I guess we will find out in early January whether California Republicans — especially mainstream GOP voters and those in the GOP donor community — elected a Governor who will stand by the most significant major tenets of the Grand Old Party, or whether they were used by a politician who is prepared to turn his bust of Ronald Reagan to face the wall. How Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger approaches his self-imposed top priority of working to tackle the issue of access to and affordability of health insurance for all Californians will define his commitment to core Republican principles.
Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned for re-election saying that he is fiscally conservative, socially moderate and progressive on environmental issues (or something close to that). Well, as we said at the time, EVERY issue facing state government is ultimately a fiscal issue, and improving access to healthcare is definitely a fiscal issue. As such, we are all hoping that it will be fiscally conservative Arnold Schwarzenegger that steps up to give his State of the State Address in January.
There is a very basic and important Republican principle at stake here — the notion of a society that is based on individual rather than collective responsibility. Also in play is the idea of whether government intervention on a massive scale, whether through massive regulation of healthcare delivery in the state, or through a vast welfare program designed to redistribute wealth from some Californians to others, will be the ‘solution’ that comes out of Sacramento. Of course these are the routes that the liberal Democrats who control the legislature would like the Governor to take.
The fact that so many millions of Californians are without health insurance is definitely a problem. But the Republican path towards decreasing the number of insured would be centered around two basic concepts — lowering the cost of health insurance premiums, and increasing the economic well being of those who do not have insurance so that they can afford to buy it.
The Democrat path towards resolving this challenge is, first and foremost, to provide health care to every Californian courtesy of taxpayer dollars. A single-payer system would be their ideal, but they would be happy with a draconian mandate on California employers that is a ‘de facto’ massive tax hike, forcing employers to insure their employees. Of course there will be no regard for how many businesses that cannot afford this will close their doors, or lay off employees, or relocate to a state that is more business friendly. Democrats believe that there is a social-safety net that should exist in America where a government-provided healthcare plan should be a right.
As the Governor looks for ways to reduce those without healthcare insurance, I encourage him to look towards market-based solutions, reducing regulations that increase the costs of providing health care in California, and most importantly, a solution that doesn’t sock it to California job-providers or California taxpayers.
In closing, let’s remember that the Democrats desperately want the Governor to grow government. They want him to embrace more massive spending and salivate at the idea of pursuing more revenue sources (such as business-owners) to pay to give healthcare welfare to all Californians. Tackling this issue isn’t going to be easy for the Governor. The main reason is this — all of the paths that make sense to tackle this issue will meet with the objections of legislative Democrats, who only support ‘bi-partisan cooperation’ when it means that public policy is shifting to the left.
I voted in November for a Republican Governor who promised me that he would not raise taxes – ever. I’m counting on him to keep his promise.
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