Here’s a concept I never thought we’d be exporting: governments taking over markets to act as the “competition.”
News is Venezuelan brute Hugo Chavez has created a “new chain of government-run, cut-rate retail stores that will sell everything from food to cars to clothing from places such as China, Argentina and Bolivia,” according to Breitbart.com:
Chavez said the Comerso chain of stores will include “a network of subsidiaries” that will sell new vehicles directly imported from China and Argentina, “without capitalist intermediaries.”
“We’re going to defeat speculation. Private individuals in sales can still sell, but they’ll have to compete with us and with a people who is now fully aware,” Chavez said.
Gee, where have I heard that before? Oh yeah! That kind of sounds like the talking points from the Democrats government-option proposal.
Consider what White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has said:
As he [the president] said to Congress and the nation in September, he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition.
And Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus:
I included a public option in the health reform blueprint I released nearly one year ago, and continue to support any provision, including a public option, that will ensure choice and competition and get the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer?
The public option has new life because as Americans have learned more about it, they have come to see it is the best way to reduce costs and increase competition in the health insurance industry.
A statement released by the Service Employees International Union said:
We must hold insurance companies accountable:
If the insurance companies win, we lose. Insurance companies must be held accountable with strong regulations and consumer protections, and we must be given the choice of a national public health insurance option available on day one.
Last but not least, Richard Kirsch, campaign manager for the ACORN/SEIU-led Healthcare for America Now:
We applaud Majority Leader Reid’s leadership in making sure the Senate bill includes a public health insurance option to lower costs and inject much-needed competition into the health insurance marketplace.
Chavez seems to be taking a page out of the Obama’s “How to Fundamentally Transform America” playbook. If the government doesn’t like a particular aspect of the private sector, take it over, pledge “competition” and grind the free market into the dirt. Congratulations President Obama, you’ve just discovered the new American export.