Time to bring sanity to health care debate

Congress returns to Washington soon, and the stage is set for the biggest political war in decades. On one side stand the Democrats, who are fighting to lay the groundwork for the liberals’ Holy Grail — a single-payer health care system. Their centerpiece is the public option, subsidized by taxpayers, which would ultimately become the only option. Private health insurance companies would go all but extinct.

On the other side stand millions of Americans who reject this Democratic assault on health care freedom. Across the country, outraged citizens, deeply distrustful of the government, are speaking out at town hall meetings. The Obama administration figured it had neutralized serious opposition through negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry and the American Medical Association. They never imagined that ordinary citizens would rise up and demand that Washington stop the financial insanity.

The projected cost of ObamaCare, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, is about $1.6 trillion. That is unaffordable. We already have a national debt of $11.7 trillion, and President Obama’s Office of Management and Budget says the debt will grow by $9 trillion over the next decade. That will push the national debt over $20 trillion.