying the government is always bad and free markets are always good and never opening your mind to another opinion or rationale for such opinion does not enhance debate or improve anything.
I'm a free market Democrat and you are a free market Republican or Libertarian. The true nature of debate is how a free market functions. Classical economists (which is the proposed Republican ideal for some time) believe that free markets react very quickly and are always self-sustaining. Essentially, the market is always in a
state of perfection. This would mean that, by that standard, only those not wanting to work are currently unemployed. Similarly, those without health care simply do not want insurance. I subscribe to Keynesian economics which believes that not all markets are perfect. Some limited intervention is necessary to achieve equilibrium.
I say all this to say that the free market has had it's time in regards to health care. If the free market could provide care to all at affordable prices, I would be against any reform that changes market dynamics.
To conclude, some food for thought. What is the worst case scenario? Obama's health care plan doesn't work well and he's voted out in 3 years for someone who will shut it down. I think we can all agree that is the case. And we can all agree there are real problems with health care now. Why not try it, it could, and I believe it will,
actually work. Finally, socialism already exists in America. We call it the "military". If you ask them, they overwhelmingly approve of their health care and that's real socialized medicine. The medical staff work for the military, the hospitals are owned by the military, and it's all publicly funded. That's the definition of socialized medicine AND it works well, just ask Bill Kristol!
Jimmy writes:
Kyle,I do appreciate your in depth and intellectual approach to this issue. I just believe your on the wrong side. Gov't run healthcare doesn't work(for the people) anywhere else in the world.People in Britain,Canada and countless other countries flock to America for the best healthcare in the world because their care sucks or takes too long to get it. Kyle,thanks for the dialogue. Jimmy
I write:
It's interesting that you bring up the notion of people coming here for health care, which they certainly do. But this is as separate issue. They do not come here because our prices are better than what they receive. Those who come here, typically, come for highly advanced procedures. The question of why is a relatively simple question to answer. Many truly talented doctors from other countries are coming here because they make a much larger paycheck in our system than that of their own country. This is great for the doctor, but not for the patient. Doctors are highly specialized and deserve to be paid well for the service they provide.
The reason it is so interesting that you bring it up is that many Americans travel overseas for basic care that is too expensive here. It's being called "medical tourism", and some companies and websites cater exclusively to these patients:
http://www.healism.com/
http://medicaltourism.com - also see http://medicaltourism.com/
http://www.
Conclusion:
Anytime a conservative uses the phrase intellectual to describe you or your view, and then stops answering your emails, you know you've won! I am still hoping to get a reply to this last email, but I'm not holding my breath. If I do hear from him, you can be sure that I will update this post.
