Corie Whalen

The notion that a public option can compete with private insurers is logically asinine. How can an entity indefinitely subsidized by taxpayers compete with a company that needs to actually yield a product worthy of consumer patronage? The government run option not only has the benefit of being financed despite all obstacles, but it also will crowd out private insurers, and the number of them in existence will eventually lessen because companies will simply stop offering health plans since the good ole’ government will take care of the matter.

All talk of this public option being competitive by crafty politicians like Martha Coakley is so transparent; it’s an intellectually dishonest but rhetorically pleasant way of tricking moderates into thinking that it’s somehow a capitalist measure simply because they throw in the word “compete”. Any person who employs logic, however, will recognize the eventual end of a public option – and it’s the end the “progressives” want; it’s just saddening that they have to intentionally decieve the populace in order to achieve their goals.

President Obama is treading on dangerous territory by calling out talk radio and FOX. Yes – they lean conservative in their reporting. But, if as the POTUS you’re going to express public disdain for certain networks (which is a bad idea in the first place), be consistent and treat MSNBC the same way you do FOX. What Obama is doing by outwardly favoring one network while speaking negatively about another has a dictator-esque flavor. Calling for fairness in reporting is one thing; being ideological about the press is another. As my favorite founding father, George Mason put it, “The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty and can never be restrained but by despotic governments”.