As
a member of the Congressional House Freedom Caucus, Dave Brat has opted to
apply his influence as an ideologue. He and the other members of his caucus
believe that by banding together they could promote a pro-Libertarian ideology
that has its modern roots with social philosophers such as Ayn Rand (yes, Rand
Paul’s namesake) and contemporary advocates such as the Koch brothers.
This
ideology promotes small government, but idealizes the concept of no government. It promotes the reduction
of regulations, but swoons over the idea of no regulations. It views the concept of Democracy as an Achilles
Heel and (oddly for Conservatives) is vehemently anti-religion. In fact, Capitalism is elevated to the status
of a religion for today’s Libertarian (despite their public protests to the
contrary).
It
is a concept that glorifies only the individual in society and demonizes any
efforts for people to act collectively. It views itself as the antithesis of
something like Communism. However, very much like Communism, Dave Brat and the
Koch Brother’s chosen politics are not workable in the real world and always gravitate
toward self-interest, greed, and exploitation.
There
is no issue in this year’s election that illustrates this better than Health Care.
If you listen to Brat or read his campaign
pronouncements he claims that all problems with Health Care in the United
States can be solved with “free market
solutions”. I would not claim for a
second that Dave Brat is a stupid man. Given his Libertarian bent I suspect he
wants to believe his claims more than he actually believes them. The reason is
that there are no “free market
solutions” to health care. The people of the United States have paid a dear
price with both money and pain to prove it.
That
Dave Brat considers himself an “economist” only adds irony to his shameful and
disingenuous advocacy.
The
rest of the world has figured out that freedom can only exist where there is an
absence of fear. Who hasn’t encountered a young person, a parent perhaps,
afraid of changing jobs or of being fired because they might lose their health
insurance? Who hasn’t heard individuals afraid of losing all they have because
they or a family member got sick? I have watched individuals struggle over
choices on allocating limited funds to insurance premiums and/or prescription
drugs, afraid of the consequences in making the wrong choice. There is no “freedom”
in any of it. Freedom, in this sense, only exists for those who have
accumulated enough wealth to purchase it in the “free market”.
The
reality is that Health Care in the real world, like many services that are
necessary in a society, does not fit the Libertarian models. Demand does not
drop when prices go up. Further, the purchasers of health care services (us)
have no clear idea of cost and are at the mercy of a system that is intentionally
opaque. As a result Americans have paid the happy Libertarians multiples more
for health care than anywhere else on the planet.
The
ACA (Obamacare) took us an important step away from that insanity. Dave Brat
wants to take us back.
Abigail
Spanberger, to her credit, has recognized that the ACA is not a complete answer
to our Nation’s health care. She has advocated the integration of private and
public insurance (expanding our current system; private plus Medicare, Medicaid,
and VA) as has been successfully done in countries like Japan and Switzerland. In doing so she knows that a Public Option would not only provide
universal access, but also enable control of costs by empowering the large pool
of Americans to negotiate or set costs, something the “free market” cannot do.
If
Dave Brat was honest he would be advocating billboards and television commercials
offering 20% off sales on hernia repairs and coronary bypass surgery. Instead he regurgitates nonsensical statements
echoed from talk radio like “32 trillion dollar takeover of health care” while in reality a
$3.2 trillion annual cost for health care presented by Senator Sanders (which Spanberger is not
a supporting).
Mr.
Brat, health care in America is currently (and unfortunately) about a $5
trillion industry, of which a nauseating proportion goes into the pockets of
your corporate supporters. When you go
back to teaching Economics next year, I suggest you enroll in some continuing
education courses and take a better look at the definition of “Freedom”.
