Muddling Through the Mar-a-Lago Mess
Plus: The editors reaffirm free speech absolutism in the wake of the recent attack on Salman Rushdie.
In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Nick Gillespie huddle on last week's FBI raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
2:01: The FBI raid of Trump's home
26:18: Weekly Listener Question:
The U.S. federal government, since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, has monopsonized COVID vaccines and therapies. Yet, I haven't heard any complaints from Reason-ers about this expansion of government into health care long after I think all of us would agree that the "emergency" should be over. And the government's performance has actually kind of sort of been OK in the last 18 months. What gives? There are now those who are using this experience as an argument that we should make ALL of health care single-payer. How would you respond to Dr. Topol and others like him who say, "This proves single-payer works, we should adopt it for everything"? And then, more broadly, while I believe our health care economic system is broken, I don't see a viable political path toward implementing more market-based reforms to introduce competition, incentivize innovation, and bring down prices. Would it make sense for (small-"L") libertarians to basically give up on health care and "make a deal with the devil," compromising on single-payer health care in exchange for liberalization of other areas of the economy that otherwise wouldn't see liberalization?
35:13: The attack on Salman Rushdie and free speech
Mentioned in this podcast:
"Donald Trump's Handling of Classified Material Looks Worse Than Hillary Clinton's," by Jacob Sullum
"Free to Offend," by Robert Poole
"The Truth Hurts," by Jonathan Rauch
"Why We're Having an Everybody Draw Mohammed Contest on Thursday May 20," by Nick Gillespie
"Salman Rushdie and the Cult of Offense," by Graeme Wood
Send your questions to roundtable@reason.com. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.
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Audio production by Ian Keyser
Assistant production by Hunt Beaty
Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve
