Close Washington to Dismantle the Welfare-Warfare State

Doug Bandow The GOP is attempting to defund ObamaCare by holding the federal government hostage.  Congressional Republicans say:  Cut the spending or Uncle Sam will have to stay home.  Unfortunately, while the public doesn’t favor President Obama’s plan to nationalize American health care, people seem even less enthused about Republican tactics.  Better would be a threat to close down the government because the government should be shuttered.  The GOP should seek to eliminate entire programs and agencies.  Federal control of health care is a good place to start.  The U.S. medical system is a mess, but the government should not decide who gets how much health insurance in what form through whom.  Moreover, as I wrote in Forbes online: Corporate welfare should be another target.  Republicans rightly worry about perverse incentives created by welfare for the poor since federal programs have wrecked families and communities while discouraging education and work.  However, even less justified are a variety of payments to dependent businesses.  Export subsidies, research grants, farm subsidies, housing aid, regulatory preferences, and more. There’s no better reason to underwrite smaller enterprises, through the Small Business Administration.  Is there really a critical scarcity of liquor stores requiring taxpayers to pay for additional ones?  Some tasks, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development, ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs