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.Reasoned opposition isn't an option, eh?
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," [Sen. Chuck] Grassley said. "It's a predator."So Dionne asks: "Is it predatory for government to pay health bills for the elderly?"
Well, consider the complementary question: Is it predatory for the government to not allow anyone else to pay health bills for the elderly? Because once I turn 65, I can't opt out of Medicare.
Dionne then asks: "Is Social Security, which lives side by side with private pension and savings plans, predatory?"
Oh. please. Social Security was never intended to be a retirement system. If E.J. believes that, he should read a little history. Social Security was - and still is, for the most part - a social insurance program. If E.J wants to believe Social Security is a retirement program, then it's easily provable to be far less efficient than simply saving for retirement in a 401k-like program.
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