Protestantism

» paper_turtle - Brian, various posts

Brian, post #13:
I'm NOT willing to embrace socialism / communism to do it. I'm not willing to see the United States of America turn into a Cuba or Venezuela or North Korea or former USSR.
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Just because something is labeled "socialized" and/or just because someone calling himself a socialist first thought of the idea doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad idea OR that if we accept this ONE idea we will slide into full-blown socialism. As I pointed out in another thread a while ago, early Christian communities were communistic--assets were shared on common. Here in the US the Amana colony was a Christian communistic community, and highly successful for quite a long time.
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Brian, post #22
Can the government decide that some people are obligated (even if it is against their will) to take care of others?
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We already do this through Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and a host of other services. We also force those of us who do not believe in war to support the military.
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I once read somewhere that the health of a nation can be determined by how well this nation takes care of the weak, disabled, and disenfranchised in its population--old and young, male or female, of whatever race. Perhaps if we made compassion a mark of national pride there would not be so much resistance. Perhaps is Christian ministers preached such a message it would help speed things up.
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Right now, our service industries are VOLUNTARY. Doctors, nurses, law enforcement professionals, military personnel, etc. perform services to the public - be it in the area of defense, protection, or health care - because they CHOSE to be in that line of work.
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If you nationalize health care and extend it AS A GUARANTEE to everyone, then you WILL be forced to dramatically (not slightly, not moderately, but dramatically) raise taxes, draft people (eventually) into the health care profession, nationalize other related industries, etc., etc., etc.

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People are now given enticements to enter the field of medicine and teaching through scholarships and extremely low-interest loans. These funds are only available if the person agrees to practice medicine/teach for a specific amount of time, and perhaps in a specific area of the country.
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But if people in the field of medicine did not have to contend with health insurance regulations, and of nurses were paid a decent wage and could work under better conditions, more people would probably be attracted into the field anyway.
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Brian, post #27
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With due respect, it's typical liberal-think to identify a need, propose new spending for it, and then raise taxes in order to meet that cost.
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With all due respect, its typical conservative think to cut the substance out of a social benefits program by changing the requirements so that many people who formerly received help are no longer eligible, and/or cutting the funding so that whatever benefits one receives don't amount to you-know-what.
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Seems to me what liberals do is seek to resurrect and resuscitate these programs. (wink)
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A decent way to tax the rich in a meaningful way (read: a way in which the high taxes STAY with the rich) is to impose a sliding-scale FLAT tax (based on income) and start GUTTING the loopholes.
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An even BETTER way is to eliminate the income tax - and replace it with a national sales tax. A tax on SPENDING - as opposed to income - will result in the people who SPEND THE MOST paying the most in taxes.
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The current tax system is a MESS, though. If you want to solve health care problems in America, we need to FIX the tax system before we start raising taxes.
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Oh, and we also need to do something to curtail the massive litigation going on in America - esp in the area of health care.
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Reform the tax system and reform our tort system - and THEN we can talk about health care reform.
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I agree with you about the need to reform the tax and tort systems, but I don't think we should shelve talking about the need for health care reform until those things are accomplished. And I think much could be done in the meantime to reduce the burden and allow more people to receive the health care they need.
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peace and love,
Paper Turtle

-- posted by paper_turtle