Saturday, March 20, 2010

Watts LTE in Denver Post

The March 19, 2010 Denver Post printed the following LTE by Richard Watts responding to Dan Haley's column on the Congressional contortions to pass ObamaCare:
The transfer of taxpayers' wealth

Dan Haley notes the congressional health bill is "larded up with special deals and gross kickbacks." True, but the bill is not merely wrong because of added pork. National health care is inherently wrong because it forcibly transfers wealth. Sure, it's immoral for Congress to take some people's money and shovel it to others as pork. But why? Because the money belongs to those who earned it, not to Congress, nor to anyone who accepts the loot.

If done in the private sector, such activities are known as theft, robbery and receiving stolen goods. These are just as wrong if government perpetrates them, and worse -- because it is government's responsibility to defend people's rights.

Richard Watts, Hayden
Regardless of how the big vote in Congress turns out this weekend, I'd like to thank Richard for this fine LTE which cut right to the heart of the issue. Richard has been a stalwart supporter of FIRM from the very beginning, when Lin Zinser founded it in January 2007.