McCain on banking and health

Paul Krugman

OK, a correspondent directs me to John McCain’s article, Better Health Care at Lower Cost for Every American, in the Sept./Oct. issue of Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries. You might want to be seated before reading this.

Here’s what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

So McCain, who now poses as the scourge of Wall Street, was praising financial deregulation like 10 seconds ago — and promising that if we marketize health care, it will perform as well as the financial industry!

Oh fucking swell.

Don't worry - the government will never socialize health care, you know, that would be, like, well, French or Canadian, or commie, or civilized or something. Besides, it would help out people who aren't big political contributors. No, they'll just socialize the financial sector, who are. That's American!

Try not to get sick.