At first blush, Californians might be overjoyed to hear about Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed healthcare plan… after hearing some of the details, I am not so sure it is all that great.

He is quick to spout off that under the plan everyone would be covered. In the richest country in the world, fully 40% of our citizens have no health insurance. The devil is in the details. The plan does not take the tax dollars in the system being spent on frivolous pork projects and redirect them to caring for the taxpayers… instead it mandates that everyone MUST have coverage. Making it law that you must have coverage is a far cry from providing coverage. This is nothing but a not-so-thinly veiled boon to the insurance industry.

For a large portion of my life I chose not to have health coverage because I was a healthy young man. Had I lived in California under the proposed law, that choice would not have been mine. Now after decades of television ads pounding into my head that I could have every disease known to man, I have been convinced I need coverage. I still don’t go to the doctor, but now I get to hand over hundreds of dollars each month to ally my fears.

Now what of the person who cannot afford to make the choice at all? If I didn’t choose such a Spartan lifestyle, I wouldn’t be able to afford that choice. Not because I am a sponge on society… not because I am an illegal alien… because real income in this country has been dropping steadily for years and exponentially each time another “free trade” agreement is signed.

Our elected officials take our tax dollars and use it to fund programs such as the proposal in California. The preamble to the Constitution clearly states that the government’s roles is to “provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.” I don’t read anything about “promote the welfare of big business.”

Universal healthcare IS coming… the citizens of the country will eventually be heard. I predict that across the board, Republicans will appear to be doing an “about face” on universal healthcare, but what they will really be promoting is mandated coverage and the citizen will be the one responsible.

Remember, WE hired them! Demand that your tax dollars promote the welfare of the citizens and NOT big business.