Posted by
Always To The Right on Monday, June 01, 2009 2:08:01 PM
Ted Kennedy and the government bendover of health care
The Massachussetts version of healthcare reform has been an abject failure, as judged by everyone from Reason to the Boston Globe. That would explain the New York Times
report that a split had developed between Kennedy and Sen. Max Baucus
(D-MT), chairman of the Finance Committee, who is preparing his own
bill. Baucus and Kennedy later issued a joint statement
Saturday, saying they intend to cooperate so their committees pass
similar bills. Kennedy’s bill serves the function of making whatever
bill Baucus produces — which will likely be similar to Kennedy’s — seem
more moderate by comparison.
Ultimately, as the Washington Post
notes, the Democrats’ proposed government takeover of healthcare is
being sold as cost-containment, but the Democrats’ proposals will run
into the same basic problems as always
Asking Americans to pay more for less healthcare is a loser, and the Congressional Budget Office
continues to be a thorn in the side of Congressional Democrats trying
to pay for their program with faerie dust. As for comparative
effectiveness research, Americans will get to hear about how it is already killing cancer patients in Britain. They will also hear about how it would tend to require real colonoscopies instead of virtual ones. Some politican or talk show host will figure out there’s a useful metaphor in that example.