Obama, Dems Are Free Market Crusaders

The champions of the free market are on the march, but it's not who you think. It’s the Democrats who want to put health insurance on open exchanges where consumers can easily compare them, with a public option to inject competition into an “oligopolistic market,” points out Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post. The leading opponent of competition and transparency? “Our health insurance industry, which does just fine without them.”

Likewise, on Wall Street, the big banks are fighting to keep their derivative trading off an open exchange proposed by the Obama administration. They’d rather consumers couldn’t easily compare the hefty fees they charge, and they’re happy with their ever-growing market share. It’s big business, in short, opposing truly free markets, and liberals pushing for them. “Advocates for socialism? More like advocates for shoppers.” (More Harold Meyerson stories.)