Back in the Summer of 2000, George W. Bush was taking cynical cheap shots at Clinton (and indirectly at Gore) about Clinton's decision to block implementation of certain parts of Helms-Burton, a law nominally designed to strengthen the embargo on Cuba. I won't get into the details here, because they're a bit esoteric, but the upshot is that I posted a prediction that Bush would wind up following Clinton's lead by blocking the implementation of those aspects of the law, notwithstanding all his campaign bluster.

Once you took the time to really look at the issue, it became clear that implementing that part of Helms-Burton was utterly unworkable -- it would have triggered a devestating trade war with Europe, and a nightmare of transatlantic litigation. I argued that Bush knew perfectly well Clinton was right, but that he was still going to take cheap shots at him, because he wanted to appeal to the Cuban-exhile extremists who were his key to winning Florida.

Sure enough, once Bush had tricked the Cuban community and put Florida within striking range of the Supreme Court's coup d'etat, he broke his campaign promise and followed Clinton's lead. My right to issue an "I told you so" to the Fray boards was cold comfort for me.

I'm bringing this up now because Obama's health care plan has put me in the same mindset. It's not just that I think Clinton's plan is better than Obama's plan. It's that I'm sure Obama knows that Clinton's plan is better than his. Obama is too smart a man not to realize his own plan, as stated, is utterly unworkable. It's as unlikely to be put into effect as Bush's promise about Helms-Burton was in 2001.

I'm convinced that, as with Bush before him, Obama's supposed plan is a conscious lie -- a cynical decision to take cheap shots at Clinton, knowing all the time that he'll end up following Clinton's lead. Obama knows that people get creeped out by compulsory insurance, so he arranged to play on that fear, with every intent of changing course if he can win the election.

I'm setting myself up for the cold comfort of issuing an "I told you so." I'm convinced that Obama's health care plan will not be implemented, because it structurally cannot be implemented. It simply doesn't work, and I'm certain Obama realizes that, even as he promotes it.

I agree, nicely done Arkady.

Dave

the origional plans by the time they get through committee's and both houses of Congress.

Either candidate can propose until the cows come home and it's not going to amount to a hill of beans. We all know how congress works.

Oh that lie. I thought you meant one of these:

50 Lies and Counting: Posted on Political forum.com and many verified with truthorfiction.com and snopes.com - Elections and Campaigns. Verifications are noted below the 50 lies.


1.) Selma Got Me Born - WRONG, your parents felt safe enough to have you in 1961 - Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965.

2.) Father Was A Goat Herder - WRONG, he was a privileged, well educated youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.

3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter - WRONG, he was part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had.

4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom - WRONG, your cousin Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya . It is the first widespread violence in decades.

5.) My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian - WRONG, she does her daily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own interviews. According to the New York Times: "I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith," Ms. Obama, 85, said in a recent interview in Kenya." Not to mention, Christianity wouldn't allow her to have been one of 14 wives to 1 man.

6.) My Name is African Swahili - WRONG, your name is Arabic and 'Baraka' (from which Barack came) means 'blessed' in that language. Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.

7.) I Never Practiced Islam - WRONG, you practiced it daily at school, where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years,until your wife made you change, so you could run for office.

8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian - WRONG, you were registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check your own book).

9.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian - WRONG, not one teacher says you could speak the language.

10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign Experience - WRONG, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn't even speak the language. What did you learn, how to study the Koran and watch cartoons.

11.) I Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs - WRONG, except for Africa (surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise), you have never been anywhere else on the planet and thus have NO experience with our closest allies. You seek to disarm America while our avowed enemy, Iran, will not subject itself to a nuclear ban. Top Hamas political adviser Ahmed Yousef said the Hamas terrorist group "supports Obama's foreign policy vision".

12.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion - WRONG, you were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify - your classmates said you were just fine.

13.)An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office - WRONG, Ebony has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never did, exist.

14.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life - WRONG, Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never did, exist.

15.) I Won't Run On A National Ticket In '08 - WRONG, here you are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.

16.) Present Votes Are Common In Illinois - WRONG, they are common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.

17.) Oops, I Misvoted - WRONG, only when caught by church groups and Democrats, did you beg to change your misvote.

18.) I Was A Professor Of Law - WRONG, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

19.) I Was A Constitutional Lawyer - WRONG, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

20.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill - WRONG, you didn't write it,introduce it, change it, or create it.

21.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass - WRONG, it took just 14 days from start to finish.

22.) I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill - WRONG, your bill was rejected by your own party for its pandering and lack of all regulation - mainly because of your Nuclear Donor, Exelon, from which David Axelrod came.

23.) I Have Released My State Records - WRONG, as of March, 2008, state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet to be released, exposing all the special interests pork hidden within.

24.) I Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess - WRONG, you were part of a large group of people who remedied Altgeld Gardens . You failed to mention anyone else but yourself, in your books.

25.) My Economics Bill Will Help America - WRONG, your 111 economic policies were just combined into a proposal which lost 99-0, and even YOU voted against your own bill.

26.) I Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois - WRONG, even your own supporters claim to have not seen BOLD action on your part.

27.) I Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year - WRONG, they were not YOUR bills, but rather handed to you, after their creation by a fellow Senator, to assist you in a future bid for higher office.

28.) No One Contacted Canada About NAFTA - WRONG, the Canadian Government issued the names and a memo of the conversation your campaign had with them.

29.) I Am Tough On Terrorism - WRONG, you missed the Iran Resolution vote on terrorism and your good friend Ali Abunimah supports the destruction of Israel. You state you will open friendly communication with the Leader of Iran who is attempting to develop nuclear weapons to destroy us, but refuse to speak to FOX news. You are against provisions of the Patriot act which would allow wiretapping of the phones of suspected terrorists in the USA .

30.) I Am Not Acting As President Yet - WRONG, after the NAFTA Memo, a dead terrorist in the FARC, in Colombia, was found with a letter stating how you and he were working together on getting FARC recognized officially.

31.) I Didn't Run Ads In Florida - WRONG, you allowed national ads to run 8-12 times per day for two weeks - and you still lost.

32.) I Won Michigan - WRONG, no you didn't.

33.) I won Nevada - WRONG, no you did not.

34.) I Want All Votes To Count - WRONG, you said let the delegates decide.

35.) I Want Americans To Decide - WRONG, you prefer caucuses that limit the vote, confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only operate during small windows of time.

36.) I passed 900 Bills in the State Senate - WRONG, you passed 26, most of which you didn't write yourself.

37.) My Campaign Was Extorted By A Friend - WRONG, that friend is threatening to sue if you do not stop saying this. Obama has stopped saying this.

38.) I Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics - WRONG, you used tactics to eliminate Alice Palmer from running against you.

39.) I Don't Take PAC Money - WRONG, you take loads of it.

40.) I don't Have Lobbysists - WRONG, you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting.

41.) My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad - WRONG, your own campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.

42.) My Campaign Never Took Over MySpace - WRONG, Tom, who started MySpace issued a warning about this advertising to MySpace clients.

43.) I Inspire People With My Words - WRONG, you inspire people with other people's words.

44.) I Have Passed Bills In The U.S. Senate - WRONG, you have passed A BILL in the U.S. Senate - for Africa , which shows YOUR priorities.

45.) I Have Always Been Against Iraq - WRONG, you weren't in office to vote against it AND you have voted to fund it every single time, unlike Kucinich, who seems to be out gutting you Obama. You also seem to be stepping back from your departure date - AGAIN.

46.) I Have Always Supported Universal Health Care - WRONG, your plan leaves us all to pay the 15,000,000 who don't have to buy it.

47.) I Only Found Out About My Investment Conflicts Via Mail - WRONG, both companies you site as having sent you letters about this conflict have no record of any such letter ever being created or sent.

48.) I Am As Patriotic As Anyone - WRONG, you won't wear a flag pin and you don't put your hand over your heart during the Anthem. There is a Cuban Flag with Che Guevara Displayed at Barack Obama Campaign Office which you allow to be displayed. You voted against making English the official language of the United States . You voted to give illegal aliens social security benefits, which would bankrupt the social security system for Americans legally paying into it.

49.) My Wife Didn't Mean What She Said About Pride In Country - WRONG, your wife's words follow lock-step in the vein of Rev. Wright and Louis Farrahkan, in relation to their contempt and hatred of America .

50.) Wal-Mart Is A Company I Wouldn't Support - WRONG, your wife has received nearly a quarter of a million dollars through Treehouse, which is connected to Wal-Mart.

* Received via the internet.

Jack

That should have been a top post, Jack. I notice there is not one response to you.

Thanks to Dean and Brazile and the DNC,Democrats are in the soup again.

That's true, but not relevant to this conversation. The point is that Obama is lying, by championing a program that he knows has fundamental incompatibilities, and doing so simply because it lets him take cheap shots at the honest solutions put forward by people like Edwards, Clinton, and McCain. His "have your cake and eat it too" approach is a lie, and he knows it, but he also knows that the "tough choices" approaches of his opponents make easy targets for him so long as he continues to sell his fairy tale. That's why I fault the guy. His low character on this issue won't be erased by the mere fact that the details of any final health plan will necessarily get changed around in the lawmaking. Obama's plan isn't flawed in the details, it's fatally flawed in the incompatibility of its fundamental promises, and I'm certain that he knows that.

Back in 2000, I suppose some Republican could have defended Bush from my charges on similar grounds. They could have pointed out that Congress was free to overturn Helms-Burton, and that the details of implementing it would be worked out at lower levels, anyway, so my whole argument wasn't going to amount to a hill of beans. But, of course, that was untrue. Smoke and mirrors aside, Bush was campaigning on a promise he knew to be completely unworkable, and he was doing it simply because it gave him a platform from which to take cheap shots at the more honest position of his opponent. That's what Obama's doing this time.

He knows his health plan, as proposed, is unworkable. So why is he selling it? The answer is simple. He knows that selling a fairy tale will make him popular. He knows that McCain's health plan will be vulnerable because it allows insurers to deny coverage for preexisting conditions, and that the plans of Clinton and Edwards are vulnerable because they mandate coverage. So, nevermind the fact that you have to make a hard choice between those two models. Obama will simply pretend you can have both no denial of coverage for preexisting conditions and not mandate of coverage, knowing full well that doesn't work. That way he can take cheap shots in both directions.

I give him full credit for being such a sly and cynical politician. It was a very smart lie, and has doubtless helped him a lot this campaign season, and may help him even more in the general election (assuming McCain doesn't get more media traction than Clinton did in pointing to the flaws of Obama's plan). Obama's a very slick politician, and knows how to tell people whatever they want to hear. But when I watch him taking dishonest shots at an honest plan, while he touts his own fairy tale, I have a problem with that, even if it is highly effective.

Having witnessed the dishonest "Gore Lies" campaign of 2000, I'm skeptical about such lists. I saw how Republicans like to misstate facts, misquote people, and take things out of context to push the Rovian tactic of calling their enemy a compulsive liar. But on the health insurance question, there are only two realistic possibilities: Obama's a liar, or he's a halfwit. I'm pretty damned sure he's no halfwit.

I don't see how Obama's plan is unworkable, so I reject your premise. Hillary, in the debates, basically admitted that hers was unworkable in the way she chastized Obama. She said that if you didn't ask for universal healthcare, you wouldn't get anything...at which point, my counter argument was that she did ask for universal healthcare as first lady and got nothing. Anyway, her problem with Obama's plan was that he was too realistic to begin with, meaning that after compromise (something she refuses to do, anyway) his plan would be too soft. That doesn't sound "unworkable" to me.

because it doesn't provide healthcare for everyone...

You don't think Hillary learned anything from her past failures?

Obama's plan has three elements that are mutually incompatible:

1) Health insurance will be affordable.
2) Health insurance will be voluntary.
3) Insurers will not be able to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.

You can't have all three at the same time. If people have the right to opt out of health insurance until they need it, while still being able to compel insurers to cover their pre-existing conditions at will, that's exactly what many will do.

I could, for example, do without health insurance (pocketing what I would have spent on premiums), "self-insuring" against small health care expenses (earaches, colds, rashes, etc.). I would know that if I ever get a severe problem or a chronic condition where opting out of health insurance becomes a losing proposition, I can opt in, secure in the knoweldge I'll take more out of the system than I have to put in. So, for example, if I break my hip and need an expensive surgery, or I'm diagnosed with AIDS or Diabetes, I can sign up and start taking out hundreds of thousands of dollars of value from the system, in exchange for my affordable healthcare premiums.

The problem there is glaringly obvious. If those who have health insurance are disproportionately those with extremely expensive ailments, premiums will need to be very high. You can't, as a society, get more money out of the health insurance program than you're putting in, so if the system is being less and less subsidized by healthy folks paying in more than they take out, then premiums need to rise higher and higher.

Obama's plan relies on a fundamental inability to grasp how insurance works: you pay in more than you take out, to insure against the risk that you may one day need to take out a whole lot more than you paid in. Give people the choice to pop in and out of the system based on their needs of the moment, without the peril of having pre-existing conditions denied, and you short-circuit the whole concept of insurance.

It's easy enough to spot the fatal flaw if you look at other mandatory insurance programs, like Medicare and Social Security. What if you could opt out of the Social Security program at will, but then opt in whenever you wanted, without having the Social Security system deny you benefits? The obvious play would be not to pay in at all until you were old enough to get a payout. It just wouldn't work. Same with Medicare. Or how about if you could do without auto insurance but then opt in at will and require your insurer to pay for any damage to your car, even if it predated your opt-in?

Clinton's system and McCain's system are not unworkable in that way. Each solves the problem realistically. McCain lets you opt out of insurance, but then forces you to suffer the consequences if you gamble and guess wrong, so that the more responsible people don't end up footing the bill for the health gamblers. You can't opt in and then expect the insurer to cover your pre-existing conditions. Clinton solves the problem by making coverage compulsory (as it is in Massachusetts' current system), so that nobody can pocket his premiums until he runs into trouble. Obama's system tries to ignore the problem, so that he can take cheap shots at both his opponents, while selling a fairy tale.

RainMan:

Oh that lie. I thought you meant one of these:

50 Lies and Counting: Posted on Political forum.com and many verified with truthorfiction.com and snopes.com - Elections and Campaigns. Verifications are noted below the 50 lies.


1.) Selma Got Me Born - WRONG, your parents felt safe enough to have you in 1961 - Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965.

2.) Father Was A Goat Herder - WRONG, he was a privileged, well educated youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.

3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter - WRONG, he was part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had.

4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom - WRONG, your cousin Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya . It is the first widespread violence in decades.

5.) My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian - WRONG, she does her daily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own interviews. According to the New York Times: "I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith," Ms. Obama, 85, said in a recent interview in Kenya." Not to mention, Christianity wouldn't allow her to have been one of 14 wives to 1 man.

6.) My Name is African Swahili - WRONG, your name is Arabic and 'Baraka' (from which Barack came) means 'blessed' in that language. Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.

7.) I Never Practiced Islam - WRONG, you practiced it daily at school, where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years,until your wife made you change, so you could run for office.

8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian - WRONG, you were registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check your own book).

9.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian - WRONG, not one teacher says you could speak the language.

10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign Experience - WRONG, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn't even speak the language. What did you learn, how to study the Koran and watch cartoons.

11.) I Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs - WRONG, except for Africa (surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise), you have never been anywhere else on the planet and thus have NO experience with our closest allies. You seek to disarm America while our avowed enemy, Iran, will not subject itself to a nuclear ban. Top Hamas political adviser Ahmed Yousef said the Hamas terrorist group "supports Obama's foreign policy vision".

12.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion - WRONG, you were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify - your classmates said you were just fine.

13.)An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office - WRONG, Ebony has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never did, exist.

14.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life - WRONG, Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never did, exist.

15.) I Won't Run On A National Ticket In '08 - WRONG, here you are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.

16.) Present Votes Are Common In Illinois - WRONG, they are common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.

17.) Oops, I Misvoted - WRONG, only when caught by church groups and Democrats, did you beg to change your misvote.

18.) I Was A Professor Of Law - WRONG, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

19.) I Was A Constitutional Lawyer - WRONG, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

20.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill - WRONG, you didn't write it,introduce it, change it, or create it.

21.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass - WRONG, it took just 14 days from start to finish.

22.) I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill - WRONG, your bill was rejected by your own party for its pandering and lack of all regulation - mainly because of your Nuclear Donor, Exelon, from which David Axelrod came.

23.) I Have Released My State Records - WRONG, as of March, 2008, state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet to be released, exposing all the special interests pork hidden within.

24.) I Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess - WRONG, you were part of a large group of people who remedied Altgeld Gardens . You failed to mention anyone else but yourself, in your books.

25.) My Economics Bill Will Help America - WRONG, your 111 economic policies were just combined into a proposal which lost 99-0, and even YOU voted against your own bill.

26.) I Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois - WRONG, even your own supporters claim to have not seen BOLD action on your part.

27.) I Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year - WRONG, they were not YOUR bills, but rather handed to you, after their creation by a fellow Senator, to assist you in a future bid for higher office.

28.) No One Contacted Canada About NAFTA - WRONG, the Canadian Government issued the names and a memo of the conversation your campaign had with them.

29.) I Am Tough On Terrorism - WRONG, you missed the Iran Resolution vote on terrorism and your good friend Ali Abunimah supports the destruction of Israel. You state you will open friendly communication with the Leader of Iran who is attempting to develop nuclear weapons to destroy us, but refuse to speak to FOX news. You are against provisions of the Patriot act which would allow wiretapping of the phones of suspected terrorists in the USA .

30.) I Am Not Acting As President Yet - WRONG, after the NAFTA Memo, a dead terrorist in the FARC, in Colombia, was found with a letter stating how you and he were working together on getting FARC recognized officially.

31.) I Didn't Run Ads In Florida - WRONG, you allowed national ads to run 8-12 times per day for two weeks - and you still lost.

32.) I Won Michigan - WRONG, no you didn't.

33.) I won Nevada - WRONG, no you did not.

34.) I Want All Votes To Count - WRONG, you said let the delegates decide.

35.) I Want Americans To Decide - WRONG, you prefer caucuses that limit the vote, confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only operate during small windows of time.

36.) I passed 900 Bills in the State Senate - WRONG, you passed 26, most of which you didn't write yourself.

37.) My Campaign Was Extorted By A Friend - WRONG, that friend is threatening to sue if you do not stop saying this. Obama has stopped saying this.

38.) I Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics - WRONG, you used tactics to eliminate Alice Palmer from running against you.

39.) I Don't Take PAC Money - WRONG, you take loads of it.

40.) I don't Have Lobbysists - WRONG, you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting.

41.) My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad - WRONG, your own campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.

42.) My Campaign Never Took Over MySpace - WRONG, Tom, who started MySpace issued a warning about this advertising to MySpace clients.

43.) I Inspire People With My Words - WRONG, you inspire people with other people's words.

44.) I Have Passed Bills In The U.S. Senate - WRONG, you have passed A BILL in the U.S. Senate - for Africa , which shows YOUR priorities.

45.) I Have Always Been Against Iraq - WRONG, you weren't in office to vote against it AND you have voted to fund it every single time, unlike Kucinich, who seems to be out gutting you Obama. You also seem to be stepping back from your departure date - AGAIN.

46.) I Have Always Supported Universal Health Care - WRONG, your plan leaves us all to pay the 15,000,000 who don't have to buy it.

47.) I Only Found Out About My Investment Conflicts Via Mail - WRONG, both companies you site as having sent you letters about this conflict have no record of any such letter ever being created or sent.

48.) I Am As Patriotic As Anyone - WRONG, you won't wear a flag pin and you don't put your hand over your heart during the Anthem. There is a Cuban Flag with Che Guevara Displayed at Barack Obama Campaign Office which you allow to be displayed. You voted against making English the official language of the United States . You voted to give illegal aliens social security benefits, which would bankrupt the social security system for Americans legally paying into it.

49.) My Wife Didn't Mean What She Said About Pride In Country - WRONG, your wife's words follow lock-step in the vein of Rev. Wright and Louis Farrahkan, in relation to their contempt and hatred of America .

50.) Wal-Mart Is A Company I Wouldn't Support - WRONG, your wife has received nearly a quarter of a million dollars through Treehouse, which is connected to Wal-Mart.

* Received via the internet.

Jack

Clarifications:

Arkady,

You're pitting a Democrat against another Democrat vs a Democrat vs a Republican. You're fatally flawed in your argument from the get go...as far as I'm concerned. And I think you know it.

You talk about how "politicians play politics", but you seem as though someone has put blinders on you. You sound like Ron.

Yeah, I know. You're a 'sitting on the fence' Libertarian- joining those that are a 'I'm a moderate conservative. ' I'm about to puke reading posts about how"centrists" all of you are.

What makes you think that Obama and Clinton doesn't have a plan that no American, with good conscience, can deny?

Remember, they're both Democrats. And they, as well as you, want universal health care. The same as any Democrat.

You've already stated that you think Clinton's plan is better than Obamas. Okay, fair enough.

What makes you think that they are in opposition-----given the fact that they are both Democrats in an election that-with a Democrat showing some kind of balls, all the time trying to put a stop to Republican fascism- will do what what I've read at times you feel passionately about---universal health care?

Good readin'. Keep it up, Arkady....

..write on!

I'm an unabashed liberal, not a libertarian or moderate Democrat or moderate conservative or centrist. I'll very likely vote for Obama. I just can't get around the fact that Obama's health care plan is unworkable. If he has thought at all about the plan, he must realize that, and yet still he proposes it. That tells me that he chose his unworkable plan, over a workable one like those proposed by Clinton and Edwards, because what he's proposing will be more popular (since it lacks the unpopular mandatory coverage of the Clinton and Edwards plan). I suspect that if he wins and implements a health care plan, it'll either look a whole lot more like what McCain is proposing (nothing close to universal coverage), or a whole lot more like what Clinton and Edwards proposed (mandatory coverage). There's no telling which of those two directions he'll choose, but what I'm saying is that his current proposal just won't work -- it logically can't work. You can't have voluntary, affordable coverage, with no denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, unless it's mandatory. Give the people the option to opt out of coverage until they need it, and then opt in without penalty, and that's just what they'll do, and that will drive the prices up to astronomical levels. So, to sell something unworkable for the sake of popularity is a lie, and he deserves to be called on it.