Monday, August 25, 2008

Reality Check, Please

By Sally Pipes

Categories: Single-Payer Follies

With Democrats convinced 2008 is their year, the campaign trail is awash with promises to make universal health care a reality by the end of the next president's first term.

The basic argument of those who support a government takeover of the health care system is familiar. As New York Times columnist Paul Krugman once put it, "America's health care system spends more, for worse results, than that of any other advanced country."

Krugman's line has been repeated so often it's considered gospel truth in most public debates - people rarely check to see if it matches the facts. As the American humorist Josh Billings quipped, "the problem with the world ain't ignorance, it's the things people know that just ain't so."

If they did, they'd probably be surprised. Socialized health care isn't all it's cracked up to be.

(Read the rest in Sunday's DCExaminer)