The President Stumbles Upon the Truth

A mounting concern for those against a public run health care option is the private industry's inability to compete with the government in the marketplace. When the government is able to avoid the costs of running a business (things like local property taxes, etc) it theoretically makes it easier for them to provide the same service and charge less for it. In the health care debate the private industry is represented by insurance companies who some are worried would be driven out of business if the government gets involved.

At a recent town hall the president was asked about this very issue by a young man in the audience. In an effort to assuage the man's fears that the government would run the private insurance companies out of business President Obama made reference to how both UPS and Fed/Ex have been able to thrive in the package delivery business even while competing with the government run/backed USPS. In fact, he made this comment:

"UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. Right? They are. It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems."

I happen to agree with this statement 100%. But in his effort to calm fears on one issue he hit upon another serious concern that those opposing his efforts have: that everything the government touches eventually turns to manure. Government run programs that are either failed or in some degree failing such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Cash for Clunkers, Education, the War on Drugs and even the DMV hardly lend credence to the idea that while the government has failed in those fields they will be successful with running our health care. A simple question illustrates the issue: If you had the option of using a public rest room or a private rest room which would you chose?

To be fair to the president, everyone of us has had their share of "Ah hah!" moments, where a previously confusing issue suddenly becomes crystal clear. These moments directly result from our stumbling through and examining the issue. For me most of my "Ah hah!" moments came in math class as I labored over algebra problems.

I hope this was an "Ah hah!" moment for the president. What he said was a simple mistake of the tongue, but if he takes the time to investigate the simple truth it contains it'll be one of those rare occasions when the truth jumps out at you and forces your attention on it, even against all your attempts to quiet it.