I’m a pretty big opponent of government involvement in health care — subsidies and universal plans distort incentives, making it so the demand for services outpaces their supply. The result is absurd waiting lines, even for important procedures.

But democracy has elected Democrats, so they can take a crack at passing something.

Even starting with that assumption, however, I have to wonder  whether it’s in anyone’s best interest to have Hillary Clinton leading the charge again. Many will recall her disastrous attempt in the early ’90s, leading in large part to the Republican victory in the 1994 midterms.

According to this story, Clinton has said, “health care is coming back…it may be a bad dream for some.” Uh, yeah, coming from your mouth.

Health care reform is an issue drowning in complicated moral and economic problems. People often point to lower drug prices elsewhere, or the fact that other countries have managed universal health care for some time despite its significant issues.

It’s not unfeasible for some sort of compromise — Charles Murray’s universal voucher-esque plan, for example — to cut across party lines. But from a purely political angle, Democrats will need a better spokesperson for the task.

Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.