The reason is race: http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/7871.pdf http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/7871.pdf and many others. Search for "Truman health c

The reason is race: http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/7871.pdf http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/7871.pdf and many others. Search for "Truman health care reform". As in many other democracies, America's right wing party is a coalition of the military, established business, the religiously observant, and what you might call resentful rural folks (who unlike the other factions exist in enough numbers to make an electoral difference). But uniquely among rich democracies, apartheid is a living memory here and still a core political differentiator. That means that anytime established business opposing something, they can get traction by implying that it's a plot to help "them". Those who mocked the grandfather who demanded that his Congressman "keep your government hands off my Medicare" for ignorance miss the point. He meant "keep Obama's black hands off my Medicare."