Do As I Say...Or As I Tell You To Do...

In case you've missed it, in the huge omnibus spending bill that passed Congress a few weeks ago, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill) added an amendment to kill the D.C. school voucher program. This article discusses the double standard that Democrats are using in this decision, but perhaps most egregious is Durbin's own explanation. In his floor statement defending his killer amendment, Mr. Durbin admitted he chose Catholic schools for his own children. "If I entrusted my own children to [private education], I certainly believe in it." But he went on to say this choice should be there only for Americans who pay for it.

This choice (choosing an educational institution) should only be for Americans who can pay for it? Really? Why not other choices? Why not "owning a home" (as opposed to renting)? Had Congress taken this attitude with home ownership (a privelege, not a right) we very likely could have avoided many of the problems that brought us into this current recession.

What about "healthcare"? Stick with me on this one. Larry Summers has suggested that some elective procedures like some tonsilectomies and hysterectomies are only adding to the health care costs of Americans. Those elective procedures sould be streamlined by government intervention through universal healthcare (see rationing). If people can A) afford the procedures themselves, or B) afford the insurance that will pay for the procedures, why should the government intrude and tell citizens what procedures they can have? (For more on this, see John Lott's blog here or article here. In his article, he points out that Summers made no mention of such rationing of abortion, even though they equally rarely involve life and death situations.)

So, bottom line. Something as important as education, only those who can afford it should be allowed to choose. In healthcare, those who can afford it shouldn't be the ones to make choices, the government should. Our options are either A) no choice, or B) the government chooses. Either way, we're screwed.