Mort Zuckerman: Political Leaders Must Deal With the National Debt or Future Generations Will Pay

Of course “Entitlements” are out of control and will bankrupt this country, but who in Congress cares for the pragmatism that once characterized the American scene. They are about to pass an absurdly complex healthcare bill when most Americans are smart enough to know is simply a way of sticking the taxpayers with the absurdly expensive benefit promises made to employees in government and labor-dominated industries. But their a few things we could actually do to reduce these costs. For example:

1. Every child has a father and 1.6 million illegitimate children have parents. If the mother wants any entitlements she must name the father and if a $15 DNA test proves her correct, then from the government’s view they are married and both parents must guarantee to the court that this child will not become a burden on society. In other words, put a little personal responsibility and a few consequences back into society and stop rewarding lust by sticking us all. As my brother in law said of his older sister, “every time she wanted another $115, she’d visit the local bar, but sadly none of her 11 illegitimate children became useful citizens”.

2. Clean up the legal profession, so lawyers like John Edwards can’t use junk science to get rich by appealing to the compassion that juries often have for the injured. With some major changes we wouldn’t have 30 to 40% of our healthcare dollar going toward defensive medicine.

3. Get politics out of education. It didn’t work in Nazi Germany. It was a disaster when Stalin decided Lysenko‘s ideas should be those of the Soviet State.

4. The way grant funds are awarded encourages disaster projects like “Global Warming”. Change it so that researchers can investigate the unknown or at least the interesting rather than what looks good and appeals to the others in a small niche.

Just the above four suggestions might end such total absurdities as “OctoMom with her 14 entitlement children that must run about 10 million a year in healthcare costs.

Bob Nelson of OR 10:57PM March 11, 2010