Bread and Circuses

Last I checked, good roads were not in the Constitution under the “Things government is supposed to do” category.

Funny thing too – education and health care are missing as well.

It might be something that only the government can provide on such a large scale. It does require a certain level of prosperity which we tend to forget. In times of war or major economic depression, from where will the money come?

Have we considered who gets to choose what procedures will be covered? Why should people in other states have a say on whether Texas covers RU-486? The only way to get around this issue is create a state-based system. The downside is people who decry the resulting inequity as if every citizen deserves equal service regardless of their states economic condition. North Dakota has a lower average income from which to draw tax revenue compared to California so it follows that North Dakota wouldn’t be able to afford as much coverage for their citizens. It also follows that California has many more people to cover which would draw down their average dollar spent per person much closer to North Dakota’s. If you want to find out about Canada’s system, ask about cosmetic procedures (costly but elective) or cancer treatments (life-prolonging but extremely costly).

If North Dakota wants to share in California’s tax revenue, they have to accept the strings that California places on the money. Most of the time people are too focused on the $-signs and ignore the strings until too late. It also trains the citizenry that when they get in trouble, they can always run to Uncle Moneybags. After you’re resigned to the first string, the following strings-for-money trade-off become less onerous until you find yourself as a marionette, dancing for your lunch money and resenting the puppeteer all the while trying to get another money ‘fix’.