Here's Ronald Reagan in 1961.

One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine.

It's very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project.

Most people are a little reluctant to oppose anything that suggests medical care for people who possibly can't afford it.

Now, the American people, if you put it to them about socialized medicine and gave them a chance to choose, would unhesitatingly vote against it.

Oh, Ronnie, what an audition.

And 19 years later, it would land you in the White House.

It sounds like so many of the arguments for not implementing universal health care today.

And in fact, Reagan and Reaganomics is very much the modern incarnation of that argument as to why we should not have it.

In a little while, we'll hear RFK Jr. basically make the same argument in his own way.

Going back to that time, though, to be fair, Reagan was actually not against all facets of universal health care.

For example, he supported the Kerr Mills Act of 1960, which provided federal funds to states to take care of elderly people who couldn't afford health care.

His stated opposition was to compulsory government health care

programs, which to me is a bit of a misnomer, but I'll get back to that. I want to play one more

clip from that era, however, because it really captures the sort of frantic ideology that exists in the Milton Friedman free market principles that have

dominated America for generations now. And Ronnie just really nails it in this moment.

James Madison in 1788 speaking to the Virginia Convention said, Since the general civilization of mankind,

I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people

by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power

than by violent and sudden usurpations.

Was he talking about Trump and Musk there?

No, no.

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