Anchor Rising Turns One!

When Justin, Marc, Don and myself started blogging together a year ago, we weren’t exactly sure where we were going, but we were sure we’d be able to find worthwhile topics -- topics not receiving the attention they deserved -- to discuss.

Almost coincident with our one-year anniversary, evidence appeared that our supposition was correct. A Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam article in the Weekly Standard laid out a program for a new domestic conservatism. One issue of prominence was healthcare. Here are a few snippets of their thoughts on healthcare…

Republicans need to deliver a market-friendly health care reform, and simply the current hodgepodge of command-and-control and laissez-faire….

For instance, Mitt Romney has proposed in Massachusetts that health insurance be made universal by making it mandatory….

More important, severing health care coverage from employment will eliminate the gaps in coverage that occur when workers move from one job to the next. Workers will no longer be shacked to jobs they despise, thus offering a tremendous boon to productivity.

Our system "combines the compassion of raw capitalism with the efficiency of bureaucratic socialism”….

“Rather, mandatory, private, health Insurance – ‘universal coverage in exchange for universal responsibility.’" That, it seems to me, might be the American way to create a universal health plan….

Employees might benefit from companies' newfound need to develop other ways to attract and keep employees, once risking temporary unemployment is no longer to risk one's life.

On a more personal note, let me add that I am proud to have been able to contribute to the civic discussion of this past year through my association with my Anchor Rising co-bloggers.