October 17, 2007

I try to get out. And they pull me back in. Here I am in New York, minding my own business, bothering no one, tipping generously, enjoying corned beef, trying to forget for a few days the policy insanity that is The Golden State, shunting to the back of my mind, however temporarily, that former disciple of Milton Friedman, our own Arnold The Governator.

No such luck. Having vetoed the "universal coverage" bill passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, on the grounds that it placed too much financial burden on employers, the Legislative leaders have declared war: Arnold's proposal---to require individuals to have insurance, to establish some sort of minimum set of insurance benefits, to implement the whole panoply of credits, subsidies, and other machinations without which any such proposal would be an utter nonstarter---is dead on arrival.

Why? Because "It's not real reform, because it's requiring families to get insurance, but it's not making it affordable for them." And: "The only way you get a health care plan done in this country is making it more affordable, not less... but they chose to make sure the middle class bears the burden and not business."

Can it possibly be the case that people actually think this way? That imposing the burden "on business" will not affect employment and wages? That "universal coverage" will not lead inexorably toward restrictions, limits, rationing, and all the other tools with which big, blundering government attempts to deal with rising costs? That "affordability" for insurance premiums automatically means price controls and a gradual government takeover? Which, in turn, will lead to real fiscal ruin?

Well, apparently they do. Which is why I am enjoying my few days here in New York, where, apparently, fiscal sanity reigns supreme, where the media, the politicos, and ordinary citizens actually understand how markets work, and where such silliness would be laughed out of the room as a matter of course. Wouldn't it? I think I'll have some more corned beef.

Posted by Benjamin Zycher at October 17, 2007 02:46 PM

Comments

Post a comment