The Old "Public Option" Switcheroo

Judd Gregg: 'Elections Have Consequences' - WSJ.com:

"The Democrats, he [Judd Gregg] says, pulled the same public-private switcheroo before with student loans for college. Back in the late 1990s, 'there was a huge debate in the committee . . . between myself and [Senator Ted] Kennedy over a private plan versus a public plan.' In the end, they compromised -- the government would offer loans directly to students, but that program would have to compete with private-sector lenders. 'And the agreement was very formal, and the record shows this very clearly. We agreed to level the playing field, put both plans on the playing field at an equal status and see who won. Well, private plans won. Big time.'

Given the choice, most borrowers went to the private sector for their loans. But the Democrats who wanted to nationalize the student-loan market did not take defeat in the marketplace gracefully. 'They didn't like that,' Mr. Gregg says. 'So ever since then they've tilted the playing field back and now they're going to wipe out the private plans in their budget.'

When it comes to health insurance, Mr. Gregg expects more of the same. 'That's the scenario that you're going to see if you have a public plan for insurance that competes with the private plans. That's the game plan' -- call it competition at first, but tighten the screws until the private insurers leave the market or get forced out.

A great past illustration of how these apparently "modest" efforts to give taxpayers a "choice" are really just step one in the inevitable march to government control of yet another sector of the free market economy.