horse of george

This from Greg Mankiw, which states with simplicity my point that the current health care debate is not about improving the system, it's about changing the political and cultural landscape in order to better serve an uber liberal agenda:

Behind the healthcare debate is the classic tradeoff between equality and efficiency. Consider the following question: Would you favor a substantial increase in marginal tax rates for millions of middle and upper income Americans to provide more resources for those toward the bottom of the economic ladder?

Your answer to this question cannot be determined by positive economics without some additional normative judgments. But your answer should strongly influence your view of the health reform bill. The bill moves us closer to much of Western Europe by favoring equality and paying the price of reduced efficiency from much higher marginal tax rates.

That may be a policy choice Americans want to make. But before buying the merchandise being offered by Congress, I hope we all take a close look at the price tag.

Europe's a pleasant place. I've lived there, enjoyed living there - but it's a tired entity and completely lacking the qualities necessary for meaningful leadership in the world as it exits today - the US goes down this road, hard to see it ever coming back - and then what fills the void left behind? That's the question these dilettantes have no good answer for.