In response to Stephen Wallace’s Aug. 24 letter to the editor, (“Single payer health care is best option”), I would like to submit the following.

I find Mr. Wallace’s socialistic utopian view on the health care industry somewhat fascinating. Mr. Wallace’s letter makes many assumptions, but doesn’t see them through to a conclusion.

First, if we do go the route of a socialized health care system with a health care king being the one making all our health care decisions for us, why on earth would we want the government to act as that king? Government’s incompetence and mismanagement is well documented. Just look at Medicare, Social Security, any federal department, the Federal Reserve, even Congress itself and the list goes on.

Even prior to Obamacare, the government controlled the health care industry by placing burdensome regulations and mandates on them which drove health care costs up for the consumers and interfered with our health care choices.

I look at it this way: I want choice. I don’t need the government to force health care insurance providers to cover in-grown toe nails, male pattern baldness or birth control for me. I don’t need it, yet my premiums reflect I do. I prefer to keep my health care choices between me, my doctor and insurance provider and not some bureaucrat in Washington, D.C.

It seems the tone of Mr. Wallace’s letter is he takes issue with the greedy free market and evil for-profit companies. As far as the greedy free market is concerned, a true free market increases competition and drives costs down for everyone, making health care more affordable for all. Also, those evil companies along with private citizens give millions to worthy charities that help provide anyone in need with health care assistance. Case in point, you give $1 to a charity, approximately 84 cents will make it to the person in need, yet you give that same dollar to the government, you would be lucky to get 27 cents to that same person in need. You tell me: Who is more cost effective?

As money flows and profits are gained, so flows charitable giving, tax revenues, investments, research, development and the economy, yet you stagnate profits the rest follows suit. If the government controls the health care industry, they fix prices to keep costs low, fixing those prices makes it less lucrative for persons to want to become doctors in the first place and those who are providers are competing for a smaller share of the scraps provided by the government.

When any worker no longer profits reasonably from their trade, it is usually the best and brightest that leave for greener pastures first, which is exactly what will happen to our best and brightest doctors. With less providers and lower quality care, we will be forced to ration health care resulting in long waiting periods for essential care, refused treatments, basically catastrophic conditions for all. Just look at socialized health care countries like Spain, England and Canada. They are already at the point of rationing. You can call it what you want, Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, single payer health care ... the bottom line is socialized health care is a failure and those countries that have similar systems and are failing miserably are now turning from socialized care and opting for free market solutions. We can turn from our current path of health care armageddon by electing leaders that understand how our economy works and make the corrections necessary to better our health care system. We need leaders that won’t ignore the millions that have been unemployed for years as President Obama has been. This country requires now more than ever strong leaders that believe in America’s entrepreneurial spirit, hard work and sense of compassion. That is why I will be voting for Mitt Romney for president, Dan Bongino for Senate and Anthony O’Donnell for Congress on Nov. 6.

Brian D. Lee, Lusby