Each Year of Bush = a Year of Recession = More Government Spending for Healthcare

Newsweek.com:

What 'Government Takeover'?

The bogus Republican claim that Obamacare is a government takeover of one-sixth of the economy.


By Daniel Gross | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Mar 11, 2010 | Updated: 6:36 p.m. ET Mar 10, 2010


There have been lots of absurdities in the debate—such as it is—about health care reform. There's the hypocrisy of people dependent on government-run health care complaining about government-run health care. And now comes the Republican canard that the current health care reform proposal constitutes a government takeover of one-sixth of the economy. Here are Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana, Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana, and Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina making precisely that argument.

CMS also notes that thanks to these trends, public spending will soon outpace private spending—even in the absence of significant reform. "As a result of more rapid growth in public spending, the public share of total health care spending is expected to rise from 47 percent in 2008, exceed 50 percent by 2012, and then reach nearly 52 percent by 2019."

So, to reiterate, we're already half way toward fully socialized medicine. The government has already taken over one-twelfth of the economy—and more every day. That's the status quo the opponents of reform are defending.

Daniel Gross is also the author of Dumb Money: How Our Greatest Financial Minds Bankrupted the Nationand Pop!: Why Bubbles Are Great For The Economy.