Would You Vote For This Man II

Edmund F. Haislmaier takes exception with Sally Pipes’ take (see my previous post) on Romney’s health care proposal here. Of course, Hailmaier has been one of the chief architects of the Romney plan. Drawing an analogy between the automobile business and the health care industry, he says:

“The solution offered by the Left has been to standardize coverage and benefits. In practice, that ends up looking like Henry Ford's auto market — only one or two car models (all painted black), but obtainable from lots of independent dealers.

“The Romney approach is the inverse of the Henry Ford model. Call it the "CarMax" model — lots of different kinds of cars to choose from, all obtainable through one giant dealership.”

Haislmaier says, “Like a stock or commodity exchange, Romney's health-insurance exchange would be a clearinghouse but never a product regulator.” He also argues that the plan is the best they can hope for because Mitt lacks sufficient votes to completely scrap the existing bad system.

Haislmaier takes Pipes to task on several of her statements. One should really read both articles. Haislmaier admits that the plan requires universal participation, but tries to take the edge off by arguing that it is actually more fair than the current system. The Libertarian in me chokes on that.

Maybe Mitt’s not such a bad guy after all.