When Fraud Is Legal
Under socialism, there's no such thing as consumer protection.

...The answer to Alter's question is that Obama said it both before and after the law was enacted. The famous New York magazine montage features two dozen clips of Obama saying essentially the same thing. The earliest dates from October 2008; the latest, September 2010. So perhaps it is an unrealistic promise that turned into a lie.

But calling it a "lie" offers Obama another excuse--the one to which Page resorted when he observed dismissively that "that's one of those political lies." After all, politicians break promises all the time, and isn't it a little naive to expect them not to lie?

It seems to us, however, that this is not just "one of those political lies." To understand why, let's try a thought experiment. Enlarge Image

Suppose BHO Insurance Co. decides it wants to corner its state's market in automobile coverage. It begins an aggressive ad campaign offering a too-good-to-be-true deal: Sign up with us, and we'll give you better coverage at lower premiums. We're so sure you'll love our deal that if you like the terms of your existing policy, you'll be able to keep them--GUARANTEED!

The ad campaign, with the company's charismatic president acting as pitchman, is a smashing success. The competing companies lose so much business that they declare bankruptcy or are acquired by BHO. But BHO's policies are more expensive, and they include "comprehensive" coverage most customers neither need nor want. Take it or leave it, the company says, reneging on its guarantee in the knowledge that state law requires cars to be insured before they can be driven on public streets.

You'd call that a bait-and-switch. The legal term is fraud....

...Consumers and honest businesses need protection from unscrupulous market participants. That is nearly impossible when an industry is owned, or effectively controlled, by the government. To socialize an industry is to put it in a position to regulate itself. It legalizes fraud by recasting it as mere "political lies."...