Blocking health care reform to survive

Passing Obamacare would be like performing exactly the opposite function of turning people into investors. Whereas the Investor Class is more conservative than the rest of America, creating the Obamacare Class would pull America to the left. Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute, who first found that wonderful Markowitz quote, puts it succinctly in a recent blog post: "Blocking Obama's health plan is key to the GOP's survival."" -James Pethokoukis

They do have a point. If universal health care is passed, it will be a game changer in American politics. We Canadians might whine loudly about our health care system, but the reality is that it is one of the most appreciated institution in the country. If enacted, it will not go away on its own; Newt Gingrich realized in 1994 just how hard it was to attempt to tear down health entitlements. If such a policy is passed, it will force the GOP leftward.

But I'll leave you on a quote from hilzoy which sums up how I felt when I first read their argument:

An honest conservative might accept this claim and say: well, I guess our ideas are unpopular, so we'll just have to make our case more persuasively.

But that's not the conclusion they draw. Pethokoukis and Cannon say: because people will like health care reform, if we do not block it, our party will lose support. So precisely because people would like it if they tried it, we need to make sure that it fails. -hilzoy