Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
Healthcare: Blue Pill or Red Pill?
Healthcare: Blue Pill or Red Pill?
Apr 5, 2026 8:46 AM

Blue pill or red pill? No, it’s not the iconic scene from The Matrix, where Neo is given the choice of staying in puterized dream world (blue pill) or leaving the Matrix and discovering reality (red pill). It’s President Obama boiling down plex issue of health care reform on television last night: “If there’s a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half price for the thing that’s going to make you well?”

Washington Examiner columnist David Freddoso had this to say:

Read More…

Blue pill or red pill? No, it’s not the iconic scene from The Matrix, where Neo is given the choice of staying in puterized dream world (blue pill) or leaving the Matrix and discovering reality (red pill). It’s President Obama boiling down plex issue of health care reform on television last night: “If there’s a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half price for the thing that’s going to make you well?”

Washington Examiner columnist David Freddoso had this to say:

In last night’s press conference, President Obama seemed to be reliving that famous scene from The Matrix. The main character is offered a choice between a red pill that makes him see reality for what it is, and a blue pill that allows him to continue living in a pleasant world of illusions.

Last night, President Obama appeared to have taken the blue pill before his press conference. How else could he convince himself, the Congressional Budget Office’s numbers notwithstanding, that his health care reform bill will not increase both health care costs and the federal deficit? How else can he continue to make the argument that a massive expansion of government spending on health care will solve rather than exacerbate the current problems? How can he repeatedly express such absolute certainty that such a measure will easily pay for itself several times over in the long run? Why can he not at least acknowledge the possibility that it will e a costly and useless trillion-dollar boondoggle that follows in the footsteps of his stimulus package?

For an Acton Commentary on the problems with socialized medicine, see this piece by Dr. Donald Condit.

Also, Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, a health policy research organization, spoke at the Acton Lecture Series on the topic “Can We Repair What’s Wrong with our Health Care System through Christian Principles?” An online video of this excellent speech is available here.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
More on JPII
Jonah Goldberg on NRO takes issue with interpreting the pope according to left-right categories. Here’s the last paragraph: “Some of John Paul the Great’s detractors saw his ‘social conservatism’ as a contradiction to his criticism of capitalism run amok, or regarded his opposition to the death penalty as at odds with his opposition to abortion. John Paul confounded so many because his views on these and other issues were unswervingly consistent with a vision of the world bound not by...
Received into the Church by Pope John Paul II
What follows below is a narrative by Kishore Jayabalan, director of the Acton Institute’s Rome office (Istituto Acton): “My journey to the Catholic Church began in a very simple way, tried and tested over the centuries in just about every country of the world: Catholic schools. Like my non-Catholic parents in India, I was educated by priests, nuns and laypeople, first at St. Mary’s Queen of Angels in Swartz Creek, Michigan, then on to Luke M. Powers Catholic High School...
Papal economics on NRO
“Where did Pope John Paul II stand on economic issues?” Father Robert Sirico answers this question in an article appearing today on National Review Online, “Papal Economics 101: Freedom and truth.” ...
Acton on the Laura Ingraham Show
Rev. Robert Sirico, president of the Acton Institute, will join The Laura Ingraham Show tomorrow beginning at 9:30 am EDT to discuss events from the Vatican. Tune infor a live broadcast of Laura’s show via Cleveland’s 1420 WHK Radio. Check local listings in your area for other broadcasts of the show. You can also keep up with media appearances by Acton staff by checking the John Paul II press archives. Recent appearances include Kishore Jayabalan, director of the insitute’s Rome...
‘Slave markets’ and Africa’s development
This exchange came yesterday via NPR’s Morning Edition, as Renພ Montagne interviewed Cardinal Roger Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles… RENಞ MONTAGNE: Interesting, because of course, the notion of the vibrancy of the Church in the Southern Hemisphere. Just as an example, you were in Africa, what did you hear that mattered to them that might even surprise Americans? CARDINAL MAHONY: Well, that their concerns are the impact of globalization, for example. International corporations headquartered in the United States purchase...
A ‘Litmus Test’ for charities?
There are some problems in parts of the charity sector. The problems are with charities that HAVE enough money to scam somebody or shift an inappropriate perk to a board member. There’s not much talk about the charities that never saw that kind of resource and never will. Government officials always think that more regulation is the answer, but it’s scary when the private sector supports that link. Six of America’s major foundations have financed Electronic Data for Nonprofits (EDIN)...
Homiletics award deadline approaches
There is one week to go to enter the 2005 Homiletics Award. Seminarians and graduate students in degree programs preparing them for preaching and teaching ministries are eligible. All entries must be postmarked by April 18. This year’s topic is “The Warning to Rich Oppressors” from James 5:1-6. More details here. ...
Think again
Think governmental corruption is only a problem in the developing world? Think again. The American media are beginning to cover a burgeoning scandal in Canada. The Canadian media, meanwhile, have been stifled by an order from a Canadian judge limiting the dissemination of information, so as to not prejudice potential jurors. Check out a summary of the scandal here As Osvaldo Schenone and Samuel Gregg write in A Theory of Corruption, “We must recognize that all societies, no matter how...
Sixty years ago today…
German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is moved to the Flossenbürg concentration camp. During the night there is a summary court-martial, and on April 9, 1945, Bonhoeffer is executed. Here is a Christianity Today bio on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. ...
Survival of the metaphysically fittest
Crux Magazine, a new e-zine and sister publication of Touchstone Magazine, has an insightful analysis and summary of some of the recent trends in scientific studies of religion. In “Survival of the Metaphysically Fittest,” John D. Martin examines conclusions about religion and evolution: “To put it as bluntly as possible, non-religious persons, in purely evolutionary terms, experience a significant selection disadvantage in terms of longevity and reproductive success. The irreligious live shorter lives, less healthy lives, produce fewer offspring, and...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved