Yuval Levin continues to be the leading conservative commentator on all things related to healthcare. Here he explains that the inevitability of a systemic overhaul (meaning nationalization) of our healthcare industry has been frustrated by the actual concerns of voting citizens and the heavy handed approach of the Democratic flag bearers. Repeating one of the central missteps of the 1994 Clinton strategy, they have decided to completely retool the entire system at a single stroke, aiming for “wholesale reinvention” rather than tackling each part in turn, gradually and discretely. Also, they have turned a deaf ear to the real concerns of the public which include not merely the availability of coverage but costs, choice, and the impact of any restructuring on families and small businesses. Democrats have proudly touted their approach, in classic technocratic fashion, as independant of any craven politicization but they’ve clearly avoided important reforms like malpratice insurance and cross state competition for insurance companies out of deference to trial lawyer lobby groups. This creates opportunities for reform minded conservatives for whom Yuval has much advice. I’ll say this again: whatever difficulties the Democrats are having right now has very little to do with the performance of the GOP, and might actually be in spite of it. Also, their repeated and increasingly brazen attempts to squash public debate by the sheer weight of their rhetorical condescension (dissenters are too ”organized”, too well dressed, ignorant, obstructionist, and, as of today, ” un-American ” to be taken seriously) are alienating lots of folks and raising real suspicions about their own sincerity. Less than artful Democrats can accomplish a lot in the absence of any genuine conservative leadership and one myth being advertised by Democrats I actually wish was true is the existence of focused and organized opposition on the part of conservatives who demand, if nothing else, a transparent national debate.
