I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis.
Here's a puzzler. A near majority of Britons polled recently said their greatest 20th century achievement is the National Health Service.
Clearly, its services are desperately needed, because at almost the same time as the poll, we got the latest in a long line of health service horror stories — in this case how it "treats" (I use the term advisedly) Cancer.
NHS lacks funds, specialists and facilities to keep up with Cancer. So about 25,000 Britons die unnecessarily of Cancer yearly, according to the World Health Organization. The New York Times reported the five-year survival rate for men with Colon Cancer in the U.S. Is 64 percent; in Britain, 41 percent. For women with Breast Cancer, it's 84 percent in the U.S., 67 percent in Britain.
This isn't because we're smarter or richer than they are. It's because our government — so far — hasn't devised a lethal socialized health care system that kills people who don't deserve to die.
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont. Next time, McCain's tax plan.