Dick Morris Tells It Like It Is

I think Dick Morris is a kinda sleazy, and I think he'd sell his mother if the price is right. But that doesn't mean he isn't a smart political animal. Here he is with some analysis of the sinking ship that is Obamacare.

Mandatory insurance--an idea I am on record as supporting--is going to be yet another Achilles Heel to Democratic plans (the most prominent of which is the Baucus plan being considered in the Senate Finance Committee) and it is the President's own fault.

Everyone knew his "I won't raise taxes on people making less than $250K pledge" was a campaign ploy, likely to be abandoned when the realities of governing began. But I think most of us thought it meant he'd go after folks making $200K or maybe $175K. But the mandatory healthcare provision is going to hit folks all the way down to those who qualify for Medicare. No matter how you slice it, when the government tells you at the point of a gun (this is what coercive power is all about) that it is going to separate you and your money--this is a tax. And it is going to fall most heavily on constituencies that likely were big Obama boosters--the working poor and the young.

If you think it is inconsistent for a guy who supports mandatory health insurance to revel in the political misfortune of a President who also wants it, keep in mind that there are a whole lot of other things he wants that I don't, and also, I'm not the guy who said he wouldn't raise your taxes.