Noted conservative intellectual Arthur Laffer on CNN Tuesday:
If you like the post office and the department of motor vehicles and you think they're run well, just wait until you see medicare, medicaid and health care done by the government.
He's not a moron, just deceitful. Forget the pandering to people who don't know who pays for Medicare/caid, are the Post office and DMV really that unpopular?
The answer seems to be that, they're not. Laffer is playing out of a Reagan era movement conservative playbook. I couldn't locate any national polling for the DMV (New York State's DMV is well liked), but as for the old USPS, survey says:
"I'd like your opinion on some organizations and institutions. For each of the following, please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of the organization or institution. Let's start with [see below]." If "favorable" or "unfavorable": "Is that very favorable/unfavorable or somewhat favorable/unfavorable?" If unsure: "Do you mean you've never heard of [see below] or you just can't rate it?"
Item
Very Favorable
Somewhat favorable
Somewhat unfavorable
Very unfavorable
Never Heard Of
Can't Rate
The Postal Service
58
31
5
5
-
1
the FBI
31
46
10
7
1
5
Defense Department
31
34
14
15
2
4
Social Security Administration
24
40
19
13
-
4
Transportation Security Administration
15
41
16
9
9
9
Internal Revenue Service
14
42
21
18
1
4
Associated Press poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs. Dec. 17-19, 2007. N=1,004 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.1.
edited for brevity
How effective can this talking point be, when even the IRS manages to have a majority admitting to positive feelings for it? I agree with Tremayne, all this needs is some courageous Democrats (dare I say "liberals"?) to stand up for the USPS and DMV. It's just not 1994 and government bashing needs to be countered.
President Obama made some strong statements in support of including a public option in the health care reform bill. He dodged the question of whether he would sign a bill that doesn't include one but his defense of it was unequivocal. Obama basically told the insurance industry: "if you can't compete, tough."
But the President's explanation of how private health insurance could possibly compete with a government-run plan was lacking.
During his back and forth with skeptical reporters I immediately thought of the U.S. Postal Service. Here's a government-run service that can deliver a paper document to any remote location you choose for 42 cents. They can also deliver packages quickly and at a very competitive rate. Impressive.
But even with this efficiency the "public option" for package delivery has a number of healthy competitors. There's FedEx (started in 1971 as Federal Express), DHL (founded in 1969), UPS (founded in 1907) among others.
Somehow, despite the government-run program, these private delivery services have managed to survive by offering customers something they found worthy of their business.
As the President implied, a public option in health care will help keep insurance companies honest. If they can't compete with the government ("which can't run anything" Obama sarcastically stated) then the American people "deserve to know that."
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But the President's explanation of how private health insurance could possibly compete with a government-run plan was lacking.
But even with this efficiency the "public option" for package delivery has a number of healthy competitors. There's FedEx (started in 1971 as Federal Express), DHL (founded in 1969), UPS (founded in 1907) among others.