Sounds from the Bullhorn

Democratic Party leadership, you are surrounded! Put your bills down and step away from the podium.

There is an army of angry, likely voters just outside your door. If you attempt any further moves toward socialism, we will storm your polling places and show you how real democracy works.

We need to know that you are willing to end this standoff peacefully. Turn over one of your hostages -- we'll take "healthcare reform" -- and we'll give you a pizza or a high-priced polling consultant.

Now, let's talk about the terms of your surrender. We're prepared to only charge you with misdemeanor public indecency, and in exchange you must give us the following REAL healthcare reform bill that includes:

• real, substantive malpractice-related tort reform
• no tax increases
• no new government programs, and no expansions of any existing government program
• tax credits for individuals who purchase their own health insurance
• tax incentives for small employers who provide insurance for their employees
• the ability of health insurance providers to compete across state lines
• expand purchasing pools to allow trade associations, businesses and individuals to combine and qualify for large group insurance rates
• standardized coverage and payment terms - written for CONSUMERS to understand
• real enforcement of Medicare fraud and incentives to encourage doctors to accept new Medicare patients
• require insurers cover pre-existing conditions but ONLY if there is an FDIC-style pool for insurers to offset the cost of claims related to pre-existing conditions
• give all healthcare consumers access to create and control their health savings account

Comply with our demands, and we'll consider going easy on you in November. But the public indecency charge still stands.

Democrats: A Party for the Risk Averse

Growing up we all knew one of those over-protected kids: the 12 year-old left standing on the other side of street because his mom wouldn't trust him to cross the street by himself; the kid wearing the ski hat with earflaps in 50 degree weather. Remember that kid? He grew up to become the Democratic Party voter.

Everything about the Democratic Party (probably since FDR) is about limiting risk for helpless and stupid American voters. Terrified that your retirement might tank? Don't worry, mama's here with your Social Security blanket. Afraid that shiny new condom might fail? Papa will dump that fetus in the garbage pail. Worrying your shares in GM might crash? Daddy Tim's here with some bailout cash. Fear you might get sick and your insurance won't pay? Berry's gonna take all the fear away.

Life's full of risk. That's why we have insurance in the first place. Something horrible may happen to you, and it may be expensive. So smart consumers buy insurance for — as the ads go — "Justin Case."

Health insurance isn't healthcare. It's a hedge against the risk of costs associated with becoming unhealthy. The fact that health insurance has become too expensive, or that some people can't get it, doesn't mean they will get sick. Or even that if they do get sick, they won't get treatment. Nobody in this country can be turned away for lifesaving treatment.

So really the whole healthcare debate ( and frankly the entire agenda of the DNC ) is about nothing more than the cushy, feel-good coddling of the American electorate. If Joe Voter is so sheltered from risk and harm that he can't contemplate the idea of crossing the street without holding Harry Reid's hand, he'll never vote to remove Reid from political office. This strategy is depressingly effective.

Imagine if the founding fathers had wanted someone to protect them from the risks of revolt against the King. We'd still be sipping over-taxed British tea on the docks of Boston Harbor.

As Benjamin Franklin might say, "He that's secure is not safe."

Let's let the millionaires decide

Obama is trying to sell us a well-worn used car. Something beat up and retro-fashionable like a 1987 Cutlass. But instead of spray new-car smell, it smells more like class warfare. Obama wants us to believe that our wealthy can fully fund his socialized medicine scheme. Just raise their taxes enough, and it's all taken care of. Don't bet on it. Or maybe we should.

Maybe we should call his bluff. I propose a Millionaire Conventiontm. Let's get the country's wealthy together — a country club constitutional convention. Include anyone with over a million dollars in net assets and/or $350,000 in annual income. Let's give them a choice: vote to approve A) Obama's plan, and let the government tax you at whatever realistic rate will actually accomplish Obama's goal of funding health care reform — certainly more than Obama is telling them now, or B) give them the choice of donating money (with future pledges for ongoing funding) to establish a private, nonprofit health insurance company to solely provide market health insurance coverage to any client on a sliding scale. To sweeten the pot, let's toss in very generous tax deductions for their contribution, and a nice crystal wall plaque.

I understand there would have to be some rules. For instance, we'd have to allocate votes — say every individual in the wealthy family would get a vote. We'll give Bill Gates family a 4x multiplier just to be gracious. And we'd have to set up some laws governing the new nonprofit to ensure that the coverage it's providing is truly competitive, and that it is answerable to a board made up of its primary benefactors (sprinkle in a few politicians). The new nonprofit will be allowed to tap the public's largess through ongoing fundraising, and will be judged by future donors based on its effectiveness, efficiency and charity.

You'd never have to worry about competition. The for-profit insurance companies will compete at the margin for entry-level insured. And the increase in low-income patients with paying insurance will reduce costs across the board. It may even lighten the Medicaid roles.

It's a plan so crazy it just might work! At the very least, imagine getting a chance to see just how philanthropic George Soros really is when he's playing with his own money.