Ronald Reagan once said:

"Freedom is always just one generation away from extinction. We don’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream; we have to fight for it and protect it, and then hand it to them so that they shall do the same, or we’re going to find ourselves spending our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children about a time in America, back in the day, when men and women were free."

As you may have surmised from reading any newspaper or watching any news channel, Socialized Medicine is shaping to be the issue of our day.

Let's just correct a few misconceptions. Universal Healthcare is not "free". Either you, your children or your children's children will be paying for health care that you consume today. Look at it this way, would you rather trust your healthcare to you - who can go out and shop around for the best healthcare that you can find, from companies which need to compete against each other in order to provide the best service possible in a country with the best doctors in the world, or would you rather receive your healthcare from a single entity (the government) which is not required to run efficiently nor has ever show any inclination to running efficiently? Go wait in line at the DMV and picture yourself doing the same thing while bleeding, having trouble breathing or worse, experiencing symptoms which lead you to believe that you're having a heart attack?

Just because citizens are uninsured does not mean that they cannot receive health care. Nonprofits and government-run hospitals provide services to those who don't have insurance, and it is illegal to refuse emergency medical service because of a lack of insurance. In fact, the oath that doctors take upon donning their scrubs for the first time mandates just this action.

Like Social Security, any government socialized benefit will eventually be assumed that it is a right rather than a government provided social benefit. This makes it essentially impossible to ever remove. This isn’t a scare tactic, it is reality. With this in mind, why the rush towards socialized medicine? If it’s really permanent, then shouldn’t we take the time to know the pros and the cons of the system?

As I type this, Barack Obama is pushing to rush this through Congress without giving us, Americans, a hint to how he’s planning on paying for this. Is this what we want? Hastily-made decisions which are done for political reasons under the guise of altruism? Or would we prefer a decision made after all the facts are presented to the American people and we’re able to decide what we want after careful consideration of all pros and cons?

It’s important to get all the facts straight, which is why during these times is crucial to be as informed as possible. One area that you can do this is by partaking in healthy debate with your fellow citizens. One such place is a Political Forum – Political Hotwire. It’s the place where I visit daily and enjoy debating current events. Check em out.