I've received quite a few e-mails and comments in the last 12 hours or so with the same basic message: Why should my hard-earned money pay for healthcare and lazy poor people? In the interest of providing a couple of ideas for framed responses, I present the following comment from my Huffington Post column:
There are some people that can not fix or change their situations. But their are many that just make poor life decisions. There are places for poor to turn for help. Because they choose not to does not mean help is not available. There are MANY non-profit organizations for those in need. But hey, it's just easier for you to take money from the rich isn't it?
So to sum up: government shouldn't help poor people -- irrespective of whether they're just lazy or actually disadvantaged. Non-profits can do the job.
There are naturally dozens of ways to crack this ridiculous nut. One of my favorites is: "Republicans believe life begins at conception and ends at birth." But specifically in response to the commonly blurted out "non-profits can do it" line, I replied to this commenter like so:
If non-profits are cure-alls, perhaps you'd be cool with using non-profit defense contractors and non-profit healthcare providers. We'd save a bundle and probably end up paying down the debt.
Imagine the savings to the taxpayer if defense contractors billed for services at cost. Or imagine how inexpensive healthcare would be if it was provided at cost. If non-profits alone can do the trick, then why not across the board? But the far-right would totally burst a tube.
Here's another obnoxious comment. This one attempts to form an argument against national healthcare:
It's not the rich, or my, or anyone else's job to pay for your health care. If you own a home and can't afford health care then your priorities are wrong.
And my response:
Well, then, I say it's not my job to pay for your roads, public schools, police protection or fire department. ... If you own a home but you can't afford a private security force to protect it, then your priorities are wrong.
Just trying to do my part.