The New York Times' Paul Krugman is a Nobel Prize-winning economist and staunch champion of government medicine a la the Canadian model of our neighbors to the north.
Just this past Saturday in "Toyota, Moving Northward" he flogged the advantages of the single-payer system Canada offers. He postulated that one reason why the Japanese auto maker is locating it's new RAV4 plant in Ontario is their government medicine:
Canada's other big selling point is its national health insurance system, which saves auto manufacturers large sums in benefit payments compared with their costs in the United States.
Suddenly Krugman the Leftist is all for huge government subsidies for big business.
Krugman's Nobel-prize winning economic mind then offers up:
So what's the impact on taxpayers? In Canada, there's no impact at all: since all Canadians get government-provided health insurance in any case, the additional auto jobs won't increase government spending.
Really? Adding workers brought in from outside Canada to the government rolls won't increase government spending? A little of Krugman's new math: X plus 5,000 still somehow equals X.
On January 9th, 2008 Krugman defended Canadian (as well as French and British) government medicine from an assessment of it by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in "A health care system to die for."
Rudy Giuliani warned us about what would happen if a Democrat wins:
You have got to see the trap. Otherwise we are in for a disaster. We are in for Canadian health care, French health care, British healthcare.
And that would be a terrible thing:
In "Measuring the Health of Nations: Updating an Earlier Analysis" (Health Affairs, Jan./Feb. 2008), Ellen Nolte, Ph.D., and C. Martin McKee, M.D., D.Sc., both of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, compared international rates of "amenable mortality"-that is, deaths from certain causes before age 75 that are potentially preventable with timely and effective health care.
The key words being "timely" and "effective" - two words never associated with government medicine.
Just ask Shona Holmes, a Canadian government medicine escapee alive today only because she had an American free market health care system in which to take refuge. The system Krugman wants to see shut down. The four and six month waits for initial diagnoses of her condition to which Canadian (be) patient care had consigned her would have killed her.
And Ms. Holmes' life-and-death waiting game at the hands of government medicine is the rule rather than the exception. Most Canadians and Europeans - subject to the system - aren't as fond of it as is Krugman, who isn't.
Something Dr. Krugman could, should he be at all interested, find out with a little due diligence and some rudimentary research.
Of which he got a taste here with his informal poll. Oops.
—Seton Motley is Director of Communications for the Media Research Center and Contributing Editor for NewsBusters.org.
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So Canada offers free
July 28, 2009 - 10:58 ET by DontFeedTheTrollsSo Canada offers free health care? Why don't we save America money and do what illegals do and just steal our healthcare from our neighbor to the north? After all, it's free! This would make Obama even more popular.
D
Write Congress and Senate and tell them what YOU think!
Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.
Sorry DFTT
July 28, 2009 - 11:31 ET by ReaverUnlike Obamacare noncitizens are not eligible for government health care in Canada.
If stupidity got us into this mess,
then why can't it get us out?
--Will Rogers
I see his point though it is poorly stated perhaps.
July 28, 2009 - 11:06 ET by ZacraAll Canadians are covered (and yes they do pay substantial taxes to be covered) so the 5000 people are not an additional drain on the system they are already draining it.
Of Course they Would move...
July 28, 2009 - 11:20 ET by Airforce_5_OIf it is one less benifit they have to provide! Maybe if the Government of the Dems could see past panic mode and lower taxes on businesses or give them a tax break on what they spend here ion the states to carry employee's insurance they would stay or locate here.
But if the Government isn't going to make the business pay hell I'd move my plant too. Most of them are moving overseas because of high taxes anyway.
"Obama lied, transparency died!" Michelle Malkin
Paul Krugman: Proving time
July 28, 2009 - 11:26 ET by G. MayPaul Krugman: Proving time and time again how the Nobel Committee is heavily politicized.
I truly think the Krugman
July 28, 2009 - 11:28 ET by Scuba DudeI truly think the Krugman theme song should be "If I Only Had a Brain". Adding all those people will increase the amount of taxes Govt will take to cover the costs of those additional folks. And Toyota won't have to pay a dime. They will also have the added benefit of hiring new employees at a lower salary since the one's there will die off that much more quicker since they will not be able to receive timely and effective treatment.
The Obama Administration: THE most fiscally irresponsible Administration EVER
Yeah not so much.
July 28, 2009 - 11:52 ET by ZacraNot sure why this one is so tough for folks to get. Canadians are covered from the womb. If they stay at home and do nothing, they are covered. The expense is already there without the jobs. Adding 5000 or 50000 jobs does not increase the expense. Adding 5000 babies, now that is a different story.
No surprise
July 28, 2009 - 11:35 ET by Old SaltIt's right in line with Biden's and Pelosi's assertions that we have to keep spending money to keep from going bankrupt and that health care reform is actually a stimulus package.
the additional auto jobs won't increase government spending.
July 28, 2009 - 11:52 ET by CarlosSOf course it won't cost the government a single (Canadian) dime since it's RATIONED health care. It doesn't matter if an additional 5000 or 50,000 tax-payers are waiting in line...
I have an idea
July 28, 2009 - 12:28 ET by candanceLet's all sneak into Canada by the millions, take all the unskilled labor jobs, pay no taxes, whine about how we're all human beings, send our children to free public schools, demand they be taught American history instead of Canadian history, and yell discrimination when someone speaks to us in French.
Then we can demand that the Canadian government land on Mars, support the world's biggest military, give the UN a free office building in Toronto, be the world's leader in technology innovation, save Darfur, win the war in Iraq, stop Iran from getting nukes, expand the internet, and come up with a cure for Alzeheimers.....all while giving free goodies to 20 million immigrants.
Let's see how well that works out.
"He postulated that one
July 28, 2009 - 13:26 ET by ckc1227"He postulated that one reason why the Japanese auto maker is locating
it's new RAV4 plant in Ontario is their government medicine"
Maybe another reason is our current government's propensity for nationalizing the automobile industry. Another reason could be that contracts in this country no longer have any meaning. Another reason could be the anti-business, anti-profit stance adopted by the current political party. Or any number of other reasons.
Companies don't need government to pick up the tab for them to save money. They can simply not offer health care as a benefit. And if nationalized health care is such a draw, why do more companies locate here instead of Canada? If we buy into Krug's theory, shouldn't Canada be the economic power in the world?
Canada requires all
July 28, 2009 - 14:32 ET by NL207Canada requires all automakers who sell in Canada to have a certain percentage of "Canadian Content" in their aggregate product line. This is one of the few reasons auto manufacturing of any kind is done in Canada. Government control.
Think Could This Be the Reason?
July 28, 2009 - 14:50 ET by sic721"Corporate Taxes: Canada has cut the corporate tax rate from 28 percent to just 15 percent, and most provinces have trimmed corporate taxes as well. The U.S. federalstate rate stands at about 40 percent, and the Obama administration is planning to increase corporate taxes." LINK
"Let us disappoint the Men who are raising themselves upon the ruin of this Country."-John Adams
An Omission . . .
July 28, 2009 - 15:06 ET by KylerkSeton,
In your opening paragraph where you define Paul Krugman’s background - you forgot to mention that he’s an "esteemed former Economic Advisor for the now defunct Enron Corporation."
Where in the world do all
July 28, 2009 - 15:59 ET by RR GOPWhere in the world do all of these Nobel Prize winning economists come from? If businesses listened to them we'd still be running our industry on Newcomen steam engines and working hard to get choo-choo trains to go faster than 40 MPH.
Social leeches.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
Bad Move
July 28, 2009 - 18:57 ET by slickwillie2001You folks need to watch this video, because it isn't transcripted in the article. It's really very funny. Someone should have immediately asked Krugman, -"Paul, why do you say that was a bad move on your part? Is it because you didn't get the answer that you wanted?"
This author should listen to Palin and "quit making things up"
July 29, 2009 - 02:38 ET by ZacraWhen I first commented on this it was clearly a misunderstanding, now it is an outright snow job. Writing like this makes us all look like hack jobs. Dude just admit you misread or misheard the quote and move on adding weasel words like you did is mighty MSM of you. "Adding workers brought in from outside Canada"... Why would they import workers? That makes no sense at all. You added the "from outside Canada" and killed your credibility along with the story..
Imports are Un-American
July 29, 2009 - 11:08 ET by right_is_rightKrugman's column mentions the huge tax breaks and incentives that American states offer foreign automakers to bring jobs to their districts. Yet few seem to realize the goal of Toyota (and Honda, Hyundai, et. al) is to suck as much money as possible out of America. That's the purpose of an investment - right? - to take out more than you put in.So your Tundra and/or Camry "was made in America by Americans"? Basically you exported the profit instead of importing the vehicle. Thanks a lot; you're a real patriot. And that flag sticker and eagle vanity plate should clear up any questions about your allegiance.Vehicles made in these "transplants" (as they are affectionately known) are just bait. Couple that with some fancy marketing (there's no Tacoma on Honshu Island, no Santa Fe on the Han Bando Peninsula) and the American "me want" psychosis kicks into overdrive.Obama's health care plan thrives on the "me want" mentality, just as his candidacy did.