From the Wall Street Journal, on the passage this weekend of health care legislation in the House:
 

The bill is instead a breathtaking display of illiberal ambition, intended to make the middle class more dependent on government through the umbilical cord of “universal health care.” It creates a vast new entitlement, financed by European levels of taxation on business and individuals. The 20% corner of Medicare open to private competition is slashed, while fiscally strapped states are saddled with new Medicaid burdens. The insurance industry will have to vet every policy with Washington, which will regulate who it must cover, what it can offer, and how much it can charge.

We have little sympathy for the insurers, or for that matter most of the other medical providers who signed on to this process only to claim now to be appalled by the result. The insurance lobby --led by Aetna CEO Ron Williams --made the Faustian bet that it could trade new regulations for more new subsidized customers who would face a tax penalty if they didn’t buy their insurance. The Pelosi bill includes the regulation but guts the tax penalty because it’s unpopular. Insurers will thus have to cover more sick people with fewer dollars, as healthy folk opt out of coverage until they are sick…

Unless the Senate has an epiphany of common sense, Americans will be paying the bills for this willful exercise for generations to come.

Historic moment: you are witnessing the demolition of America’s health care system, and the crippling of its economy for generations to come. When the public wakes up from their slumber to discover what “universal coverage” looks like in the flesh, it will be far too late to undo the disaster.

Best make an appointment to see your doctor now — you may not have many opportunities left…