Bonfire of the Inanities

Charles Krauthammer

To coin a phrase, this is Big! The Obamacare meltdown is sure to go down in history as a major watershed for modern Progressives, the adherents to a movement that has spawned the conceit that big government can solve any problem (except, maybe, runaway deficits) . But amid the swirl of concerns for immediate issues like wide-spread policy cancellations and eye-popping premium increases, this fiasco begs for longer term considerations. Writing in Thursday's Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer does his usually superb job of getting at the essence of the issue, and it's not just the floundering web site that he likens to "the literal portal to this brave new world". He cuts to the chase and challenges the government's abilities to manage this effort which encompasses one-sixth of our GDP.

It is arguable that the administrative state, run by bureaucrats operating under poor management and oversight would have a challenge administering a carefully drafted, well-thought out program. When it applies its limited skills to the ACA, which still remains essentially unread by most of us, it is hard to understand how any other result, but that we are now experiencing, is possible. Add to this the lies and misinformation about the program that are just now coming to light, the demand for immediate repeal of this mess is becoming the more and more likely solution. And we haven't yet begun to understand the real costs of the plan. Hint: it will add much more than one dime to the deficit.

Former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, a key player in the original passage of the ACA, has continued to play bit parts in the act's roll-out and subsequent flame- out  It was she who famously told us that we have to pass the bill in order to find out what is in it. While it is fashionable in some quarters to dismiss the U.S. Constitution as an old out-of- date relic, there is the fact that it continues to be the basis for our federal government. Concerned citizens who see the danger in straying from our founding principles are ridiculed and/or ignored. When asked in 2009, where the Constitution authorized Congress to order Americans to buy health insurance, Madam Speaker replied, "Are you serious?, are you serious? ". Maybe she should at least get points for honesty.