Take small steps in health care overhaul

My biggest fear concerning the proposed health care overhaul is the past record of fiscal irresponsibility of our government. I cannot identify a single program that they have managed well. People buying what they could not afford is what got America into the current economic mess. I do not want our country to go bankrupt.

The U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak are federally subsidized, but cannot make ends meet. Social Security is nothing but a trust fund of IOU's because the government spent the "surplus" on other programs and will be in an awful mess in a few short years when it starts taking in less money than it pays out. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac contributed to the housing bubble and subsequent economic meltdown by lending money to people who couldn't afford the loans. Medicare and Medicaid are essentially broke. The "Cash for Clunkers" program had a defined deadline and cost limit, which was quickly thrown out the window as Congress approved tripling the funds available. Congress is addicted to spending money we can't say "no." With that record, Congress wants us to believe they can be trusted with a government-run health care system that would be 1/6 of our economy? Is our health system perfect? No. Is there room for improvement? Yes. However, most people, if they were going to remodel their bathroom, wouldn't start by demolishing the whole house.

One proposed source of funding for the overhaul is elimination of waste and fraud in the current system. Here's an idea, if we can save money by eliminating waste and fraud, why not just start with that? Show me that can be accomplished. Then we can discuss further changes.

Rich Przybylski

Grayslake