In a number of our VA scandal posts (the number of facilities under investigation has swelled to 26, by the way), we've advanced a perfectly obvious political point: The bureaucratic corruption and abuses now coming to light ought to serve as stark warnings against expanding single-payer healthcare in America. If government apparatchiks can fail our combat veterans this badly -- in a limited-scope, government-run program that virtually all Americans support -- what possible justification is there for foisting this failing model onto the entire country? Care is being rationed and withheld. Backlogs have grown much worse, despite big budget increases. And manipulation and neglect are being deliberately and systematically hidden, with evidence allegedly being destroyed now that the fraudulent practices are being investigated. This is not the future any American should want; nor is this. But in the thick of the Obamacare debate, Democrats and liberals in the media dismissed Republican arguments about the risks of government-administered health programs, arguing that conservative "fear mongering" was contradicted by the glowing success of...the VA. Phil Kerpen has been on an absolute tear, exploiting the internet wayback machine to remind the country of the justifications they entered into evidence circa 2009 and 2010. Sen. Dick Durbin:
The White House. "Safe and sound:"
White House REALITY CHECK: "Vets' health care is safe and sound" http://t.co/xga4VMdVfG pic.twitter.com/RO8zRudmuh
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) May 22, 2014
Obamacare-backing politicians:
Howard Dean: The Public Option is "just like the Veterans Administration." http://t.co/RgJFalVn3j
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) May 22, 2014
Lefty media outlets and columnists:
KRUGMAN: "we actually have a real live case of impressive cost control in health care: the VA system" http://t.co/HUrArC2dB7
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) May 22, 2014
SLATE on the Veterans Administration: "The Triumph of Socialized Medicine. Right here in the USA." http://t.co/Zhk350AKpQ
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) May 22, 2014
Salon busted the "right-wing myth" that government can't run health care because.... the VA. http://t.co/m3dy9XvuY6 pic.twitter.com/qM39a0VmVT
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) May 22, 2014
If the VA was presented as an exoneration of single-payer healthcare in the US back then, what's the new argument? "Isolated cases"? Some liberals will inevitably shift to using Medicare as their prime example -- an argument buttressed by the program's popularity, but ultimately destroyed by math. I'll leave you with this, in case you missed it last night. This is government-run healthcare: