The 2007 No Force, No Fraud Award for Doublespeak

Hillary has outdone herself. I have no doubt that, were I mad enough to seek a session of self-torture, I could find hundreds of shining examples of truly expert doublespeak from Mrs. Clinton. I suspect that were I to follow her speaking engagements, I couldn't take notes fast enough to record examples. She is the Mistress of Misleadings, the Dame of Deception... the Fraulein of Fraud.

Even the title of her book "It Takes a Village" (to raise children) was a masterpiece of fuzzy, feel-good deceit... a euphemistic phrase that really means that you, as parents, are not up to the job, so government should step in.

But... the Heroin of Hoax has pushed doublespeak to a pinnacle that truly qualifies her to become our President. Her new $110 billion health care reform plan is named "American Health Choices Plan"

Leapin' Lizards... how can it fail with a name like that? We can't argue with American, we all want Health, we adore Choices, and we all like to think there's a plan. Sure, it would be better if it formed an acronym (AHCP would sound something like a restrained German sneeze), but how could anyone argue with Hillary's American Health Choices Plan?

Oh, but there is one small problem... one word... that qualifies Hillary for the 2007 No Force, No Fraud Award for Doublespeak. The word is... CHOICES.

Granted, "American Health Plan" would have been dull and sterile, cold and unfeeling, and the addition of CHOICES makes a huge difference. CHOICES becomes the primary word in AHCP. CHOICES is a lovable word... we all like choices. Libertarians even like to say that we're pro-choice on everything.

Ah, but there's the rub... the true masterpiece of political doublespeak... CHOICES is a bald-faced lie, so big that it might even be ignored.

The basic choice, the most important choice of all, is to be able to say "No thanks, I don't want that". That is the basic right of freedom... being able to opt out. Being free means being able to choose what to include in your life, what you need or don't need, and on what to spend the money you earn. Every (and I do mean every) enforced dictate by government (at any level) squeezes individual alternatives and completely destroys a few individual lives.

We each make careful choices concerning our lifestyle, balancing what we want against what we can afford, eliminating some things in favor of others, finding the particular combination of choices that suits our unique situation. We reevaluate those choices continually, as new choices appear, as our desires change, or as costs change. The particular combination of such choices makes each of our lifestyles absolutely unique.

The lower our income, the more important each of those choices becomes, because we have to choose fewer "enhancements". Those closest to the economic "bottom rung" have the fewest choices... they spend time finding cheaper alternatives to what they feel they must have. Any negative impact on their choices can be catastrophic, setting off a chain of failures.

Hillary's "American Health Choices Plan", regardless of its details, is quite the opposite of what its name implies. It would eliminate the choice we now have... the choice of paying someone else to manage our health versus managing it ourselves. It would be a disastrous elimination of choice, and a destructive reduction of freedom. While pretending to help those most in need, it would push still more people into needy situations. It would be a near-ultimate example of one of Harry Browne's lines - Government breaks your leg and then offers you a crutch. That's not only true, and terrible, but government always leaves a lot of broken legs without crutches.