Pacific Research Institute president Sally Pipes, as reported (approvingly) by Deroy Murdock in National Review:
“I support Cruz’s and Lee’s idea,” Pacific Research Institute president Sally Pipes tells me. “Giving people the freedom to choose a plan that meets their needs and that they can afford is the best solution today.” The author of The Way Out of Obamacare added: “The American people voted in November for the repeal and replacement of Obamacare. The law is in a ‘death spiral’ and needs to be replaced. …”
Bold mine. As has has been noted by numerous commentators, and, finally, the Trump Administration’s experts on it themselves, the ACA is not in a death spiral. And since Pipes leads her Institute, that casts doubt on all of their work.
Look, lies have consequences, and while there are some limited circumstances where lies must be employed, I tend to limit that to wartime, and this is not wartime. For years the libertarians have evinced concerns over the more subtle effects of single-payer systems in terms of the R&D efforts on new therapies. In my view, in isolation these are legitimate concerns, worthy of discussion and concern[1].
But if the context is that of brazen lies, then it’s much more difficult to take the liar seriously. After all, either they’re profoundly uninformed (and, so, technically not a lie), or they are misrepresenting reality for some hidden agenda. Neither is trustworthy. And so Pipes has discredited herself. Probably time to go into retirement.
1Although libertarians rarely, if ever, acknowledge the critical role of government-funded R&D in the development of new products, whether they’re pharmaceuticals or electronics.
