[Stossel] A. Huffington supports school vouchers, calls it "single-payer education"

[Knightskye]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/johnstossel/2009/09/arianna-gets-it-rightsort-of.html


Arianna, it turns out, is an advocate of school choice, but she knows that the liberals that visit her website won't like it if she writes about "choice" or "vouchers." So she dresses up her support for choice in liberal rhetoric: She calls it "single-payer education."

In a single-payer education plan, the federal government, in conjunction with the states, would provide an education allotment for every parent of a K-12 child. Parents would then be free to enroll their child in the school of their choice.

Sounds like that evil conservative voucher plan!

This is actually really good news.

[0zzy]

so why wouldn't single payer health care work? We get money, we pick the doctor.

[Original_Intent]

so why wouldn't single payer health care work? We get money, we pick the doctor.

We get money...from where? Who pulls the magic money out of their ass?

Do we send the government $1000 so we can get $500 back to choose a doctor with? Do we tax the rich some more? If we go that route you will be surprised what is considered "rich".

Oh yeah they are going to make money by shutting down insurance companies offshore bank accounts, that's the ticket.

It's only a good thing in education because it is a move away from a completely government dominated system to actually a little bit of free market. In healthcare, this would be a move towards a LOT more government control, not less.

[Knightskye]

so why wouldn't single payer health care work? We get money, we pick the doctor.

Because with vouchers, we would be moving in the opposite direction, from a largely government-monopolized system to a more market-driven system.

[NYgs23]

While I understand the sentiment behind it, I totally disagree with the voucher idea. When government starts handing money to institutions those institutions end up dependent on that cash flow. Then the government starts using the funds as a carrot to control them. This, I fear, is what will happen to private schools as they become dependent on voucher money.

[Knightskye]

While I understand the sentiment behind it, I totally disagree with the voucher idea. When government starts handing money to institutions those institutions end up dependent on that cash flow. Then the government starts using the funds as a carrot to control them. This, I fear, is what will happen to private schools as they become dependent on voucher money.

But we're dependent on government schools now, and the unions depend on that.

I understand your point, but I think we need a transition.

[NYgs23]

But we're dependent on government schools now, and the unions depend on that.

I think a less risky methodology might be tax deductions for families who send their kid to private school or who home school them, either based on an estimated amount of the family's tax dollars that go to public school or based on an estimated amount that the government would have spent to send the child to public school.

Unlike vouchers, everyone would be eligible for this, it would be based on less taxes rather than more spending, and I think the government would be less able to use this as a bribe.