Not sure why increasing government spending is such a big problem. If the United States is spending less on health care as a whole, it's a net gain. Doesn't matter who is paying the bills.

You and Ezra are so cute, playing "if Republicans were intellectually serious" under the bed with your toy soldiers.

Maybe here's your answer to the puzzling endorsements by the AMA 2 posts down. If you can't stop it, smother it with faux kindness while doing everything within your power to ensure the program becomes FUBAR.

Let's get real.

The people that Ezra calls "individuals arguing that health reform is too expensive" are actually bought-and-paid-for shills for the medical insurance corporations who profit from killing people by denying their customers the care that they have paid for, and their real concern is that medical insurance reform will deprive the insurance corporations of profits.

And PLEASE stop using the inane and meaningless, intentionally deceptive euphemism "health reform" instead of "medical insurance reform" which is what we are actually talking about.

"It's unlikely, of course, that conservatives will honor these rules, because to do so would be to be intellectually honest about the exercise."

Be sure to explain that to the American people when they and the polls turn against passage of Obama's signature domestic legislation as they learn more about its contents. If the Dems don't pass it by the August recess, I'll bet that they won't have the stones to pass it all by themselves just before going into the 2010 midterms.

The thing that bugs me about all this talk is noboby mentions the fact $1 tillion is going to be spent on healthcare regardless of whether or not reform is passed or whether or not a public option is added.

And one way or another the taxpayer is going to foot the bill. Either we do it through higher premiums on insurance plans or through higher taxes. If it is done through taxes than at least the middle-man of the insurance companies eliminated and the routine practice of dropping coverage when it is actually needed will be curtailed.

The question is the cost going to be spread throughout ALL levels of society or borne by a disportionate few (in the present system the middle-class).

Simple solution regading the matter of cost reductions .. stop all medical research.

You don’t need a R&D budget for medical research when you’re not going to use it.
Any new innovation will extend the life of users of the health care system, which in turn will raise not just the continued cost of the surviving patient, but additional costs of other like patients.
As a simple matter of economics, there would be no need for a R&D budget that would lead to the extension human life because it would raise costs on two fronts.

"Their opposition to real cost controls makes health-care reform pricey, and then they attack it on grounds of cost."

Kind of reminds me of that time Republicans and "centrist" Democrats complained about the cost of the stimulus, even though decreasing government spending actually makes the stimulus less effective. They succeeded in bringing down the price tag - now they're complaining that it isn't effective.

Big government is our shepherd; the bigger it gets the more we lack !!!!!

The problem is that small business owners and/or employees who don't want health care coverage, or can't afford it, will be taxed (penalized) for NOT having any coverage. This penalty amounts to about 400-500 dollars less than the cost to have health insurance--something which families still either cannot afford or might not want. The problem, besides paying more for something you don't want or still really cannot afford is that the entire plan is predicated on an Obama lie. He attacked Hillary Clinton for a hidden penalty in her Universal health care proposal and Obama actually never campaigned on uni health care in the first place--just mandatory coverage for those 25 and under. So, to get the story straight, he's 1) penalizing those who don't/can't afford it with a hidden tax, as Clinton would have done--or at least doing what he accused her of doing, and 2) spreading his agenda beyond what he actually campaigned on. There are economic and political debates at play here and both demonstrate that the president has lied to America. Again. Health reform needs to happen by reducing costs through improved preventative practices and technology and education. Mandating health care is not the way to improving better health over all, but rather a way for the government to get more tax money.

• rene lacoste

Thanks for posting, I really enjoyed your most recent post. I think you should post more often, you obviously have natural ability for blogging!