fall 2007Volume V, Issue I

hillsdale

the

forum

Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is:

Why Hillsdale’sValues Are NoWhere to beFound Inside theDining Hall

Full Story Page 10

the crawler

Fall 2007

it is everything you ever needed to know...and some things you

This plan ensures thatall who beneﬁt fromthe system share in theresponsibility to ﬁx itsshortcomings

-Hillary Clinton

“”

James Nesbitt

There is little doubt that by now youhave read about the latest crisis preparingto pummel our country. That crisis is our deteriorating health care system. Withelections looming (as they always seemto do), every candidate in contention hasdeveloped a way to fix our broken system.The most vocal is Senator Hillary Clinton,who has already unveiled her grandiose plan,which will seemingly solve all our healthcare woes. But although many people haveheard of Mrs. Clinton’s plan, few peopleactually know what it is. I urge you to go toMrs. Clinton’s website (www.hillaryclinton.com) and read it for yourself. It is so lackingin detail that it hardly can be called a plan,although perhaps this shows Mrs. Clinton’strue genius. It is hard to analyze and attack a plan that has no specifics. However, if youdo not feel like expending such effort on sucha fruitless hunt for fact, I will outline some of the more disturbing issues of her health careideas for you.Mrs. Clinton’s plan is titled “The AmericanHealth Choices Plan.” Perhaps this is a joke?An increase in consumer choice is never produced through government intervention.The choice to which Mrs. Clinton refers is atightly controlled sets of options from whichthe consumer is allowed to choose. A freemarket has noset of options;the choicesavailable tothe consumer are unlimited.Another disturbingideal is strewnthroughoutthe document,offering somegeneral insightinto Mrs. Clinton’s ideas about government.Her plan “gives” Americans the choice.Those choices are a government grant, nota freedom. This fundamental view of the purpose of government offers a glimpse of what Mrs. Clinton will do not only in healthcare, but in whatever arena she can control.One thing Mrs. Clinton does not give toAmericans is the chance to make an informeddecision. She apparently does not havemuch confidence in the common voter’scritical thinking abilities; the downloadable plan from her website is full of large, color pictures and charts, but offers few importantdetails. The information provided on her website constantly refers to what the plan willand will not allow, but it proposes no specific bills or updates to laws. Consequently, weare given little knowledge of how the legalcode will be changed to meet Mrs. Clinton’sdemands and little assurance that the planhas concrete limits.Mrs. Clinton claims that part of the healthcare crisis is caused by overpayment of HMOsand other Managed Care Plans. What shenever admits is the reason such organizationsexist and receive overpayments in the first place: The requirement for private healthcare to conform to inefficient government bureaucracy and regulation. The HMOAct of 1973 is a major contributing reasonto the continued need of HMOs in the first place. The Act gave grants to HMOs attaxpayer expense and required employers tooffer HMOs as a health care option to their employers. This government interventioninto the free market of health care hascontributed to the current HMO problemsof which Mrs. Clinton speaks, but you willnever hear a whisper of it from her camp.One of Mrs. Clinton’s objectives is to ropeall Americans into the system, including theresponsible citizens who currently are ableto manage their health care without the needof taxpayer support. This requirement willforce Americans who are currently self-reliant andmanaging their own health careto assist thosewho cannot. AsMrs. Clinton puts it, “This plan ensuresthat all who benefit fromthe systemshare in theresponsibilityto fix its shortcomings.” By benefit, Mrs.Clinton simply means participate. She willrequire those who currently do not participatein our failing government health care systemnot only to participate, but to bear the burdenof fixing its shortcomings. The possibilityfor success rests on the assumption thatAmericans who currently can produce resultson the free market can and will continue todo so when forced into a socialist one.An issue Mrs. Clinton does not touch is the burden and restrictions on personal life such asystem will inevitably cause. Since personal

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With Liberty and Justice(and Health care) for all...

A Maine restaurant is con-sidering removing its “nakedlunch” from the menu after two citizens complained,calling it “inappropriate.” Thelunch offers a free sandwichto anyone willing to jumpfrom the dock naked.Officials recently found 10.5ounces of Ecstasy hiddeninside a Mr. Potato Head ashe shipped from Australia toIreland.New York City’s WABC willwelcome Don Imus back tothe radio beginning Decem-ber 1, 2007.Sen. Barack Obama, Sen.Joe Biden, Gov. Bill Rich-ardson, John Edwards, andRep. Dennis Kucinich all of-ficially withdraw from Michi-gan’s January 15th primary.Monday, the first round of Baby Boomers become eli-gible to receive Social Secu-rity benefits—let the race toretirement begin!A teacher is suing his for-mer employer who fired himafter discovering a YouTubevideo of him painting withhis bare buttocks. (Sit inpaint, sit on canvas. Repeatas necessary.)Fraternities across the coun-try are fighting back againstthe “frat-boy” image bybringing new activities sucha yoga and wine-tasting intotheir chapters.

A Pennsylvania man was jailed after trying to pay for groceries with a $1,000,000bill.A recent study by Cornellclaims that people tend toconsume 35% more calorieswhen dining at “healthy” res-taurants.Claiming that it producesgerms that aid in the diges-tion of food, scientists saythat your appendix is not souseless after all.Google’s stock shoots up toover $600/share, officiallymaking the Google empireworth more than Wal-Mart.Fred Thompson debuts at theGOP Debates, but the spot-light fell on the Romney-Guil-iani battle over fiscal issues.A poor marriage could lead tosevere heart problems later in life… literally… doctors saythat fighting couples raisetheir risk of heart disease.Philippine medical officialsare outraged after findingthemselves the subject of a joke on a recent DesperateHousewives episode. Mo-ments after the show ended,a petition for an apology wasalready circulating the inter-net.

Saying that they make chil-dren “late for class,” Prin-cipal Victoria Sharts hasbanned hugging in her ur-ban Chicago middle school.

Hillsdale

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Emilia Huneke-Bergquist

Julie Robison

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Mary Kate Cavazos

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Brian JohnstonMartin Kraegel IIIKate MartinChristina MillerStohn NishinoScott RozellG. Stolyarov II

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Matthew ColeCalvin FrieburgerNathan Lichtman Jeremy Marshall John McNamara James NesbittHeather ShellDave Wasmer

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burden and restrictions on personal life such asystem will inevitably cause. Since personalhealth issues become public expenses in asocialist system, regulations regarding our personal lives will eventually be forced uponus. John Edwards has already cautiouslyadvanced the idea of requiring citizens to visitthe doctor on a regular basis for checkups.The rationale for these requirements is that proper preventative health care will incur fewer costs. However, under this plan thefollowing scenario is far too tangible: healthcare lobbyists will pushing for regulationsrequiring examinations of body parts youdidn’t even know existed, corrupt politicianswill receive their rewards from lobbyists by passing the regulations, and doctors willgain from crammed waiting rooms full of a public attempting to abide by the law. TheAmerican public, however, loses.With all these deﬁciencies, why wouldanyone seriously consider Mrs. Clinton’s proposal? The quality Mrs. Clinton’s planseems to have that attracts voters is its effecton each individual voter’s pocketbook.Voters are attracted by the fact that her healthcare plan will reduce their direct out-of- pocket expenses. However, this belief lacks prudence. The truth is that the money to payfor health care has to come from somewhere.Whether you pay directly to your insurancecompany or whether you pay through a salestax here and a gas tax there, you are still paying for the services you have used.There is no doubt that our health care systemis in dire need of improvement. However, itis generally agreed that improvements aremade by removing the defective parts of a system. Our current health care systemis choked by government policies andextending those policies to the entire systemwill only make things worse. Mrs. Clinton’s plan contains the argument of compassionthat often captures the emotional side of thevoter, but let’s not allow her to love us todeath.

Hillary from page 2

Thompson DeclaresCandidacy!

Old news? Maybe, but how much do

you

know about thisrising conservative star?

Jeremy marshall

SHORT STRIKE CAUSES MICHIGAN STRESSES

Nathan D. Lichtman

On September 6, 2007 a man fromTennessee posted a video on theinternet that could ultimately lead to there-vitalization of a major political party,and keep the direction of this countryfrom skewing too far from what is right.The man, though seemingly not a manof high political notability, is trying to beelected President of the United States.The man is Fred Thompson.Revitalizing a political party representsa two-part undertaking. First, one mustbe able to be a person of such highcharisma that he can convince peoplethat their political alliances belong withhis party. Secondly, he must redeﬁnewhat the party believes in.The model for the charisma andemotional capacity required to convertand re-align believers with a politicalparty is Ronald Reagan. Reagan, thefortieth US President, was known for his ability to turn anyone into a friend,to shove aside any negative claim, andto promote hard-core stances withoutsounding irrational. It can be said thatFred Thompson is akin to Reagan. Theyhave a similar background; Reagan anactor in several movies, Thompson anactor, most recently recognized for hisperformance on the popular televisionshow

Law and Order

. They both have

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

For the first time in 37 years the UnitedAuto Workers called a national strikeagainst General Motors. UAW PresidentRon Gettelfinger announced that, effectiveSeptember 26 at 4:00 AM, the strike wasrecessed.The UAW and GM bargaining teams hadreached a tentative agreement as of 3:05AM that same morning. Workers resumedwork the same day, starting second shift. If needed, skilled tradesmen could be called towork earlier. The strike lasted 41 hours.The last nationwide strike took place in1970, and lasted 69 days. A limited strikewas called in 1998 at two plants in Flint,Michigan. The 1998 strike lasted 54 days.The tentative agreement, pending member ratification, would shift a significant portion of $51 billion in unfunded retireehealth benefits to the Voluntary EmployeesBeneficiary Association, which is a trust isrun by the UAW.GM will pay new hires a “second-tier”wage. GM and the UAW are withholdingagreement details. This wage will be lessthan current employee wages. GM hopesto close the wage gap between foreign automakers and themselves. The Detroit-basedauto maker currently pays $25 more per hour than foreign competitors. Agreementdetails are being withheld until reviewed by a national council meeting and sent tomembership.“There’s no question this was one of the mostcomplex and difficult bargaining sessions inthe history of the GM/UAW relationship,”commented GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner. “This agreement helps us closethe fundamental competitive gaps that existin our business. The projected competitiveimprovements in this agreement will allow usto maintain a strong manufacturing presencein the United States along with significantfuture investments.”UAW Members are voting over a coupleweeks on the new contract.Gettelfinger hopes the GM contract willserve as a pattern for Ford and Chrysler negotiations. The two-tier wage systemattracts the two auto makers for new hires because the second-tier is lower pay for newhires.GM is considering closing plants in Ohio,Indiana, and Michigan. The company is alsothinking of building a new engine facility inFlint, MI to replace the outdated Flint Northfactory.