Socialism Has No Friend in the White House

President Trump’s State of the Union address last night has the entire country talking. It was filled with optimism, touching stories of personal endeavor and achievement, and most importantly, an unequivocal gauntlet thrown down against the rise socialism among the American political left.

In arguably the best one-liner of the night, President Trump emphatically stated: “I will not let socialism destroy American health care.” A line delivered with such unwavering confidence, there is no doubting his resolve.

By all estimates, Medicare for All – the full-scale socialized medicine proposal advanced by several liberal presidential candidates and supported by a majority of Democrats in Congress – will cost taxpayers at least $32 trillion over ten years, with some estimates pegging that figure upwards of $50 trillion. The suggestion that government could consume the entire heath care industry and save taxpayers money is pure fantasy.

Moreover, the human cost of socialized medicine would be immeasurable. Implementing socialist price controls would decimate innovation and threaten the cures of tomorrow that offer hope to millions of patients. Industry has little incentive to risk spending an average of $2.6 billion dollars and a decade or more to develop a medication and bring it to market if socialist polices remove any hope of recouping the investment.  

All we need to do is look to our north or across the pond to see socialized health care and price controls lead to rationing and access restrictions. According to the Fraser Institute, the median wait time for medically necessary treatment in Canada this year was 20.9 weeks. This is the second-longest wait ever recorded since they started tracking wait times in 1993, when they were measured to be at 9.3 weeks. Meanwhile in Great Britain, nearly a quarter of a million British patients have been waiting more than six months to receive planned medical treatment.

The socialists’ agenda is clear: it’s not about cost-savings and it’s not about providing better health care. It’s about control. We should be thankful that there is a wall stopping socialism in its tracks in its advance to America – a wall called President Trump.