At no point was I touting Obama. My criticism for Bush, and Republicans, in general, is they are more focused on preserving the existing status quo (and the cu

At no point was I touting Obama. My criticism for Bush, and Republicans, in general, is they are more focused on preserving the existing status quo (and the current beneficiaries of it) than they are in advancing free market principles. This is exactly why he did the half-ass measure of HSA's while still leaving the exsiting insurance industry absolutely unchanged. I think the notion of Obamacare representing what Obama, or even most people on the left, "wanted" is patently false. Obamacare isn't what they wanted. Its what they could get after the insurance lobby and the Republican establishment scared old people into thinking a single payer system would involve them being subjected to "death panels." Let's not forget the signs labelled "Keep the government off my Medicare". The Republican party once (correctly in my mind) opposed Medicare. Now they rely on its recipients to keep them in office, and even expand it (Bush). Which is proof to me that they are the political party of the "I am doing well in teh current system, so don't change anything!" crowd than the actual libertarian reformers they pretend to be.