According to E. J. Dionne, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is worried about our national competitiveness. "In 10 years, we could wind up being a second-rate economic power if we don’t improve our competitiveness." Among Rendell’s ideas to address this problem is national health insurance, which he says would remove the burden of health costs from American businesses.
I am confused. If government is going to pay for health insurance instead of business, where is government going to get the money to pay for it? One option would be to print the money, but that would increase inflation, which is not a way to improve the competitiveness of American businesses.
Alternatively, taxes could be raised. Of course, if taxes are raised on business, that would mean business would still be paying for health costs, so that does not work. Taxes could be raised on individuals, but Democrats cannot raise taxes on "regular" people.
I guess Governor Rendell will just have to suggest what Democrats always suggest: We’ll raise taxes on the rich. It certainly is an easy solution. The only problem is: What are they going to do when we don’t have any rich left. Who is going to pay for things then?
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