That extremist rightwing rag the New York Times says the Obamacare disaster might -- gasp! -- undermine faith in government:
In his biggest and most important speeches, the president often talks with passion about a “smarter, more effective government.” He has called on Congress to embrace and pay for a “21st century government that’s open and competent.” And he has vowed to work to “rebuild people’s faith in the institution of government.”
[. . .]
The breakdown of the federal HealthCare.gov Web site could emerge as a test of Mr. Obama’s philosophy, with potentially serious implications for an agenda that relies heavily on the belief in a can-do bureaucracy. Michael Dimock, the Pew center’s director, said that the longer the problems persist, the more they could bolster what he called the “almost American value that government is inefficient.”
Alas, I think anybody on my side who actually believes this is guilty of wishful thinking. President Clinton was wrong (if he actually believed it) that the era of big government was over, and The Times is overselling the dangers posed to faith in big government. I think there might have to actually be the collapse of the whole country's economymany have warned about before it begins to sink in with most people how dangerous government overreach really is.
