Reproduced here for fair use and discussion purposes. My commentary interspersed in bold.
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During this season of giving, America continues to have a problem with the greatest gift of all: “life ... abundantly” (Jesus’ mission, according to the Gospel of John). (Usually when a Leftist quotes Scripture it is to bolster their agenda. And usually it's a display of ignorance.
That's certain true of Mr. Gourley's letter. He takes a true statement of Scripture, elevates it out of context, and applies it so as to condemn others who he views as not measuring up. This is an easy way to tell if someone is accurately handling the Scriptures, if the objective is to attack one's opponents.
Let's quote the passage in full so that we get the context. John 10:7-11:
"Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."
Note that Jesus is making several claims here. He is the door, anyone who comes to him is saved, everyone else are thieves and robbers, and then the central claim, He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.
We see from this passage that Jesus came to give life to people who are already physically alive ["I am come that they might have life..."], so the life Jesus gives, the abundant life, is the life beyond the physical. John confirms this a few verses later in verse 28: "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish..."So clearly, the greatest gift is not just a generic physical, healthy existence.
So let's compare Mr. Gourley's version of abundant life with Jesus'. We see later in his letter that Mr. Gourley equates life with government healthcare, and contrasts this life with evil corporate profits, i.e., capitalism. But Jesus is talking about salvation (new life, i.e. born again) and living in the spiritual blessings that come from finding pasture with the Good Shepherd, not about government healthcare or economic theory.)
Corporate America too often tells consumers that materialism is the abundant life, while paying workers as little as possible in order to increase lucrative CEO salaries, and hiding corporate profits overseas to avoid paying federal taxes. For their part, ordinary American citizens too often confuse true abundance with materialism and sail through life on the winds of selfishness. (A Leftist litany of talking points. Ordinarily I would address these accusations one by one, but when someone like Mr. Gourley simply pukes up a bunch of slogans, what's the use? I mean, really. These are tossed out unthinkingly, probably because he read them on some leftist website. They have no meaning, context, or references.
Mr. Gourley is blaming capitalism and advocating for marxism. Interestingly, in the rather long letter he never actually says what he thinks we should do or what changes need to be made. He carefully hides his agenda, alluding to this or that, but never coming out and saying what he is truly advocating. This is classic agitprop, the language of tyrants and oppressors the world over.)
Jesus was a healer of lives. Baptist pastor Tommy Douglas (1904-1986) took serious Jesus’ teaching of caring for the sick and was chosen in a 2004 Canadian national survey as “The Greatest Canadian” of all time for creating Canada’s universal healthcare system. Douglas believed that great nations value life. (Note the equation here. Jesus healed = government healthcare. Not Jesus healed = go and do likewise.)
Historically, America could have led the way in valuing life. In 1798, the U.S. Congress voted for, and President John Adams signed into law, government healthcare for seaman, paid for by mandated taxes. Government healthcare, however, was never expanded to all citizens. (Again, valuing life is equated with government healthcare. Ok, it is true that government collected a tax from the pay of sailors to fund healthcare for sick or disabled sailors. We can certainly debate the constitutional propriety of such an act. But suffice to say, the passage of a law does not mean it is constitutional.
We should also note that this was an extremely limited selection of people, who were pressed into service on behalf of the US because of the perilous nature of sea trade in dangerous times. The government needed to keep these sailors healthy so they could keep working on the trade routes. That would make it a crucial government interest. So this isn't exactly what one might call universal government healthcare.
1) Frivolous lawsuits. We all have heard the horror stories. Someone has to pay. And pay they do. The potential for lawsuits increases the cost of malpractice insurance, which is passed on to health care consumers and health insurance carriers. This results in higher health care costs and increased health insurance premiums.
2) Improvements in medicine and medical technology. Research for new treatments is expensive and risky from a corporate investment standpoint, and may take years or even decades to pay off. We expect to receive the best and latest treatments. When our health is at stake, cost is not an object.
3) Health insurance mandates. Government has inserted itself deeply into the transaction between insurers and insureds. There are all sorts of requirements imposed by governments. Certain benefits are required. Participation by insurance carriers in state high risk pools is frequently required.
4) Cost shifting. Because government has involved itself in the health insurance marketplace, it also sets terms and conditions affecting health transactions. Government health programs like Medicare and Medicaid set the level of reimbursements to doctors and hospitals, which do not reflect the actual costs of rendering the procedures. As a result, doctors and hospitals have to make up these losses elsewhere. These costs are shifted to those who have health insurance.
5) Non-insurance health care. Not all health care is properly health insurable. If my house needs painting, I do not claim the expense on my home insurance policy. Oil changes for my car are not paid by my car insurance. The purpose of insurance is to cover the costs of large unforeseen losses that we cannot afford to pay for ourselves. Maintenance, repairs, and upkeep are not part of what is known as insurance.
6) Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. These represent a sizable amount of health care expenses. Insurance carriers have whole departments dedicated to reducing this expense. ; insurance company death panels routinely deny coverage for life-saving procedures, while holding doctors financially hostage. Meanwhile, taxpayers shell out hundreds of billions annually for hospital care for persons who cannot afford, or have been denied, insurance.)
Yet, by enacting taxpayer-funded, single payer healthcare, we can choose to be a nation that values life over profit, as our founders — and Adam Smith, the father of capitalism — envisioned (Back to Adam Smith. How he is relevant is a mystery. And how government healthcare is capitalism is also inscrutable.)
In addition, it is worth noting that by the 1860s, corruption, fraud, and waste was so endemic that the program had to be totally revamped, eventually morphing into what is now known as the Department of Health and Human Services, which has become one of the most oppressive government agencies we have. As typically happens, what started out as a limited, targeted program for a isolated need, became a gargantuan, overbearing government agency.)
Today, America is the only developed nation placing profit before life (This is a nonsense statement. It makes no sense on any level. Mr. Gourley has never discussed this statement before - he just dumps it on us.).
Today, America is the only developed nation placing profit before life (This is a nonsense statement. It makes no sense on any level. Mr. Gourley has never discussed this statement before - he just dumps it on us.).
Our greed-driven, hybridized capitalistic socialized healthcare system is a moral and fiscal failure: (Another false binary equation: Profit = greed. But at last Mr. Gourley finally swerves into a bit of truth: We don't have a purely capitalistic healthcare system - it's hybridized! Being a Leftist, Mr. Gourley blames the capitalistic portion but has no disdain for the socialistic portion. Of course not, he believes that the socialistic portion is the solution to the problem, when it is really that government intervention into the private market has so screwed up the system that it is in this financial chaos.
After all, before obamacare government spent 43 cents of every healthcare dollar. And now that we have additional hybridization of healthcare via obamacare, we can justifiably expect that the situation will get even worse. It seems to me that blaming capitalism is obfuscation.)
Healthcare industry executives reap billions in salaries by charging exorbitantly for insurance premiums, medicine, and medical procedures (I wonder if Mr. Gourley read this statement over before sending in his letter. Medicine and medical procedures are expensive for a host of reasons, and since insurance companies pay those expensive bills, what do we expect will be the cost of insurance as a result? If you answered "expensive," go to the head of the class. But let's ask the forbidden question: why are medicine and medical procedures expensive? Is it greedy CEOs, or are there more mundane, sensible reasons?
1) Frivolous lawsuits. We all have heard the horror stories. Someone has to pay. And pay they do. The potential for lawsuits increases the cost of malpractice insurance, which is passed on to health care consumers and health insurance carriers. This results in higher health care costs and increased health insurance premiums.
2) Improvements in medicine and medical technology. Research for new treatments is expensive and risky from a corporate investment standpoint, and may take years or even decades to pay off. We expect to receive the best and latest treatments. When our health is at stake, cost is not an object.
3) Health insurance mandates. Government has inserted itself deeply into the transaction between insurers and insureds. There are all sorts of requirements imposed by governments. Certain benefits are required. Participation by insurance carriers in state high risk pools is frequently required.
4) Cost shifting. Because government has involved itself in the health insurance marketplace, it also sets terms and conditions affecting health transactions. Government health programs like Medicare and Medicaid set the level of reimbursements to doctors and hospitals, which do not reflect the actual costs of rendering the procedures. As a result, doctors and hospitals have to make up these losses elsewhere. These costs are shifted to those who have health insurance.
5) Non-insurance health care. Not all health care is properly health insurable. If my house needs painting, I do not claim the expense on my home insurance policy. Oil changes for my car are not paid by my car insurance. The purpose of insurance is to cover the costs of large unforeseen losses that we cannot afford to pay for ourselves. Maintenance, repairs, and upkeep are not part of what is known as insurance.
6) Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. These represent a sizable amount of health care expenses. Insurance carriers have whole departments dedicated to reducing this expense. ; insurance company death panels routinely deny coverage for life-saving procedures, while holding doctors financially hostage. Meanwhile, taxpayers shell out hundreds of billions annually for hospital care for persons who cannot afford, or have been denied, insurance.)
Yet, by enacting taxpayer-funded, single payer healthcare, we can choose to be a nation that values life over profit, as our founders — and Adam Smith, the father of capitalism — envisioned (Back to Adam Smith. How he is relevant is a mystery. And how government healthcare is capitalism is also inscrutable.)
Mr. Gourley is naive if he thinks that taxpayer-funded single payer healthcare is going to put an end to greed. We have abundant evidence to the contrary in nearly every other government program out there. More specifically, we can start with Medicare, which is noteworthy in continual mismanagement and fraud.
And Mr. Gourley wants more of the same. Yeah, right) .
This season, we celebrate the gift of life. May America of the future have the courage to choose life.
Bruce Gourley
This season, we celebrate the gift of life. May America of the future have the courage to choose life.
Bruce Gourley
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