My View on Health Care

I have been living in Norway off and on for the past 3 and a half years.

I am against health care being controlled by the government. It's really a fundamental position rather than a practical one. I know that socialized medicine works fairly well. I also know, however, that true free-market health care would work at least as good, accept without as much cost.

I do not live in a country with free health care, and neither does anyone else. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is free. Norwegians pay an average income tax of 30%, a tax on the purchase of food of like 15%, a sales tax on non-food grocery items (like soap) at 25%. There are taxes on money you don't spend, there are taxes on inheritance, there are taxes on your social-security payments, there are taxes for owning a TV even if it's sitting in your house not being used, there is paying an average (depends on how many driving hours you end up needing) of 20,000 NOK ($3,365 USD) for a drivers license... I can't even name all the ways the government takes money from the Norwegian people because I've only been here for a few years and have no idea about what taxes on businesses are like accept that I know that the more you earn the higher income tax percentage you pay.

So the most obvious cost to near-"free" health care (as well as near-"free" education and all the welfare programs there are in Norway) are taxes, more than even people from my home state of Taxachusetts can imagine.

The less obvious, yet more important, cost to big government is freedom and choice. For instance: Because of the government near-monopoly on health care, if you want faster or better health care than the government can provide you basically have to be pretty well-off. Another example considering health care: Since the government is paying for it all, naturally the government gets to decide what sort of treatments you can get. This results in that many medicines and treatments that are commonplace in the US are either illegal or highly restricted in Norway.

There is a common over-the-counter cream in the States that I would always use under a band-aid if a got a cut. It protects against infection, relieves pain, and generally helps the cut heal faster and with a smaller chance of scarring. I can't remember the name of it now since it's been so long (I think it starts with an N), but I took a tube of it to a local pharmacist about 3 years ago to see if they sold it. He looked at the active ingredients and looked them up in his big book of medicine, and told me that one of them was available by prescription only, while the other was not yet approved for use in Norway. Meanwhile, the cream had been an over-the-counter drug in the USA for probably 10 years already. That is, I remember using it as a pre-teen. Another example of this sort of thing is that I have yet to use any cold medicine here that works as well as Nyquil.

But like I said, my objections are mostly ideological. Here's how the system works. All emergency care is 100% payed for by taxes. Any doctors appointments, psychologist appointments, medicine on the "blå resept" list, and approved medically necessary travel expenses get listed on a card you have called "Kvitteringskort for egenandeler" (Receipt-card for deductibles). Once you have spent more than 1,840 NOK ($309.57 USD) of your own money that is eligible to be put on the card, you send in the card in along with all your receipts. If everything is in order, they give you a "Frikort", which is a card you carry around with you that is valid until the end of the year which makes all the rest of your medical expenses for the rest of the year "free", or rather payed by the government via taxes.

Also, if you are pregnant you get the following for "free": 1 appointment with the doctor or jordmor (earth-mother, midwife which extra education in pregnancy and child-birth assistance) every 4 weeks, 1 ultrasound around week 18 of the pregnancy, and any extra care or ultrasounds that the doctor or jordmor deems necessary as a result of any complications. Our child isn't due 'till May, but I have heard stories from many that when the time comes they are reluctant to let you come to the hospital until you are 100% sure that the baby is coming. Then you get a minimum of 3 days at the hospital, longer if the baby is premature or something else complicates things. They are generally much more reluctant to give c-sections than in the States, but this varies slightly compared to where in the country you live. I do not know weather the government pays for abortions.

As for waiting lines for non-emergency care: they definitely exist. I had to wait 6 months for an appointment with a psychologist. This was not an anomaly, it was general policy written in the letter I received after my main doctor sent an appointment request on my behalf. I think they might have expedited it if I was feeling suicidal or something like that though. In a more serious case than mine though, I have a friend whose arm is permanently damaged because of waiting lines to get surgery. He used to be a waiter, but can no longer handle to load of bringing dishes to and from the kitchen.

Despite this, I must still admit that my problem with socialized medicine is much more ideological than practical. The Norwegian system does indeed work better for more people, in a practical sense, than the current U.S. system. However, I believe the U.S. system could be fixed via the use of more free-market principles. Any solution that allows for more personal freedom and responsibility is inherently better than a solution that puts power into the hands of the few.

Here are some things I believe would make the American system much better.

1. Allow the purchase of health insurance across state lines. This would automatically increase competition dramatically. Prices would go down while quality would go up, just like when competition increased in the car market or the computer market etc.
2. Make health insurance companies have to follow the law based on which State their headquarters are in. The State that has the best health care laws would get the most health insurance businesses. Based on that, other states could improve their own health care laws by copying the states which attract the most health insurance companies.
3. Doctors often give extra unnecessary tests for two reasons. The first reason is that they are afraid of getting sued. The second reason is because the health insurance covers it. I have read research that suggests doctors would be less willing to recommend unnecessary tests if they knew that their patient was paying out-of-pocket. Thus, if more people used health savings accounts, the cost of health care would decrease.
4. Make all legitimate health expenses tax-deductible, so people with lots of health problems would have a much lower tax burden.
5. Make the sale of all medical equipment and medicine completely tax-free. This would reduce the cost to hospitals, doctors etc. which would be eventually passed down to patients
6. Generally get rid of as many government programs as possible in order to get rid of as many taxes as possible. With less taxes to pay, the people would have more money to pay for their medical expenses and spend money in other ways that would create jobs for those who do not have them. The more money people have in their own pockets, the more money also they will give to charities which help the uninsured.
7. Either use force to kick out all illegal aliens, or give them all legal status. Their presence here as illegals, unable to by health insurance or demand higher wages, is a financial burden on emergency rooms everywhere.
8. Either end or dramatically change the Federal Reserve in order to prevent these financial bubbles and bursts which cause major economic havoc that in tern causes problems to being able to pay for medical care.

I am sure there in much more we could do to improve our country by reducing government power rather than increasing it. One place that I get much of my inspiration from is the Downsize DC Foundation. To check out some of their views on health care, click here. You can find more information on health care and other topics of interest by reading their blog archive by category or checking out their other campaigns.

I hope that isn't too much and you find it useful.

In Love and Liberty,

Christopher D. Osborn
Siggerud, Ski, Akershus, Norge

twitter.com/mvfipher
fipher.blogspot.com
battleforheaven.blogspot.com

Fwd: How to Cure Political Loneliness

Latest DownsizeDC.org project: the cure for political loneliness amongst liberty minded individuals (Libertarians, Constitutionalists, True Conservative Republicans, etc.) I really think it might work. Too bad it costs money and I have none to give.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Downsizer Dispatch <downsizer-dispatch@downsizedc.org>
Date: Sat, Nov 15, 2008 at 6:02 PM
Subject: How to Cure Political Loneliness

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

---

Quote of the Day: "In the long run men hit only what they aim at." -- Henry David Thoreau

Subject: How to cure political loneliness

* How many Americans want smaller government?
* How many Americans would support the "Read the Bills Act" and the "One Subject at a Time Act," if they were introduced to them?

In today's Dispatch we'll answer the first question, and explain how we can use $50,000 in pledges made by two generous donors to answer the second question. We'll also tell you how you can see and receive our new "I Am Not Afraid" t-shirt.

We start by tipping our hat to David Boaz at the Cato Institute for constantly calling attention to the kind of data we're going to share below, and to Ramesh Ponnuru for providing a good recent summary of this information.

CBS pollsters have been asking the following question for decades, "Would you say you favor smaller government with fewer services, or larger government with many services?"

From 1996 through Jan. 2001 the smaller-government side had an average lead of a whopping 20 points. This lead has slipped in the current decade, but as of March-April of this year the sides were tied.

For most of the past three decades a majority of Americans (often a vast majority) have favored smaller government. And even now, when the propaganda drumbeat for more government in areas such as health care and the financial system has been extremely loud, the support for smaller government is close to a majority, according to this poll.

But there are other polls . . .

A similar Washington Post/ABC poll tells the same story. Public opinion swung strongly toward smaller government in the 1990s, and then back the other way in this decade. "But smaller-government has maintained a consistent advantage!"

According to this poll, as of June 2008, the public still favors smaller government 50% to 45%. But there's more . . .

For many years Gallup, ABC and the Washington Post have asked Americans, "is government trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses" or "should government do more to solve our country's problems?" The answers have usually been in favor of smaller government . . .

* By 8-points in September 1992
* By 12-points in October 1998
* By 7-points in September 2002
* And by a whopping 12-points this September, during the height of the financial hysteria!

But it gets even better, because these poll questions are actually rigged in favor of the big government position, and we still win anyway! As David Boaz points out, these poll questions offer a benefit of larger government (more services) without mentioning the cost (higher taxes).

A fair poll question would mention both the cost and the benefit for each side. Has any polling operation asked the question this way? The answer is yes. When Rasmussen asked the balanced version of the question the results were . . .

* A whopping 64% in favor of smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes,
* 14% undecided
* And only a tiny minority of 22% in favor of more government and higher taxes

But these results are even more inspiring than they seem. What's truly amazing is that the vast majority of Americans favor smaller government in spite of the fact that . . .

* They all learned in government schools that government is the font of all things good
* The drama-mongering media constantly promotes the idea that the latest "crisis" is a cataclysmic danger that only government can solve
* Tax-funded "intellectuals" in our universities are constantly at work, pimping for the State
* Politicians spend billions every election telling us that they are the answer to every problem

The case for small government is hardly ever heard by anyone, and yet it still wins in the minds of the American people!

Can you imagine what could happen if our message was heard to the same extent as the propaganda for big government?

How can we make this happen? We think it would only take the organized assistance of a small portion of the 50-60% who already favor smaller government. How could these people be recruited and organized? We have a simple idea -- JUST ASK THEM!

We want to . . .

* Rent lists of politically engaged people
* Send them a letter describing RTBA and OSTA
* Ask them to join Downsize DC for free, by subscribing to the Downsizer Dispatch
* Make a pitch for funds so we can send more RTBA/OSTA letters to more potential recruits

We think this simple plan could make the Downsize DC Army grow very rapidly. Two major donors agree and have pledged a total of $50,000 to help ignite this fire. Their $50,000 is the final piece necessary to raise our entire 2009 budget of $186,000.

At present, we raise $97,000, annually, through monthly pledges (and the rest through one-time donations, with little to spare for advertising outreach).

To get the $50,000 in major donor pledges, and to achieve the goal all we need is the help of our supporters to "Close the Gap" of $39,000.

There are two ways you could help . . .

Close the $39,000 Gap from the top down by making a large pledge in concert with the two supporters who have pledged $50,000. Could you join them by pledging something on the order of $1,000, $2,500, $5,000, $10,000, or $20,000?

If you choose this route, with a minimum $500 donation, you won't have to fulfill your pledge until we have all the money raised. That way there's no risk of your contributing a large amount and then wondering if the goal will really be met. When the goal is met we'll tell you, and only then cash your check or process your credit card.

Better yet, we'll use your pledge, along with the $50,000, as a matching fund to encourage smaller donations to help Close the Gap from the bottom up. If you want to join our top donors by making a larger pledge please go to our secure contribution forms and choose the page for top down pledges.

On the other hand, if the above amounts don't fit your budget, could you help Close the Gap from the bottom up by making a smaller cash donation, or by starting a monthly credit card pledge? You can do this using the special secure contribution form we've created for this fundraising drive. Pick the bottom up page.

Please note, smaller bottom up contributions and monthly pledges are immediate donations, not pledges to be fulfilled later. It's a cash or credit card contribution now. In return, we'll send you a special gift as our way of saying, "Thanks."

Everyone who makes . . .

* A one-time donation of $76 or more, or . . .
* A new monthly pledge of $12 or more, or . . .
* A $5 or more increase to an EXISTING monthly pledge . . .

We'll send you our new "I Am Not Afraid" t-shirt (you can see a picture of the t-shirt on the contribution page).

Thanks to the help of our two enthusiastic donors we're suddenly $50,000 closer to being able . . .

* Tap intro the vast majority that favors smaller government
* Benefit from the wide appeal of RTBA and OSTA
* Grow at a very rapid rate

All we need to get that final $50,000 is raise another $39,000. We hope you can help.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

P.S. There is also a Downsize DC lapel pin available for higher levels of support. And, IF YOU'RE CURRENTLY PLEDGING MORE THAN $50 PER MONTH, just tell us your T-shirt size, and we'll send you one as our way of saying thanks for all that support. See the special Close the Gap contribution form for details.

P.P.S. If tax-deductibility is important to you, or you wish to donate securities, you can make your contribution to the "Downsize DC Foundation."

P.P.P.S. Also, in terms of closing the gap, a monthly credit card pledge is worth the amount of the pledge times 12 months, so this is a particularly powerful way to help Close the Gap.

P.P.P.P.S. If you're going to send a check please print out one of the forms for this in our secure contribution pages. Our mailing address is located on both the Top Down and Bottom Up form.

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h
is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation

CONTRIBUTE to the Electronic Lobbyist project

http://www.DownsizeDC.org is sponsored by DownsizeDC.org, Inc. -- a non-profit educational organization promoting the ideas of individual liberty, personal responsibility, free markets, and small government.

You are encouraged to forward this message to friends and business associates, and permission is hereby granted to reproduce any items herein as long as attribution is provided for articles and the subscription instructions above are included.

Seeking redress, M.V. Times Letter

Hey, gues what? I sent a letter to the editor of the Martha's Vineyard Times, the Cape Cod Times, and the Vineyard Gazette, and the M.V. Times published it. I don't know if the Cape Cod times published it... I'll have to find a copy, and the Gazette doesn't come out 'till tomorrow, so we'll see then.

For now, here's the text of the letter:

Seeking redress

To the Editor:

Monday, June 30, may be remembered in history as the day Americans began, in earnest, the moral and solemn process of holding their servant government accountable to the constitution, under threat of withdrawal of allegiance, support and tax money.

To secure this end, the people have begun to claim and exercise a little known, but unalienable, "Right of Redress," rather than depending upon the will of the majority as defined by precinct voters, those who cast votes on Capitol Hill, and those that vote from the inner sanctums of our courthouses.

Most do not know that this profound natural right, first articulated 800 years ago in the Magna Carta, is embodied and protected by the petition clause of the First Amendment, the same amendment which protects your voice in the defense of freedom. Very importantly, academic research since 1986 makes clear that the right to petition for redress is not a redundant statement of the right of speech. It is in fact, the individual exercise of popular sovereignty.

To be sure, the widespread exercise of this Right holds significant implications for our nation and is most worthy of your interest. Here's what some of the Founders, sitting as the first congress, had to say:

"If money is wanted by rulers who have in any manner oppressed the people, they may retain it until their grievances are redressed, and thus peaceably procure relief, without trusting to despised petitions or disturbing the public tranquility." - Journals of the Continental Congress, 1:105113

On June 30, approximately 1,200 American citizens will begin the process of exercising the right by formally serving a legal notice and demand for redress upon the president, the attorney general and every member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, at their local district offices. This includes our own.

Demanding an official response within 40 days, the notice includes seven petitions for redress of grievances regarding substantial violations the constitution:

1. The Iraq invasion in violation of the war powers clauses.
2. The Federal Reserve System's violation of the money clauses.
3. The USA Patriot Act's violation of the privacy clauses.
4. The direct, unapportioned taxes on labor in violation of the tax clauses.
5. The federal gun control laws in violation of the Second Amendment.
6. The failure to enforce immigration laws in violation of the "faithfully execute" clause.
7. The construction, by stealth, of a "North American Union" without constitutional authority.

We the people cannot elect our way out of tyranny. Any assertion that by electing either Sen. John McCain or Sen. Barack Obama we can cure the ills that now plague America is simply naive or based on a lack of information regarding the corrupting forces that truly influence and control our government and political process.

Remember, when our president originally led us to war in Iraq, he did so with the majority support of not only Congress, but of the people. Credit or blame for whatever actions our government takes, whether it turns out to be for better or worse, cannot be laid upon just one man, administration, or congressional gathering. Whether through apathy, ignorance, vigilance, or brilliance, all our nation's citizenry have some responsibility for what our government does.

We urge you, the media, to learn about this profound right and to cover this event. Our republic faces a watershed moment no less historically compelling or newsworthy than the emergence of the civil rights movement. If liberty is to survive through peaceful means, you must embrace your ability to bring this critical information to your readers.

I know our local papers don't usually cover national news so much, but this really does have the potential to affect us all personally.

I also must admit that I am not as well versed in constitutional law as some, but in the past couple of years I do feel I have learned enough to support this cause and wish that others would do the same. If you wish you may visit www.givemeliberty.org/revolution for details about the plan to restore constitutional order.

I also recommend that every citizen take a closer look at our constitution than most of us do. Some of it is a tough read, but during a time when there is significant discussion about what it's all about and how important it is, I think it's a good thing for every one of us to take a good look at.

Christopher D. Osborn
Vineyard Haven

I look forward to seeing what people have to say about it in the comments section of the website. Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod, and Massachusetts in general actually is a great haven for big government Democrats.

Ron Paul's Campaign For Liberty | The Revolution Continues

With the primary season now over, the presidential campaign is at an end. But the larger campaign for freedom is just getting started. Therefore, I am happy to announce the official launch of the Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty.

read more | digg story

A Letter From Ron Paul:

Dear Supporter,

These past 17 months have been among the most exciting and eventful of my life. Together you and I delivered a message of freedom the likes of which American politics had not seen in decades. I wasn’t sure the country was ready for it. But it was a message, I discovered, that many Americans had been waiting for a long time to hear.

I have been blessed with the most informed, well read, and enthusiastic supporters of any presidential campaign. Your extraordinary efforts in organizing and fundraising grabbed the attention of millions of Americans and shocked just about everyone in politics and the media. I still cannot get over all the fantastic work you did.

Something of great significance has just occurred in our country’s history.

With the primary season now over, the presidential campaign is at an end. But the larger campaign for freedom is just getting started. Therefore, I am happy to announce the official launch of the Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty.

The work of the Campaign for Liberty will take many forms. We will educate our fellow Americans in freedom, sound money, non-interventionism, and free markets. We’ll have our own commentaries and videos on the news of the day. I’ll work with friends I respect to design materials for homeschoolers.

Politically, we’ll expand the great work of our precinct leader program. We’ll make our presence felt at every level of government, where just a few people with our level of enthusiasm can make a world of difference. We’ll keep an eye on Congress and lobby against legislation that threatens us. We’ll identify and support political candidates who champion our great ideas against the empty suits the party establishments offer the public.

We will be a permanent presence on the American political landscape. That I promise you. We’re not about to let all this good work die. To the contrary, with your help we’re going to make it grow – by leaps and bounds.

This is the most ambitious venture of my political career, and I think it can achieve great things. But I can’t do this alone. I need you to help me. I need your energy, your creativity, your ideas, and your dedication.

People frustrated with our political system often wonder what they can do. I have founded this organization to answer that question, to give people the opportunity to do something that really makes a difference in the fight for freedom. Please join me by becoming a member of the Campaign for Liberty. Our goal is 100,000 members by September. Can we reach it?

Our campaign netted 1.1 million votes in the primaries of a shrinking Republican Party. Millions more support us. I need you to help me reach them – and to keep making new converts to the cause. What a force we can be, if only we rise to the occasion.

Now what about the Republican Convention in St. Paul? Our delegates will attend, of course, and I expect our contingent to have a visible presence there. Without disruption, we will do whatever we can to influence the party and its platform, and return the GOP to its limited-government roots. This is very important.

This brings me to my second announcement. I invite you to join us at Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota on Tuesday, September 2nd, for a grand rally. We intend to draw over 11,000 people. We’ll have live music and entertainment, and special guests. I’ll address you all as well. A massive rally will generate still more interest in our ideas. And what a great time it will be.

Remember that it was Senator Robert Taft, who shared our views, who was called Mr. Republican. But we are not merely the Republican Party’s past. If the enthusiasm of young people for our campaign is any indication, we are also its future.

Right now I will need your patience and input as we develop our program and assemble just the right team of individuals. But it is my intention to launch the Campaign for Liberty in its full capacity at our rally in Minneapolis this September.

Over the past week we’ve learned that the Democratic presidential nominee, supposedly an antiwar candidate, is committed to the same rhetoric, the same propaganda, and the same aggressive intentions toward Iran as the Bush administration. As usual, the major parties refuse to offer Americans a real choice.

The Campaign for Liberty will lay the groundwork for a different America, the kind of America you and I, and millions of our fellow countrymen, want to inhabit.

“Dr. Paul cured my apathy,” a popular campaign sign read. Others said our campaign cured their cynicism. We have now reached a moment of great moral decision: will we let ourselves retreat into apathy and cynicism once again, or will we dig in for the long haul and fight all the harder? Will we retire from the scene quietly, or will we give the establishment the fight of its life?

“In the final analysis,” I wrote in my new book The Revolution: A Manifesto, “the last line of defense in support of freedom and the Constitution consists of the people themselves. If the people want to be free, if they want to lift themselves out from underneath a state apparatus that threatens their liberties, squanders their resources on needless wars, destroys the value of their dollar, and spews forth endless propaganda about how indispensable it is and how lost we would all be without it, there is no force that can stop them.”

The time has come to act on these words. May future generations look back on our work and say that these were men and women who, in a moment of great crisis, stood up to the politicians, the opinion-molders, and the establishment, and saved their country.

Join us, and be a part of it.

For liberty,

Ron Paul

Ron Paul Says, "No"

What part of that message do some of his supporters not understand?

read more | digg story

Now that Ron Paul has no chance of winning, we should focus on three things.

1. Trying to get him a speaking position at the Republican convention so more Republicans have the opportunity to hear what he has to say right from the horses mouth instead of from the little scrapes they hear on the news.

2. Spreading the message, because it's the message that matters most. Ron Paul is a great man, but still only a man. In fact, he's an old man who will likely die in the next twenty years or so, and retire before that. The message should last forever.

3. Finding like-minded individuals to run for congress (as well as other government offices) to help Dr. Paul in actually making a difference in our country. So far Dr. Paul has hardly been able to do anything in his long career as a congressman because he is only only one man whose ideas are very different from most people in politics.

I am very glad to see this article by "rtbohan" and I hope many people in the movement read it and take it to heart.

Sincerely,

Christopher D. Osborn

Ron Paul Announces Grand March on Washington D.C.

In a video released tonight Ron Paul states, “We are at this point where we have to do something major…We have to make a grand stand, we have to stand firm and see where are numbers are…”

I'll write more on it later, perhaps tonight.

read more | digg story

March 1st, 2008
10:45 PM

So, I guess I didn't get to writing more about it that night. Here's a campaign update video witch that digg story refers to.



In addition, I've found a few related links. The first is pretty much just a little news article from Restore The Republic titled WARNING: RON PAUL DC MARCH UPDATE. This first one I think is the most important for Paulites to read.

The second I found is a website called revolutionmarch.com which is a grassroots website to organize information pertaining to the march as well as the actual march.

From the website:

The purpose of our rally is to get many thousands of freedom loving people in one place so we can be heard. An event SO HUGE, that even the Main Stream Media can’t ignore it!

The last is a blogger blog, Revolution March, which seems to fulfill a similar purpose as revolutionmarch.com or even this very blog posting of mine. An interesting feature it has, which I haven't gotten a chance to check out, are two blogtalkradio recordings about the march. I have however registered an account so I can comment on them as soon as I listen to them.

For my final words on the whole subject, I want to urge people to not take this march as a stand for Ron Paul to be elected president, or to attack John McCain or any other politician. This march should be about the revolution as whole. This campaign may have shown there there is hope, that there are a lot more people reseptive to the message of true Liberty than Dr. Paul ever imagined. However, it has also show that we still have a lot of work to do. The primary focus of the campaign is no longer to get Dr. Paul into the White House, but to use th campaign as a vehicle to get the messege of Liberty to as many Americans as possible so we can really start to change this country around back closer to the way our founders might have imagined it.

Let's face it, even if we were able to pull off the miricle of getting Dr. Paul into the White House, he would hardly be able to make many of the changes we would hope without congressional support. We need to change not only the way the Republican Party thinks, but the way the whole country thinks. We need Paulites running for office in every branch of government, from city counsel to Senate.

Basically what I think we should be looking for as a result of this march and book bomb is either a much stronger and united Libertarian party or a changed Republican party, and through this, a stronger and better America. This revolution is not just about one great man, but a great idea for a great nation.