Academic

DAVID GRATZER: The Unhealthy Politics of Deja Vu. ?President Clinton?s health-care legislation did?

By Glenn Reynolds

DAVID GRATZER: The Unhealthy Politics of Deja Vu. “President Clinton’s health-care legislation didn’t fail in 1994 because people didn’t want better health care. The White House plan failed because it was too bureaucratic, too complicated, and too expensive. Last night, President Obama’s response to sixteen years (and one angry August recess) worth of bi-partisan doubt was to double down and bet even more political capital on the same approach. It’s as if he expected Americans to tune in, and suddenly realize their mistake. . . . The speech was brilliant–unless you’ve actually read the legislation behind it, which contradicts many of the President’s restated ‘commitments.’ . . . President Obama’s address to Congress made it clear that he’s barely listened to the national debate on health care that he himself set in motion. Yesterday’s teachable moment: the more America learns about government-run health care, the more Barack Obama wants to talk, and the less he wants to hear.”

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on September 10, 2009 (boomark / email).