Hillary in '08!

I just read through Hillary Clinton's "American Health Choices Plan." Of course I have a few comments, but first let me qualify a few things.

It has been said by certain people on this blog that I am a socialist. This appears to be based on my opinions on health care insurance. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

I believe in the right to private property, capitalism, and apple pie. There are some things, however, that a modern and civilized nation should protect and provide for its people. One of those things, in my opinion, is health care.

As I mentioned in a previous post, adequate health care is one of those things that you need to survive, especially in today's world where health care costs are astronomical. In a modern and civilized nation, the government should attempt to ensure all of the people have what they need to live. (And no, I don't mean that the government should provide everyone with the same standard of living.)

Hillary's new proposal for health care does just that.

There are, of course, a few strings attached. First, the program would be compulsory. That means that even if you are healthy and you don't want health insurance, you have to buy it anyway.

This is what pays for a lot of the program. By bringing in more healthy people who pay for their "insurance," you can afford to pay for the sick people who are in need. It is essentially less an insurance plan than it is an extra tax that also gives you the right to health care if you need it.

But what if you don't need health care? I know of one young healthy guy who didn't need health care. He was injured in a serious accident requiring numerous surgeries. Now he's relying on donations from good-hearted people to pay his medical bills. It's sort of the same thing as Clinton's plan.

But Clinton's plan doesn't go far enough. The government should take other steps to ensure the quality of health care and provide adequate funds to do so.

Let's increase the tax on cigarettes by a few dollars a pack and use that to fund this universal health care. After all, it's the smokers who will end up burdening the system in the future.

Let's also put a focus on preventive care. This means having the FDA put tighter restrictions on food here in the U.S. A diet high in salt is a big cause of heart disease and numerous other ailments. The FDA is now considering clamping down the amount of salt used in food products.

That's good because according to James J. Kenney, a registered dietitian at foodandhealth.com, "worldwide, added salt almost certainly is killing more people than AIDS, malaria, terrorism, obesity, high cholesterol and tobacco." Let's make the FDA step up to the plate to stop this.

Same goes for products like high fructose corn syrup which is in just about every product on the store shelves and a big cause of obesity in American. By cutting out salt and high fructose corn syrup, two things many people unknowingly ingest on a daily basis, you can make healthier Americans who won't burden the health care system in the future.

Oh, but that takes away my right to eat whatever I want and smoke whatever I want! If you want to self-destruct, you're right, that is your prerogative, but you're going to pay for it. This is a capitalist country after all.

(Then of course there is the inflated cost of health care and prescription drugs that should be addressed, but I won't get into that right now.)