Corporate Leftism

General Motors' assault on private health care is a great example of what I've maintained for years---big companies are almost always Leftist in nature:

The fact of the matter is GM has consistently signed contracts with the United Auto Workers that do little to contain health care costs. Americans should not suffer the indignity of a single-payer system because GM has failed to bargain effectively with the unions.

Unfortunately, the idea of co-opting CEOs as props for government-run health care is gaining currency among the left. In Thursday's New York Times, Matt Miller of the Center for American Progress [sic] proposed a major effort by Corporate America to deal with the issue:

A dozen marquee C.E.O.'s would convene a "Manhattan Project"-style effort on the future of health care. They'd propose a new goal: instead of health costs rising from today's 15 percent of G.D.P. to 20 percent by around 2020, as is now projected, the nation should shave two to three percentage points of G.D.P. (or more) off projected growth in ways that improve quality, even as we extend coverage to the 45 million uninsured.

Of course, Miller is willing to stack the deck in favor of a particular solution: "...eligible C.E.O.'s have to grasp that most rhetoric in the health debate...is rubbish. Republican C.E.O.'s who think 'big government' is always the problem may be at special psychic risk." One wonders if Miller has already signed up GM's entire board of directors.

The reason for this is simple---big companies spend most of their time worrying not about their fellow big companies, but about niche players taking away market share. Regulatory costs can be easily absorbed by Fortune 500 companies, who can afford to devote a small portion of their labor to compliance or can pack up and move their headquarters to Jamaica. Those small, niche players, on the other hand, get crushed.

Who do you think is likelier to get a big government bailout---GM or Anthony's Pizzeria?

Given that the proprietor of Anthony's hasn't got any Congressmen or corrupt union officials in his pocket, I know who to place my money on.