Posted by WTLCrimson on 08/27/09

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Recently Daniel Hannan came under fire in the UK for remarks about the British NHS. The controversy highlights one of the most important and least debated issues with our flirtation with the public option.

For the sake of this blog, disregard the debate over quality of care. Quality of care and the access to it has been at the center of the debate in the US, and while it no doubt should be there is another issue which is hardly ever addressed at Town Halls or in the media.

Hannan made the comment that he would not wish the NHS on an enemy, no less a friend for a reason. Not only is it large and inefficient, it is impossible to get rid of or do anything with. Why? Because it simply employs a huge sector of the population. And those people vote.

This point does not depend on interpretations of the proposed legislation, anecdotal horror stories of care from similar healthcare systems or appeals to basic human emotions. It is self-evident. Make the government account for a fifth of the economy and there will be agency repercussions that will not be desirable.

Want a great example? The recent brouhaha over comments that Hannan made that have been echoed for years by all sorts of Britons is right there for your consideration. There were calls for Hannan to be disciplined by his party, and he has been made the face of a political campaign against the Tories. The hysterical reaction is because politicians in Britain are so dependent on satisfying the NHS voting bloc that they will never touch the 3^rd rail of British Politics.

Perhaps Americans considering moving in the direction of a public option should consider the ramifications of creating yet another iron-clad employment based political voting bloc. Like recipients of corn subsidies, employees of an American national healthcare service will be single issue voters. Is this good for democracy? Should we continue to create, throughout our political society, lines of dependence which work both ways to subvert American freedom, health and prosperity to the whims of new political classes?

Posted 08/27/09 Scott from PA Hopwood, PA

Unfortunately, dependency on the government is the goal of many of our leaders and representatives. That is how federal spending has spiralled out of control, aided by the well-connected who lobby for an even larger amount of government largess.