Wisconsin To Provide Universal Healthcare
You’d think liberals around the nation would be happy about this program. You’d think we’d have been hearing about it all over the place. As it is, the Wall Street Journal (hardly a bastion of liberal sentiment) had to highlight the program in an op/ed. Wondering why?
Maybe it’s because the program highlights the stark reality of socialized medicine: Free health care is expensive:
Democrats who run the Wisconsin Senate have dropped the Washington pretense of incremental health-care reform and moved directly to passing a plan to insure every resident under the age of 65 in the state. And, wow, is “free” health care expensive. The plan would cost an estimated $15.2 billion, or $3 billion more than the state currently collects in all income, sales and corporate income taxes. It represents an average of $510 a month in higher taxes for every Wisconsin worker.
But hey, “free health care” right? I wonder, though, what the liberals in Wisconsin are going to do when all the workers leave for friendlier tax environments and an ocean of unemployed rent-seekers looking for free doctorin’ flow in?
As if that’s not enough, the health plan includes a tax escalator clause allowing an additional 1.5 percentage point payroll tax to finance higher outlays in the future. This could bring the payroll tax to 16%. One reason to expect costs to soar is that the state may become a mecca for the unemployed, uninsured and sick from all over North America. The legislation doesn’t require that you have a job in Wisconsin to qualify, merely that you live in the state for at least 12 months.
Tax the hell out of those who are successful and providing for themselves in order to provide free entitlements to those who won’t provide for themselves. Take from the productive, give to the unproductive.
Wonderful.
When this implodes in Wisconsin, the whole nation will be watching. And hopefully we’ll learn a lesson or two.
