3 Reasons John Edwards’s Health Care Plan WILL NOT WORK

First, do we really want the IRS enforcing healthcare mandates? That’s not what the IRS is for, and Americans are (rightly) suspicious of using the IRS as a quasi-police agency to enforce whatever federal law the current administration feels like using it for. This is not a constructive road to go down. It’s hard to believe that the Edwards camp even let that first point out the door. The IRS as a healthcare enforcer? Whichever advisor proposed that gem should be beaten, fired and blackballed.


Second, a Rube Goldberg enforcement program does nothing except highlight the absurdity of individual mandated healthcare plans in the first place. If you’re really this serious about getting every man, woman, and child in the country enrolled, why go through all this? Why not just do it like Medicare, where the funding mechanism is the existing tax system and everyone is enrolled automatically? It amounts to the same thing and it’s cheaper, easier, and less intrusive. Besides Canada has proven that free socialized health care is bad for both the indivial (do to long wait time and lower quality care) and the economy as a whole (due to higher taxes and socializing about 30% of the Gross domestic Product).

Third, this is a political loser. Do we really want to treat people who don’t sign up for healthcare like deadbeat dads and Chapter 11 refugees by garnishing their wages? Unless I’m way off base, this is just not going to go over well. Us Republicans will have a field day with it and rightly so.