During this Fourth of July holiday, as we do every year, we celebrate and reflect on our independence as a nation.
Independence Day is much more than simply fireworks and picnics – it is a reminder of the ongoing fight for liberty and justice in our country. The freedom we enjoy doesn’t come free, and especially at this time of year, we all should reflect on what it means to us and how important it is.
We see countries all over the world where people hunger for the freedom we have.
This is a time when we should realize how far we’ve come since July 4, 1776, and where we are going.
If knowledge is power, it seems we could all use more of it. Instead of engaging in honest and direct conversations about where our country is headed, we are talking about people most of us have never met, like Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and a guy famous for starring in commercials.
Meanwhile, we’re trudging through a recession, and our politicians are flailing around to get our attention on absurd legislation like cap and trade.
Often referred to by what it really is, cap and tax, the goal is to reduce carbon dioxide and other emissions. This would be a great idea if it didn’t kill businesses in the process, thereby cutting out even more jobs during a time of record unemployment across the country. More taxation won’t allow companies to be competitive around the world, it will only cause industry to flee to other countries.
On top of that, cap and trade will cost every American household. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the program will cost $22 billion annually, or about $175 per household, by 2020.
And that’s not to mention the added government middle man. It will only take more bureaucracy to facilitate this program. Governments are notorious for losing track of money all the time and many seem to just laugh it off. Yet if a consumer uses a private company’s credit or debit card, that company will have every transaction documented down to the penny. There’s a valuable lesson to be learned in this simple truth: competition breeds quality, efficiency and innovation. Companies have incentives to success. Governments don’t have competition, so there’s no incentive to produce.
“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there’d be a shortage of sand,” Milton Friedman once famously said.
The same lesson can be seen in the government-run health care services in other countries, like Canada. Everyone perks up their ears when they hear the soundbite version of Canada’s “free” healthcare. As we all learn sooner or later, nothing is free. Someone has to pay.
In reality, Canada’s system is plaqued by long waits for care, rationing and workforce shortages. Instead of waiting to die, gravely-ill patients come to the United States to get care.
Proponents of government health care conveniently neglect to mention the programs we already have in place. Medicare, Medicaid and other programs already fund the needs of the poor, disabled and elderly.
Cap and trade and socialized health care are just two of the major ways government is trying to seize control. These issues directly impact freedom, and shouldn’t be taken likely.
We all need to ask ourselves what is more important: our families or celebrities.
