Big Brother Really Is Watching You

(H/T Brass Balls Radio Episode 61)

For those of you not in the know, President Obama has set up a new White House email server to track those spreading "disinformation" on his new healthcare plan. He asked that anyone who sees "fishy" activity report it to flag@whitehouse.gov. Nice. Aside from his obvious discrimination against fish (do I report Crustaceous activity? The dilemma!), there are some serious legal issues with this. The White House as an entity MUST keep a record of all communications in or out. However, the White House is strictly forbidden from compiling information on those who disagree with its policies. Oops. Smart move there, ol' buddy. It's ok, though. The Wise Latina got confirmed, despite a 60% rate of failure as a judge. Somehow, barring Antonin Scalia going on a murderous rampage and assuming the role of SCOTUS Highlander style, I just don't think the White House is going to get spanked for this.

More important than the mechanical aspects of this, however, is the moral. President Obama has unilaterally declared that anyone spreading opposing points of view are actually agents of disinformation. It's "fishy", just like the peaceful protests at town halls are "Angry Mobs". The whole effort to demonize opposition seems to be getting desperate, and quite frankly ludicrous. Furthermore, President Obama is in effect asking people to Name Names. Doesn't it strike anyone as odd that the Democratic Party is using exactly the same tactics they've always accused Republicans of using? "Something must be done now or thousands will die of poor healthcare coverage"- the Politics of Fear, and false dichotomy. "My opponents are angry mobs spreading disinformation- or they are Nazis"- demonization of the opposition.

Interestingly enough, various Rasmussen polls have between 65 and 80 percent of Americans satisfied with the healthcare system as it currently stands. So in effect, we are going to punish 354 million Americans so that 46 million can have healthcare coverage. Except that at no point are these 46 million refused essential care because they can't pay. No one is lying on the sidewalk bleeding out as paramedics shake their heads and say "His credit didn't clear".

People always make the mistake of assuming that Capitalism isn't compassionate. This is patently false. Every poll administered, from the UN right on down to Gallup, has found that right wing Christian conservative Americans give on average at least twice as much of their income to charity as anyone else. Liberal Americans give next to nothing. Why? Because liberals think that charity is a government responsibility. But it is demonstrably true that dollar for dollar, government cannot give as much to charity as NGOs. Government inevitably has higher overhead, as they must create a Department of Charitable Works. Then it must be staffed, and stationery must be made. The staff will be unionized, so it has absurd sick days and wage rates. Meanwhile, a Methodist housewife donates 20 hours a week of her time on a rotating schedule with the rest of the ladies from the Parish council at the cost of...a couple of tins of instant coffee and a few boxes of cookies a month. The same thing applies to healthcare. Private sector health providers want to make money. Being efficient leads to making money. Doctors in private clinics do their own paperwork, nurses can also act as receptionists. They get paid by the hour, so they work longer. Meanwhile, at a public hospital, you have a unionized employee who does nothing but answer phones. The doctors work long hours because they are desperately understaffed, not because they want to. The janitors get paid as well if not more than the nurses.

Voluntary associations work better than government. Government healthcare is the epitome of Involuntary association. It. Doesn't. Work.