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Sen. Harris, Stop Demagoging. Everyone in US Can Already Get Health Care, Public Ed.

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If you believe the 2020 Democrat field, we live in a dystopia — a dystopia where we can be denied health care and public education, especially if we’re not here legally.

These aren’t the facts, mind you, but what are you going to do? Look at Kamala Harris’ take, for instance.

Harris made a weekend opinion on CNN’s “State of the Union,” a show which exists mainly so that people stuck in airport terminals on the weekends can still watch one of those Sunday morning political chat shows.

She was being asked by host Jake Tapper whether or not she believed a certain part of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for all” plan ought to become law.

The bill also says, ‘Every individual who is a resident of the United States is entitled to benefits for health care services under this act,'” Tapper noted.

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“Not every individual is a citizen, but every individual is a resident, so you support giving universal health care and ‘Medicare for all’ to people who are in this country illegally?”



“Let me just be very clear about this. I am opposed to any policy that would deny in our country any human being from access to public safety, public education, or public health. Period,” Harris told Tapper.

That sounds very nice. It’s also very demagogic: Anyone who lives in this country can already get any of these things.

Do you think illegal immigrants should get free health care?

Public safety? If you’re an illegal immigrant, you have the same rights to protection by the police that anyone else does. This is pretty obvious.

Public education? In Plyler v. Doe, the Supreme Court held that every child has a right to a public education through high school.

But public health? Surely we would have to concede an issue there, right?

No. No in italics.

First, for American citizens, there are Medicare and Medicaid for those who cannot take care of themselves. For most others, there’s private health insurance. There are cash clinics, as well.

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As for the undocumented, it’s worth noting that the emergency room cannot turn away patients who have a legitimate need, no matter what their ability to pay.

What Harris is insinuating, therefore, is that illegal immigrants should be able to get free or subsidized health care.

Leaving aside the question of who pays for this and why they should have to, think about the most basic element here: we’re creating a perverse incentive for people to come to the United States.

After all, if one gets free health care in a country no matter what one’s legal status is, and that country isn’t particularly rigorous in keeping those who are there illegally out, that means that country becomes a magnet for illegal immigrants.

Harris isn’t the only presidential candidate arguing this, either.

Last week, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Joe Biden said the United States is obligated to give health care to everyone, “regardless of whether they are documented or undocumented.”

“Look, I think that anyone who is in a situation where they are in need of health care, regardless of whether they are documented or undocumented, we have an obligation to see that they are cared for,” Biden said during a California campaign stop.

“That’s why I think we need more clinics in this country.”

But we already have an infrastructure that will take care of people who are in need of health care.

This isn’t the dystopia Biden or Harris want us to believe it is. Everyone has access to every one of the services that Harris was talking about. To say they don’t is pure demagogy.

So, what’s the lesson here? That it’s all not enough. It’s never enough. We must have more, more, more. More government control over education and health care, all in the name of “access.” That’s what’s at stake in 2020.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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