You may be familiar with a wonderful short book by the economist/philosopher Albert O. Hirschman called The Rhetoric of Reaction. Hirschman (better known for his essay "Exit, Voice and Loyalty") simply catalogs the three great arguments that conservatives use against virtually any progressive idea: Perversity (It will do the opposite of what you intend). Futility (It'll never work). And Jeopardy (It'll cost too much).
The book is only 167 pages long, but if you were hoping for a movie version, may I recommend bloggingheads today, where Megan McArdle of The Atlantic and I started off talking about the budget deficit, and quickly moved on to health reform, which I think is key to solving the long-term budget problem, and Megan, well, Megan thinks it will never work, will do the opposite of what's intended ("it will kill thousands of people"), and will cost too much. You can decide for yourself.
-- Mark Schmitt
