Practice What You Preach

Megan McArdle tries to make a funny, with her traditional lack of success.

According to Kaiser Health News, Democrats have reached Stage Eight of the Seven Stages of Legislative Grief: Rebranding. Because no matter how unpopular your legislation is, it's nothing that can't be cured by coming up with a better name. [snipped quote]

May I suggest Happy Fun Care?

It seems that her jokes are like her opinions, borrowed from someone else. The White House wants a more appealing acronym for their health care plan. McArdle can't help but be snide since being persuasive didn't work. Making up numbers and claiming they are secret facts that only you have been able to glean from drug companies' financial reports didn't work as well as McArdle evidently hoped.

I suggest that Megan McArdle live up to her beliefs that the government should get out of providing health care by following the examples of her husband's fellow tea baggers and give up her government-subsidized employer-provided health insurance, and either buy hers on the open market or pay her doctors in cash.

Responding to Rep.-elect Andy Harris’ (R-MD) hypocritical demand for government-sponsored health coverage last month, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) circulated a letter among his colleagues calling on Harris and other members of Congress who want to repeal President Obama’s health care law to forgo their own government health care plans. At least four GOP congressmen have already announced they will turn down their congressional benefits, and a recent poll found that a majority Americans “think incoming Congressmen who campaigned against the health care bill should put their money where their mouth is and decline government provided health care now that they’re in office.” In an interview with the New York Times published yesterday, Rep.-elect Joe Walsh (R-IL) has said he too will forgo government health coverage:

And get this: he’s turned down the usual congressional health care, pension and retirement packages.

“I don’t think congressmen should get pensions or cushy health care plans,” he said. His wife is not exhilarated with the latter decision; she has a pre-existing medical condition and is now forced to hunt for a plan.

It would be the noble and correct thing to do, and would do far more to save those millions of lives than a few dozen words dashed off on a blog.

Stop being a hypocrite, Megan McArdle! Give up that fascist health care and live up to your libertarian ideals! Is she a principled libertarian or merely another sponger who will happy to let others pay for her health care? McArdle undoubtedly will take the mortgage deduction as well, and says she will use public schools for her child. How are the elite Galts of the world supposed to rid themselves of the weak, mewling parasite of the world when they are one of them??