Bush’s SOTU Address: Health Care and More

It looks like the first good thing to come out of the Bush Administration in the long term will be his proposal on health care. Basically, he is removing some of the incentives inherent in today’s employer-sponsored system and giving incentives to those who must purchase their own insurance because they are unemployed, their employer doesn’t offer health coverage, or some other reason.
While the health care proposal is a step in the right direction, it unfortunately appears likely that Bush will also be making some sweeping proposals to address the purported issue of global warming. The worst part is that Bush is falling into the big-government trap set for him by the environmentalists if he raises fuel-economy standards for automobiles, plans even greater subsidies for renewable energy sources, and places draconian controls on emissions at utility plants and other big polluters.
If Bush instead looked for market-base proposals such as those to increase the gas tax while offsetting other taxes, he might get some support from limited government types.