Author Archive | Richard E. Ralston

Americans did not invent democracy. What America rightly did, for the first time in history, was institutionalize the concept of limited government–based not on majority rule, but on individual rights. Sadly, this foundation is not properly recognized and is rapidly giving way to an ever-expanding government. Government policy has already led to a devastating effect [...]

The status quo in American health care is indefensible–an expensive regulatory and bureaucratic mess. What that calls for, however, is not more layers of regulation and complicated mandates. Nor should government take over health care completely and run it as part of a political spoils system. State government proposals have proven too expensive in California [...]

Five years ago, an expert for the British government prepared a report to recommend a plan for Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). The report was recently released to assess what has happened since. Spending has grown by 50 percent in real terms, with an additional investment of

Much of the current debate about health care is between those who want the government to wipe all insurance companies out of existence and those who instead want the government to force everyone to buy regulated private insurance. Both sides ignore the fundamental context for any discussion of health care in America: individual rights and [...]

One of the great scandals of our age is the fact that America spends more on food than any other nation. Many political leaders are now calling for urgent reform to bring spending on food under control. Even worse, while the result of this uncontrolled spending includes the fact that many Americans are overweight, some [...]

When talking about health insurance, “mandatory” is an increasingly popular term among politicians of both major parties, including presidential candidates. What do they really mean by it? Put simply, being uninsured would no longer be a misfortune or a choice, but a crime. And for the insured, the issue is much more complicated. No politician [...]

Michael Moore’s Sicko has had a respectable box office performance for a documentary film. But it has drawn only a small fraction of the audience that turned out for his previous film, Fahrenheit 9/11. Sicko opened in a relatively small number of theaters, with a plan to grow to a much larger audience by fall. [...]

Michael Moore’s comedy-drama Sicko presented a great deal of misinformation–too much to summarize in a short column. Besides, if anyone in the audience really believed that all Cubans receive superb health care when Mr. Moore’s cameras are not running, there is not much I can say to help them. However, those who saw the film [...]

Open Public Hearing; Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committees to the Food and Drug Administration; Gaithersburg, Maryland “Good Afternoon. I am Richard Ralston, Executive Director of Americans for Free Choice in Medicine. We are a non-profit organization providing public education on free market approaches to health care. We advocate the principles [...]

“Universal Health Care” is the increasing drumbeat of advocates who want Americans to place all responsibility for their health care in the hands of government. They say health care needs require us to put aside such considerations as personal choice and individual freedom as outmoded ideology that should be dispensed with. First drop the context [...]