John McCain's acceptance speech last night was strikingly thin on
substance, but there was a portion, about halfway through, in which the
Republican nominee ran through a handful of policy issues. At one point,
he told the audience:

"My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find
and keep good health care insurance. [Barack Obama's] plan will force
small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a
government-run health care system where a bureaucrat... (AUDIENCE
BOOS)... where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor."

There are only two sentences in this paragraph, and they're both
completely wrong.

Not only is the second sentence not true, it's nonsensical. Where
exactly is the bureaucrat supposed to stand? In the waiting room?
Outside your car? Obama's health care plan is basically a way to
subsidize private insurance. There's a regulator involved, but he has
nothing to do with you or your doctor. Instead, he stands behind your
insurer, tapping his foot, and warning against denying you coverage on
grounds of ill health or bad luck.

That said, here's the question I'd love to see John McCain asked:
"Senator McCain, can you describe how Senator Obama's health care plan
works?" And if he gets it wrong, I'd like to see the moderator correct
him and ask what he thinks of the actual plan.... I'd bet good money,
and a fair amount of it, that there's no way he could describe it.

Now, the first sentence:

McCain's suggestion his plan would "make it easier for more
Americans to find and keep good health care insurance" is just plain
wrong. As numerous experts have noted, its primary effect will be to
move people out of employer-sponsored insurance and into the individual
market, where the benefits are less comprehensive and insurers refuse
coverage to anybody with pre-exsiting medical conditions.

John McCain doesn't have the foggiest idea what he's talking about on
healthcare. Literally, not a clue.

Have a nice night.