I don’t often get disturbed enough to comment on editorials or letters to the editor, having more than enough opportunity in my professional life. The discussion about the Affordable Health Care Act and “mandatory” health insurance coverage suggests the success of some powerful interests in defending their turf.

My grandfather was an Abe Lincoln Republican who loved to quote him. One such quote is, “You can fool all of the people some of the time and you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” I hope this is one of those times when you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.

While some of the country’s greatest legal minds struggle with the concept, “Can government mandate us to pay for something we don’t want?” A little common sense tells us we already do. Can you register your car without proof of insurance? Of course not, and why not? Because we believe and our government decided, that one person should not bear the cost of another’s negligence.

The principle in the Affordable Health Care Act is the same. Now I pay for people who don’t have insurance, but get ill anyway. We all do through our health insurance rates and our taxes. Why shouldn’t people who can afford some level of coverage be asked to have it just as we ask them to get automobile insurance? My common sense fails to see the difference, but I fear our learned justices in D.C. may find a way.

Dean Crocker

Augusta

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