There are many on both sides of the political divide who believe that the passage of ObamaPelosiCare is basically final, pointing to other great entitlement programs of the past such as Social Security and Medicare. They could very well be right; it’s very hard to get rid of government bureaucracies once founded, as they have a way of creating their own constituencies. I remember Republicans campaigning on abolishing the Departments of Energy and Education; once they had the chance, they never even tried to follow through.
And yet . . . the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the health care “reform” package was sold on the promise that it would improve health care and reduce health care costs. Our president went around declaring that once the bill was passed, Americans would find out that we actually like it after all. Therefore, it seems to me that if it fails to deliver on those promises, there will be a sufficient political constituency to repeal this law (if one can refer to anything so bloated by a term which suggests organization and coherence).
As such, I’m guessing that if Robert Samuelson is right to declare that “Obama’s proposal is the illusion of ‘reform,’ not the real thing,” it won’t last long. If I’m wrong and it improves our health care system, then the public will accept the significant new government intrusion into our privacy and autonomy, and it will stick around. This situation has at least this potential merit: ideas will be judged by their consequences. That, if nothing else, is as it should be.