Ramesh Ponnuru has an excellent column on NRO regarding the truthfulness issue in the debate over the Democrats’ health care reform legislation. He argues that the dissimulation is coming from its supporters, not its opponents.
A bit of history will help provide some perspective. When the federal income tax was proposed, its top rate was very low and it only applied to a small number of very wealthy people. When opponents argued that it would probably take off and lead to much higher rates on far more people, the income tax advocates scoffed at the idea. But that’s exactly what happened. We know a lot about how politics works. Once the feds start any program, it’s apt to expand in scope and cost in ways no one can exactly predict.
Whatever bill Congress takes up, it will just be the seedling of a plant that will surely grow like mad, just as the first income tax bill was. I think that’s a sufficient reason for saying “No.”
