That’s Karl Rove’s argument in this WSJ column, especially because it will probably destroy Medicare Advantage.
Rove’s piece has me thinking that there is something unique about this escalation of federal interference with civil society. Most political “initiatives” involve costs that can be hidden. Poor K-12 education can be hidden behind lots of gooey PR about “award winning schools” and in any case, few people really know how little kids learn. (Those parents who really care get their kids out of public schools.) Special interest legislation to benefit this group or that group (labor unions, e.g.) is masked by the vast federal tax and spend machine. The ill effects of such government interventions are very diffuse. People don’t directly experience them.
With health care “reform,” things are apt to be different. When grandma can’t get treatment that the elderly used to get prior to ObamaCare, she will know where to pin the blame. So will her family members. Furthermore, unless the Democrats manage somehow to criminalize criticism of themselves, there will be a burgeoning industry of writing about the travails of Americans who get medical care that falls below the standards we formerly enjoyed. Politicians who supported ObamaCare can look forward to a steady stream of articles and blog posts about how the legislation they rammed down our throats is hurting average people. This might turn out to be a self-inflicted wound that will turn gangrenous for all the lockstep Democrats.
