Presidential Canidacy

A new page in America’s history books is about to begin. Come November the 44th president of the United States will be selected from one of the two political parties. The choice will be between Barack Obama, the front runner for the Democratic Party and John McCain, the front runner for the Republican Party. Obama is a strong advocate for eliminating the capitalistic ideals that our country was founded upon and give the government more control by adding restrictions and eliminating competition through our health care system and economy. McCain believes that the power should be vested in the people and not the government. Competition among health insurance agencies and few restrictions set by the government will get our country where it needs to be in McCain’s plan. Supporters of more government restriction, increasing the already surmounting government debt by hiking up taxes to pay for a nationalized health care and eliminating the capitalistic ideals that our country was established upon will side with Obama, yet those in favor of minimal government restriction, stabilizing the national deficit, and encouraging more competition and opportunities for business will support McCain.

Obama as stated before is a supporter of nationalizing health care; unfortunately his plan is flawed and is permeable. Obama claims that people will buy insurance if it becomes affordable. The evidence says otherwise; we have programs instilled that make insurance affordable and cheap yet the people who are uncovered and can afford it don’t take advantage of it until they develop a medical condition. If no mandates are set in his plan, healthy people will take the chance and not have insurance and then sign up when a medical condition develops ultimately raising insurance premiums for everyone else. An analysis done by Jonathan Gruber of M.I.T showed that a plan without mandates such as Obama’s will cost taxpayers $102 billion per year and would cover 23 million of those uninsured. According to the analysis a nearly identical plan with mandates costing taxpayers $124 billion would cover 45 million of the 47 million uninsured (Krugman). Yet Obama’s campaign strongly opposes mandates and will soon come to realize that a nationalized health care plan will not go through without mandates. A great leader should know when he is wrong and revise the issue. Obama states that “As the uninsured cause premiums to rise, more employers drop coverage. As more employers drop coverage, more people become uninsured, and premiums rise even further.” For someone who is concerned about the cost of premiums for insurance his plan is definitely not the route to go.

In opposition to Obama, McCain stands for lowering health care costs through increased competition. If McCain is able to diversify the health care industry we will see positive results, primarily lower costs and better service. In McCain’s speech given in Des Moines he recognizes there is a problem with the health care system and explains a solution:

My reforms are built on the pursuit of three goals: paying only for quality medical care, having insurance choices that are diverse and responsive to individual needs, and restoring our sense of personal responsibility. These reforms are also built on the most fundamental of medical tenets: do no harm. There is much to be admired about medicine in America, and I want to protect those qualities. Doctors and other providers want to provide quality care. Lower costs mean that Medicare premiums don't continue to spiral beyond our ability to sustain it, and our insurance premiums are stretched farther. Most importantly, any reform must respect the freedom to keep your care and insurance just as they are. (John McCain on Health Care)

It is important to realize that not everyone is in a dire need of health care, and some people are content with the coverage that they receive and McCain is willing to keep some of the old yet bring in some new.

The second subject of concern is the largely accumulating nation deficit. According to Obama’s campaign site he believes that federal spending should be more open to the public, ensuring tax cuts for the poor and middle class yet reversing the tax cuts already in place for the wealthy, reinstate pay as you go policy, and ensure that federal contracts of over $25,000 are up for bid (fiscal). It is hard