Thoughts on Obamacare before the Sanders Cruz Debate
Tonight Bernie Sanders will be debating Ted Cruz on CNN. In an obvious attempt to generate ratings, this debate may start a new trend, where the topics are issues instead of elections. Tonight the two senators, both beloved by their respective party, will be debating over the fate of the Affordable Care Act, casually referred to as Obamacare. Although nothing can be absolutely certain in the world of politics, one could safely assume that Senator Sanders, of Vermont, will be arguing on behalf of the Act’s merit, and Senator Cruz, of Texas, will be arguing to repeal it. Tonight, the American people will be given two distinct views on Obamacare. In addition to the abundance of opinions about the subject, I intend to present mine
Obamacare has done a lot since its creation, both good and bad, and is essentially a matter of ideology. On the one hand, it has provided low cost health insurance to many people, who could not afford it. On the other hand, it has raised the price of healthcare and imposed an unjust burden on taxpayers. If you are someone, who is not opposed to redistributive policy, then you probably support it. If you are someone, who is tired of footing the bill for other people, then you probably hate it. These aren’t the only two viewpoints on the issue, and there are many people who support or detest the ACA for other reasons. I happen to be one of those people, and I propose that Obamacare, like other policies similar to it, is detrimental to our civil liberties.
No matter what it may be about, every piece of legislation involves a shift in power dynamics. For example, the introduction of speeding limits takes away the power of the everyday person to decide how fast he or she will drive; whereas, abolishing the speed limit would give that power back to the people. You can argue the laws merit, but you can’t deny that people no longer have that choice. Some laws are a lot less obvious. In a law like Obamacare, the power shift is a lot subtler, and almost unnoticeable, but it provides the government more power over the citizens. The ACA gave control of health care to the government, which means that an aspect essential to people’s everyday life is now under the palm of the government. Here is where we begin to see the problem. People need healthcare, and they become reliant on whoever the provider may be. In a free market economy, multiple business would open to provide health insurance. These companies would check each other’s power by providing competitive pricing and benefits. With the government system, there is no competition. The need for insurance is still present, but there’s only one place to get it from. You can still by private insurance, but Obamacare tends to be cheaper meaning employers are going with it instead. That means that the people will be reliant on government to provide it for them.
This is a major problem because it means government now has control over the people. With something as important as health insurance, the government can use that as leverage to control how the people vote, or act, or think. Every aspect of life given to the government is one more element of control they have over the population. With the combination of Welfare, Social Security, Unemployment, College Education, and now Obamacare, there isn’t much power left for the everyday person. We are becoming dependent on government, which means that our votes will be placed in order to support the party that continues to give us the things we want instead of the freedom we need. That is why I believe we should repeal and not replace Obamacare.