Posted on 09/30/2009 6:31:04 PM PDT by Kaslin
The strangest aspect of the debate over a public option for health coverage is that the centrists who oppose it should actually love it.
It doesn't involve a government takeover of the health care system. The idea is that only consumers who wanted to enroll in a government-run health plan would do so. Anyone who preferred private insurance could get it.
The public option also uses government exactly as advocates of market economics say it should be deployed: not as a controlling entity, but as a nudge toward greater competition.
Fans of the market rightly oppose monopolies. But in many places, a small number of insurance companies — sometimes only one — dominate the market. The public option is a monopoly-buster.
Centrists tell us they want to hold down spending and fight deficits. Strong versions of the public option, as the Congressional Budget Office showed in its scoring of Sen. Jay Rockefeller's proposal, cut the costs of insuring everyone.
Unfortunately, the debate over the public option has rarely concentrated on the substance of the idea. Instead, it has been almost entirely ideological. Because opponents know from polling that the public wants the chance to choose a government plan, they move the discourse to abstract and often demagogic ground.
The most revealing "argument" during the Senate Finance Committee's public option debate on Tuesday came from Sen. Chuck Grassley. "The government is not a fair competitor," Grassley said. "It's a predator."
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
I have to agree with this guy. Democrats will repackage it and call it something else. It’s a lot like the referendums that keep coming up in the EU. It ain’t dead until we have a Republican majority in one legislative chamber, something that can only occur in 2010, at the earliest.
How does anyone know anything about this bill? The Congress won’t let anyone read it. This alone should scare the hell out of people. Congress shouldn’t pass anything without the people of this country know everything that is in this Bill. It effects everyone in this country. Close it down until everyone has a chance to read the Bill and approve or disapprove. And..............72 hours is not nearly enough time. They should give the people at least a month. There’s no hurry, I don’t care what they say.
The bill’s supporters speculate that “only about five percent of the public will want the public option.” What they don’t mention is that the option won’t be “viable” until... oh, roughly 99.99% of the public “chooses” it....
LOL
This just makes it MORE fun, watch MSNBC to see the fake confidence!
That is the liberal mindset in a nutshell, where it fits quite well, and deservedly so.
I suppose you could apply the same argument to government control of the school systems, right?
I mean, only people who want to choose the (50% graduation rate) Chicago public schools will do so. They’re free to choose private schools (after they’re involuntarily taxed to death to pay for the gov’t ones).
Public schools are just “competing” with the private ones right? (Except that they get access to your paycheck before you do...)
“But in many places, a small number of insurance companies — sometimes only one — dominate the market.
The Public Option will be the only “option” left standing. Because the public option is taxpayer subsidized, private insurers will be run out of the market. The end result will be single payer government health care.
“The public option is a monopoly-buster.”
Baloney. Once the government controls health care, people won’t even have the option of paying their own way once they are refused treatment.
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