We should trust these people because.............?

Perhaps the most critical element in the long-term success of any democracy is mutual trust between a nation's people and their government. Such trust must be earned through demonstrated integrity, fidelity to common principles and performance over time.

Right now, our government is asking us to trust them as they develop their plan to radically transform our health care system. So I thought it appropriate to review some relevant history to find out what our government has done to merit such trust.

• Social Security and Medicare are the most analogous programs to what Obama and Congress wish to impose upon us with health care reform. Both are effectively bankrupt (the "lockboxes" don't actually exist) and contribute enormously to our federal deficit. How Obamacare will be any better on this account has not been explained.
• When Medicare was started in 1965 the government estimated it would cost $9 billion per year by 1990. In fact, Medicare was costing $67 billion per year by 1990 - more than 7 times the government's estimate. Why should the American people believe the forecast on the new health care reform will be any better?
• Obama promised that the $1,000,000,000,000+ spent on his various programs to "stimulate" economy would keep unemployment under 8%. He dramatically missed that forecast in less than 6 months and there's no prospect unemployment will be under 8% any time in the foreseeable future.
• We were promised by Obama and Pelosi that all health care debate would be open to the public, even broadcast on C-SPAN, and that everything would be available to Americans to review before legislation is voted on. They've already proven multiple times that they have no intention of living up to that commitment. What are they hiding - and why?

Based on these facts it would be difficult to make the case that our government merits the trust of the American people in crafting health care reform (or much of anything else for that matter).

While a nation's long term success depends on mutual trust between a government and its people, I maintain that under our Constitution - with its foundation on individual rights and responsibilities - the onus is on the government to earn the trust of the people rather than the other way around. Obama and Congress have done precious little to earn that trust.