Thread by @bansisharma

1. If You Have to Ask How Much Socialized Medicine Costs, You Cant Afford It

WSJ: Democrats know taxpayers will realize they can’t afford it, so in their request to Congress' top economist for guidance, they have strategically decided not to ask how much it would cost.

2. After dismissing for years the idea that Democrats’ health care plans would lead to a government takeover, new House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth on Tuesday asked Congress’ top economist to sketch out the options for a government takeover.

3. In a remarkable document that assumes short political memories, longtime ObamaCare cheerleader Mr. Yarmuth acknowledges that the coverage and cost control promised by Affordable Care Act backers never materialized.

4. Mr. Yarmuth admits that many Americans are still uninsured and still “struggle to afford their health care costs.”

5. But instead of exploring ways to allow more market competition in a health care financing system long dominated by Washington policy, Mr. Yarmuth instead asks in a Tuesday letter to Congressional Budget Office director Keith Hall how Washington can take over total control.

6. Specifically, Mr. Yarmuth asks for a report on the “design considerations that policymakers would confront in developing proposals to establish a single-payer system in the United States.”

7. In Tuesday’s letter Mr. Yarmuth asks for many details about how a government-run system might be structured and administered.

8. But ironically—given that he is supposed to be overseeing the federal budget and his letter is addressed to an economist—Mr. Yarmuth makes it clear that he’s in no hurry to be informed on one particular aspect of such a system: its cost.

9. Mr. Yarmuth poetically writes:

10. Ah yes, for as long as possible Democrats would like to have a discussion in which they can talk about imagined benefits, rather than a discussion which can only result in historic taxpayer sticker shock and total disgust. Clever!

The End