Health care: Who is responsible?

Regarding the Frank Clemente column that appeared on the Morning Journal July 3 Editorial page:

Clemente has a long history of advocating for a “progressive” tax policy. In other words, tax the rich.

Now I’m not rich, but I did work at whatever jobs I could find from the age of 16 until I was 65. And then I served – school board and school bus driver – and was not paid for either.

The wife and I have a comfortable retirement because we saved as much as we could over the almost 50 years of my working life, during which we also raised three kids. We paid into Social Security all those years and now we pay into Medicare and a supplement – $11,600 per year and it keeps going up.

I went back and read our Constitution and its amendments — nope, it has not changed since the last time I read it — you ought to try it sometime. There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution nor its amendments that requires the federal government to furnish health care.

In fact, the 10th Amendment gives that right to the states. That is why Massachusetts was able to pass Romneycare without any objection from the Feds. And any other state that wishes to do so has the right — to also pay for it.

Medicaid is a great thing for less fortunate people, although not an obligation of the federal government. And its expansion is very popular with liberals because it nibbles at the edge of a single payer system, otherwise known as socialism. But here’s the thing: even the Dems rejected the socialist Bernie Sanders and we elected Donald Trump, not Hillary Clinton.

Unless and until we elect a socialist, and we want our federal government (like in England) to make all of our life and death medical decisions for us, we should limit Medicaid to the people who really need it, and not only encourage, but incentivize all able-bodied, working age people to find a job and be responsible for themselves. That’s not mean, it’s just common sense. Don Race New London