Kerby Anderson

Let me begin with a question. What do you think of the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic? Your response probably ranges from a belief that some of the government’s actions could have been better to a belief that it was a botched operation from the beginning.

Many pundits and politicians say the administration’s response has been a disaster. That harsh assessment may be overdone and unfair, but let’s assume it is accurate. That leads to a second question. If the federal government botched this health care response, why would you want the same government to take total control of your personal health care?

After all, the government had weeks of advance warning, had lots of international attention, and had access to some of the best disease experts in the government. If you have a personal health care crisis and need surgery or other treatment, your plight won’t be given media attention and you won’t have access to the best experts in the field.

Pundits and politicians critical of the administration might argue that President Trump is solely responsible for all the problems they list. In order to argue that, you would have to ignore the positive comments by experts about the value of the travel bans and even the establishment of the public-private response to the pandemic.

Those who argue that another president would have done better ignore some of the mistakes made by previous presidents concerning disasters and pandemics. And do we really think a democratic socialist who has never run a government agency or a former vice-president apparently dealing with mental and memory issues would do better? And if we do get a vaccine in the near future, it will probably come from pharmaceutical companies those two candidates often vilify.

These critics might want to pause and consider that their criticisms are making a good case against government-run health care.