The Wall Street Journal reports that president Obama is on the defensive about HR 3200. Good! Let’s keep it that way. And let’s analyze some of the words he said in defense of healthcare “reform” at a Raleigh, NC town-hall meeting:

He mocked some Americans who say, “I don’t want socialized medicine, and by the way, don’t take away my Medicare.”

If there are Americans who are saying this, shame on them, indeed. But the answer is not, as Obama later implied, that the government is doing great with Medicare and would do just as well with the so-called “strong public option” for insurance. Medicare is going to go bankrupt, and damn soon, if nothing is done; doctors are increasingly turning Medicare patients away because of low reimbursement rates; young people who may not be able to afford health insurance for themselves get taxed to pay for the elderly, who use more medical products and services than any other age group. How is that working, Mr. President?

“Nobody is talking about some government takeover of health care. I have been as clear as I can be.”

Oh, come on, Mr. President. That’s disingenuous. What the Democrats claim to want is a “strong public option,” but in truth there can be no competition between government and private companies. That’s because, if a private company’s revenue doesn’t equal its costs, it goes out of business — but if the government doesn’t make as much from insurance premiums as it pays out in health benefits, it can confiscate our money to make up the difference. Eventually the government will drive private insurers out.

And he blasted Republicans for passing a prescription drug benefit for Medicare without offsetting spending cuts or tax increases, then complaining to him about his fiscal discipline.

“I’m now president, so I’m responsible for solving [the deficit], but we shouldn’t have selective memory here,” he said. “You handed me a $1.3 trillion bill, and now, six months later you’re complaining because we haven’t paid it all back.”

Again, he’s got a point — during the Bush years, Republicans behaved even worse than Democrats in increasing spending and creating massive entitlements. Which does not, for one second, mean that they should shut up and sign HR 3200 — but it sure does take the wind out of their sails.

Last but not least:

“Back in Washington, there’s been a lot of talk recently about the politics of health care; about who’s up and who’s down; and what it will mean for my party or this presidency if health insurance reform is passed or defeated,” Mr. Obama said. “But here in North Carolina, you know this isn’t about politics. This is about people’s lives. This is about people’s businesses. This is about our future.”

As I posted yesterday, it is about power. If the president were truly sincere about helping Americans — especially those productive Americans who run businesses — he would listen to the rational arguments for a free-market system. But he’d rather “help” us by being a dictator. I don’t buy the “it’s not about power” argument, not for one second.

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