Beauty Contest

Paul Ryan, Serious Policy Wonk, everybody:

But we always know you’re never going to win a coverage beauty contest when it’s free market versus government mandates. If the government says thou shall buy our health insurance, the government estimates are going to say people will comply and it will happen. And when you replace that with we’re going to have a free market, and you buy what you want to buy, they’re going to say not nearly as many people are going to do that. That’s just going to happen.

And so you’ll have those coverage estimates. We assume that’s going to happen. That’s not our goal. Our goal is not to show a pretty piece of paper that says we’re mandating great things for Americans. Our goal is to get a vibrant health-care system that’s patient-centered, that brings down costs, that increases choices, that has a marketplace so that we lower the costs and increase, and therefore increase the access to affordable care. That’s our goal, and it’s not to win some coverage beauty contest.

Let’s not bicker over whether plans might increase or reduce preventable death and suffering. In its majestic equality, TrumpCare will assure that rich and poor alike can buy as much health insurance as they can afford!

I guess it’s time for more pictures of Paul Ryan cleaning already-clean dishes at a soup kitchen. The top Republican in Congress being an amoral monster can’t really fit into Both Sides Do It narrative easily enough.