[lbo-talk] Re: further adventures in political surrealism

[JBrown72073 at cs.com]

Wojtek writes:
>The problem with most
>left-sponsored programs (except social security!) is that they are
>ostensibly designed to help only the "less fortunate"  or other narrowly
>defined interests, which creates what the economist Burton Weisbrod called
>the "median voter" rebellion - i.e. a situation when most voters object
>to using their tax dollars to fund special interests.

Yes, this is the key error being made by advocates for universal health care. 

 When they present it, the first they say is we need it because of the 43 
million (or whatever) uninsured.  But what about the insured, who are much more 
numerous and also stand to gain a great deal (including that they would not 
longer be ripped off by insurance companies).  Immediately the focus becomes the 
roughly 16 percent who have no insurance.  Same with housing--focus on 
'homelessness' rather than housing affordability.  Instead of unite the many to 
defeat the few, it's unite the kind-hearted to help the most desperate.

Jenny Brown