Have you noticed all the talk about the rising numbers of the uninsured? Well, Owen Courreges points out that almost half of them are not even U.S. citizens.

After all, discussions of the uninsured usually imply that they're Americans, not persons here illegally. Most Americans would probably agree that a public healthcare system should cover citizens, not simply anyone who can hop the border.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 43.3% of those that are uninsured are aliens, which presumably includes documented as well as illegal aliens. Of course, that doesn't stop socialists from using the statistics to push their agenda of a government run health care system.

Statistics about the rising numbers of uninsured are constantly held up as proof that there is a growing problem in this country. In actuality, many of the uninsured may be that way out of choice. Many are probably here illegally, and hope to keep a low profile. Others are uninsured because of the personal choices they've made in their lives. They may work in a job that does not provide health insurance, not work at all, or not have the job skills to get a job that provides them the benefit.

Politicians have done a good job of getting people to think of health insurance as an entitlement. This can be illustrated at the heart of the transit strike and grocers strike in Los Angeles. The workers are not striking about pay, but instead striking about the rising cost of their own health care. While they have every right to try to get as much pay and benefits as they can, perhaps they should place a good part of the blame squarely on the shoulders of trial lawyers and malpractice lawsuits, instead of blaming management for the rising cost of health care.

Insurance was initially offered as a benefit to woo employees, just like the dot-com bubble brought signing bonuses and free BMWs to the spend thrift tech industry. Just as those benefits were eliminated when the bubble burst, insurance benefits are likely to be scaled back during periods of high unemployment and record high insurance costs.