I have held off commenting on the GOP Pledge to America until I had a chance actually to read it, rather than press reports and punditry analysis.
Now that I have read it, I’m in agreement with the approach, which amounts to A Thousand Points of Fight.
The Pledge recognizes that the problem of an out-of-control federal government was not created overnight, and there are no handful of one-size fits all solutions.
There are thousands of problems, and it will take time.
The Pledge properly focuses on themes of smaller government based on constitutional principles, national security, and individual autonomy.
I particularly like this aspect of the repeal and replace policy on Obamacare, which will empower health care consumers to control their own health care expenditures with an incentive to be careful:
Expand Health Savings Accounts: Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are popular savings accounts that provide cost-effective health insurance to those who might otherwise go uninsured. We will improve HSAs by making it easier for patients withhigh-deductible health plans to use them to obtain access to quality care. We will repeal the new health care law, which prevents the use of these savings accounts to purchase over-the-counter medicine.
I have long argued that health care costs never will come under control until we do away with a system in which patients have no stake in the cost of health care beyond some nominal co-pay. A shift to a system in which patients have incentives to take responsibility for the cost of health care is the only alternative to our steady descent into a nationalized system of rationing as takes place in Britain and Canada.
The Health Savings Account pledge is a good example, but it is only one of thousands of battles which must be fought and won.
The Pledge lays out a vision of an America in which a substantial majority of Americans can believe. Now we have to win some elections with people who are committed to these principles, so we can get it done.
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