The Three Views of Health Care Reform

Bernie Goldberg was on O'Reilly last night talking about the media reaction to the passage of health care reform. Goldberg explained it like this. Liberals believe that health care is a moral issue. In other words, health care is a moral imperative and thus we need legislation that will expand health care coverage to all.

Meanwhile, conservatives view health care as an economic issue. We can't expand health care coverage to 30 million more people and be able to afford. Health care reform won't work because we simply can't afford it.

Then, there are those that view health care reform as all part of a plot to turn America into a European style Social Democracy. Those are the folks that Goldberg and O'Reilly said were absolutely lighting up talk radio in a near uncontrollable rage. They are the Tea Party types. Who are they? They are the libertarians. They see health care reform as a philsophical issue. They hate government and this expands government. That's why they go into a nearly uncontrollable rage at the thought of Obamacare. It is opposite of their core philosophy.

There is a small and nuanced difference between a conservative and a libertarian. For sure, they have many similiarities. Think of it this way. Conservatives hate government regulation. Yet, if you asked the typical conservative if they thought that we should have an FDA, they'd likely say yes. A libertarian would want the FDA abolished. That's what drives the uncontrollable anger. Conservatives believe that Obamacare simply doesn't make economic sense. Libertarians believe Obamacare is the antithesis of the core of their world philosophy.