On the left, the bet is that health care reform, even a version most liberals see as flawed, will give the middle class and those clamoring to break into it a greater sense of personal security—enhancing the reputation of and popular support for a dynamic national government.
In this light, health care reform would become a latter-day equivalent of Social Security—a program that quickly evolves into a politically untouchable federal commitment and which fundamentally alters voters’ relationship to Washington in ways that benefit the party of activist government…
“If this is framed fundamentally as a series of very, very popular insurance reforms, it will benefit people who voted in favor of it and be a negative for those who didn’t. If this is framed as a great big explosion in government—the federal takeover of health care with a trillion dollar price tag, it’s more of a challenge for Democrats than Republicans,” Democratic consultant Steve McMahon said. “It’s a framing battle.”…
Krauthammer thinks Democrats will “suffer greatly” as the program’s taxes take effect in a few years. “The question is, will that lead to some repeal or will the Democrats survive long enough for the new entitlement to kick in, which is around 2013-14, in which case it becomes entrenched and it will not be reversed?” he said. “I do think this is really going against the grain [of most Americans’ notions about the proper role of government] ….I think, in the long run, it fails, but it’s very hard to say because once people get used to the benefits, even though they’re higher-cost, it gets hard to undo.”
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