Rule no. 1: Consider a “tweak” first.

Mike Lynn points out the need for caution in attempting to “fix” health care in the U.S.:

I live and work in Russia and other CIS countries. I already have seen "Obamacare" here [in] Russia and I feel sorry for you poor Brits and your failed experiment in publically funded health care. It is just so sad to see the greatest tecnologically driven health delivery system (USA) being pilloried. You only have to look at NHS in the UK, the Canadian system or God help the poor retch that receives "Obamacare" in Russia. Americans have to be careful and not ruin what is the best system overall that has been developed anywhwere in the world. It needs to be tweaked not dismembered.^[1]

The politicians’ penchant for “comprehensive” solutions never fails to send me into a near-earth orbit. For example, why exactly is amnesty for illegal immigrants inextricably linked with effective border control? Someone who manages to show up inside our border somehow has to be given citizenship, for crying out loud, before we act to stop people like him from showing up?

And why do politicians get fixated on developing infant, unproven wind and solar power so they will come to rival petroleum and coal as energy sources but in the meantime refuse to do easy stuff like drill for oil in the Gulf, build new refineries, or build nuclear power plants?^[2] Nothing easy can be done until the nearly impossible is successfully attempted.

The same with Obamacare. 20,000,000, say, uninsurable Americans out of a total population of 300,000,000, or 6.6% of us who fall into the cracks? So to solve this one problem we are fix certain known problems, "fix" many more imaginary problems, and create scores of immense new problems? Similarly, at present, health insurance companies can’t compete across state lines. So, instead of increasing competition, the politicians propose the creation of a vast, impenetrable bureaucracy that will transform, if not destroy, an excellent health care system comprising one-sixth of the economy.^[3] Not to mention huge, unknowable cost increases and consequent crushing new taxes.

America positively lurches in its policy prescriptions. Some aspect of the health care industry is imperfect, so the entire industry has to be revamped.

Whenever a problem can be identified, the statists in the Democrat Party (and the Washington Party to be exact) need to rediscover the concept of the tweak (to include facilitating a private sector solution) instead of effecting a legislative imitation of Sherman’s march to the sea.

In case there's any confusion out there, here are three good tweaks:

• Allow interstate competition between health insurance companies;

• open up drilling on all public lands and the continental shelf and to heck with any environmentalists or objecting states; and

• close the damn border already!!

Notes
^[1] Comment by Mike Lynn (emphasis added) on "'Cruel and neglectful' care of one million NHS patients exposed." By Rebecca Smith, Telegraph.co.uk, 8/27/09. Read the comments to this article for a choice listing of some of the hazards to life, limb, and simple dignity to be encountered in the U.K. National Health Service.
^[2] Actually, wind and solar are proven technologies -- proven to be able to contribute only infinitesimal portions of our energy needs. Now and for the foreseeable future.
^[3] It goes without saying that to the extent that the health insurance companies are greedy, so the new Obamacare health care bureaucracy will be benevolent, just, and responsive because the right people will be in charge and there will be controls and safeguards.