A front-page article in the Wall Street Journal reports that Japan’s highways are so heavily tolled that Japanese motorists go out of their way to drive on back roads. In many parts of Japan, the highways sit empty while drivers meander around side streets to avoid the outlandish tolls. Driving the length of Japan costs $330, while it can cost $50 to cross a single bridge.

The Japanese are often thought of as frugal and highly productive. While this characterization appears to be accurate as to the citizens of Japan, the Japanese government is no different from the US government when it comes to squandering taxpayer dollars through politically inspired policies.

The new Medicare bill is one such policy that will create economic havoc in the US for generations to come. Some estimate that this bill will cost trillions of taxpayer dollars.2,3 And because the federal government is already running a $500 billion deficit, the money must be borrowed to pay today’s inflated drug costs.

The Medicare bill will become the equivalent of the Japanese toll highways, with ordinary Americans bearing the economic burden of an artificial problem caused by needless government regulation.

Life Extention Magazine Available {online} http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2004/apr2004_awsi_01.htm