The Post tells us that: "McCain's belief in the power of the free market to meet the nation's health-care needs sets up a stark choice for voters this fall in terms of the care they could receive, the role the government would play and the importance they place on the issue." Well, we all know the nature of the health care program that Senator McCain has put forward, but how do we know that this has anything to with his "belief in the power of the free market?" I know that Senator McCain might say that his health care program is based on his beliefs, but sometimes politicians are not truthful (maybe someone should let the Post's reporters in on this secret). If Senator McCain really had a strong belief in the power of the free market he would be yelling about the enormous distortions created by patent protection for prescription drugs, which allows drugs to sell for hundreds of times their competitive market price. He would also be yelling about the professional and licensing barriers that allow doctors in the United States to get paid almost twice as much as their counterparts in West Europe. He also would be upset the barriers that make it difficult for people in the United States to seek cheaper care overseas through their insurers. Since Senator McCain has never raised any objections about these obstacles to the operation of a free market in health care (or about the billions being given to billionaires by Bernanke), his commitment to a free market seems questionable. Let me suggest an alternative hypothesis. Senator McCain and the Republicans receive large contributions from people connected with the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, both of which might see their profits slashed by serious health care reform. Since it is difficult for a politician to say that they oppose health care reform because they want to defend the interests of their powerful friends, Senator McCain finds it much easier to say that he is motivated by his belief in a free market. I don't know that my alternative hypothesis is true, but the Post's reporters do not know that it isn't true. Rather than make assertions that they cannot support, the Post should simply report on what Senator McCain says and does. They don't know what he thinks, and they mislead the Post's readers when they imply that they do.
--Dean Baker
