Oh, the Bureaucracy!

MANIFESTO

During the campaign season, and particularly during the debates, it was hard not to play a little armchair quarterback. But one thing that really bothered me was Obama's inability to fight back against McCain's repetitive argument that having the government more involved with healthcare coverage was undesirable because it would be confusing and bureaucratic.

I mean, have these people ever dealt with an insurance company or tried to choose a plan? (Of course in McCain's case, the answer was likely no). It's confusing and bureaucratic! I thought Obama missed an opportunity to point out that government may not be perfect, but it's not like it would be replacing a system that anyone enjoys, fully understands, etc. It's pretty easy to use the health insurance industry as the bad guy to which you contrast your plan. Which would hopefully be a fairer and cheaper version at the least, if not more smoothly operated.

Anywho, the reason that this randomly came back up was that over at Pandagon is a real world illustration about why the "goverment will be too bureaucratic and confusing" argument is dumb. And I think enough people have been frustrated with the current system (or know someone who has) that it becomes less of a hard sell.