LETTER: Get your free lunch!? Not with McCain

From Paul Boor
Hutchinson

McCain offers an attractive proposal. Lower taxes. Deregulate business. Unfettered by regulations, capitalism will produce the solutions to our problems. McCain promises a litany of things: worker retraining, wage subsidies, reasonably priced health care for all, clean coal, nuclear power and “drill, baby, drill” for domestic oil. It is implied that none of this will need any impetus from government. After all, we need less government.
Capitalism produces those goods and services that are likely to result in immediate or near term profits. Any likely profits for worker retraining? No. Health care for the poor? No. Wage subsidies? No. Clean coal. No, dirty coal is more profitable. Drill, baby, drill? Yes!

Capitalism is a great motivator. But unguided, capitalism does not produce optimal solutions to all problems. Capitalism measures all costs and benefits in terms of dollars. Capitalism alone will not produce that litany of wonderful results because it is not profitable to do so. Society (government) needs to adjust the playing field to make it profitable to produce what society values.

And yes, government needs to be funded. Despite what Mr. McCain would like you to believe, there is no free lunch.