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I have always wished that we could give the right wingers and libertarians what they wanted -- while the rest of us live in a sane world.
It would be perfect to see Norquist and all the wise men at Cato and Heratige screaming "FREE MARKET" on the phone to his favorite drug company (in which he owns stock of course). Before he passes out from fever and dehydration from the a flu infection which the CDC had no funds to combat, they get transferred to a recording that explains that the companies first priority is to maximize the return to their stockholders, and unfortunately the laws of supply and demand mean that the company can make more profit by keeping supply low. So please hold and we will take your call in the order received -- you are 38,292 in the queue.
So then they exercise their "free market" prerogatives and get their friends on the administration to get them priority and wham! -- within hours they bump some nameless middle-class kid of the list and get their vaccine dose. But wait! The vaccine doesn't work! Why, because the FDC has also been defunded (if not disbanded) and they had no teeth to ensure drug quality. Remember the profit motive that makes all things good? Drug quality assurance is expensive, and that eats into profits.
So the dividend check from the drug company comes in the mail but unfortunately the stock owner is no longer around to enjoy it -- he's off to that free market in the sky.
On the other hand all the rest of us that opted in for the responsible taxes and responsible (albeit sometimes wasteful and overreaching) government got -- for sake of argument -- 75% of the services we paid for. We live happily ever after.
