Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the solution might be to change the party’s message by focusing on individual reforms in the massive healthcare bill. … Van Hollen noted to reporters that polls show voters support the individual reforms of the Democrats’ healthcare package1
In the health care debate, liberals are fond of citing polls that show, they say, that voters like individual aspects of Obamacare, but do not like the package as a whole2. They conclude that voters are behaving irrationally, because if all the parts are good than obviously the whole must be good. From this line of reasoning, they deduce that if Congress passes Obamacare, then people will realize they really liked it all along. Alas, the logical premise is false. There are valid reasons why one might like the parts, but not like the whole.
Suppose a family is looking for a pet. Would they like a kitten? Yes. Would they like a puppy? Yes. How about a hamster? Yes. Or maybe tropical fish, a rabbit, a gerbil, or a parakeet? Sure, those are all good choices. So can we make the family very happy by giving them a kitten, a puppy, a hamster, tropical fish, a gerbil, and a parakeet. If they liked each one independently, aren’t they logically obligated to like them all when presented as a group? Clearly not.
Do you like macaroni, spaghetti, potatoes, and rice? Do you want them all in the same meal? How about having a couple of speculative stocks in your retirement portfolio? How about owning nothing but speculative stocks? How about taking a vacation in Florida, Hawaii, the Grand Canyon, Alaska, or the Greek Isles this year? How about going to all of them?
In each each example is that there is something that accumulates beyond an acceptable threshold. There were the work of caring for pets, the blandness of starchy food, the risk of speculative stocks, and the cost of vacations. Among the things that accumulate with health care proposals are the cost, the risk of unintended consequences, and the potentially unacceptable accumulation of power in the hands of government bureaucrats. A total overhaul of the health care system poses risks not presented by any single modification. An incremental approach is inherently less risky because it is then possible to undo a wrong move without so great a risk of system failure.
While one can logically like each part while not liking the whole, it is not true that voters like every element of the health care legislation. When liberals claim that polls show approval of elements of Obamacare, are they claiming approval of the special privileges for certain states, the cuts to Medicare with costs transferred to the insured, the unions’ exemptions from high taxes on “Cadillac plans,” and the new taxes on medical devices and drugs? Those elements are not mentioned by advocates who claim agreement, but the implication is that those features are not important compared to what liberals consider to be the important parts of the legislation.
The norm is that voters would like all manner of new benefits, so long as they don’t have to pay for them. Would you like A, B, C, D, E, and F? Yes! Would you like to pay for A, B. C, D, E, and F? No! A, B, C, D, E, and F are polled separately, so the score is six yeses and one no.
In the past, the game has been to sell new benefits while pretending that someone else will pay for them. Obamacare claims that only the rich will pay for everyone. This time around, voters are not so willing to accept that claim. There may be agreement on a very long list of items. The poison pill is the single item of paying for it. It does not follow that if 90% is favored, that it’s unfair to reject the whole based upon the 10%. The 10% can be fatal.
Actually, Obamacare has several poison pills. Besides cost, there is the risk of imposed rationing and associated deterioration of the overall quality of care. Individuals may find other poison pills. Representative Dennis Kucinich says he won’t vote for any thing without a government option, and other House Democrats have trouble with the risk of government-funded abortions.
The White House position is that many Republican ideas have been incorporated into pending legislation3. The implication is that Republicans ought to accept the “compromise.” The hundreds of Republican amendments that were accepted into the legislation where technical amendments, staff corrections of typographical errors and such. Substantial changes proposed as amendments were uniformly rejected.
There are indeed some substantial Republican ideas in the legislation, but Democrats got to choose the ones they found acceptable. It’s also true that there are elements of the legislation that voters favor. But it is wrong to suppose that the legislation as a whole ought to be therefore considered acceptable. Accumulated cost and risk to the health care system, and poisonous individual included features make the package unacceptable.
1. Alexander Bolton, White House signals new way on health, The Hill
2. CNN Poll: Health care provisions popular but overall bills unpopular
3. whitehouse.gov, Republican Ideas Included in the President’s Proposal