Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Manipulating economy will lead to depression

After the statists under Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt expanded the bureaucracy of government, they began their assault on industry and commerce. Wage controls were imposed that reduced employment. They restricted commerce with price controls. Taxation knocked down the accumulation of wealth.

These intrusions on our markets have waxed and waned over the years. Today they come almost daily. The Environmental Protection Agency has introduced new regulations on farmers in Florida, impeding our food supply. The seas are put off limits for commercial fishing. They are creating emission mandates that could restrict our travel to limit carbon emissions. One day soon, the Department of Transportation may tax our travel by mileage.

Congress argues health care is a right, and we should expect the same results from that legislation as their belief in the "right to home ownership" that exacerbated this business cycle. The president speaks of living wages as he increases debt with cash for clunkers, appliances and caulk. He is increasing centralized control of our economy as he redistributes wealth not yet even confiscated.

Small businesses and investors must now consider increased taxation as well as expanding government regulation. With daily manipulations from Washington, they are unwilling to invest in growth. The threat of future tax increases to pay for deficits and interest on debt stamp out future earnings that could be taken in taxes, as individuals refuse even to earn at impending tax levels.

Before the last election I spoke with my father about the candidates. He was impressed with the intellect of then-Sen. [Barack] Obama. Since my father is a rocket scientist, I have to give credence to his words as I scrutinize the president's economic policies that prolong this recession. I have concerns he may create a new depression, based on the policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. What remains to be seen is whether the president acts from a lack of understanding of free markets, or intentionally.

David Carter

Key West

We all pay the costs of Trauma Star flights

The problem with [Monroe County] Commissioner [Mario] Di Gennaro's demand that his grandson be allowed to fly free on the county-subsidized Trauma Star [air ambulance] is that the flight simply was not free. Someone paid for that flight, either partially or in full, and that someone was you.

This all points up the silliness of the argument by all Republicans, and by some Democrats, that the uninsured are not a drag on our economy and that people who do not want to pay for health insurance should have that option. But the cost of that option is, as in the Di Gennaro case, paid for by all of us who do have insurance and results in higher cost of health care in America. There is no free lunch.

In this country any uninsured person who cannot afford medical insurance, or chooses not to pay for it, can get care "free" at an emergency room or in hospital wards. That care is expensive, much more expensive than for an insured person, and is a way for insurance companies to dump costs onto the taxpaying public.

I have no argument with Di Gennaro's desire to save money, but any responsible grandfather, especially one in government, should have seen to it that his family has health insurance and that the cost of that Trauma Star flight was not picked up by lots of folk who may be less well off financially than is he.

Reese Palley

Key West

Let voters decide their health care options

Corporate interests have so completely compromised the relationship between the will of the people and our elected officials that we can no longer expect them to act or vote for our interest. We the people of the United States believe we should be able to choose our health care system by a vote of the people, by the people and for the people. Let's have a direct vote on the public option.

Tom Dodamead

Marathon