By Emily Hoosier
A recent Gallup poll
showed the approval rating for the Affordable Care Act to be at its lowest in
over a year. The results released in January were 54 percent in disapproval and
38 percent approving the ACA.
There is a thought among Americans that the law should be
whatever the majority finds good and acceptable.
“The Law is the substitution of collective for individual
forces,” Frederic Bastiat once said.
If this idea were true, then the Affordable Care Act should
be repealed as soon as a national vote confirms months of polls that say most
Americans do not like the law.
If the law should reflect the hearts and desires of the
collective Americans, then lawmakers should seek for serious reforms within the
Affordable Care Act.
Another law that the American masses did not collectively
approve was Prohibition. Members of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union
passionately advocated for a national ban on alcohol in the late 1800s. These
women had a pure motive. They saw individuals and families hurting from alcohol
abuse. And a select group took action to affect a nation.
No one can deny President Obama’s tireless efforts in keeping
the Affordable Care Act afloat, in the midst of attacks at each fault and
weakness of the law. This passion is likely to stem from a pure motive as he
saw that people are hurting in this nation from the health care system.
People, in a sense, approve laws in this country. If laws
slip through the system, unapproved, people tend to band together to make
amendments or appeals.
Despite the CWTU members’ pure motives, the masses of
Americans did not approve of that law, hence the Twenty-First Amendment.
Despite the President’s pure motives, the masses of
Americans do not approve of this law.
Since the Founders, Americans have had an active role in
what their government does or does not do.
There is national debate among the people about what they allow
their government to do and not do. While the approval polls may increase or
continue to decrease, one thing to consider is the national dependency on the
government for yet another important aspect of American lives.
The Affordable Care Act may be helpful to some now, but the
long-term affects leave future generations dependent on the Federal Government
for healthcare. Those approving of the law may seem no wrong in this
prediction.
“So long as personal safety was ensured…when prosperous, we
should not…have to thank the State for our success, but when unfortunate, we
should no more think of taxing it with our disasters,” Bastiat once said.
As long as the government’s job is to ensure safety of
freedom, then people are free from relying on the government for their success
and free from blaming it for their failure.
The Affordable Care Act will leave many people depending on
their government for a basic need, health. They will also be able to blame the
government for their health care problems.
I am convinced that the motive and the concept behind Obama’s
Affordable Care Act are a pure motive and a kind concept. People are hurting,
and can’t pay their bills when health insurance companies cast them off. Obama
has tirelessly defended his law to ensure that each American can pay for health
care when something awful comes up, without having fear of ruin.
But the Affordable Care Act is a false philanthropy. At its
roots, the way for the ACA to work is for young, healthy people to buy this
healthcare (with money they don’t have from jobs they can’t get). That money is
used to help older, unhealthy people. This
idea of taking from those who have more, giving it to those who have less makes
for a good children’s story, but it is not justice. It does not align with
American freedom.
Even if the ACA worked flawlessly and helped everyone, which
we all have seen that it does neither of those things, it is not the answer to
America’s problem of a flawed health care coverage system. It is a false
kindness when someone’s hand is forced to help another, no matter how pure the
motive.
There is a problem in the American Health Care System. A PBS
study revealed
that, “about 44 million people in this country have no
health insurance, and another 38 million have inadequate health insurance.”
The Affordable Care Act is Obama’s solution. Let’s hear
other ideas for reform.
