PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

At a meeting earlier this month, a comment caught my attention. It was this:

“Anyone who thinks the private sector has all the answers to current problems in wrong.”

I agree, but a corollary is also true…this:

“The public sector does not have all the answers to current problems.”

The point is that policymakers these days should do what they don’t do often, which is to decide how to solve pressing public policy problems without reflexively turning in total to either the private or public sectors.

Many Democrats seem to believe that every problem deserves a government solution. Yet, government proves almost every day that its programs don’t always work. Plus, rarely are current government programs subjected what a call a “performance test” – is the program achieving what it was created to achieve and, if not, should it be scrapped?

Once in existence, government programs never go away.

Not, to be sure, many government programs prove their worth every day and, along the way in my career both in government and in the lobby, I advocated for adequate funding for important programs.

On the other side, many Republicans seem to believe that the private sector has all the answers. It doesn’t.

Even with the beneficence with such charity leaders as Bill and Melinda Gates, not to mention a number of others, there is no way for the private sector to carry the full load of social programs, as well as the country’s natural security interests, including in the military.

So, why don’t reasonable Democrats and reasonable Republicans – yes, there are a few left – get together and find the best of both private and public worlds.

Consider just one example – health care.

At the moment, we have a system in this country – the Affordable Health Care Act sometimes called “ObamaCare” – that was developed exclusively by Democrats. Not one Republican voted for it about eight years ago.

Plus, then and now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi admitted that she had not even read the bill when she presided over its passage.

Republicans?

Most of them just wanted to trash the new program and many of them are still heading down that pathway.

The alternative?

Find middle ground. Capitalize on the benefits of ObamaCare and take advantage of the private sector to make it even better.

To assure that I, a centrist without a party label, could not stand accused of just saying “no,” I have written about my health care policy proposals in the past. They are:

1. First, require all citizens to have health insurance, either by buying it if they can afford it, or by having it provided by government if they cannot. Without everyone in the to-be-insured pool, any system will collapse, much as occurred with large portions of ObamaCare. The very rationale for insurance is that the largest pool possible should be covered in order to spread the risk.

Think of this way. All of us who drive cars are required to have automobile insurance. If we don’t, we pay a price. The same policy should exist for health insurance.

2. Second, a catastrophic health insurance plan should be provided so that those who cannot afford regular insurance have an option for a lower-cost plan.
3. Third, any new middle-of-the-road health coverage approach should accommodate people with pre-existing health conditions.

I have mixed emotions about this because, inevitably, the price of insurance will go up with the added risk of covering pre-existing conditions. Yet, there is a reasonable social consensus that people should not be penalized financially for health problems largely outside of their control.

And, I firmly believe in the concept that human being should take care of other human beings (if they are willing to accept help) rather than leave the differently-abled to the scrap heap.

4. Fourth, any new plan should allow broad access to health-savings accounts (HSA). ObamaCare pushed millions of Americans into high-deductible insurance without giving them the opportunity to save and pay for care before insurance kicks in. There should be a one-time federal tax credit to encourage all Americans to open an HSA and begin using it to pay for routine medical bills. And HSAs, combined with high-deductible insurance, could be incorporated directly into the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

In all of this, there is a key role for the private sector — both hospitals and health insurers – a key role for government.

As the left-wing Democrats want to do, health care should not just be left to government in the form of a handout as is being advocated by many of those running for president on the D side. Take advantage of the skill and ability of the private sector to continue serving citizens who value the private options rather than just another government handout.