Rove Now Accepting Filthy Murdoch Lucre

Talk about a confluence that's sure to drive the left into apoplectic fits. Public Enemies 1 and 1A, Karl Rove and Rupert Murdoch.

They reveled with glee when Rove departed the White House, figuring Bush's Brain had been silenced.

Yet they neglected to see the inevitable. Because Rove has strong opinions, he's sure to be in high demand. That and he's much more intelligent than his enemies.

Which brings us to today's Opinion Journal, where he opines on health care, stressing the logical and proven approach--a market-based system--as opposed to the oppressive government run systems proposed by the left, most recently Mrs. Clinton.

Republicans Can Win on Health Care

All around America, families are grappling with health-care concerns. They wonder if they'll have insurance at a price they can afford. They worry about how much out-of-pocket health costs take from the family budget. They question if they'll be able to pick their own doctor. Some feel trapped in jobs they don't like out of fear of losing their health insurance.

As the latest government-heavy plan announced by Hillary Clinton yesterday once again shows, the answers politicians offer on health care highlight the deep differences between liberals and conservatives. This is a debate Republicans cannot avoid. But it is one we can win--if we offer a bold plan. Conservatives must put forward reforms aimed at putting the patient in charge. Increasing competition will ensure greater access, lower costs and more innovation.

Liberals see the concerns of families as a failure of private insurance, and want the U.S. to move toward a government-run, single-payer model. This is a recipe for making problems worse. Socialized medicine inevitably leads to poor quality, inefficiency, rising taxes and rationing. The waiting lines and poor care that cause people from other countries to come here for treatment are not the answer.

Of course, the Republicans face tremendous challenges in getting their plans out there. Look at the nonstop coverage of Mrs. Clinton from Monday; do you think for a second any Republican who offers a plan will get a fraction of the coverage?

Rove goes into a detailed plan and how the GOP needs to make it a central issue, summarizing:

Mrs. Clinton may think Americans want to trade freedom and innovation for the illusory security of government regulation and surrender control of their health decisions to government bureaucrats. My bet is 2008 will teach us something different if Republicans make health care a centerpiece issue

And with that, I say good luck. Regardless of what happens between now and next fall, there's only one issue the media and Democrats will want to talk about: Iraq.

That and getting hung up on abortion and gun control at every debate.

It's a given any GOP plan will be preferable to socialized medicine, but whoever the GOP candidate is, he needs to hammer away constantly and effectively at how detrimental the Democrat plans will be to both our healthcare system and economy.