A Case for Risk
A Case for Risk
Corey J. Becker
Our country was founded on the idea of risk. From the beginning, our founding fathers knew that if they failed in their campaign for freedom, they would lose their lives to the British Crown. Lewis and Clark knew that by exploring uncharted lands, they were risking ever seeing home again. Every business that exists today in our country is founded on risk. Risk is a key facet of our economy and lifestyle that allows our country to grow and be great; we are willing to risk our comfort for a better future. The Health Insurance Reform Bill has many, as the Democrats in Washington describe, “helpful” things in it for college students and young adults. This, however, is not the case. The health bill that passed the House through the appeasement of Representative Stupack by an adamantly pro-abortion president and the Senate only with the addition of the Cornhusker Kickback by the formerly-popular Senator Nelson of Nebraska, spells only trouble for the future professionals of our country.
I am 22 years old, in college, active, and in good health. If I were not offered a job right out of college I would seriously doubt that I would buy health insurance right away. I have no need for it at this time in my life. I have never broken a bone or had a major illness. I have never been admitted to the ER and have never spent more than two hours in a hospital. But this is not to say that I would never have a need for health insurance during the beginning years of my career. Since I am responsible at this time for myself and myself only, I view any need of health insurance as a calculated risk. Who knows, maybe tomorrow I will be diagnosed with leukemia. Maybe I will need the benefits health insurance offers but I do know now that, statistically, I have a pretty good chance of that not happening. I have heard this kind of decision making by myself, and the rest of our nations youth, described as risky and destructive but I do not see how my decisions are different than any small business. If I do not get sick while I do not have health insurance, I save money by not paying for insurance. If I do get sick while lacking insurance, I lose money by incurring health care bills. This is no different than the risk you take in choosing a certain major over another or choosing a Ford over a Chevy.
The president today signed the Health Insurance Reform Bill. This bill, among other things, allows “adult children” to stay on their parent’s health insurance until the age of 26, statically nearly a third of their life. This replaces the status quo of allowing students to stay on these plans until graduation. We are allowing adults to stay on their parent’s health insurance coverage when they are eligible to run for Congress. What does this teach us? We are already struggling with a generation who is falling behind the rest of the world at a pace unseen before, so now we take away one of the biggest motivators to getting a job, the benefit of health insurance. This bill also institutes a requirement to have health insurance. Failure to do so requires you to pay a fine upwards of $2000 to the IRS. If you fall delinquent on this fine you will be sent to prison; prison for refusing a governmental mandate to pay for health insurance. I’m not sure about you, but when the government requires me to pay for something, I call that a tax. So much for no new taxes on the middle class, President Obama.
We are becoming a nation of entitlement. I don’t have to pay my bills because the government will take care of them. I don’t have to worry about getting fired by that mean corporation because the government will take care of me. I event don’t have to worry about insurance because the government will take care of me! Asking how we will ever pay for this is akin to screaming fire in a crowded theater. The dirty, criminal rich will pay for this and every government expenditure! We cannot expect the earners of our country to pay for everyone. We cannot allow wealth to be a class of people open to discrimination by the government that purports to protect all. Everyone remembers the young adult at the Obama rally during the campaign season who so famously stated, “Obama gonna pay for my gas and mortgage!” How could we know that she would be spot on with her prediction?
Is this what we have become? Do we, as a generation, expect the government to pay for our mistakes and our misfortunes? Are we completely anemic to risk? I know that I am not alone in standing up and saying, “No.” I do not want the government giving me everything because I know that they can take even more away. I do not want the same organization that created the abysmal Cash for Clunkers program and manages the Postal Service managing my health. I think it is a prudent and patriotic decision to stand up against the largest piece of social legislation since LBJ’s Great Society. This battle is not over. We have time to stop it, but the hour is waning.
Corey Becker is the current Executive Director of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans and a legislative clerk for Rep. Dave Deyoe in the Iowa House of Representatives. He can be reached at Corey.John.Becker@gmail.com
