Torture.  Endless, pointless war.  Warrantless Wire-tapping of US citizens.  De facto suspension of habeas corpus.  An interpretation of Christianity that rates the bible above the Constitution and sees no problem whatsoever with seeking power for its own sake and at all costs.  These are among the things that define the modern Republican Party.  Yet, what raises the ire of WaPost columnist Harold Meyerson?  Token opposition to expanding a health insurance subsidy program run by the states.  This teardrop in a bucket prompted the following whopper:

We hear a lot from Republicans these days, presidential candidates most especially, that they want to return their party to its roots, to make it once again the party of Ronald Reagan. Problem is, they’ve overshot Reagan and seem bent on reinventing the GOP as the party of Barry Goldwater.

He then launches into the standard statist lie we’re all fed ad nauseum concerning anyone even slightly skeptical of government: that it’s either politics or nothing when it comes to showing concern for anyone else.  So what else is new?

BTW: It goes without saying that this is not to defend the current system at all.  Some, like Tim Noah & Ron Chusid, actually have a point in highlighting how “private” insurers already penalize us as it is.
As I’ve stated before, I find the “issue” of health insurance to be inherently unsolvable; though in principle I’m naturally opposed to single-payer — besides, as Roderick Long describes here, it was government intervention that took away affordable health care in the first place — it doesn’t rank highly on my socio-political Shit List compared to the aforementioned.  This is just a case of ass-backwards priorities IMO, akin to complaining about what’s on TV while your house is on fire.