February 19, 2008 by Tom Armstrong.

I disagree with Obama on pretty much every issue, but he’s dead on when he says lack of health insurance is not an insurance problem, it’s a poverty problem. Why then, I ponder, would any one seek to nationalize health care/insurance when it works for 85% of the population (more when the numbers are adjusted for those who can afford it but choose to forgo it)? If progressives were less concerned with consolidating power for themselves in Washington and more concerned with insuring the poor, they would not seek to nationalize health care.

If we–the majority of voters–agree that the U.S. should sacrifice some economic growth for providing health insurance for all, we should focus on the 10% to 15% who cannot afford it rather than force a government-provided plan on 100% of the population.

Providing universal coverage through the state is analogous to providing a universal pension plan in the U.S. because a small fraction of the population lacked the discipline (or ability) to save for themselves. Oh wait, too late. Such plans punish the vast majority of the prudent population to benefit the irresponsible small minority. Let’s not force a universal plan on everyone when concentrating on the small minority is better focused, less intrusive, and cheaper. I linked to a Milton Friedman video yesterday, in which he speaks on this (look below).

This problem remains: once we start rewarding a minority for its irresponsibility or need, more people will tend to become irresponsible and needy–that’s the problem with the welfare state, one at least.

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February 19, 2008 by Tom Armstrong.

Market forces, not government regulation, provide the most effective impetus for higher gas mileage. Read it all in today’s WSJ.

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February 19, 2008 by Tom Armstrong.

The more I learn about Obama, the more he frightens me.

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February 19, 2008 by Tom Armstrong.

This news does not exactly soothe my jittery nerves.

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February 19, 2008 by Tom Armstrong.

Mike Munger is one person I’d be happy to pull the vote lever for. Mike wants to be N.C. governor, it begins:

DURHAM - If you believe government exists to improve people’s lives, Michael Munger thinks you’re naive.“To think that government could ever be other than selfish and venal and manipulative is a mistake,” he says.

Someone with such a low opinion of government might seem like an odd choice to lead one. But the Libertarian, who also is chairman of the Duke University political science department, wants to be the next governor.

And he thinks he’d be an excellent one precisely because of his fervent mistrust of nearly everything government does.

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