You see, the Government owns Amtrak. Amtrak isn't doing well. Neither is the United States Postal Service, which is owned by the same Government, of course. Our nation is in trillions of dollars of debt, and many states are billions in debt themselves. So why does anyone think that it's a good idea to let the Government run more things? We're kidding ourselves if we think the solution to failing Obamacare is a single-payer system run by the Government. No, the Republican Bill that didn't have a prayer of passing in the Senate wasn't the solution either. But anything that allows more freedom and more Capitalism would be a step in the right direction. Health Insurance companies ought to compete for business just like other companies, which will lead to lower prices. We can start by opening up competition across state lines and continue by working on a bipartisan effort to fix the mess we are in.
The cost of many procedures and medications in the United States far exceeds that of many other countries. If things cost less in other places, an opportunity exists for companies to compete and drive down costs. Republicans and Democrats should get together and figure out why this isn't happening to the extent it ought to be. Are there regulations in place stifling competition and Capitalism? Do we disallow certain companies to compete in certain places? I don't know the answers, but I know the astronomical cost of some very basic and fast healthcare procedures, and it just simply does not add up in my mind or the mind of anyone who is paying attention. An inefficiency exists, and it must be fixable.
I don't fully agree with Conservative Libertarian folks like Ben Shapiro on Obamacare though. Notably, despite the cost, we should find a way to support what Obamacare did in making sure folks with pre-existing conditions can have affordable healthcare. No, I don't like that Obamacare is a tax for people who opt out of coverage, but if healthcare savings are realized elsewhere, this particular clause ought to have no trouble maintaining its funding. If not, well, there are plenty of less important things that the Government is funding. Or we can legalize weed and tax the crap out of it (admittedly not a Libertarian idea here, but I like it's guaranteed to bring in money and marijuana should be legal anyway).
I'm stopped at Penn Station now. Why is the person who gives the announcements always either loud and annoying or impossible to understand? Oh, for fucks sake, I know where we are going and where the trash cans and bathrooms are. Do you actually have anything relevant to say, sir? Oh, we're being delayed because we are waiting for a train to come in from Montreal? Big surprise there... I can't wait until this 29-minute hyperloop thing connecting NYC and DC actually happens. Hopefully the Government keeps its hand out of it as much as possible...
Anyway, other examples of Government waste that I've encountered just today? On my drive to work (East Haven to Wallingford, CT), they were repaving the street near my house. That's been going on for a week already. There was nothing wrong with the street. Barely any potholes. And they just redid that very same street a few years ago. Do we really need to close two lanes for a mile and hire a bunch of cops so a few guys can actually do work, each surrounded by several trucks of all sorts? Then, just outside of where I work, continues a project that's been going on for over a year, wherein they are changing the location of the on-ramp for the Parkway. Most of the time, no work is happening, but there are often cops and Department of Transportation trucks. When work is being done, it's like one guy with a jackhammer being watched by ten guys, with two guys directing traffic and some others just standing around. I saw a viral video where a much more difficult project in another country was shown on time lapse. It took three days. Where are we on that?
I'm still stuck at Penn Station.
What else? How about all the rules and regulations and Government specifications? Some are necessary, but others are not, and they drive the cost of the products my company makes through the roof whenever the Government is the end user. It's fine for my company though. No matter, the taxpayers foot those bills. And I'm sure it's not just my company. I've heard stories where the same hardware you can get from Home Depot is marked up more than a hundred fold when sold to the Government with the required certifications. One of my favorite new regulations came about last year, where several companies we do business with flowed down requirements from the Government that our company had to have a procedure for combatting human trafficking. That's all well and good because we are all against human trafficking, except we didn't have a procedure and the corporate legal team had to come up with one, because we are a defense contractor in America that happens to not engage in prostitution on our premesis. At least that particular clause wasn't too expensive to implement...
While we're at it with Government finance ideas, let's push campaign finance reform. We just set a record for the most money spent in a House campaign--right around $50 million, the larger portion of which was by the loser, Ossoff. How does that shit get funded while we debate healthcare and ways to help the poor? Actually, maybe this is a rare spot where an additional Government regulation can help. How about we mandate that candidates only get a certain percentage of the money donated to them, while the rest goes into a massive fund to help pay for healthcare for the impoverished (not that they are refused treatment anyway in the U.S.)? Or perhaps we can just have it go directly to local food banks and homeless shelters? I'm full of ideas when I'm stuck on a train that isn't moving...
I haven't heard much about pushing for a flat tax lately either. That would be nice. By the way, is everyone familiar with the Laffer curve? It's the most basic reason why Bernie Sanders and many of his supporters lack a basic understanding of how the economy works. If you've never heard of it, do yourself a favor and look it up.
A larger woman just sat down next to me. I'm glad I'm not on an airplane. On an airplane though, they really ought to make you buy two seats if you're over a certain size. And if you show up having only bought one seat and are unable to fit entirely in that one seat, those are the people who should get kicked off the flight. The train is finally moving again! I think it's time for a nap. Maybe I'll wake up and we'll have a Libertarian Government. Then I will realize that it's just a dream, because it's more likely that we'll just have more headlines about the current administration's alleged collusion with Russia instead...
