This David Brooks column is actually quite trenchant, at least so far as health care politics go. He correctly identifies the central reality of health care politics, which is that most Americans are basically happy with what they have, but worried about keeping it. Policies that guarantee their futures are quite popular. Policies that radically change their presents are not.
This, of course, is what helped doom the Clinton plan -- everyone's insurance would've changed. That was scary to people. The new Clinton plan, like the Obama and Edwards plans, doesn't attempt any such reorganization. If you have, and are happy, with your insurance, nothing changes. If you don't have insurance, you can get it. This is worse policy, because it keeps you from reorganizing the system in ways that make sense and ensure cost control. But it's better -- really, the only -- politics. And the reforms make later cost control measures easier.
