tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post4921918138662964714..comments2024-02-15T03:26:38.897-05:00Comments on Health Care Organizational Ethics: The Wild Rumpus Over the Individual Mandate is About to StartJim Sabinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03087828142188534542noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post-79501257020416958852010-03-13T15:20:35.111-05:002010-03-13T15:20:35.111-05:00Dear Anonymous –
I ordinarily delete comments lac...Dear Anonymous –<br /><br />I ordinarily delete comments laced with profanity. I’m publishing yours because it typifies the problem with our political culture.<br /><br />You actually raise important questions, but your abusive language will tempt readers to dismiss your comments as the ravings of a crank. Your language doesn’t do justice to the argument you could make. <br /><br />The Constitution gives Congress power to levy taxes to promote the general welfare. The health reform bill meets that test. It insures more people and prevents them from being denied insurance coverage because of preexisting conditions. Successful reform requires that uninsured persons — most of whom are younger and healthier than average — join the national risk pool; this will help to lower the costs of health insurance premiums nationally. Therefore, a tax, in the form of the individual mandate, is entirely within the powers granted to Congress by the Constitution.<br /><br />That doesn’t prove that it’s a good bill – only that it is consistent democratic process. Congress can’t “impose taxes to get citizens to do anything they want,” but it can impose taxes to promote the general welfare.<br /><br />You have worthwhile things to say. I’d encourage you to say them in a way that invites thoughtful discussion!<br /><br />Best<br /><br />JimJim Sabinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03087828142188534542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post-78377946992468866432010-03-13T14:58:57.457-05:002010-03-13T14:58:57.457-05:00Hi Eric -
As always, it's good to hear from y...Hi Eric -<br /><br />As always, it's good to hear from you!<br /><br />I agree that the Republicans are sound bite masters. Calling the moderate health reform proposal a "massive government takeover" is a prime example. As I said in the post, and as Jack Balkin's NEJM article shows at greated length, the "individual mandate" is exactly what you say - a form of tax. <br /><br />There may be a better phrase than "individual mandate," but I think the explosive reaction it elicits in opponents comes from rejection of universal coverage as an aim. If a person rejects the goal of universal insurance, levying a tax for being uninsured will seem like a grave injustice.<br /><br />I'm not a politician, but I think that a tax-based insurance system would ultimately receive wider support than the indirect individual mandate scheme does. That's why I made the prediction I did in the last line of the post!<br /><br />Best<br /><br />JimJim Sabinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03087828142188534542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post-32602719771361414552010-03-13T05:51:11.587-05:002010-03-13T05:51:11.587-05:00It is not muddled legal thinking to suggest that t...It is not muddled legal thinking to suggest that the government has no right to threaten to tax anyone who doesn't do what they want them to do.<br /><br />Obviously, if the government could tax anyone for any reason in order to get them to do anything they wanted, there would be no limits on Federal Government power.<br /><br />The taxes have to be uniform, and therefore you cannot tax different people differently based on things you want to force them to do.<br /><br />Why is this so difficult to understand? Just remove everything else in the entire fucking document if you think that the tax power gives congress the right to impose taxes to get their citizens to do anything they want.<br /><br />It is ridiculous. Obviously the tax powers only mean that they can tax to support the other powers that were granted to them.<br /><br />You fucking idiot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476621888383604834.post-86456378856512915322010-03-10T22:09:39.230-05:002010-03-10T22:09:39.230-05:00Jim--Is "Individual Mandate" a helpful t...Jim--Is "Individual Mandate" a helpful term? The Democrats have been letting the Republicans define their ideas with misleading labels. We have to buy insurance for our cars, or face stiff penalties. We pay taxes for military, police, and firefighters to protect us; for schools to educate us; for healthcare for our elders; for income after our retirement. Is buying health insurance or paying a tax any different?--Ericerichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16137189911651175163noreply@blogger.com