I live in Phoenix, AZ, and for months, the media, especially Arizona Republic columnist E.J. Montini, have been unfairly trashing Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer because there simply wasn't enough money in the state budget to provide for every disadvantaged person who may require some kind of organ transplant to stay alive.
Gov. Brewer has now worked successfully with the state legislature in Arizona to reign in a huge budget deficit and still find a way to allocate money to keep the transplant program fully funded. The governor has been able to prioritize the fiscal situation in the state despite being subjected to the usual ridiculous claims in the media that she wanted people to die.
Reporters and columnists who make such claims never seize to amaze me. Do they not understand that no government entity has a bottomless pit of money to give to everyone who can’t fend for themselves? These usually are the same media people who have for decades pretended that society can rely on government for every need and desire.
The reality, which Gov. Brewer and governors in Wisconsin, Ohio and New Jersey have also been facing, is that states are going bankrupt because many former government officials in those states thought they could promise everything, even knowing there is a limit to how much you can tax the productive people in our society. These governors don’t want people to suffer, but they are courageous enough to say that everyone will suffer if their respective states go belly up financially.
For most of my life, I have watched, read and listened while reporters have pretended that local, state and federal government entities can supply unlimited funds for everything that goes wrong in life. I’ve got news for those who rely on the mainstream media for all of their information. Governments really have no money. They receive money in the form of taxes from those people in our society who are productive, in other words the successful people. There is a limit to how much you can tax people, so there will always be a limit to what government can fund no matter what big government advocates contend.
All the debate surrounding the transplant issue in Arizona should focus attention on what would happen if we really end up having a government-backed, single-payer health care insurance system. Since there will always be limited funds under any kind of health insurance system, there will always be rationing of care. I worked in the health care field for 20 years as a communications professional, and the reality is that there are limits to what public insurance can provide, just as there are limits to what private insurance can cover.
Anyone who denies that rationing of care would not take place under either scenario just doesn’t understand the economics of health care. Nevertheless, our news media, for the most part, still advocate for a single-payer system as if it is the panacea. They obviously haven’t paid attention to the European countries that are going bankrupt because of their socialized health care systems.
I have a suggestion for E. J. Montini and the other media advocates who think government can solve every problem. Start your own tax free foundation to help people who don’t have any health insurance and are in need of organ transplants. There already exists similar foundations throughout the country that assist people with medical bills. Just think, E. J. Instead of just giving lip service, you will be able to actually help the people that you claim you really want to help. And you can save on your taxes, too.
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