The National Federation of Independent Business recently hosted a mandate debate between Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute, Sherry Glied of Columbia University, Bob Moffit of the Heritage Foundation, and Peter Harbage of the Center for American Progress.
Cannon, at one point in the discussion, questioned the fairness of forcing healthy young people to buy insurance when they may wish to use their resources for other priorities. Glied, who supports mandates, responded with the following example of liberal fascism:
I don’t think there is anything objectionable to the idea of the government saying, ‘Look, you may have your own list of priorities, but we want you to reorder them a little bit.’
The other day, I wrote a post about the paternalism that animates the pro-mandate crowd. Well, one could hardly ask for a clearer confirmation of their condescending attitude than Glied’s statement. They believe that government is more qualified to set your personal priorities than you are.
Moffit also makes some good points against mandates. A video link to the whole debate can be found at Cannon’s latest post at the Cato blog.
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