Conservatives are scared of real health care reform because they fear that a government-run health care system will work! And conservatives don't want government to succeed or else people will vote for progressives.

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Government-run health care is cheaper and more effective than market-based health care.  This inconvenient truth scares conservatives to no end and explains why they are fighting it so hard.

The libertarian Cato Institute has a webpage that succinctly describes the political reasons why conservatives are so opposed to heatlh care reform:  Blocking Obama's Health Plan is Key to the GOP's Survival.

In short, a successful government-run health care system would draw people to the Democratic Party, because people would be dependent on government (and on Democratic politicians) for an essential service.  

Of course, we already do depend on government for police, fire, roads, education, and numerous other services.  Conservatives hate this and want to turn back the clock. They don't like it when government works, because it goes against their ideology, even when government is more effective and cheaper than the private option -- as it is with health care in most industrialized nations.

The Cato Institute article quotes Norman Markowitz: "The best way to win over the the portion of the working class in the South or the West that supported McCain and the Republicans is to create important new public programs and improve the social safety net. National health care [and other measures] will bring reluctant voters into the Obama coalition. That is how progress works."

So, conservatives and their corporate backers are pulling out all the stops in their effort to torpedo health care reform.  Even though up to 3/4 of Americans support a strong public option, and even though government-run health care would give better coverage at much lower costs, we might not get it, unless people demand it -- unless Americans organize to oppose the corrupt system.

Authors Website: http://waliberals.org

Authors Bio:

Democratic Precinct Committee Officer, activist, writer, and programmer. My op-ed pieces have appeared in the Seattle Times, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and elsewhere. See http://WALiberals.org and http://ProgressiveMemes.org for my writing, meme images, musical creations, and animations.