the public option boogeyman

It's amazing to me how controversial this public option has become. There are so many services government already provides: social security, Medicare, Medicaid. Why do people think that a government-run insurance program is going to take over health care, given that it would be subject to a lot of the same cost constraints (i.e., no subsidies) that private insurers face. Anyway, right now only 55% of Americans get their health insurance from a private firm (according to This Week). So the private market is certainly not serving everyone.

I think a good model to use as an example that of public universities. There are lots of successful private universities in this country. And there are also a lot of successful public universities. The healthy competition among them is good for consumers.

In one of the town hall meetings, a college kid challenged Obama to a debate over the issue. Guess where the college kid went to school? CU-Boulder. That's right: a public school.

I don't see any reason why the public system needs to be federally managed. States could certainly run these programs on their own. Also, I do agree with the point made by several Republicans, that we should lift regulations that prevent insurance companies from crossing state lines. That's stupid, plain and simple.

But I also don't see any reason to be afraid of a government-run insurance plan. If you don't like it, you won't have to take it.