Obamacare's 'Opposite Land'

The Obamacare debate reminds me of that Simpsons Brazil episode where Homer believes it is Opposite Land because it is summer there during our winter. He suggested that crooks chase cops and cats have puppies in Brazil, just as Democrats argue that rising healthcare prices actually means lowering costs because taxpayers foot the bill in certain cases. The truth no longer seems to matter to either politicians or the media. From the WSJ:

CBO found that premiums in the individual market will rise by 10% to 13% more than if Congress did nothing. Family policies under the status quo are projected to cost $13,100 on average, but under ObamaCare will jump to $15,200.

Finance Chairman Max Baucus chimed in from the Senate floor that "Health-care reform is fundamentally about lowering health-care costs. Lowering costs is what health-care reform is designed to do, lowering costs; and it will achieve this objective."

The GOP has a plan that actually does lower costs, but doesn't give the government total power:

The political tragedy is that there are plenty of reform alternatives that really would reduce the cost of insurance. According to CBO, the relatively modest House GOP bill would actually reduce premiums by 5% to 8% in the individual market in 2016, and by 7% to 10% for small businesses. The GOP reforms would also do so without imposing huge new taxes.

Homer's Opposite Land is now a real place - it's where Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the Democrats live.