Judd Gregg

Instapundit linked to a recent article of Gregg's in The Hill.  How much you agree with his solutions is not my concern at the moment. What jumped out at me is his analysis that the collapse of the ACA was intended from the start, in order to usher in a single-payer solution.  That accusation has been dismissed as a fevered and even paranoid fantasy of extremists who were unable to give their liberal opponents any credit for good will and basic honesty.  Yet I have heard Democrats say exactly that, including the medical director of the hospital, and have read of others.  I have always thought that this was the intent of the designers of Obamacare, though many of those they claim to represent were not aware of that and were insulted that such a thing could even be suggested.

Gregg has said things like this before, but I think this is is strongest accusation to date.  He was my senator, and his general approach is well-known here. Those from out of state may not be as familiar with him, but he would likely be a poster child for the best of the GOP establishment that has been repudiated by the populists and Trump supporters.  Anyone who advances the opinion that Judd Gregg is a paranoid extremist is pretty much submitting considerable evidence that they themselves are a paranoid extremist.

Then there is also Jonathan Gruber. These are not issues of whose ideas are better or whether the people should be nudged in directions that are good for them.  There are not nuanced discussions of morality here. This is simple honesty.  Higher moralities rest upon the lower, basic building blocks.