Yesterday one of the blogs at the Wall Street Journal reported that the heathcare reform bill is not dead.  The Democrats say that they are one vote in the House of Representatives from passing the current healthcare bill.  The Republicans support the idea of healthcare reform, but oppose the current bill.  The Democrats are claiming that they are willing to listen to Republican input on the bill and that they are willing to compromise.  I’ll believe that when I see the new Senator from Massachusetts sworn in and voting!

Healthcare reform could be done in a way that would cut costs and make insurance more available.  There are a few key things that would not drastically change what we have now, but simply adjust it.  The basic changes we need are tort reform, portability across state lines, coverage for pre-existing conditions, and a tax credit to help low-income people afford health insurance.  (Lower taxes in general probably wouldn’t hurt either!)

We need to remember that the purpose of government is to defend its citizens–not run their lives.  The Tenth Amendment limits the power of the federal government and makes sure that the states can administer much of their own business.  We existed for our first one hundred years or so without an income tax.  I realize we can’t go back to that, but we should be able to go back to a time when income tax freedom day (the day you begin working for yourself and not the government) came before April 13th (the day in 2009).  When you add the deficits into the equation, the date for 2009 becomes May 29.  These numbers are from TaxFoundation.org.  We pay a higher percentage of our wages in taxes than the Midieval serfs paid to their feudal lords.  That needs to change.