Thread by @willchamberlain

WaPo does some good journalism for once, and proves that government officials lied about the Afghanistan war for two decades

Echoes the Pentagon Papers, where it revealed systematic lying about progress during the Vietnam war

There are lessons here

washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/…

1) Government officials lie

This may seem banal, but it's essential to remember whenever ANYONE presents a major new government program

When there's a choice between revealing an ugly truth and telling a pretty lie, bureaucrats and politicians WILL choose to lie

This isn't true in the private sector

Why? Because if you lie to the investing public about material problems at your company

You can go to jail for securities fraud

So, generally speaking, corporate officers tell the truth - in full - every three months

This is actually one of the best arguments against Medicare for All

Democrats love to trumpet how "efficient" Medicare is

But what is that assessment based on - the government's own reports?

Those are likely juked stats!

Conversely, private health insurance companies can't lie about their costs and their bottom line

Because if they lied they could go to jail

When Medicare administrators can face securities fraud indictments, I'll start taking their reports seriously

Big, difficult-to-administer programs should be kept out of the government's hands to the maximum extent possible

And if they are going to exist they should be *simple*.

This is the virtue of Andrew Yang's "$1,000/month for everyone" plan: SIMPLE means less lying