Jonah Goldberg: If The Kids Love Obama So Much, Let Them Sign Up For Obamacare

When yr Wonkette has an idea that doesn't pan out because a little thought or even some research reveals a fatal flaw in the premise, we spike the idea (or Editrix or Dok does it for us, coldly, like we've been bad, the way we like it.) The National Review does  things differently, we guess. Example: Jonah Goldberg. For some reason, Jonah Goldberg apparently thought it would be fun to write his latest column from the perspective of a man who thinks "Obamacare" is something akin to a loyalty oath, because his whole premise is: "You darn kids, you're the reason we're stuck with this Obama, so get off my lawn and get yourselves some Obamacare if you love him so much!"

We are going to assume that Jonah Goldberg understands that a lot of young people will be required by law to use "Obamacare," i.e. an insurance plan subject to the rules in the Affordable Care Act, i.e. an insurance plan. That is because "Obamacare" requires essentially everyone to have insurance or pay a fine, something we also must assume Jonah Goldberg knows, and its other provisions apply to all health insurance companies. It's Jonah Goldberg's job to read and write about the news, after all, so he must know this stuff, right? So he's just pretending not to, because... his column was due? He thought it was funny?

That is us being entirely fair to his premise, really, so you don't even have to click on the link unless you haven't yet seen Jonah's new Van Dyck beardthing. What are some other arguments that are similar to the one he's making? "If you believe in government so much, why don't you pay your taxes?" Um... "If you believe in helping people so much, why don't you refrain from murdering them?" We don't know, it's hard to get inside the mind of Jonah Goldberg, and we don't want to anyway.

Goldberg goes on to make some noise about how Obamacare's going to be a lot more expensive than individual plans are right now for the kids. No link, of course, because come on, Jonah Goldberg said it! But we found this , because we were curious. Makes a decent case, actually, until you realize you can't compare pre- and post-Obamacare plans because Obamacare includes minimum coverage requirements that didn't exist before, so you won't go to the hospital with a broken metatarsal only to be told your plan doesn't cover feet, or broken stuff. Also Obamacare requires insurance companies to spend between 80-85% of their revenue on coverage, so it's not like insurance companies are just charging whatever they want, and that's why Obamacare is so expensive. They're not allowed to.

Where were we? Oh yeah. Jonah Goldberg. If he loves the free market so much he should go buy something in a store, for money! That'll show him.

[ National Review ]