America is such a prosperous country that even our poor people can afford to be fat.  All you have to do is go into a McDonald’s and order something off of the dollar menu.

I remember being taught about the “McDonald-ization of America” in a sociology class in college – this was before I knew much about politics – and hearing the assumption that McDonald-ization was a bad thing.  But how do they figure?  McDonald’s, left alone by the government, came to success by offering easy, predictable, convenient, hot food nearly any time you needed it, almost anywhere in America and certainly anywhere along the interstate systems.  When people complained that it made them too fat, McDonald’s catered to customers by offering salads and fruit dishes.

If McDonald’s is an example of what capitalism does to society, isn’t that a good thing?   A really good thing?

I bring this up in the context of public health care because Obama’s pushing it.   The idea is that having government involved will lower prices, though someone has to explain the economics of that to me.  And I shudder to think about what a government-run McDonald’s corporation would look like (”you can have a number one or a number one!  It will be ready in just half an hour!”), and would much prefer to see what a McDonald’s-like health clinic could do.

Obama claims that the public competing with the private sector would stimulate quality, but the private sector competing with the private sector is what works.  For a federal government that loves busting up monopolies, they fail to see that competing with the government is a little like having a sucking contest inside a vacuum.

It’s not that the government does a better job.  It’s that the government has the power to regulate and private companies do not.  I fail to see how competition would help if one of the contestants can change the rules whenever he wants.

Obama has put such a high priority on health insurance that he calls it a moral imperative – gee, that sounds familiar.  Cough Global Warming Cough.  Until Democrats figure out that they’re for the legalization of killing babies, I won’t listen to them about moral imperatives.

What’s “moral” about government-run health care?  That you’re being compassionate to the people who can’t afford it?  Please.  Liberals try to monopolize compassion as if government money were the only solution to any problem.

Some say that health care is too important to be left to anyone but the government.  But I say it’s too important to be left to the government.  The federal government is already grabbing companies it has no rights taking over – we’re supposed to trust them with our bodies, too?

Here in Wisconsin, Aurora Health Care is a great example of a private medical company that has spread like McDonald’s – remember, that’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing.  I can go to Hibbity Jibbity County and expect to receive similar health treatment as I’d receive here in southeastern Wisconsin because it’s the same company.  And thanks to cheap, private insurance and the help of a (private) health savings account, I could pay for it, too.  It’s that simple – the company that wants the most health business is going to have to be the most accessible and as affordable as possible.  If not, all of the patients go to the company that is.

Lest you think total privatization of the health market would drive up prices because of “greedy corporations,” remember that high prices often mean less business, unless you can justify a high price with high quality.  The government has shut down private medical operations that allowed people to have any treatment they wanted for some sixty dollars a month.  Tell me:  can poor people afford sixty dollars a month to have comprehensive coverage?  Since many of them are already spending that much on Happy Meals, I think they could cover that.

Well, maybe not Henrietta Hughes, but she couldn’t afford a candy bar with five bucks in her pocket.

What’s best about privatization of the health care market?  It doesn’t cost the government anything – in fact it saves them billions upon billions of dollars.  Of course, trying to convince a party that needs people to be old, sick, and poor in order to secure votes that privatization is a good idea is like pulling teeth, but at least you’re hearing it now.

I want drive-through health care.