Today I had a run in with petition signers today when I went to write. A young girl, perhaps 23, approached asking me to sign her petition to get a proposition on the AZ ballot to reform healthcare in AZ.

I asked "What is the proposal? What will be offered on the ballot to make things better?"

She didn't know, it was her first day on the job.

I then asked, "You have to have an idea on how to improve the system before you get on the state ballot, right?"

She's called her 'supervisor' over, a Hispanic lady perhaps 26, also with a clipboard.

She explains to me they have a lot of ideas.

I asked what they were.

She responds 'a variety' and then then starts asking me about preventing health insurance companies from denying preexisting conditions.

I told her that I wasn't interested in signing and began to walk away.

She halted me by asking me why I would ever be against helping people get health insurance that have pre-existing conditions.

So I began to explain private ownership. How a private business has an inherent obligation to pay it personnel livable wages and it's share holders some degree of compensation for their investments.

I went on to explain that government has no right to tell a private business how to legitimately conduct business, nor how it can legally make a profit. That insurance companies have 'risk management' in order to protect their ability to make a profit, to ensure its people have jobs. I included that even O-care had risk management. Further, I explained that it is immoral and un-American to regulate how a company does business to earn its money and then seek to pile taxes them on when they are carrying losses imposed by regulations.

People on patio at Panera Bread voiced their agreement, some clapped.

She switched gears, "What about those companies that sell insulin for $300 when it only costs them $10?"

I then felt the need explained supply and demand. That more manufacturers of insulin there are the more available insulin will be in the marketplace, the lower the cost to to the consumer without subsidies paid by increased taxes or regulations. Further, If the US opened up its market to import prescription drugs which meet our standard, the price to the consumer would plummet. The same can be said for health insurance providers. If every health insurance company could offer its policies in all 50 states the cost for health insurance would also go down as consumers have more choices about where to spent their money. Competition for the dollar would drive down costs.

She began walking away when someone absurdly shouted out 'You should run for President'

I pulled her back by saying "You're not listening to what I'm saying."

I gave her an example she could get, Auto Insurance. 'If there were only a hand full of auto insurers they would control the price no matter how good a driver you are, right?' Fortunately there are dozens of auto insurers in Arizona and some specialize in bad drivers, those with accidents, those who made bad judgements and those who rack up tickets. The insurance companies specializing in problematic drivers make their money by charging more, or offering less coverage. They also allow bad drivers to have a place to be insured, because other companies either refuse to insure them or they charge way too much money. These companies refuse bad drivers to offer the lowest rates to safe drivers because safe drivers present less risk (financial outlay in the long term).

I had to explain, 'The free market is the only way to fix the problems with any business in this country because the more choices the consumer has the lower the cost.'

She and her sidekick pretty much ran from me as those on the patio started applauding

Pretty Amusing..pretty sad that young people today either can't see the problems we're having or they just don't bother to really look at things.