Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Selling Health Care Repeal

In response to the unanimous opposition of Republicans to enslave doctors and subject the health care of every American to the whim of bureaucrats, the Chronicle predicts that GOP may suffer in future elections:

After the vote its [Republican] leaders vowed to make repeal of the legislation a theme of the fall congressional campaigns.

It will be interesting to see how receptive voters will be to a pitch to reinstate higher drug prices for the elderly, permit insurance companies to resume denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and cancel tax breaks for individuals and small businesses to pay for policies.

Talk about a hard sell.

To the Chronicle, Americans face the choice of being raped by private companies or subjecting ourselves to complete government control of health care. The paper ignores the real alternative: freedom for everyone.

The Chronicle, along with virtually everyone else, conveniently evades the fact that patients, drug companies, insurance companies, and doctors have long been subjected to an ever-growing mountain of government edicts, mandates, and controls. The paper's response to the failures of government intervention is more government intervention.

If Republicans truly want to make good on their promise to repeal the health care bill, they must reject the Chronicle's false alternative. If they make a case for individual freedom, and do so on moral grounds, they will actually have a relatively easy "sell". Unfortunately, it is unlikely that Republicans will do so, given the fact that they overwhelmingly embrace the same self-sacrificial ethics as Leftists.

Convincing the GOP and its supporters to abandon altruism and proudly promote egoism will be the true hard sell.

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