If this is the best that Andrew Sullivan can do in responding to Kevin Drum on health care policy, then he should stick to torture (writing about it, I mean).
The backstory is that Andrew, with some help from Mark, is convinced that what he (inaccurately) calls “socialized medicine” will destroy drug innovation. Kevin responds by saying nonsense: all it means is that Europeans will pay a little more for drugs, and we will pay less. In any event, as he and Mark note, if we really want to innovate, we can always set up a public program. You can judge the argument for yourself.
Andrew’s new response is really beneath him. He contends yet again that the pharmaceutical industry in Europe is beleaguered and besieged by crushing overregulation. And what is his evidence for this? The pharmaceutical industry’s lobbying website. What possible motivation could they have for claiming something that isn’t true?! If a lobbying group claims something, you can take that to the bank.
If a smart guy like Andrew can’t do any better than that, I think it’s pretty clear who has won.
By the way, we should give credit where credit is due: throughout the debate, Andrew has been posting several e-mails from readers who disagree with him and argue for single-payer systems.