Originally Posted by SteveZ

Does it matter what happened in the last administration, or the one before it, or before it ad infinitum? Yes, but only to the extent of insuring what was done wrong isn't repeated. Two wrongs definitely don't make a right.

And since the delivery of health care crosses state lines, an argument can be made that the "Commerce Clause" of the Constitution can apply to allow federal intervention in health care. With the FDA involved, HIPPA land other related activities, it's not a hard argument.

However, having the authority and exercising it badly and expensively as a national experiment with no empirical data prior to full implementation is foolhardy.