The heartland votes for its economic interest

Kerry was the anti-candidate here, too. He talked about revisiting trade agreements, a euphemism for protectionism. Barriers to imports not only mean higher prices for consumers, but lower-quality products as well. Less competition from abroad means less pressure to make the best product. And domestically, pro-business policies relating to such matters as taxes, torts, and regulations, increase the number of businesses and improve competition, with positive effects regarding goods and services.

So many people are uninsured because health insurance is so expensive. Many factors, mostly relating to misguided government policies, drive up those costs. Among them is the institution of employer-provided health insurance, resulting from a tax break/subsidy. This gives patients little incentive to shop around, taking pressure off health care providers to lower their prices. We all pay for it in the form of high health insurance costs. Other factors driving up such costs include mandated benefits (i.e., laws requiring heath insurers to cover specific procedures) and medical malpractice costs. Voting for Kerry would not have assuaged any of these factors.

Nationalizing health care, moreover, would only worsen things. Based on other countries' experience, the quality of care would decline and health care rationing would proliferate.

It is common knowledge that our current Social Security system is unsustainable. Without reform, what's in store in coming decades is either massive benefit cuts, massive tax increases, or both. To fix the situation, Social Security needs to be converted from a spending program to a savings program. Kerry is against that.

Economics 101 teaches that more savings equals more investment. More investment equals a stronger economy. A stronger economy benefits everyone. If you reduce the tax on savings - namely dividends and capital gains - then you'll have a stronger economy. Yes, rich folks will benefit because they're the biggest savers. But one should not let one's resentment of the rich override one's desire for a stronger economy. Across-the-board tax cuts, meanwhile, also benefit everyone, not just directly but indirectly by rewarding work.

To be sure, if economic interest is defined by how many government favors one gets, it perhaps could be argued that a Kerry presidency would have helped the pocketbooks of people such as heavily subsidized farmers and labor union members. But they constitute only a small minority of voters in middle America. And whenever a small minority gets a government handout, the vast majority has to pay for it. That certainly is not in the latter's best interest.

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