Of course I can’t just leave this issue with just a post – I left a couple of comments where I hope Dr. Oge “Big Government” Young (seemingly both a rent-seeker and someone that believes that Government can and should solve all ills – sure thing, sport). Sure, it was the primary bit for the post but I went a bit further:
“Creating a family and medical leave insurance system would ensure workers the benefits they need and help businesses of all sizes be more competitive.” Really?
Benefits used to be voluntarily offered by companies above and beyond what one receives as a salary or wage (that is, until Government decided to mandate them as with Obamacare). And in this case, the legislation MANDATES that employees take part (a la Obamacare) – where’s the Live Free or Die choice in that?
Further, if this was such a lovely idea to make businesses “more competitive”, wouldn’t they already be offering it to their employees, Doc Young? Right? Wrong – it hasn’t taken off because it hasn’t proven itself to make those companies more competitive. Why else would all these companies beseeching (aka, rent-seeking) that Government run and administer such a program? To my mind, that’s nothing more than a free ride.
Besides, if this were to go through and all companies had it, how would it make them “more competitive”? After all [the next bit is one of my all time favorite phrases -Skip]
“if everyone is special, then no one is special“, right?
All we’d end up with is a bigger and more expensive Government. Worst case, doc, we could end up with yet another Retirement system pension problem. NH can’t even get a handle on that $5-6 Billion problem and you want to start another program?
No, let Government get its own act together and if those 100 companies want to really this program, how about letting them voluntarily get together in an association and run it themselves? Is there really anything preventing them from doing this all in the private sector? No, of course not – its nothing but an up-shifting cost from businesses to Government. And if it fails, we taxpayers are on the hook for it.
Well, leave to it a Govt loving Progressive to chime in as it is clear that he had his panties in a bunch that someone (actually two of us) would through an ice ball at his world view:
William Politt
Linda, Skip, why is this country the only one in what we would consider the civilized world that can’t figure this out? American exceptionalism, I guess.
Sure thing, Politt – if your world view is that a country has to do everything that others are doing? Besides, I totally reject the notion that to be civilized, a country has to be a Socialist one where Govt leads everything. How’s that worked out for Venezuela, the former Soviet Union, and not to forget about Cuba? That’s worked out oh so very well, hasn’t it? I think this shut him down (emphasis only here):
And why always the knee-jerk reaction from Progressives that ONLY Government can solve problems (and the never ending litany of problems that it must solve)? We were founded to have a limited government to maximize Liberty instead of over-encompassing monarchial / aristocratic governments of Europe in which subjects had to ask “May I”? William, what is it about the voluntary private sector that scares Progressives on topics like this that the immediate reaction is that the force of Government must be used to corral everyone into its programs? In that, why are Progressives continually trying to recreate America into the form of Europe? It sounds trite and shopworn, but if you prefer the style, trappings, and mandated regulations of Europe, why do you force it on the rest of us that abhor it – just go there (or States that are almost the same like California, NY, and Ilinois) and leave the rest of us alone who just prefer to be left alone and prefer the Live Free or Die ethos and philosophy?
But then again, some do prefer to be part of the Lemming Parade, dontcha know:
