Reno Hayek Symposium

Jay Cost has a great post today in Real Clear Politics, The Blair House Stunt. He posits Obama’s invitation to Republicans to advance their healthcare ideas as either an honest attempt at a bipartisan reform of healthcare or a political stunt. He concludes it is a political stunt meant to help the Democrats by hurting the Republicans. This for three reasons: a) it’s televised giving the glib snake oil salesman his foil over lesser debaters, b) the invitation was extended to party leaders not the more moderate/liberal Republicans, and c) there are only nine months before the midterm elections so why would the Republican leadership want to help put lipstick on this pig!

Jay Cost’s reasoning is persuasive. Obamacare is the albatross around the Democrats necks as recently demonstrated by Scott Brown’s Massachusetts victory. Recent polls show the public against the takeover of 16% of the economy.

Obama has said that he is not willing to start with a blank sheet of paper which is the only way to negotiate a compromise. He wants his core elements in Obamacare. Most of those core elements are statist, anti-free market, and deficit growing at a time when the nation is near bankruptcy.

So there is no real hope of bipartisan compromise given Obama’s ground rules. Why waste time the Republicans could better spend by going directly to the voters with a cogent set of reform ideas: 1) allow all insurance to be sold across state lines, 2) tax employer provided benefits as compensation, 3) encourage individual policy ownership and portability by allowing a modest tax credit, 4) expand Health Savings Accounts scope and deductibility so more attractive high deductible policies would come to market, and 5) enact serious tort reform to eliminate gross legal fees and defensive medicine. In short, this simple reform would make the patients the medical consumers responsible for their own insurance. It would reduce the overall cost of healthcare with increased competition and decreased lawsuit diseconomies. Finally, it would not add to the deficit and in fact would provide additional revenue to the treasury to reduce the deficit.

The Republicans should politely just say no to Obama’s invitation as it stands. At the same time it is reasonable to state the principles that are necessary for health insurance and healthcare costs containment. That can be done succinctly in a way that the voters will easily appreciate.

Tom Motherway