But They'll Rock at Health Care

I heard this story on the mornig news:

WASHINGTON — The subway train that plowed into another, causing a crash that killed seven and injured scores of others in the nation’s capital, was part of an aging fleet that federal regulators had recommended three years ago be phased out or retrofitted, a safety investigator said Tuesday.

Debbie Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board said the Metrorail transit system “was not able to do what we asked them to do.”

The rush-hour crashed sent more than 70 people to area hospitals and killed at least seven people. The three-decades-old Metro system shuttled tourists and local commuters from Washington to Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

I hate to be callous after such a tragedy, but why don't other people immediately -- or shortly -- think what I thought: "There's government for you, wait'll they take over health care!" Every news report is rife with tales of public misfeasance and malfeasance. Yet I'm an outlier for suggesting that maybe government should not take on additional responsibilities.

I don't expect everyone to read to read Hayek, but how can they continue to never put two and two together? Megan McArdle suggests that Obama fixes Medicare first, That's a great idea -- I'd suggest they fix anything first.

UPDATE: John Stossel offers a slightly less macabre example:

It amazes me that on the front page of the Sunday New York Times there is an article that says there is “wide-support for government-run healthcare”, and yet right adjacent is a giant story on how the veterans administration is botching operations . Don’t they draw connections? Government can botch and botch again but the public and the New York Times still see more government as the solution

Philosophy Posted by John Kranz at June 23, 2009 10:59 AM