Obama has it backwards on Iran and Health care
During his press conference today, President Obama repeatedly deferred questions on consequences for the tyrannical Iranian regime by saying that there are “international norms” and the regime’s actions were contrary to those norms. In his opening remarks, he condemned their actions, but, again and again, refused to talk about consequences, referring only to the international community and Iran’s actions being “inconsistent with international norms.”
To the contrary, Obama repeatedly called the U.S. health care system “unacceptable.” He mentioned a woman whose unfortunate cancer has metastasized and whose limited health insurance has caused mounting debts. Again, he called this unacceptable and promoted his government insurance plan. (Query whether, had the woman been on medicare or medicaid, would she still be alive today, much less be financially healthy.)
I’ve said before, healthcare is not a right. Anytime you delve into the health and wellness of human beings, their most personal decisions come into play. Smoking, drinking, eating, exercise and even leisure activity (like rock climbing) need to be factored in. These are not areas the government has any business. For these reasons alone, government healthcare is a bad idea, but nonetheless, Canada, the United Kingdom, all of Europe and much of the civilized world have some form of basic health care (even if the service and survivability lags behind that of the United States). Calling the situation “unacceptable,” however, is hyperbole. You could, however, argue that the fact that the United States does not provide some form of healthcare coverage to all of its citizens is “inconsistent with international norms.”
On the other hand, despite the strong words in his opening statement, calling the shootings, disappearances, beatings, arrests and other crimes in Iran as “inconsistent with international norms” is timid beyond belief. It is the Iranian regime that is unacceptable. It is the shooting, beating and torture of unarmed civilians that is unacceptable. Having universal healthcare is an option. The killing of innocent women never is.