This short exchange somehow encapsulates our entire political debate in this country.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A middle-aged man in a red golf shirt shuffles up to a small folding table with gold trim, in a booth adorned with a flotilla of helium balloons, where government workers at the Kentucky State Fair are hawking the virtues of Kynect, the state’s health benefit exchange established by Obamacare.
The man is impressed. “This beats Obamacare I hope,” he mutters to one of the workers.
“Do I burst his bubble?” wonders Reina Diaz-Dempsey, overseeing the operation. She doesn’t. If he signs up, it’s a win-win, whether he knows he’s been ensnared by Obamacare or not.
The man hopes his Obamacare beats Obamacare. Just don’t tell him it’s Obamacare. That would spoil everything.
I can’t think of any area of policy where a similar rule of thumb wouldn’t apply. Now get your hands off my Obamacare healthcare.