The debate over health care reform took on a fever pitch during the summer of 2009. While in session, Congress was pushed by the Obama administration to pass sweeping reforms that would create a government-run health care insurance system and change the way health care was administered. Hidden in the massive bills was disconcerting language that raised more than a few eyebrows. As bits and pieces of the reforms became public knowledge, there was a backlash of opposition to these sweeping measures. Included in the bill was "end of life" consultation between a doctor and the elderly, 8% + taxes on employers who chose to have a private plan, and a massive increase in the debt load of our nation as trillions of dollars were needed to implement such a plan.

The outrage hit home when Congress went to its summer recess and a few of our elected officials began to have town hall meetings. (It is curious that my opponent, Evan Bayh, chose not to have town hall meetings around this topic.) The few elected officials in Indiana who did open themselves up to their constituents in a public forum got an earful. Those who spoke out were pushed aside as ill-informed fear mongers by the current administration and left-wing 527s. Of course they overlooked the fact that fear is about the only thing Barak Obama has in his arsenal to push the bill to his desk. In an address to a joint session of Congress on September 9, President Obama defied those who challenged the notion that the government should not be involved in health care reform. He said, "But know this: I will no waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than to improve it." The president went on to sound more like a dictator than an elected president of the United States. "If you misrepresent what's in this plan, we will call you out."

There was a time when the debate over ideas was considered in good taste. There was a time when elected officials cared what their constituents thought. We now have a president pushing aside anyone who does not agree with him on the issue of the government's role in the reform of health care. Say you want government out of the decisions you should be making with your doctor and he has told you pointedly on national television: he will call you out.

Why are we having this debate? As I look at the role of Congress as spelled out by the Constitution, it is not to go to the doctor's office with the people of this country. Nor is it to create a federal health insurance company. The choice to have or not have medical insurance is a free-market decision. Besides this, the United States has the best health care in the world. In order to maintain our leadership position in the health care field, we must continue to promote innovation and allow the free market to provide choice. The government should never in any way, shape or form be involved in the relationship between you and your doctor. Yet, look at the mess Medicare has produced. Miles of red tape for physician's offices and, speaking of red, a program that is mired in red ink.

It is my opinion that it is never a good idea for the government to try to take over commerce. Private business should be left in the control of private business, not the government. I have no problem with licensing boards in specific industries. For instance, I own a plumbing company. There are certain standards a plumber must attain and maintain to be a licensed plumber. But I do not need the government to tell me what I should charge for plumbing services, the market determines that. Nor do my customers need the government to tell them when to replace their water heater. My customers realize it on their own. Unfortunately, we have a government that is telling doctors what they can charge (that is Medicare) and an administration that is bent on telling patients when they can and when they cannot have medical procedures. Any way you cut it, it is socialism. There are common sense solutions to the high costs of medical care if the government will take the hands off the wheel.

First, the free market always works out the cost issue when regulations are lifted. How do you think a new business competes against an existing business? They cut costs. It causes the existing business to adjust their prices downward. Competition, supply and demand, innovation... these are the checks and balances of a free market. Somewhere along the way, our government decided to meddle with the medical industry. It has continued to encroach ever closer to socialized medicine with each passing year. The problem is, socialization of industries does not work. The socialization of health care will have a major impact on our economy. It cannot help but to raise taxes on its citizens and increase our national debt. Why is this? The federal government has never been able to run any business efficiently. Take a look at a whole host of government-run businesses, like the U.S. Post Office. Has there ever been a decrease in the amount of postage it takes to mail a letter? In essence, every time the fed raises postage, they are increasing taxes. Yet, the Post Office continues to lose money year after year. The private business shippers (UPS and FedEx, for example) have continued to run efficiently, working within a free market to do essentially the same thing. Why do the private businesses run in the black while government-run businesses continually operate in the red? It is simple: the government has no free-market checks and balances controlling it. If a private business cannot solve a budget shortfall, that business eventually closes its doors. If a government business cannot solve a budget shortfall, it taxes its citizens more or goes in debt (which is handing the next generation the problem of today.)

The second major problem of socialized medicine is that it has not worked anywhere else it has been tried. Cancer patients in Great Britain die waiting for clearance to get chemotherapy. The elderly are denied specific care in Canada. These are not third-world countries. These are wealthy western nations. Yet, socialized medicine has denigrated their citizenry to the health care of third world nations.

It is time to put a stop to government intrusion into the medical industry. That is a daunting task, but it must be done if we are to keep our nation from making the mistakes other nations' governments have made. The initial step is to stop our Congress and our current president from passing the health care reform they so desperately are trying to into law.